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Prison hulks on the River Thames

Chapter Index

• Introduction
• The English penal system and transportation to the colonies
• Establishment of the prison hulks
• Hard labour
• Life on board
• George Barrington
• Escapes and revolts
• Penal reform and the end of the hulks

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Introduction

Transport to North America

The Discovery convict ship at Deptford, c. 1829.

From the early 18th century until the American Revolution, Britain transported convicts each year to Maryland and Virginia.

The North American colonies declared their independence in 1776 and closed their ports to British prison ships. A crisis in the British criminal justice system followed.

Floating prisons

The hulk Warrior (1781) anchored off Woolwich.

Britain started converting old merchant ships and naval vessels into floating prisons known as hulks. Many of these were on the River Thames.

Convicts spent time on the hulks before being transported to Australia, the new destination for Britain's criminals.

Chapter Index

• Introduction
• The English penal system and transportation to the colonies
• Establishment of the prison hulks
• Hard labour
• Life on board
• George Barrington
• Escapes and revolts
• Penal reform and the end of the hulks

Send this story to a friend | Printer-friendly version | View this story in pictures

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Hulk





FIND OUT MORE

• The 18th-century port
• The 19th-century port
• Deptford and Woolwich: London's Royal Dockyards

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