Between 1803 and 1853 some 67,000 convicts were transported from England and Ireland to the British penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land, later renamed Tasmania. Using a detailed reconstruction of 278 voyages (82 carrying female convicts and 196 male) this talk explores the impact of trans-oceanic forced removal on the health and well being of these unwilling migrants.
Hamish Maxwell-Stewart teaches history at the University of Tasmania and is the current holder of the Keith Cameron chair of Australian history, University College Dublin. He is the author of a number of books including Closing Hell’s Gates (2008), American Citizens British Slaves (2002) and Chain Letters (2001).