Date of Award

2024

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (College of Arts and Science)

Schools and Centres

Arts & Sciences

First Supervisor

Associate Professor Leigh Straw

Second Supervisor

Dr Shane Burke

Abstract

Crime and punishment are omnipresent features of Western Australia’s colonial history. The establishment of a colony on invaded Noongar boodja in 1829 is indicative of the first criminal act. Within six months, a system of incarceration had been established for British offenders. Despite this, the importation of male imperial convicts from Britain and Ireland between 1850 and 1868 has become synonymous with the colony’s penal history. The historiographical preoccupation with imperial convicts ignores the people convicted within the colony, and subsequently, their lived experiences have been overlooked. This is to the detriment of understanding offenders, their motivations, and their interactions with the carceral network. Understanding the treatment of local offenders is more pertinent when considering that the colonial and imperial systems were amalgamated in 1858, making the silence surrounding the former in academic literature more pronounced. The experiences of colonial offenders can be traced through examining petitions written by inmates or on their behalf, as well as archival material and newspaper reports relating to the institutions in which they were incarcerated.

This thesis examines, across three parts, how the carceral network developed in accordance with colonial needs and was shaped by those involved in its operations, including government officials and the gaolers. This thesis argues that prisoner experience was influenced by a multitude of factors. The cultural background of the prisoner was one of the most influential factors affecting their experiences, and it provided their basic understanding of incarceration. Familial circumstances, economic pressures, health and motivations for their crime were also vital for shaping how a prisoner perceived their incarceration. This must be considered alongside other influences, such as the conditions in the prison buildings and the regulations that were established to control the inmates.

This research examines the experiences of colonial offenders and employs a methodology comprised of History of Experience (HEX) and biography to interpret the sources and illuminate the lives of the prisoners. It uses a theoretical perspective underpinned by a neo-Marxist approach to class, including the concept of the lumpenproletariat, to illuminate how the colony attempted to create a productive proletariat class. This thesis makes a unique contribution to the existing scholarship through its analysis of the previously overlooked experiences of colonial offenders in Western Australia’s carceral network between 1829 and 1868.

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