Piracy Act 1717

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(Redirected from
Transportation Act 1717
)
For George I's Act of Grace, see 1717–1718 Acts of Grace.

Piracy Act 1717
4 Geo. 1. c. 11
Dates
Royal assent21 March 1718
Other legislation
Repealed byCriminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827
Status: Repealed

The Piracy Act 1717 (

attainted in Great Britain, excluding Scotland. The Act established a seven-year transportation sentence as a punishment for people convicted of lesser felonies (those under the benefit of clergy), and a fourteen-year sentence for more serious crimes, in lieu of capital punishment. Completion of the sentence had the effect of a pardon; the punishment for returning before completion was death. It is commonly accepted that 30,000 convicts (women, men and children) may have been transported to the British American colonies, with some estimates going as high as 50,000.[2]

The Act established that merchants and others could contract transport convicts, after giving a surety bond that the transport would be made and the term of service would be completed. To accomplish this, the Act declared that the contractor had a property and interest in the convict's transport and service. Significantly under section five, and after noting the many idle youth "lurking" about London and elsewhere, wanting employment, and otherwise tempted toward crime "if not provided for," the Transportation Act included that merchants and others could also contract with 15-20 year-olds, who were willing to be transported and serve up to eight years indentured service. Other sections of the Act imposed stricter measures against fencing stolen goods, making them fourteen-year sentences instead of mere accessories to theft;[4] imposed a seven-year transportation sentence for those imprisoned for, or breaking, the long-time prohibition on exporting wool in violation of the Acts of Trade.

Development and passage

Although the sentence of transportation with the royal prerogative of mercy had been granted as an alternative to a death sentence for a century,[5] its usage was irregular and subject to abuse. Several sections of the Habeas Corpus Act 1679, as originally passed, contained provisions related to its then-current usage.[6] , The Bill for the Act was introduced into the House of Commons in 1717 under the

Solicitor General, who became "the architect of the transportation policy" as developed under the Act.[7] The Act mandated transportation as a direct sentence, thus simplifying and hastening the process of criminal sentencing.[8]

The reasons for passing the Act, as stated in the preamble, include the insufficiently effective sentencing,

misdemeanours
), concern over crowd behaviour at public punishments, and a new determination by parliament to push through the legislation despite colonial opposition. Transportation thus became a regularly available and normal sentence for the courts to hand down to those convicted of non-capital offences as well as capital crimes.

Provisions

The Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 repealed the whole of the Piracy Act 1717 as to England and as to offences committed within the jurisdiction of the admiralty of England, except so much thereof as related to the trial of piracy, felony or robbery committed within the admiralty jurisdiction. The effect of this was to repeal the whole Act, except section 7.[9][10]

Section 7

Unrelated to transportation, section 7 concerns the suppression of piracy. The death penalty for most kinds of piracy was abolished by the Piracy Act 1837, which preserved the death penalty for piracy with intent to kill.

The words from "and shall and ought" to the end were repealed by section 1 of, and the First Schedule to, the Statute Law Revision Act 1948.[11] This section was repealed by section 10(2) of, and Part I of Schedule 3 to the Criminal Law Act 1967.[12]

Later Acts and general results

Following the initial passage of the 1717 Act, several other statutes regulating and related to the penal transportation system to America were passed.

8 Geo. 3. c. 15) [19]
was passed to make the existing transportation process faster and more effectual.

The Transportation Act, with the system that developed in North America, are generally considered a success; it became a popular method for criminal punishment, as well as for dealing with the poorer and younger elements of British urban society at the time. One reason for the success of this Act was that it obviated the financially costly voyage itself; the existing system of sponsorship by merchants had not worked effectively and needed improvement. The government eventually accepted Thomson's proposal to pay merchants to transport convicts, with the Treasury contracting London merchant Jonathan Forward.[20] The business was entrusted to Forward in 1718. Initially he was paid £3 for each prisoner transported, but the price was raised to £5 in 1727.[8] Despite some complaints from colonial governments, the system was favoured by the British government. In exchange for relatively small monetary subsidies, contractors relieved the government of convict maintenance costs. Contractors then sold transported prisoners in labour-starved colonial markets, such as the Chesapeake, for an average price of £10.

