Hi Bryan There is nothing remarkable about the fact that a 13 year old received a sentence. They were old enough to work long hours. He could have been living on the streets. Maybe he was an orphan. I doubt the colonial administration was even aware of young James Farrell before he arrived. No, the colonial administration did not issue pardons before the convict arrived. Assuming the 1836 newspaper report is correct, then there may have been at least two convicts named James Farrell, and they travelled on different voyages of the Surrey. The other Surrey convicts mentioned in the 1836 advert came on the 1834 voyage of the Surrey. Perhaps the paper made a mistake in saying James Farrell came on the Surrey and in fact its another James Farrell on an earlier different named ship. cheers Grahame