Convicts from Britain and Ireland were shipped off to Australia for almost a century (1788-1868) after Captain James Cook invaded.
Redditor u/Jezzaq94 was curious to find out how many people still knew the stories of their relatives' crime. So, they posed the following question in the r/AskAnAustralian subreddit: "For those of you who have convict ancestry, what crime did they commit to be sent to Australia?".
Here's what the users had to say (accompanied by reactions from Bridgerton):
1. "Her name was Lydia Farrell. She stole seven shawls and was sent on the 3rd Fleet"
2. "Stole a sheep and tried to blame his mother in law"
3. "He was in the British Army in India"
4. "Machine breaking in England's 1830 Swing Riots"
5. "My male ancestor 'stole livestock' and my female ancestor 'used foul language in the presence of a lady'"
6. "Stole a horse (incidentally, while disguised as a boy)"
7. "Got a parlourmaid pregnant then killed her to keep it hidden"
8. "A lord owed my ancestor money so, he burnt down the house on the estate he worked at"
9. "Stealing a loaf of bread"
10. "My great, great, some more greats, grandfather knew that they were gonna stop sending convicts over here soon. So. he and his son stole some sheep to purposely get caught"
11. "He ran a horse stealing ring which stole over 100 horses"
12. "One of them was involved in the slave freedom riots in Barbados in the late 1700s"
13. "Three that I know of — all Irish. One broke into a house and stole a gun, another broke a curfew and the last was for burglary and robbery"
14. "Jane Langley — she and a female friend were convicted of luring a man back to their place and stealing five guineas, nine shillings and sixpence from his coat"
15. "My great, great, great, great grandfather went on a pub crawl using forged notes"
16. "Horse rustling"
17. And finally, "according to court records: stealing a 'large, brass cock'"
Note: Some reviews have been edited for length and clarity.