Brilliant, thanks for all that. My brother heard an interview on ABC radio where a professional genealogist (a Canadian) maintained that the crimes the convicts were transported for were not the crimes that were recorded against their names, and the original crimes were far more serious. I hadn't heard this theory before, and didn't believe his theory, so put it out there for the List to comment on, to see if anyone else had come across it. Many thanks for all the feedback, and for the "Treatise", which is quite fascinating and answers a lot of questions (thanks for typing it up, it must have taken ages). Best wishes to all, Trish Nowra NSW > OK guys, I did a search on Google books and here's the official list of > crimes and punishments taken from "A Treatise on the Police of the > Metropolis By Patrick Colquhoun" Published in 1806. > > 1. CRIMES punishable by the Deprivation of Life; and where upon the > Ccnviction of the Offenders, the sentence of Death must , be pronounced by > the Judge. - Of these, it has been stated, the whole, on the authority of > Sir William Blackstone, including all the various shades of the same > offence, is about 160 in number. > >

One more piece of info for your arsenal. LOL! On arrival in Australia, prior to leaving the ship, the convicts were all interviewed and each was required to state his past crimes. This info was recorded on their indents. So, I think it is safe to assume that the crime we see recorded is the crime for which they were convicted. Now, back to my family history... everyone must be getting sick of me. LOL! :) Lyn >From my own family history notes: About noon, on the 14th of January 1843, the Earl Grey, anchored in Hobart Town harbour. "An officer of the army, who is also a justice of the peace, came on board to visit me and joined in our social worship in the evening, when he delivered an address, in which the men appeared much interested. He specified the temptations to which they would be especially exposed in the colony; gave them seasonable advice, particularly respecting the use of intoxicating liquors, and earnestly exhorted them to become members of the Temperance Society." "The personal inspection of the prisoners in the usual way, and by the proper authorities, commenced on the morning of the 17th, and closed on the 19th." The Archives Office of Tasmania Guide to the Public Records of Tasmania, Section three, Convict Department by P. R. Eldershaw gives a good description of this "personal inspection": "on the arrival of a convict ship: ... a signal is made that there is a transport with male and female prisoners, as the case may be, on board. The Port Officer immediately proceeds... out to sea, to board her; he makes enquiries whether there are any complaints, examines into the state of prisoners on board, into the state of the ship...; no boat but the boat with the Colonial Secretary on board is to be suffered to go alongside, nor is any person to be suffered to leave the vessel except the Surgeon-Superintendent, who comes on shore and brings the despatches with him, and reports to the Governor... then the Colonial Secretary, accompanied by the Colonial Surgeon... goes on board. All the prisoners are drawn up for the Colonial Secretary to examine them; he enquires if there are any complaints.... These enquiries are not of a very minute nature, but general enquiries as to the state of the ship.... The Surgeon- Superintendent presents what I think is called the hulk list; however, it is a return of all the prisoners who are on board, drawn up by himself.... He minutely marks down every occurrence during the voyage.... The Surgeon-Superintendent delivers in a return showing the name, the number, the age, the birth-place, the crime, the period of conviction, when and where the sentence, whether married or single, whether he can read or write, or whether he can only read, or whether he can do neither, where taught, his trade, the character he brought from the gaoler, the character from the hulk, the alleged qualifications, what he is able to do and then his behaviour on board the transport. In addition... the Surgeon- Superintendent presents a despatch from the Secretary of State, which includes the indent, which is a nominal return of all the prisoners on board, their period of sentence, and some few other particulars connected with them, and the crime for which they have been transported, having the signature of the Secretary of State. Then... the Colonial Secretary transmits copies of these papers immediately to the Muster-master.... The Muster-Master... immediately prepares two large abstracts, and in those abstracts are inserted such particulars as he wishes to have before him on making his inspection on board the transport; he then on the following day... proceeds on board accompanied by the Principal Superintendent of Convicts; he then makes a most minute examination of every prisoner on board. With the information which he had collected from the Surgeon-Superintendent and from the hulk list he has already some part of the history of the convict before him, and with that information he generally draws from him many more particulars. The man perceives at once that the officer who is examining him does know something of his history; and not being quite conscious how much of it is known, he reveals, I should think, generally a very fair statement of his past life, apprehensive of being detected in stating what is untrue." ----- Original Message ----- From: "tsymonds" <psym8950@bigpond.net.au> To: <aus-convicts@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 5:46 PM Subject: Re: [AUS-CON] Truth in Sentencing > Brilliant, thanks for all that. My brother heard an interview on ABC > radio > where a professional genealogist (a Canadian) maintained that the crimes > the > convicts were transported for were not the crimes that were recorded > against > their names, and the original crimes were far more serious. I hadn't > heard > this theory before, and didn't believe his theory, so put it out there for > the List to comment on, to see if anyone else had come across it. Many > thanks for all the feedback, and for the "Treatise", which is quite > fascinating and answers a lot of questions (thanks for typing it up, it > must > have taken ages). > Best wishes to all, > Trish > Nowra NSW >