1. Criminals in Our Past Page 1 of 2
Criminals in Our Past
Sep 2, 2005 - © Mark W. Swarthout
Most of us are aware of the fact that parts of Australia were
originally populated by people convicted of crimes in Great Britain
and forcably exiled to the small continent. But many of us forget that
the reason they were sent to Australia was that they could no longer
be sent to the United States, since they had rebelled and were now a
sovereign nation.
Many of the early settlers in the US and Canada were individuals
convicted of crimes and sentenced to "Transport." Before the
American Revolution, about 50,000 convicts were transported from
Britain and Ireland to the American colonies. The majority went to
Maryland, Virginia or Pennsylvania.
The Crown hired merchants to ship them off to help colonize the
area reather than sending them to jail. In some cases, these
individuals became indentured, or their services became the property
of the business that shipped them over. A wealthy criminal could pay
for his cabin and freedom upon arrival in the Colonies, but the poor
had their services sold to cover costs.
Georgia was an actual penal colony, but was not originally
established to settle criminals. It was an alternative to Paupers'
Prison, with George Ogilthorpe proposing and establishing the
colony after seeing horrible conditions in England.
And don't forget that a substantial number of the Hessian
Mercenaries that arrived as a result of King George hiring the
German regiments consisted of impressed criminals. Even British
Naval ships were full of impressed individuals, often pulled of the
streets and out of the jails. These individuals thought the risk of
freedom well worth deserting into the wilds of the New World.
So there may be more than just a black sheep in the family! Don't
overlook the criminals that were transported and may have become
part of your family tree.
Perish or Prosper: The Law and Convict Transportation in the British
Empire, 1700-1850 Bruce Kercher
http://www.historycooperative.org/journa...
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/north_american_gene_history/113462 5/18/2011