Industrial British Crime and Punishment

Transportation was a popular form of punishment in the mid 18th and early 19th century.

It involved taking convicted criminals to another country to become slaves  for  a period of time to foreign land owners. This was either on a farm or as a household servant.

The bloody code became less popular towards the 19th century as  people thought the punishments were too harsh and should better fit the crime committed. Prison was not an option as holding cells were supposed to be for a short period only. It became more common for convicts to be sent to the new colony of Australia.

If a convict was sentenced to transportation, they would be sent to Australia for a period of 3-7 years (the sentence only began when they landed in Australia and the journey took nine months to complete).

When a convict arrived they were sent…