hi! not discouraging more responses, but FYI, you'll find some earlier discussions in these related threads:

• What would life have been like back in the colonization days for a prisoner shipped from England to Australia once he/she stepped off the boat?

• I am a criminal sentenced to exile in Australia in the year 1800. After disembarking from the transport ship, what can I expect my life to be like?

• It is the year 1850. I am a London prisoner sentenced to Australia. Is this a good turn of luck for me?

• How were prisoners treated in Australian penal colonies?

• What supplies did the first Australian settlers have when they arrived in Sydney Cove in 1788?

• How did Australia go from British prisoners to the country it is now. What was life like in the beginning?

You could also read 'The Fatal Shore'. Fair warning: it can be pretty gruesome and disturbing.

http://www.amazon.com/Fatal-Shore-Epic-Australias-Founding/dp/0394753666/