Exile in a Land of Exiles: The Early History of Criminal Transportation Law in New South Wales, 1788-1809

Abstract

This article considers the peculiar application of English criminal transportation law in the 'convict colony' of New South Wales during its foundation years. It demonstrates, first, that transportation was not intended to be within the sentencing jurisdiction of the New South Wales Court, but that it was adopted and practised nonetheless, with confused and incongruous results. In particular, substantial challenges emerged in applying colonial or local sentences to a population that was largely already under sentence of transportation. The result was a raft of innovations and inconsistencies that highlighted the legal and practical problems of performing exile in a land of exiles.