Prisoners convicted on the Lent Home Circuit in 1793, reprieved on 'favourable Circumstances' and recommended for mercy on the conditions set against their names:
Kent Assizes at Maidstone, 11 March:
"John Wellard, for stealing goods and money, value £4:11:2, property of Benjamin Briggs, goods, value 23/-, property of William Dean, and goods, value 6/3 property of James Dean, from the dwelling house of William Dean senior. Recommendation: 7 years transportation."
In this case, found on TNA, our ancestors were listed as the victims.
Source: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
Transportation was where convicted criminals were sent to the colonies to serve their sentence and was part of the penal system in early eighteenth century England. Prisoners were assigned to convict ships going to the American colonies and later to Australia, and persons who received a transportation sentence were not normally allowed to return to England. It is thought that many of the convicts did very well after being transported, serving only a short time confined or labouring before being released on licence.
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Thanks for this post. TNA is a wonderful resource.
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