Settlement and Colonisation: Reasons for Settlement

Follow a British prison guard who tells of his experience managing prisoners at Newgate Prison from which thousands of convicts were transported to Australia. He recounts Captain Cook’s voyages leading up to and including the First Fleet and how this new faraway penal colony will make his job a whole lot easier.

Hoist up the anchors, pull on the ropes as comedian Sam Campbell and young Kabir set sail upon the fact-finding mission about the First Fleet. Who will avoid convict status to become the Know It All?

How did Australia become the nation it is today? Well, in this important BTN Special we travel back in time to find out.

In the 1800s, migration from Britain to the new Australian colonies grew. In this video, we examine the reasons why Britain wanted more people to migrate to Australia, why the British people themselves wanted to migrate, and what the government did to encourage free settlers to move to Australia.

In 18th and early 19th century Britain, transportation as a form of punishment was used to combat the over-crowded prisons. Children as young as seven could be tried as adults and sent to Australia as convicts.

Beginning with the reasons why Britain chose to establish a penal colony at Botany Bay, this short clip then describes the route and timeline of the First Fleet. Conditions on board the ship are described from the perspective of a convict.