The Voice of Our Exiles / Stray leaves from a convict ship

Editor Surgeon Daniel Ritchie RN

Publisher John Menzies

Printer John Hughes

Date1854

Object number00009345

NameBook

MediumCloth, Ink on paper, gilt

DimensionsOverall: 175 x 115 mm, 270 g

ClassificationsBooks and journals

Credit LineANMM Collection

Terms

DescriptionVoice of Our Exiles was written by convicts on board the PESTONJEE BOMANJEE on a voyage from London to Hobart in 1852 and later edited for publication in Scotland by the ship's surgeon Daniel Ritchie.HistorySince the early 1600s European societies used the transportation of criminals overseas as a form of punishment. James I enacted the first transportation act in 1619. 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 work highlights the activities undertaken during a convict voyage from Britain to Australia. It is a rare account written by the convicts themselves rather than an official account or document.