LAGS: A History of the Western Australian Convict Phenomenon by W J Edgar

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Wear to book corners and edges. Interior and binding are still excellent.

The early settlers at the Swan River determined they would remain a free settlement, but after twenty years of unremitting struggle, as their economic circumstances became perilous, they were forced to petition the British Government for convicts and the much-needed labour their presence would bring.

Between 1850 and 1868, close to 10,000 male convicts arrived in Western Australia from Britain. Far from being the detrimental influence many predicted, the 'lags', the detritus from the iniquities of the English legal and penal systems, injected new life into a stagnant economy.

Despite a high percentage of original serious criminality among them, the vastly different environment in this most isolated British settlement positively influenced these refugees from the cruel prisons and hulks of their Home country.

The convict system in Western Australia proved to be forward and benign by comparison with the systems of earlier decades in New South Wales and Tasmania. Consequently, many of the convicts who landed at Fremantle became valuable citizens, helping lay the foundations of early, modern Western Australia. (back cover)