The last convict ship, Hougoumont, reaches Western Australia, ending transportation, 1868
Eighty years and roughly 165,000 convicts after the First Fleet
Quick facts
- Ship
- Hougoumont
- Arrival date
- 9 January 1868, Fremantle
- Convicts aboard
- roughly 279
- Total convicts transported to Australia, 1788-1868
- approximately 162,000 to 168,000
What happened
The Hougoumont arrived at Fremantle on 9 January 1868 carrying the last convicts Britain would ever transport to Australia, ending a system that had begun with the First Fleet in 1788. Western Australia had been the last colony to accept convicts, starting in 1850 when its free-settler economy struggled, and had received roughly 9,700 to 9,900 male prisoners across 43 ships in eighteen years. Across the whole 80-year transportation era, roughly 162,000 to 168,000 convicts had been sent to Australia's various penal colonies.
Why it matters
The end of transportation closed the era that had defined Australia's founding purpose in British eyes, a place to send people rather than a country in its own right, and it let the colonies increasingly define their identity around free immigration, self-government, and eventually federation. Western Australia's continued reliance on convict labour after other colonies had ended transportation reflected how differently the various Australian colonies had developed economically and demographically by the 1860s.
How we know
Convict shipping records for Western Australia are held in the State Records Office of Western Australia, which lists ship arrivals, dates, and numbers transported across the full 1850 to 1868 period.
Sources
- State Records Office of Western Australia. Convicts · Primary source (author-declared)wa.gov.au · Cited as a "primary" source (no stronger domain match). · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
- University of Liverpool newsroom. The story of Australia's last convicts · Reputable sourcenews.liverpool.ac.uk · The domain "news.liverpool.ac.uk" is on our Reputable source registry. · Link is live and its text matches the event's key terms (Jul 2026)
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