Suspension and significance

As thus developed, the established system for transporting convicts to the British American colonies continued until 1776 when its use was temporarily suspended by the

19 Geo. 3. c. 54), with little resolution of the developing accommodation problems.[25]

This situation would continue without any resolution until orders in council on 6 December 1785 which mandated the establishment of a penal colony in New South Wales.[26][27] In 1787 British transportation of criminals resumed with the departure of the First Fleet to colonies being established in Australia; its usage would be greatly reduced in the 1850s, but continue until the last arrived in 1868.

See also

Footnotes

  1. short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0198202110
    .
  3. ^ As to the year of an Act, see Johnson, Privatised Law Reform, 2018, p 31; Johnson, Parliament, Inventions and Patents, 2018, note 1 to Introduction; Chitty's Statutes of Practical Utility, 6th Ed, 1911, vol 1, title "Act of Parliament", p 28.
  4. ^ Beattie, J. M. Crime and the Courts in England 1660 - 1800. Oxford: Clarendon, 1986, pp.189-90.
  5. ^ Acts of the Privy Council of England Colonial Series, Vol. I, 1613-1680, p.12. (1908)
  6. ^ "An Act for the better secureing the Liberty of the Subject and for Prevention of Imprisonments beyond the Seas.”
  7. ^ Beattie, 2001, p. 429
  8. ^
    ISBN 0-19-820058-7
    , p.503-504
  9. ^ N Simons. The Statutes of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Volume 29. 1829. p 81.
  10. ^ Joint Volumes of Papers Presented to the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly. Volume 3. Page 353. See further pages 315, 329 and 352.
  11. ^ The Public General Acts . . . of 1948, vol 2, pp 1404 & 1458.
  12. ^ The Public General Acts . . . 1967, Pt 1, pp 1191 & 1203
  13. ^ Hugh Edward Egerton, A short history of British colonial policy, p.262-269 (1897)
  14. ^ "An act for the further preventing robbery, burglary, and other felonies, and for the more effectual transportation of felons."
  15. ^ a b Transportation
  16. ^ John Hostettler, A History of Criminal Justice in England and Wales, p.157
  17. ^ "An act for the easy and effectual conviction of offenders found at large within the kingdom of Great Britain, after they have been ordered for transportation."
  18. ^ "An act to prevent the return of such rebels and traitors concerned in the late rebellion, as have been, or shall be pardoned on condition of transportation; and also to hinder their going into the enemies country."
  19. ^ "An act for the more speedy and effectual transportation of offenders."
  20. ISBN 0-19-820867-7
    , p.429-430
  21. ^ "An act to authorise, for a limited time, the punishment by hard labour of offenders who, for certain crimes, are or shall become liable to be transported to any of his Majesty's colonies and plantations."
  22. ^ Marilyn C. Baseler, "Asylum for Mankind": America, 1607-1800, p.125, Cornell University Press (1998)
  23. ^ See: Prohibitory Act
  24. Encyclopedia Virginia
  25. ^ a b Drew D. Gray, Crime, Policing and Punishment in England, 1660-1914 p.298 (2016)
  26. Townsville Daily Bulletin
    . Qld.: National Library of Australia. 2 October 1952. p. 5. Retrieved 22 January 2012.
  27. ^ "Australian Discovery and Colonisation". The Empire. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 14 April 1865. p. 8.

Further reading

  • "The Piracy Act, 1717". Halsbury's Statutes of England. (The Complete Statutes of England). First Edition. Butterworth & Co (Publishers) Ltd. 1929. Volume 4. Page 343. [1] [2] [3]
  • The Statutes: Second Revised Edition. 1889. Volume 2. Page 27.
  • Edith M. Ziegler, Harlots, Hussies, and Poor Unfortunate Women: Crime, Transportation, and the Servitude of Female Convicts. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2014.
  • ISBN 978-0806317786
    .

External links
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