Why Did the British Government Send Convicts to Botany Bay?
That question, or something similar, was one of the first seminar topics for James Cook University's Problems in Australian History course in 1971. It raised some interesting questions and has continued to fascinate me for more than fifty years.
It also slots neatly into these pages' northward-trending reading of Australian history.
The short answer?
To forestall a possible French settlement in eastern Australia and provide avenues for future commercial and strategic considerations by relieving overcrowding in English jails. In the booklet, a more extended consideration of the issues and alternatives points towards unexpected outcomes of a hasty decision. That's hardly surprising given the seventeen-month interval between an announcement in August 1786 and the First Fleet's arrival at Botany Bay in January 1788.
