Never been to Australia but its on my bucket list, and has been since long before Crocodile Dundee. I think a lot of Americans are intrigued by the idea of Australia.
I like that, will have to remember it. Is it true? Makes a good story.
Did you know that the British sent convicts to America before the Revolutionary War? By some estimates as many or more than were sent to Australia. Its harder to know how many came here, the existing records are older and some non-existent. And many were sold here as indentured servants not clearly identified as convicts. Just one of our shared histories.
The quip about Clive Woodward is probably fiction, dreamed up by a journalistic hack, but it does have an amusing appeal.
England transported its convicts and political prisoners, as well as prisoners of war from Scotland and Ireland, to its overseas colonies in the Americas from the 1610's until early in the American Revolution in 1776, when transportation to America was temporarily suspended by the Criminal Law Act 1776.
It's estimated that some 50,000 British convicts were sent to the Americas this way, and the majority landed in the Chesapeake Colonies of Maryland and Virginia. Transported convicts represented perhaps one-quarter of Britons that left the country during the 18th century.
Between 1788 and 1868 more than 164,000 convicts were transported to Australia. Of these, about 7000 arrived in 1833 alone. The convicts were transported as punishment for crimes committed in Britain and Ireland.
The last convict ship, Hougoumont, left Britain in 1867 and arrived in Western Australia on 10 January 1868. In all, about the 164,000 convicts were transported to the Australian colonies between 1788 and 1868 onboard 806 ships.
On February 2nd, 1825 Britain officially recognised Argentina as an independent state. The Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation was signed on behalf of Britain by the marvellously named Woodbine Parish,
chargé d’affaires in Buenos Aires. It was the beginning of a long and often fruitful relationship, which saw many British industrialists and landowners make their mark on the young country. Football, a sport at which Argentina long surpassed England, was introduced in 1867 by two railway workers from Yorkshire, Thomas and James Hogg, the founders of Buenos Aires FC. Many of Argentina’s most famous clubs, such as Newell’s Old Boys, River Plate and Temperly, betray their roots in their names.
Did you know that English families sent second and younger sons, or what were described as the black sheep of the family, to Argentina to make their fortunes in cattle and wheat. English settlers introduced, as well as football, polo, cricket and rugby to Argentina.
Penal transportation was not limited to men or even to adults. Men, women, and children were sentenced to transportation, but its implementation varied by sex and age. We Brits really do have a lot to answer for.
