Insight into fate of Perth convicts sent Down Under

More than 160,000 British convicts are thought to have been transported to Australia between the late 18th and mid-19th Centuries.

Many left from Scotland and in his talk, For the Term of His Natural Life, Graham Watson will offer a detailed insight into the fate of those sentenced to transportation.

The talk is the latest to be hosted by the Friends of the Perth and Kinross Council Archive and will take place on Thursday March 27 at 2pm in the Sandeman Meeting Room at the AK Bell Library in Perth.

Mr Watson, who used material from the council archive to prepare his talk, will look in particular at convicts sentenced to transportation by the Perth courts, what crimes merited this kind of punishment, what happened to the convicts and how the system came to an end eventually.

Illustrations of the convict prison at Port Arthur in Tasmania the largest convict settlement of its type in Australia will be shown on slides as part of the talk.

Entry is £5 for non-members, payable at the door, and free for group members. Booking is essential call 01738 477012.