Perspective view of convicts at work on the Thames, drawn May 8th 1777 from the Butt at Woolwich

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Perspective view of convicts at work on the Thames, drawn May 8th 1777 from the Butt at Woolwich

Date1777

Object number00055334

NameEngraving

MediumPaper and printing ink

DimensionsOverall: 140 × 210 mm
Mount / Matt size (B Fini): 407 × 560 mm

ClassificationsArt

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection

Terms

DescriptionThis engraving shows convicts at work on the River Thames in 1777. Prior to the Declaration of Independence by the United States in 1776, British convicts were routinely transported to the American colonies. With that avenue closed, the number of prisoners held in British prisons soon became untenable and redundant and obsolete ships (hulks) were used as a solution for housing convicts. In 1778 with the establishment of a British settlement in NSW, Australia provided a new place for transportation however, hulks continued to be a common sight in English rivers and harbours well into the 19th century.HistoryThe engraving depicts the 260 ton convict hulk JUSTITIA owned by the government contractor for hulks on the river Thames, Duncan Campbell. A contract signed by Campbell in July 1778 [PRO T 1/539] agreed to house in a hulk on the Thames, 130 convicts assigned to hard labour, to be employed in raising sand and gravel from shoal patches in river. The payment for this service was agreed at £3,483, 7 shillings and sixpence per annum. By 1779, Cambell was employing over 500 convicts on the Thames where they were employed 'raising the ground contiguous to the new Proof and Practice Butts of large extent which they have erected and are now adding to and completing in extending the Warren Wharf and embankment at Woolwich under the direction of the Board of Ordnance.' In the 3 months since the last report, Campbell claimed the convicts had raised about 3300 tons of ballast [PRO T 1/548].SignificanceThe engraving is significant generally as a respresentation of the convict system on the River Thames in the late 18th century, and more specifically for its association with Duncan Campbell, who held the government contact for convicts on the river at that time. Campbell was the uncle of Elizabeth Betham whio married William Bligh in 1781.