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Criminals in Our Past

© 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...

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