For the majority of the period from 1788 to 1870, the military forces of the Australian colonies consisted mainly of a garrison provided by the British Army. Nevertheless, an early attempt at forming local units came in the early 1800s when loyal associations were raised to assist British forces due to concerns about unrest amongst Irish convicts. These units were short lived, however, and were disbanded around 1810 following the arrival of regular British regiments. Although there was some debate in the colonies about forming locally raised units earlier, it was not until 1840 that the first unit was raised, when the Royal South Australian Volunteer Militia was formed. As a "militia" unit, although they were paid or partially paid and equipped via government funds, they were nevertheless citizen soldiers. Provisionally, the militia's establishment could be maintained by a compulsory ballot among men of certain ages who could be compelled to fight, albeit within certain prescribed territorial limits, and who were generally considered to be engaged for a fixed period of service to meet an obligation. Although this force ultimately proved unsuccessful, it sowed the seeds for further development later.