transportation and hanging
Posted by Caroline on January 06, 1998 at 23:36:55:
In response to a question, written by Lesley on January 06, 1998 at 21:33:56
During her trial, a 14 year old boy is sentenced to hang for stealing a loaf of bread. Is this an apocryphal story, then? I have read about this story in other sources as well.
I'm not at all sure of the details of hanging, but I know that someone couldn't be pardoned, or the sentence commuted, until he /she had been tried and found guilty first!So in other words, the boy was sentenced, but the sentence could have been changed later to something less drasticbut that wouldn't necessarily be done at the time of trial I must admit that I'm kind of vague on exactly how they did this.
In 'Moll Flanders'- yes, the PBS one- Jemmy escapes his fate by accepting transportation before the trial begins, thus there is no need for a trial. Also in that adaptation, Moll is pardoned (due to a bit of blackmail and skulduggery on Jemmy's part) before she can hang. In the book, however, Moll doesn't need to be pardoned, because she convinces the authorities that she is really, genuinely repentant, so she gets transported instead at the end of the book.
Hope that makes it a bit clearer!
Also, a friend of mine in geneology informs me that many of the deportees ended up in Virginia. This is ironic since many Virginians pride themselves on their aristocratic heritage when in fact they are descended from these "criminals".
Yeah. I believe I have some thieving relatives who went to Botany Bay.....
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