Geoff, Could you explain what you mean by "To return from transportation was officially punishable by death but that was not always enforced." I was under the impression that once an offender had served his sentence and returned from transportation he was a free man or woman. regards David Caisley On 14 September 2014 15:39, Geoff Nicholson via <northumbria@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > Yes, for some (a very few) transportation was the key to forging a new > life through hard work, and for a few of them, that new life could lead on > to financial and social success. To return from transportation was > officially punishable by death but that was not always enforced. There was > one case in Co Durham in the mid-19th century where a man had been caught > and found guilty of stealing hay from a field. The judge said that he had > thought at first of sentencing him to transportation. However, as the > prisoner had already been transported twice, and had returned each time, he > thought that would not be effective and therefore he imposed a prison > sentence instead. > > Geoff Nicholson > > > -----Original Message----- > From: John Lynch via <northumbria@rootsweb.com> > To: 'Rosemary Ackroyd' <missy00717@hotmail.com>; 'Northumberland Mailing > List' <northumbria@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 13:44 > Subject: Re: [NMB] Execution Records > > > Well, I can certainly tell you that the brother of an ancestor of mine from > Bedfordshire who was sentenced to transportation to Australia for seven > years > served his time, stayed on and sent for other members of his family. Their > descendants are there still :-) > > John Lynch > > -----Original Message----- > From: Rosemary Ackroyd [mailto:missy00717@hotmail.com] > Sent: 14 September 2014 11:57 > To: John Lynch; Northumberland Mailing List > Subject: Re: [NMB] Execution Records > > I've certainly read (true or not, I'm not sure) that in some instances > people > committed crimes in the hope of being transported to Australia. Perhaps to > follow a spouse. > > Seems a high risk strategy! > > Rosemary Ackroyd > > > .. > Please quote the minimum necessary to put your reply on context. Please > introduce yourself at the top of every post. > > The NORTHUMBRIA FAQ page is located at > http://www.bpears.org.uk/NorthumbriaFAQ/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NORTHUMBRIA-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body > of > the message > > > .. > Please quote the minimum necessary to put your reply on context. Please > introduce yourself at the top of every post. > > The NORTHUMBRIA FAQ page is located at > http://www.bpears.org.uk/NorthumbriaFAQ/ > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NORTHUMBRIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >