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Transportation
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Doug Laidlaw
Dec 2, 2019, 6:43:42 PM12/2/19
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I often wondered what England did with her convicts between 1776 and 1788.
Browsing through the records at the Old Bailey, I read that several men
sentenced to death had been reprieved and seven years transportation to
Africa was substituted. I thought "Huh?"
From Googling, I learned that during that interim period, among other
schemes, convicts were transported to West Africa to staff the slave
forts there. The idea had been mooted in 1771; the first convicts were
sent in 1781. They were given the status of soldiers, with one of them
as commanding officer. The venture ran into difficulties from the
beginning; one review calls it a "Disaster." The commanding officer
died soon after they arrived, and his substitute was only 21, and not as
good a commander. The slave traders were worried at having thieves as
supervisors. The sources are PDF pages, and so far, I have not read
them closely.
Doug.
[Copied with additions from a message sent to the Google Group
"wikitree-australia-projects." For those who don't know Wikitree, it is
an attempt to create one profile for each person in the world.
Membership is free.]
Browsing through the records at the Old Bailey, I read that several men
sentenced to death had been reprieved and seven years transportation to
Africa was substituted. I thought "Huh?"
From Googling, I learned that during that interim period, among other
schemes, convicts were transported to West Africa to staff the slave
forts there. The idea had been mooted in 1771; the first convicts were
sent in 1781. They were given the status of soldiers, with one of them
as commanding officer. The venture ran into difficulties from the
beginning; one review calls it a "Disaster." The commanding officer
died soon after they arrived, and his substitute was only 21, and not as
good a commander. The slave traders were worried at having thieves as
supervisors. The sources are PDF pages, and so far, I have not read
them closely.
Doug.
[Copied with additions from a message sent to the Google Group
"wikitree-australia-projects." For those who don't know Wikitree, it is
an attempt to create one profile for each person in the world.
Membership is free.]
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