Hong Kong Chinese sent to Australia as convicts
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Hong Kong Chinese sent to Australia as convicts
I was wondering if there is much known about Hong Kong Chinese who were sent to Australia as convicts? I am currently taking a course through Oxford Online on the British Empire and I came across a small mention in one of the course readings, from the Australian Government website, that Hong Kong Chinese were sent to Australia as convicts. I also wondered too if any British citizens in Hong Kong were also sent to Australia as convicts?
"While the vast majority of the convicts to Australia were English and Welsh (70%), Irish (24%) or Scottish (5%), the convict population had a multicultural flavour. Some convicts had been sent from various British outposts such as India and Canada. There were also Maoris from New Zealand, Chinese from Hong Kong and slaves from the Caribbean." - 'Convicts and the British colonies in Australia' from the Australian Government website
Here is the link to the article -
Chinese sent to Australia as convicts
For those interested in the history of convict Chinese ... I have come across this blog post from a Chinese Australian history website, which I have linked just below.
http://chineseaustralia.org/caroline-sye-a-chinese-mans-wife-and-convict-hobart-1838/
"Convict wives, Chinese husbands (Tasmania)
From the Hobart Town Police Report of Monday, 15 January 1838:
(Published in the Colonial Times (Hobart), 23 January 1838, p. 8.)
In Sojourners (p.33), Eric Rolls tells of another convict woman, Hannah Howard, who was released into the care of a Chinese man, Ahong (who was also a convict but had been granted his ticket of leave), after their marriage in 1851 in Launceston. Her ticket of leave was granted soon after.
What a very curious place colonial Australia was."
Cyprus mutiny
I have come across a mutiny called the 'Cyprus mutiny' from 1829, where convicts took control of the ship Cyprus in Tasmania and sailed the ship to Canton and then onto Japan. A very interesting read if anyone is interested.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus_mutiny
Hong Kong Chinese sent to Singapore as convicts in the 1840s
I have found some information on Hong Kong Chinese sent to Singapore as convicts in the 1840s...
From the book, Britain's Empire: Resistance, Repression and Revolt:
https://books.google.com.hk/books?id=7gj4ayAItV8C&pg=PA386&lpg=PA386&dq=chinese+convict+tasmania&source=bl&ots=0w3I5kGHy4&sig=ACfU3U32FJ25jCSFKoxz5PC5Aa9u1JxkfA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi1kJi93tvgAhX1yIsBHY8wBlYQ6AEwDXoECAIQAQ#v=onepage&q=chinese%20convict%20tasmania&f=false
Transportation from Hong Kong
I had a chance to ask Chris Munn about this today - he knows a lot about Hong Kong's police, courts, and prisons. Chris says there was a small group of 10 prisoners (6 Chinese, 1 European, 3 other) transported from Hong Kong to Van Diemen's Land (modern Tasmania) in 1844. That was the only time transportees from Hong Kong went to Australia, but transportation from HK to other destinations continued until 1858.
When it stopped, the local prison was soon overcrowded, which led to the use of a hulk as a prison ship, the construction of the prison on Stonecutters Island, and eventually the new "radial" prison buildings at Victoria Gaol.
Chris finished by saying he'd written an article about this topic, and that it's available online at: https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/jcha/1997-v8-n1-jcha1004/031119ar/
Thank you for the reply and
Thank you for the reply and link and also asking Chris Munn about the topic. Much apreciated!