To start investigating a new subject, we need to pose questions.
The Learning section outlines a general framework for the process of posing questions.
The Investigating section, provides numerous sample questions that we might use for investigating the First Fleet.
Asking questions is easy, but we also have to learn how to ask them. The art of framing questions is a very important skill - questions need to be framed in such a way that answering them becomes possible. We'll need to decide whether the question can be answered by the Database or whether we'll have to research other resources, such as those in Stories and Links.
Menu:
- How did the First Fleet get to Australia?
- Who came to Australia?
- What was life like in the new settlement?
- Who was the youngest convict?
- Interesting Mysteries...
- How Useful is a History Database?
How did the First Fleet get to Australia?
Which way did they come? Why?
Where did they stop on the way? Why?
How many ships were there?
What did they have to eat?
Did everyone survive the trip?
When did they arrive?
How long did the trip take?
Why was the speed of the journey important?
Was it a luxury cruise?
Why didn't the fleet go through the waters now called Bass Strait between Tasmania and Victoria?
What was Australia called in those days? Why?
How far did New South Wales extend?
What was Tasmania called then? Why?
What do the names tell you about the nationalities of the early explorers?
Who came to Australia?
How many of the convicts were women?
How old were they?
What kind of crimes did they commit?
What happened to their partners in crime?
From where in England did most convicts come?
What can we find out about the conditions in which they lived in England?
What can we find out about reasons for their crimes?
Did they have useful skills for founding the new colony?
What other kinds of people were there on the fleet besides the convicts?
What kind of people were the convicts?
What happened to their families?
What was life like in the new settlement?
Why was the settlement called Sydney?
What might be the reaction of the original inhabitants towards the new arrivals?
How did the new settlement treat the Aborigines?
How did the military treat the convicts?
How did the women cope?
What provisions did they bring with them?
How long were these meant to last?
How long did they have to wait for new supplies?
How long would it take to start their own crops?
What would you have taken on such a voyage?
How long was the term of their transportation?
How might they return to England?
What would be the alternatives to returning to England?
What are "land grants"?
Which of the First Fleet convicts were granted land after their sentence expired?
How long did convicts live under the conditions of the new colony?
Did they marry? Who did they marry? Why?
Did any convicts escape?
What was life like for the children of the First Fleeters?
Did transportation reform the convicts? What was their behaviour like in the penal colony?
Who was the youngest convict?
In modern record keeping, age and date of birth are essential items. Was this true for eighteenth
century record keeping? What convict details were officially recorded and how reliable might the
records be?
Would English Justice have sentenced children to transportation to far-flung colonies?
If so, would their crimes be different from older convicts?
If the First Fleet convicts were really slave labour to build a colony for England, then would
younger convicts have been sent rather than older convicts? Who was the oldest convict?
What was the age range?
What might happen to very young and very old convicts on the First Fleet and during their term
in New South Wales?
| AGE | MALE | FEMALE |
| 10 - 14 | ||
| 15 - 19 | ||
| 20 - 24 | ||
| 25 - 29 | ||
| 30 - 34 | ||
| 35 - 39 | ||
| 40 - 44 | ||
| 45 - 49 | ||
| 50 - 59 | ||
| 60 - 99 | ||
| Not Known | ||
| TOTALS |
Compare this table with the following tables from Lloyd Robson's book
| Females | |||||
| AGE | England | Ireland | Scotland | NR | Total |
| 10 - 14 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 15 - 19 | 118 | 49 | 17 | 0 | 184 |
| 20 - 24 | 178 | 148 | 29 | 0 | 355 |
| 25 - 29 | 119 | 89 | 19 | 0 | 229 |
| 30 - 34 | 69 | 44 | 12 | 0 | 125 |
| 35 - 39 | 44 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 76 |
| 40 - 44 | 28 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 54 |
| 45 - 49 | 23 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 35 |
| 50 - 54 | 9 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 21 |
| 55 - 59 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 60 - 64 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| N. R. | 113 | 30 | 11 | 2 | 156 |
| TOTALS | 707 | 431 | 108 | 2 | 1248 |
| Males | ||||||
| AGE | England | Ireland | Scotland | Overseas | NR | Total |
| 10 - 14 | 53 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 76 |
| 15 - 19 | 813 | 226 | 76 | 2 | 0 | 1117 |
| 20 - 24 | 1427 | 406 | 87 | 14 | 0 | 1934 |
| 25 - 29 | 747 | 262 | 45 | 30 | 1 | 1085 |
| 30 - 34 | 369 | 162 | 9 | 12 | 2 | 554 |
| 35 - 39 | 208 | 94 | 17 | 9 | 0 | 328 |
| 40 - 44 | 135 | 66 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 211 |
| 45 - 49 | 86 | 25 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 119 |
| 50 - 54 | 45 | 27 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 77 |
| 55 - 59 | 29 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 38 |
| 60 - 64 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 22 |
| 65 - 69 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 70 - 74 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| N. R. | 404 | 49 | 17 | 66 | 27 | 563 |
| TOTALS | 4331 | 1355 | 275 | 140 | 30 | 6131 |
[Top]
Interesting Mysteries...
In the quotes from Governor Phillip's journals in Stories, he mentions convicts who are farmers and carpenters. He doesn't mention their names. Could we use the Database to find out the names of two people capable of taking charge of a farm? Who are the carpenters? Who would be the 'smith'?
Note: many of the convicts have incomplete details. For example many have no trade recorded, or no age known, or the value of their crime is not applicable to the type of crime committed. This may need to be taken into account when researching questions, in particular when researching statistical questions.
Two convicts named Youngson committed the same crime. Two convicts named Allen robbed the same victim. The data cannot tell us the relationship of these similarly named convicts. Are they husband and wife, brother and sister, or completely unrelated? What theories could we construct from this incomplete evidence about these convicts?
[Top]How Useful is a History Database?
- Do you need a computer to make a database?
- What problems does historical data pose when using it to create a database?
- How do you know the data is correct?
- How do you take into account the prejudices of database makers?
- How objective is the data?
- How does a database maker choose which bits to put in and which to leave out?
- What problems would John Cobley and Mollie Gillen have encountered in compiling their books from hand-written historical papers?
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