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Subject: [CRAWFORD] Fw: Ancestry Daily News, Interesting Information
Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2001 12:34:02 -0700

Some more interesting info and useful tips rom Ancestry News Letter.
Wanda


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"SAVING THEIR NECKS: THE ORIGINS OF TRANSPORTATION TO AMERICA,"
by Sherry Irvine BA, CGRS, FSA(Scot)
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Vagrancy and minor criminal offenses were serious problems in late
Tudor England. Too many people were wandering the countryside or
drifting into towns, and the social safety net of the abbeys and
monasteries had disappeared, plundered at the time of Henry VIII. The
situation became very serious toward the end of the reign of
Elizabeth I, in the 1590s, when several factors operated together:
poor harvests, enclosures of common land, and the decline of
cultivation in favor of raising sheep. There had been a variety of
attempts to cope with the problem. The Poor Law was passed in 1601.
It placed the burden of support on the parishes and required that
destitute people be sent home to their parishes of settlement to
receive relief. In an effort to contain unemployment, an act of 1563
required that all who would pursue a craft or trade serve an
apprenticeship of at least seven years.

Theft and other disruptions to law and order had been discouraged for
a long time through severe penalties; first dozens, then hundreds, of
offenses were defined as felonies and all felonies carried the death
penalty. There were not, however, as many executions as might be
imagined because local justices balanced the severity of the law with
clemency. In Medieval times, a legal fiction evolved to help many
people save their necks.

This process came to be called "benefit of clergy." It was based on
the theory that anyone who could read a verse of the Bible must be a
clerical person and therefore was not subject to the heavy penalties
of secular courts. The measure of this ability was simple - to read
the 50th (later, in the King James Bible it became the 51st) Psalm.
The convicted person suffered branding on the thumb rather than
death. As the clerical test never changed, the "neck verse" could be
memorized.

Another way to escape hanging was to be pardoned. This method was
used regularly in the early 1600s. Those who avoided the noose
through a pardon or by "benefit of clergy" were then back in
circulation. Their numbers grew and people in authority began to
realize another problem was in the making.

Out of this came the ideas of, first, offering transportation as an
alternative to execution, and secondly, of designating crimes as
clergyable or non-clergyable, i.e., dispensing with the farcical
"proof" of an ability to read (1705). The final logical step was to
legislate that those convicted of clergyable offenses were to be
transported to the Colonies. Transportation to America and the West
Indies began in the 1600s and a significant surge occurred when it
became a legal punishment in 1717.

During the wars with the French, which ending 1n 1713, the army had
absorbed most of the lesser offenders. That option disappeared at a
time when the Colonies were looking for labor. It was therefore
enacted that all those guilty of "clergyable" offenses, and all those
convicted of offenses punishable by branding or whipping, were to be
transported to the Colonies for either seven or fourteen years. The
penalty for an early return was death.

How many were transported to America between 1717 and 1776 has been a
subject for academic debate. Estimates range from thirty thousand and
fifty thousand, varying in part according to whether all convicts
from England, Scotland and Ireland are included. The evidence also
points to the destinations of these people - the majority went to
Maryland and Virginia. A subsequent article will deal with picking up
the trail of these offenders in England.

FURTHER READING

Smith, A. E. "Colonists in Bondage: White Servitude and Convict Labor
in America 1607-1776." New York: Norton, 1971.

Ekirch, A.R. "Bound for America: The Transportation of British
Convicts to the Colonies 1718 - 1775." Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1987.

WEB SITES

PRO Pathways - Prisoners and Transportation
http://www.pro.gov.uk/pathways/FamilyHistory/gallery5/default.htm

International Centre for Convict Studies
http://iccs.arts.utas.edu.au
___________________________________________________________________

Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) has been researching her British
ancestry for thirty years. She founded Interlink Bookshop and
Genealogical Services (http://www.interlinkbookshop.com) in 1988; she
currently lectures in Canada and the United States and is vice
president of the Association of Professional Genealogists. You can e-
mail Sherry with suggestions for future British genealogy articles at
mailto:. She will not be able to send
personal replies, but will feature some questions in upcoming issues
of the "Ancestry Daily News." Sherry also regrets that she is unable
to assist with personal research. Sherry is also the author of:

"Your Scottish Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans"
http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P1046

"Your English Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans"
http://www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P1045

(Both books are on sale today in The Shops @ Ancestry.com for only
$15.95.)
___________________________________________________________________
ANCESTRY QUICK TIP
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Whenever a child, niece, nephew, cousin, etc. gets married I print
out a pedigree, family group sheets for all the ancestors, including
cousins, bind it and give it as a gift for the bridal shower. This
book is a big hit and provides the new family member a guide to who
is who in the family.

Carole Allen

Normally "Your English Ancestry" retails for $19.95, but today you
can buy it in The Shops @ Ancestry.com for only $15.95.

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