Exploiting inter- and intracontinental markets: The business of transporting convicts to the Australian colonies in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century

Abstract

This article explores the pivotal role played by convict transports in the expansion and redirection of British maritime trade to the East. Through an investigation into the business of transporting prisoners across the seas in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, it reveals that contractors, shipowners and captains connected to convict transportation were at the forefront of exploiting new trading opportunities in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. By analysing the voyages of convict ships within the prism of long-haul trading ventures, this work reveals the often overlooked business acumen of those who organized and executed convict transportation as they participated in inter- and intra-continental maritime trade.