Convicts with the Van Diemen's Land Company

The Van Diemen's Land Company was formed in 1825 to produce wool in Van Diemen's Land for the British market. The company explored land in the North West of the island for the purpose of locating a grant and established settlements at Circular Head, Woolnorth, Emu Bay, Hampshire and Surrey Hills. Convicts were assigned as servants to the company and about four hundred and twenty people spent periods ranging from several weeks to nearly a decade as part of the labour force. This thesis provides information about this labour force: their numbers, their disposition, their occupations and their achievements. It investigates what they ate, how they were accommodated and the hours that they worked. The convicts were subject to being physically flogged, discipline normal at the time, but which we now find abhorrent and the record of punishments is examined in detail. Much of the history that has been written about the company relies heavily on company sources. In this thesis particular value has been placed on contemporary independent reports. The company agent during the period 1825-1842 was Edward Curr and he had a dominant influence on all aspects of company activities and achievements, and therefore on the life and fate of servants assigned to the company. Particular attention is given to the nature and extent of Curr's character on the life and fate of convicts with the company.