Juvenile Convictsand Death
Emma D. Watkins
VAN DIEMEN’S LAND
(now known as TASMANIA)
<20
14%
21-40
27%
41-60
18%
61-80
36%
>81
5%
AGE OF DEATHS (GROUPED BY 20 YEAR PERIODS)
Male Juvenile Convicts
Given Survival to Age 20
All Deaths
Died After Freedom All Deaths
Juvenile Convicts 59 55 51
English Convicts 59 56 unk
All Tasmanian Males (early
1860s)62 unk
English Males 59 - 60 unk
Comparison Group: Point Puer
Flinders University: John Stephenson
Digital Representation
of Point Puer
Execution
Accident
Disease
Natural Causes /
Old Age
CAUSE OF DEATH
External Mortality
Male juvenile convicts deaths due to external causes, both under and
after sentence, was 20%.
12% for those surviving sentence
Executed
12%
Accident
19%
Disease
25%
Unk
44%
Cause of Death Under Sentence
Executed
Accident
Disease
Unk
Punishment
Male Juvenile Summary
Average Age-of-Death of Female Juvenile Convicts
Died After Freedom All Deaths
60 53
14%
43%
43%
Age-of-Death
<20
41-60
61-80
Age Range
Female Juvenile Convicts
Case Study:Eliza White
CON41-1-10
CON19-1-5
Comparison Group: Female Convicts of the Tasmania (2)
Female Juvenile ConvictsTasmania (2) Female Convicts
(Kavanagh & Snowden)
Deaths given survival to
freedom & twenty
years-of-age
All Deaths
Deaths given survival
to freedom and twenty
years-of-age
All Deaths
60 53 55 52
Cause of Death Female Juvenile Convicts
Old Age 40%
Disease 60%
Female Juveniles Cause of Death
Case Study: Sarah Hodge
RGD36/1/1 no.1076
Comparison Group: Female Convicts of the Tasmania (2)
Cause of DeathTasmania (2) Female Convicts
(Kavanagh & Snowden)
Disease 67%
External Cause 9%
Old Age / Natural Causes 24%
Child Birth 3%
Death Under Sentence?
• 94% of female juvenile convicts survived
to freedom
1 in 18 female juvenile convicts died on
the voyage
1 in 138 of female convicts from the
Tasmania died on the voyage
Case study: Elizabeth Jones
CON40-1-6
Comparison Group: Female Convicts of the Tasmania (2)
Offences & Punishment
Solitary Confinement Cells
Female Juvenile Summary
Van Diemen’s Land
Conclusion
Selective Bibliography• Kavanagh, Joan, and Snowden, Diane (2015), Van Diemen’s Women: A History of Transportation to Tasmania,
(Dublin)
• Kippen, Rebecca and McCalman, Janet (2015) “Mortality under and after sentence of male convicts transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), 1840–1852”, The History of the Family, 20:3, pp.345-365
• Hooper, F.C., (1954), ”The Point Puer experiment; A study of the penal and education al treatment of juvenile transportees in VDL 1830-1850” (Melbourne)
• Horne, Benjamin (1843), “Benjamin Horne’s report on Point Puer Boys’ Prison, to His Excellency Sir John Franklin K.C.H. and K.R. Lieut. Governor of Van Diemen's Land, Point Puer, March 7 1843” Edited extracts from Archives Office of Tasmania document C0280/157/520
• Nunn, Cameron, (2015), “Juveniles as Human Capital: Re-evaluating the Economic Value of Juvenile Male Convict Labour”, Labour History, 108, pp.53-69
• Jackman, Greg, (2001) “Get thee to Church: hard work, Godliness and tourism at Australia’s first rural reformatory”, Australian Historical Archaeology, 19, pp.6-13
• Jackman, Greg, (2009), “From Stain to Saint: Ancestry, Archaeology, and Agendas in Tasmania's Convict Heritage—A View from Port Arthur”, Historical Archaeology, 43:3, pp.101-112
• Jordan, Thos. E., (unk), “Transported to VDL: The boys of the Francis Charlotte (1832) and Lord Godrich (1841)