The Falmouth Civic Society regularly holds talks at the King Charles Coffee Shop and members have the opportunity to hear fascinating tales of Falmouth's past, whilst enjoying a Cream Tea or other tasty, seasonal snack. In one of our talks, the inspiration for our speaker, Dr. Harry Locksley, was actually....by container ship in 2004! However it led him to think about the convicts that had been transported from Falmouth. The first convicts from the London area were sent in 1788 but in 1807 the “Sydney Cove” sailed for Botany Bay from Falmouth. On board were 113 females and 4 males and they were at sea for 158 days. Some went on to Tasmania which was even tougher than Botany Bay.

Further convict ships sailed in 1811 (Providence), 1813 (Catherine and Three Bees). The Catherine had 98 females on board but the Three Bees had 219 males and no females. The reason for transportation in most cases was stealing which, considering the poverty of many of the people at the time, is not surprising. It was also noted that protestors about conditions in the mines were also transported.

One famous transported convict was Mary Bryant of Fowey who was described as a highwaywoman! Once transported, there was very little chance of escaping but Mary did. She and her husband and two small children sailed 3,000 miles in an open boat to Timor. This intrepid story has been told in a book and also made into a film, “Mary Bryant”

Harry Locksley then told us about his first journey from Australia in 1956 which led him to want to make a round the world trip back there but on board a cargo ship “Contship Auckland” in 2004. With officers from Poland and crew from the former Gilbert and Ellis islands, they sailed via Le Havre, New York, Haiti and Cuba, the Panama Canal, Tahiti, Auckland to Sydney and thus to Botany Bay.