My ancestor aged just 16 was sentenced to 7 years for stealing a pair of shoes!!!( source newspaper report of the case in 1842) Other decendants have it as tools not shoes. No records of the quarter court sessions for that time and place still exist. However a polite email with names and dates to the local library asking if there were any newspaper records received a postive result. A suggestion given by another researcher in the same predicament of having no trial records to look at. regards Robyn in Wodonga ----- Original Message ----- From: "tsymonds" <psym8950@bigpond.net.au> To: <aus-convicts@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 10:12 PM Subject: Re: [AUS-CON] Truth in sentencing and Physical descriptions > > > Hi Janine, > > Thanks for your comments on sentencing. I've only seen a report in the > newspaper that the sentence was death and then they were reprieved, > receiving 7 years transportation instead. I'm still working on it, so > will > see what else turns up. My brother thinks I am naive in thinking that > gg-grandfather, and a lot of other convicts, were hard done-by, receiving > harsh sentences for minor misdemeanors. His point being that they were in > fact very bad men but the courts recorded their crimes as being much > softer > than they actually were. I just can't see the sense behind his argument - > what difference to the English legal system if they were transporting a > criminal to the other side of the world anyway, whether he received 7 > years > or life? I haven't come across anything in my research that supports his > theory, and maintain that gg-grandfather was really a very nice young man > who was unjustly treated. I was interested to know if it was an accepted > policy for the magistrates to do so. So thank you, and I'll keep looking > through the records to see if I find anything on it. > > Hi also to Alison Briggs, > > My gg-grandfather and his offsider, David Venson and David Bird, who I've > been discussing above, were also aboard the "Gilmore" arriving March 1832. > I requested their convict records from Tas.Archives and received the > indents > with their full descriptions, but I don't know if the master records for > your convicts are complete or damaged as well. Worth contacting > Tas.Archives to ask about it though. > > Cheers, > Trish > Nowra NSW > >> My ancestor was also given a death sentence for larceny (he stole 50 >> sovereigns), however that was overturned and he was given 21 years >> transportation instead. Interesting that your gggrandfather only got 7 >> years when death was the original sentence, I find that a little odd for >> stealing just a hat. I doubt they would have downgraded the charge, >> however >> the seven years appears to be very lenient after the first sentence of >> death. Another of my ancestors was given seven years transportation for >> stealing bedclothes. > > >> The physical description details for my convicts have been removed from >> the bound volume at the Tasmanian archives (i.e. the pages have been torn >> out!!!) and are not on the microfilm copy. The are for the Gilmore which >> arrived at Hobart in March 1832 (Christopher, Charles and James Briggs). > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > AUS-CONVICTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >