How many convicts were transported to Western Australia?

For the first fifteen years of the colony of Swan River, Western Australia, the people were all free settlers, and did not want to accept convicts. The idea was raised occasionally, mainly by people who wanted convict labour for building projects.

The argument for convicts in Western Australia gained impetus in 1845 when the York Agricultural Society petitioned the Legislative Council to bring convicts out from England. Their reasons were that Western Australia's economy was at great risk due to an extreme shortage of labour. Whilst later examination of the circumstances proves that there was no such shortage of labour in the colony, the petition found its way to the British Colonial Office, which in turn agreed to send out a small number of convicts to Swan River. Following the transportation of the first convicts to WA, between 1850 and 1868, 9721 convicts were transported to Western Australia.