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Category Archives: Convict Transportation

The Business of Convict Transportation: Overview

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies. Before passage of the Transportation Act in 1718, convict transportation was a haphazard process, mainly because convicts were generally responsible for making their own arrangements for leaving the country. After passage of the Act, convict transportation became an official business. […]

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The Need for a New Punishment: The Sentencing of Criminals after 1718

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies. With the passage of the Transportation Act in 1718, Britain became the only European country after 1700 to transport convicts as part of a major governmental policy. The sentence of transportation was popular among judges and quickly became the preferred […]

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The Need for a New Punishment: The Transportation Act of 1718

Friday, October 24, 2008

Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies. As stories of crime and criminals captured the attention of the eighteenth-century reading public and English jails continued to fill beyond capacity, the need to find a new form of institutionalized punishment grew. Citing the fact that current punishments had […]

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The Need for a New Punishment: Early Uses of Convict Transportation

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies. Before 1718, England’s criminal justice system provided only two sentencing options for criminals convicted of capital crimes: “Benefit of Clergy” for first-time offenders, which sent criminals back out on the streets after receiving some form of corporal punishment, or death. […]

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The Need for a New Punishment: The Trials of Richard Wood and Edward Higgins

Monday, October 6, 2008

Note: This post is part of a series on Convict Transportation to the American colonies. Richard Wood On February 11, 1718, Richard Wood wandered the Newgate Market at 10 o’clock at night, carefully studying the people around him. The often crowded market was located between the notorious Newgate Prison and St. Paul’s Cathedral, and it […]

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