In answer to your question...Yes indeed
Convicts provided the sole source of undergroud labour (including basic
technical supervision) in the coal mines in Tasmania and New South Wales
for a number of years...with coal mining a Government monopoly.
Coal mining in NSW commenced at Newcastle in 1801 Eventually in 1831 in an
attempt to improve efficiency this monopoly in NSW was let out to the
private Australian Agricultural Company (the Tasmanian mines were closed)
and convict labour still assigned to work in the Company mines.
The AA Co installed steam winders and pumps and introduced, rails, skips and
inclined planes. They imported paid viewers, overmen and
enginewrights to provided technical support but even so soon found that
convict labour was too inefficent to commercially produce coal.
They then subsidised the immigration of experienced colliers from Britain
(generally from Northumberland and Scotland) These men were inedentured and
for a time worked alongside convicts.
The convicts had gone by about 1840 but the AA Co remained a large coal
producer until the 1920's and still exists as a major pastoral firm.
The convict era has generated a deal of public interest in the local history
scene, far more that minuscule amout of coal that they mined warants and has
obscured the recording of the much more important industrial era
(1840-1914) which followed.
By the way, Newcastle is now the largest coal export terminal in the world,
though the coal comes from fields up to 100 miles away..
As far as I know Convicts were also engaged in rock quarrying (mainly for
road construction) and in lime burning but as far as I am aware never in
metalliferous mining.
Regards
John
----- Original Message -----
From: john <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, February 04, 2002 4:07 AM
Subject: Australia ...convicts
Did convicts transported to Australia from UK
In the beginning of transportation take part in mining
Thanks jon
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