Roger Ekirch - Bound for America_ The Transportation of B

Bound for America: The Transportation of British Convicts to the Colonies, 1718-1775

A. Roger Ekirch

During the 18th century, transportation to the colonies became Britain's foremost criminal punishment. From 1718 to 1775, British courts banished fifty thousand convicts. They formed the largest body of emigrants after African slaves ever compelled to go to America. A comprehensive account of the transportation in the years preceding the settling of Australia, this book combines analysis with a vivid narrative to provide new insights into the origins of crime and the treatment of offenders on both sides of the Atlantic.

Published in the United States

by Oxford University Press Inc., New York

A. Roger Ekirch 1987

Introduction

Prologue

Part One: Justice

1 Banishing Vice

2 Native Sons

3 The Rough Trade

Part Two: Penance

4 Rites of Passage

5 Exiles in the Promised Land

6 Trouble in the Chesapeake?

7 Coming Home

8 Epilogue

Preface

I became drawn to transportation, as the penalty of banishment was euphemistically called, while scanning the pages of that venerable early American newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. Although never finding the information that I was hunting for, I did stumble upon Benjamin Franklin's celebrated polemic instructing Americans to send Mother England rattlesnakes in return for convicted felons. His bitterly sarcastic indictment propelled me to dig further, and I shortly discovered that transportation had much to say about eighteenth-century crime and society, on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

In the course of my research, I came to rely upon the resources of many institutions. I am grateful to the Public Record Office (at both Chancery Lane and Kew); the Scottish Record Office; the British Library; the Guildhall Records Office in London; the Bodleian Library of Oxford University; the record offices of Coventry, Cumbria, Derbyshire, Devon, Gloucestershire, and Leicestershire; the Brecknock Museum; and, most of all, the Cambridge University Library. I owe a particular debt to Christine J. Fenn and Janice MacDonald of the UL's Rare Books Department for assisting my work. In the United States, I wish to thank the Maryland Hall of Records; the Maryland Historical Society; the Library of Congress; Alderman Library of the University of Virginia; the Virginia State Library; the Colonial Williamsburg Research Center; the William L. Clements Library of the University of Michigan; and the Massachusetts Historical Society. Special thanks are expressed to Dorothy F. McCombs, Sharon D. Alls, and their fellow-librarians at Newman Library at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Support for this study came from several sources, to whom I am very grateful: Virginia Tech, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Philosophical Society. My largest debts are to Paul Mellon, the Managers of the Mellon Research Fund, and the Faculty of History at Cambridge University. This book was in its infancy when I received a year-long appointment at Cambridge as Paul Mellon Research Fellow in American History. (p.viii) This good fortune aided my research immeasurably, not just because of the university's proximity to sources in London but also because of the assistance I received from local historians. My partners in crime, Joanna Innes and Peter King, were always willing to lend a hand or read an early draft, as were several specialists in American history: Roy Clayton, John A. Thompson, Betty C. Wood, William R. Brock, and Mark D. Kaplanoff. David and Margaret Reynolds helped me in innumerable ways. In addition, I became a Fellow Commoner of Peterhouse. For the many kindnesses I received there, I am deeply grateful to the Master, Lord Dacre (Hugh Trevor-Roper), and the Fellows of the College. Edward Norman, Paul Hopkins, Harold James, and Martin Golding were ever generous in their friendship. I should also like to thank Michael and Beatrice Hurst, whose unstinting good cheer made my visits to Oxford especially pleasant.

A number of people gave me their advice after reading either parts or all of earlier versions of the manuscript. Philip D. Morgan and Robert J. Brugger contributed their time and criticism on frequent occasions. Besides sharing his insights and research, John Beattie was an enormous source of encouragement. He has my fond appreciation. I also benefited from the comments of James Bacon, Paul G. E. Clemens, James S. Cockburn, Stephen J. Davies, Kenneth Morgan, Paul F. Paskoff, Marcus Rediker, Michael Ryder, and Shane White. Jack Greene, as ever, provided warm support, and John Russell-Wood furnished some delightfully droll counsel. For showing me portions of their unpublished research, I am indebted to Mollie Gillen, Farley Grubb, Peter C. Hoffer, John H. Langbein, Peter Linebaugh, Magalys Perez, Gary P. Secor, and Lida Stout. John Treadway kindly provided me with copies of some materials I missed at the Public Record Office.

Colleagues at Virginia Tech offered assistance at various times: Linda Arnold, Frederic J. Baumgartner, Richard F. Hirsh, Charles M. Reed, George Green Shackelford, Crandall A. Shifflett, and Joseph L. Wieczynski. I am grateful to Lisa Donis, Patty S. Mills, and Debbie Rhea for their accomplished typing. The Graphic Arts staff and, most particularly, Cathy Gorman were responsible for the figures and maps. For permission to draw upon portions of the book that earlier appeared in their journals, I thank the editors of the American Historical Review , the Journal of British Studies , and the William and Mary Quarterly . Ivon Asquith, Robert Faber, (p.ix) and Dorothy McLean of the Oxford University Press have been splendid editors. I very much appreciate their efforts on my behalf.

My father has always been a wonderful source of inspiration, and my mother offered unfailing moral support. During research forays to Washington, DC, my sister and her husband, Caryl and George Williams, along with Morgan and Grayson, provided welcome hospitality. Most important, my final thanks are reserved for Alice, whose affection and good humour were invaluable. This book is dedicated to her, with love.

A.R.E.

Blacksburg, Virginia

August 1986

NB: All dates are rendered in new style, with the new year beginning on 1 January. Quotations are in the original spelling, except that abbreviations have been expanded and punctuation added where necessary. For the sake of convenience, the term Britain is normally meant to include the whole of Ireland as well as England and Scotland (i.e. the British Isles rather than just the United Kingdom), and England is normally meant to include Wales, as a reflection of the political realities of the time. Except where specially noted, references to monetary values in Britain are to British sterling and those to monetary values in America are to the common currency of the colony.

(p.x)

Maps and Figures

Map 1. Distribution of Convicts in English/Welsh Assize Circuits, 17691776

Map 2. London and Bristol Trade Zones, and Other Ports of Embarkation for English Convicts

Map 3. The Chesapeake, 1750

Fig. 1. Convicts Transported from London, Middlesex, Buckinghamshire, and the Home Counties, 17181772

Fig. 2. Arrival by Month of Convicts, Servants, and Slaves Imported into Maryland, 17461775

Illustrations

Between pages 110 and 111

A Picture on the Punishment of Titus Oates (1685)
Courtesy: Trustees of the British Museum

William Hogarth, Industry and Idleness , Plate 10 (1747)