British prisons were crowded with criminals during the eighteenth century. The death penalty was not sufficient to deter crimes, the rates of which continued to rise.
About 162,000 convicts were transferred to penal colonies established in Australia. Botany Bay was the destination of the first fleet that carried convicts to Australia. The convicts transferred to the new colony were treated in what amounted to slavery during the period of their sentences and were not granted any rights at the end of their sentence. The ninth governor of the colonies in Australia, Richard Burke, introduced laws to reduce the sentences of convicts.