Child Convicts

Gr 5–8—In this well-researched volume, Brennan sheds light on the 18th-century British practice of sending child convicts to Australia. She describes how in the spring of 1787, 11 ships, known as the First Fleet, left England for Australia with 759 prisoners on board. Though many were sentenced to seven years, these sentences actually turned out to be for life. Children as young as seven were treated as adults in British courts. The youngest convict on board was John Hudson, aged 13, who was sentenced when he was nine years old for burglary. Other child convicts included James Borrow, who was actually a girl named Mary Reibey, convicted at 13 for horse theft (and whose face is now on the Australian 20 dollar bill) and William Westwood, sentenced at age 15 for stealing a coat. Convicts faced starvation, lack of housing, loneliness, and desperation. Punishment was bleak—floggings and isolation were prevalent. Penal settlements were established across the continent, from Tasmania to Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Penal life was dismal until 1810, when Lachlan Macquarie became governor of New South Wales. He promoted exploration, farming, and expansion and saw the first banks opened in Australia. The text is fast paced and draws readers in. Illustrations include period photographs, drawings, and maps. A time line runs along the bottom of the last pages of the text, starting with the year 90 when Ptolemy mentioned the idea of a southern land, to 1868, when the final cargo of convicts arrived in Western Australia.