I think that the Irish who were sent to the West Indies that Mary refers to were sent by Cromwell and his cronies Barry "Mary Beaumont" <nogobeau@alphalink.com.au> wrote in message news:43313910$1@news.alphalink.com.au... >I believe a large amount of Irish 'slaves' were sent off to the West Indies >very early on . Mary > > Ron Martell wrote: > >> QuietMan <quietman@proudirish.com> wrote: >> >> >>>Are there any records of those poor unfortunate Irish sent off to >>>Botany Bay and other English penal colonies? >> >> >> The records of convicts sent to Australia are pretty complete. >> >> However prior to the use of Australia for penal colonies there were a >> considerable number sent to various locations in North America, and >> recors of these have largely been lost, or at least not yet made >> generally available to the public. >> >> I have some information about one shipload in 1788 on my website at >> http://onlinehelp.bc.ca/martellfa/extras/convicts.htm and there are >> some other ships mentioned there as well. >> >> Any additional information about this group would be appreciated. >> >> Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada