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Twenty-first century Australians celebrate their convict past

James Grace, 11, had taken some ribbon and a pair of silk stockings. John Wisehammer, 15, snatched some snuff

For that, they would never see home again.

There were no political prisoners, however, no rabble rousing, hay stackburning activists or trades unionists sentenced for their subversive activities, as some of today's anti-Pom Australians like to think. Nor, contrary to another common belief, were there any prostitutes as such - because prostitution was not a transportable offence at the time.

Crewmen, let alone convicts, believed they would never see home or their loved ones again.

For some life was too harsh to continue. Dorothy Handland, now 84, who had endured so much already since her conviction back in England, hanged herself from a gum tree. She was Australia's first recorded suicide.

Back in England, the government hailed a victory.

The criminal classes had been exiled and at no real cost.