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Convicts

Some of the first settlements in Port Phillip were manned by convicts, but harsh conditions and lack of resources saw many escape – and then return when they realised there was nowhere else to go.

Although Victoria's first settlers may have thought of Port Phillip as a free colony, convicts worked for land-owners and later prison 'hulk' ships housed a growing criminal population. Read on to discover why Victoria's convict heritage is a secret history...


 
Nicholas pateshall's diary: 5 February
Barrel from first settlement at Sullivan Bay
William Buckley portrait
Meeting with William Buckley, the 'Wild White Man'
Buckley discovering himself to the early settlers
 Action for 2 pm Sunday 6 July 1835
Habitation de Pecheurs de Phoques au port Western (Nouvelle Hollande)
The convict 'Lowry'
Convicts on the Prison Hulk, 'Success'


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