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Women in Plymouth, England, parting from their lovers who are about to be transported to Botany Bay, 1792. Penal transportation (or simply transportation) was the relocation of convicted criminals, or other persons regarded as undesirable, to a distant place, often a colony, for a specified term; later, specifically established penal colonies became their destination.
This convict transportation began in 1718 following the passing of a Transportation Act by the British Parliament in 1717. The transportation continued until 1775, when the American Revolutionary War halted the practice. Also, Ekirch explores the various roles played by England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland in this convict trade. [1] [3]
Many colonists in British North America resented convict transportation. As early as 1683, Pennsylvania's colonial legislature attempted to bar felons from being introduced within its borders. [46] Benjamin Franklin called convict transportation "an insult and contempt, the cruellest, that ever one people offered to another."
The women convicts' clothing had become infested with lice and was burnt. As additional clothing for the female convicts had not arrived before the Fleet left England, [42] the women were issued with new clothes made from rice sacks. While the convicts remained below deck, the officers explored the city and were entertained by its inhabitants. [46]
Transportation ballads are a genre of broadside ballads that concern the transportation of convicted criminals, originally to the American colonies and later to penal colonies in Australia. They were intended to serve as warnings of the hardships that come with conviction and thereby a deterrent against criminal behavior.
The Piracy Act 1717 (4 Geo. 1.c. 11), sometimes called the Transportation Act 1717 or the Felons' Act 1717 (1718 in New Style [2]), [3] was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that established a regulated, bonded system to transport criminals to colonies in North America for indentured service, as a punishment for those convicted or attainted in Great Britain, excluding Scotland.
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The ticket itself was a highly detailed document, listing the place and year the convict was tried, the name of the ship in which he or she was transported and the length of the sentence. There was also a complete physical description of the convict, along with year of birth, former occupation and "native place". A ticket had two components.