I don't write much historical fiction, but I found this to be a super cool source for stories (though I do want to incorporate the idea into my fantasy world
), so I thought I'd share. 
So, in the 1700s-1800s in England, people guilty of at least one of 19 crimes were sent overseas to Australia, to live out their lives there. Men and women, and some of them managed to escape, but it sounds like they built quite a colony and culture for themselves.
**I should note that I discovered this information via a wine bottle, which also has an app that can give you info about the featured convict on the bottle. XD It's really cool, but the website which I found more info does require that you're of legal drinking age (though it also doesn't seem to have any way of making you prove it, but I thought I'd insert this disclaimer.
I just thought it was an interesting event.
The convict on the wine bottle I saw was convicted of challenging the crown, I think, and arguing for the rights of the Irish. I don't know of any others specifically, so you may be able to find more info via Wikipedia.