Colonial Life
Convicts sent to Australia as punishment had very hard lives. They had sailed all the way to a new country, where they had to build a new home for all of the settlers. Convicts did not have a very happy life. They did not have much food and they were treated badly. During the early days of the settlement of Australia the only food the first fleet had was from the food they had bought with them from England. Most of those resources were eaten on the trip so rations were tight during the first few months in Australia for the convicts. Eventually as time went on they were able to grow vegetables and bring in live stock from Europe. For the first few years the colonial life mostly building houses, farms and roads. Trees had to be cut down and removed as well as land being dug up in order for crops to grow correctly without trees and other things interrupting them. Life as a free settler was not as hard. Free settlers were given land to live on and grow crops. Lucky settlers even had the chance to get convicts to work as slaves for them. The living conditions for settlers and convicts varied. Convicts lived in 'barracks', where they all were together.There was no running water or bathrooms. They often cooked on open fire. Non-convicts usually lived in small wooden homes that would eventually be changed as life went on. The types of work that were available changed depending on who you were. The settlers were starting a new colony, and eventually a nation, so the jobs that would have been around include farmers, officials, builders, traders and merchants. As the land available to settlers increased more jobs came and went that would have been needed. Convicts didn't have a say in the jobs they were given. Weather was hot and after a hard days work many convicts were dehydrated and exhausted, just waiting for the day that lay next.