When I emigrated from Rhodesia to Sydney in 1970 few Australians acknowledged their convict antecedents. Today many actively search for them. As the devils had become angels I wondered whether convicts related to mapmaking had been falsely accused of stealing sixpence or were mass murderers!

The total number of convicts transported to Australia was about 160,000 of whom only 18% were female, an imbalance which often deprived men of more than liberty. In the 1700s London was a depressing place for poor people. The unjust conditions resulted from overcrowded towns, the Industrial Revolution and the Enclosure Acts which deprived people without property of the foraging opportunities they had previously enjoyed. After Britain lost its American colonies in their War of Independence convicts were herded onto hulks before transportation to Australia where the majority worked unsung as labourers or servants. I describe the stories of nine convicts using power-point illustrations.