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Five parliamentary papers on convict discipline and transportation to Australia
Image Not Available for Five parliamentary papers on convict discipline and transportation to Australia

Five parliamentary papers on convict discipline and transportation to Australia

Publisher
Maker
Date1843-1850
Object number00027400
NameParliamentary paper
MediumGilt, moiré cloth, boards, Ink on paper
DimensionsOverall: 333 x 224 x 25 mm, 1.05 kg
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionThese five parliamentary papers issued by the House of Commons discuss convict discipline and transportation to Australia. They were produced by the Government Printer 1843-1850, London and originally published as separate foolscap folios and made available for public sale. Paper one: "Van Dieman's Land"- contains two addresses from the House of Commons made on June 29th and July 4th 1848. Paper two: "Convict discipline and estimates"- contains copies and extracts from correspondence between the Secretary of State and the Governor of Van Diemen's Land, regarding convict discipline and correspondence relating to convict estimates. Paper three: "Van Dieman's Land (convict discipline)"- contains copies or extracts from correspondence between the Secretary of State for the colonies and the Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land, includes information on female convicts and the construction of a steamer for Norfolk Island. Paper four: "Transportation (Van Dieman's Land)"- contains a copy of a communication addressed to Earl Grey by the Lord Bishop of Tasmania on the subject of transportation. Paper five: "Transportation and convict discipline (New South Wales)'- contains a copy of a letter from Mr. E.S. Hall, dated Sydney, 1st August 1849, and the reply on the resumption of transportation to New South Wales.HistorySince the early 1600s European societies used the transportation of criminals overseas as a form of punishment. When in the 18th century the death penalty came to be regarded as too severe for certain capital offences, such as theft and larceny, transportation to North America became a popular form of sentence. The American War of Independence (1776-1781) put an end to the mass export of British and Irish convicts to America and many of the convicts in Great Britain's jails were instead sent to hulks (decommissioned naval vessels) on the River Thames and at Portsmouth, Plymouth, Cork and Dublin. In 1784, under the Transportation and Penitentiaries Act convicts could be exiled to colonies overseas. Between 1788 and 1868 over 168,000 men, women and children were transported from Britain to Australia as convicts on board more than 1,000 modified merchant ships which had been converted into convict transports.SignificanceThis folio provides an important insight into convict discipline and transportation to the Australian colonies in the 1840s.