Eighteenth-Century Criminal TransportationThis is the first major study of the convict in the Atlantic world of the eighteenth century. It concentrates on the diverse characters of the transported men, women and children, and their fate in the colonies, exploring at the local level the contrasts in sentencing, shipping and settlement of convicts in America. The central myths about transportation prevalent in the eighteenth century, particularly that most felons returned, are examined in the context of the burgeoning print culture of criminal biographies and newspaper stories. In addition, the exchange of representations between the two sides of the Atlantic, and the changing American reaction to convicts, are placed within the growing transatlantic debate on transportation before the American Revolution. Above all, the realities of escape, of convicts running away and returning to England, are subject to systematic investigation for the first time. |
Contents
1 | |
Transportation the Locality and the Atlantic | 9 |
3 Cities Regions and their Criminals | 33 |
Narratives of Transportation | 62 |
5 Flight Escape and Return | 98 |
Convergence and Divergence and the Criminal Atlantic | 127 |
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Common terms and phrases
advertised alias April ASSI assizes Bampfylde Moore Carew Beattie Beggar’s Opera Bound for America Britain British Convicts Cambridge Captain Coldham colonies convict servants convict trade Convict Transportation County County Durham courts crime criminal culture Cumberland Cumbria Cumbria RO Devon Devon RO Durham Early Modern eighteenth century Ekirch English escape execution Exeter Farley’s Bristol Journal Felix Farley’s Bristol felons female gallows gang gaol History indentured servants John Poulter June Justice Lancashire large numbers London Evening Post Magazine magistrates Maryland Gazette merchants Morgan and Rushton narratives Newcastle Courant newspapers North East Northumberland offences Old Bailey Order Book particularly Pennsylvania Gazette portation ports punishment quarter sessions Record Office reported reprieved robbery Rogues runaway Sept servitude Sherborne Mercury ship slaves stealing stories theft Thieves tion trans trial unfree labour University of Sunderland victs Virginia Gazette Virginia Gazette Purdie voyage West Country Western Circuit Whitehaven William women York