A nine-year-old chimney-sweep John Hudson was transported for stealing clothes, while 70-year-old Elizabeth Beckford was sentenced for the theft of 12 pounds of Gloucester cheese.

It took 252 days for the first ship of convicts to make its way from England to Australia.

In 1789 a 'police' force was enlisted called The Night Watch. These men were drawn from the ranks of the best behaved of the convicts.

It was estimated in 2007 that 22% of living Australians had an ancestor who was a convict.

This punishment by "transportation" began in 1788 and many of the lawless died at sea.