Between 1788 and 1850 the English sent over 162,000 convicts to Australia in 806 ships. The first eleven of these ships are today known as the First Fleet and contained the convicts and marines that are now acknowledged as the Founders of Australia. Before 1788, Australia was populated by about 300,000 aborigines. These nomadic people had inhabited the continent for more than 10,000 years. They had seen very few Europeans, but two events were to play an important part in changing their …showed first 75 words of 777 total…

…showed last 75 words of 777 total…men -o-war ships with a total of 564 male, 192 female, 550 officers, marines or ship crew and their families. It was the convicts, guilty of petty crimes like stealing a loaf of bread, that were the result of trying to survive the conditions of England at the time, that were the pioneers who - through hard work and perseverance, made the colony survive and expand to the stage of self sufficiency, and start what we have today.