GIRL:
My name is Elizabeth Haywood and I'm 13 years old. I was apprenticed to a clog maker in London, but I was paid so little, so I stole some clothes and tried to sell them.
WOMAN:
Oi!
JUDGE:
For the theft of one linen gown — value 4 shillings, a silk bonnet — value 2 shillings, and a cloak — value 1 shilling, you are found guilty.
(Gavel bangs)
BOY:
My name is John Hudson. I'm nine years old. I've been an orphan ever since I can remember. I made a living by chimney-sweeping. It was horrible work and dangerous too. In summertime, there's no use for sweeping, so I took to thieving to survive.
JUDGE:
For the theft of one pistol — value 5 shillings, and two aprons — value 2 shillings, you are found guilty.
(Gavel bangs)
Dramatisation of young convicts in prison.
REPORTER:
In London in the 1700s, jails were full of people like Elizabeth and John — poor, hungry, unwanted — people who stole to survive. The city's population had exploded and mass poverty had led to a rise in crime.
JUDGE:
You are sentenced to death by hanging.
(Gavel bangs)
REPORTER:
England's laws were really, really harsh. Stealing something could land you with a death sentence. But they couldn't hang everyone. And with the jails full, there was the problem of what to do with all the criminals.
Paintings of ships in harbour.
REPORTER:
One solution was transportation. Britain had colonies in Africa and America where it sent criminals. But then the Americans rose up against the English, so that was no longer an option. So the government decided to set up a new penal colony in the land called New South Wales, claimed for England by Captain Cook in 1770.
JUDGE:
John Hudson, you are sentenced to transportation across the seas for a period of seven years.
Paintings of ships sailing the seas.
REPORTER:
11 ships were prepared for the voyage to New South Wales. Six would transport convicts — they were the Alexander, the Friendship, the Charlotte, the Lady Penryn, the Prince of Wales and Scarborough. Then there were two navy ships and three ships full of the supplies they'd need to build a new colony.
A boy dressed in a British uniform steps out on deck.
REPORTER:
Captain Arthur Phillip was chosen to lead that colony. He knew it was an important job and, one day, New South Wales could be great.
VOICE-OVER:
'The sanguine might form expectations of extraordinary consequences, and be justified, in some degree, by the reflection, that from smaller and not more respectable beginnings, powerful empires have frequently arisen.'
Young convicts sit chained in the hold of a ship.
REPORTER:
The convicts probably weren't so hopeful. More than 700 were packed onto the crowded ships, including around 17 children. Many were sick and malnourished when they boarded. Around 20 wouldn't survive the journey.
A world map.
REPORTER:
The ships sailed from Portsmouth, England, on 13 May 1787. As they sailed through the tropics, the weather was hot and humid. There were rats, cockroaches and other pests and water had to be rationed. On 5 August they arrived in Rio De Janeiro and took on food and water. Then they sailed on to the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.
Painting of ships anchored at a river mouth.
REPORTER:
On 19 January [1788], the first ships arrived in Botany Bay. Seven days later, they found a good place to anchor and Arthur Philip planted a British flag in a place he called Sydney Cove. The land had been home to Aboriginal people for tens of thousands of years, but to the convicts it was new, strange and harsh.
BOY:
I never thought I would end up in a place like this, so far away from home. But I've survived this far and I'll keep on surviving.
GIRL:
We'll make the best of what we have and maybe some day we'll build a better future here in New South Wales.
