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BBC News presents an intriguing insight into the utilization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to recreate the potential faces of Welsh convicts who were exiled to Australia during the 19th Century. A dedicated team of volunteers and researchers have painstakingly delved into the lives of 60 offenders banished from Anglesey, whose crimes ranged from minor thefts like handkerchiefs to more peculiar transgressions such as trampling the local aristocracy’s turnips. By utilizing prisoner records, historical depictions, and even modern-day descendants’ photos, the researchers have endeavored to piece together a semblance of these long-forgotten faces.
Australia played host to approximately 162,000 exiled convicts, among whom at least 1,000 hailed from Wales. Notable figures like John Frost, a key protagonist in the Chartist movement and the Newport Rising, narrowly evaded the gallows and found themselves exiled to Van Diemen’s Land, as Tasmania was then known. The historical echoes of this mass deportation resonated deeply with Roger Vincent, a dedicated volunteer at Beaumaris Gaol on Anglesey, prompting him to meticulously trace the harrowing journey of 60 Anglesey natives exiled to the far-off Australian shores.
Mr. Vincent’s tireless efforts in scouring through the archives in Llangefni, Anglesey, unveiled stark accounts of harshly punitive sentences meted out to Welsh convicts. For instance, crimes as seemingly trivial as purloining a handkerchief could result in a staggering sentence of 10 years of transportation. This punitive approach stemmed from a confluence of factors, including severe overcrowding in UK and Irish prisons, the exorbitant costs of incarceration, and the burgeoning demand for manual labor in Australia. This chapter in history offers a poignant portrayal of the human cost of criminality in bygone eras.
The enduring legacy of convict transportation echoes through modern-day Australia, where an estimated 20% of all Australians trace their lineage back to these exiled forebears. Prof Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, a leading authority on convict life in Australia, underscores the evolving perceptions of this historical narrative. Once viewed as a blot on Australia’s settler origins, the descendants of convicts now embrace this heritage as a source of pride. Their resilience and indomitable spirit shine through in the Unshackled memorial in Hobart, Tasmania, which stands as a poignant tribute to the enduring legacy of these transported souls and their descendants across generations
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