CONVICT TATTOOS

In the 19th century, Australia likely had the world’s most heavily tattooed English-speaking population. Convicts arrived in the penal colonies with tattoos that were recorded in great detail by the authorities.

Between 1788 and 1868, approximately 166,000 convicts were transported to Australia, where they comprised a large proportion of the British community in the early days of colonisation; in 1820, convicts constituted 90 per cent of the white population, and about 50 per cent by 1840. The majority were men from the working classes of England, Scotland and Ireland, typically charged with theft and sentenced to seven- or 14-year terms. Upon arrival in the Australian penal colonies, at least 37 per cent of male convicts and 15 per cent of female convicts bore tattoo s.