If people were sent to South Africa...

[R.Royal]

as a punishment for crimes..where were they usually sent ? And how do you start looking into information on it ?

[Sue Mackay]

I think you've been reading the recently revived thread on the wreck of the Waterloo! South Africa was not a penal colony, although the Government tried hard to make it one in the mid 1840s and the inhabitants mounted a spirited resistance. The penal colonies of Australia were too far away for a ship to reach them from the UK without first calling at Cape Town for food and water. The Cape of Good Hope was a treacherous coast line and many shipwrecks occurred, though the loss of life was greater on the Waterloo because of the number of convicts on board.

If you find records of a trial where the sentence was transportation then the destination was almost certainly Australia. Put Convicts to Australia into Google and you will come up with loads of information. You may be interested in a site like http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/. People were transported for what we would consider to be very minor crimes, like stealing a handkerchief.

[R.Royal]

Ohhh..ok. It never occured to me that they would have to stop along the way. That makes sense, now. Sheesh.

Ok, I will check out the link, thanks for the tip.