Convict Transportation Act of 1784
Printer
Charles Eyre & William Strahan
(English)
Date1784
Object number00003879
NameParliamentary paper
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 195 × 310 × 1 mm, 0.05 kg
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionConvict Transportation Act of 1784 builds on the first Transportation Act initiated by King James I in 1619, which provided the legal basis for the British Government to transport convicts from Britain to overseas colonies. It is an 'Act for the effectual transportation of felons and other offenders and to authorise the removal of prisoners in certain cases and for other purposes therein mentioned'.
Printed by Charles Eyre and William Strahan. Printers to the Kings Most Excellent Majesty, 1784. 13 Pages.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 regular 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.
Charles Eyre and William Strahan ran a London-based printing firm - the official Printer to the King.SignificanceThis booklet provides an important insight into the legal measures taken to transport convicts from Britain to its colonies.
