what year did the early settlers arrived australia
Two more convict fleets arrived in 1790 and 1791, and the first free settlers arrived in 1793. From 1788 to 1823, the Colony of New South Wales was officially a penal colony comprised mainly of convicts, soldiers and the wives of soldiers.ottnest Island, off the coast of Perth, became the colony's convict settlement in 1838 and was used for local colonial offenders. Just under 10,000 British convicts were sent directly to the colony in the 18 years to 1868.