Nineteen crimes turned convicts into colonists. Upon conviction British rogues guilty of at least one of the 19 crimes were sentenced to live in Australia, rather than death. This punishment by "transportation" began in 1787 and many of the lawless died at sea. For the rough-hewn prisoners who made it to shore, a new world awaited. As pioneers in a frontier penal colony, they forged a new country and new lives, brick by brick. This wine celebrates the rules they broke and the culture they built.
Read Sir Robert Peel's speech from 1827 on criminal reform.
Abolished in 1827 when "simple larceny" removed the distinction between between petty and grand larceny.
An Act again "Pawnbroking" was passed by James I, targeting counterfeit brokers.
Out of the 15,379 court cases heard at the Old Bailey Courthouse between 1780 and 1800, 13,789 fell under the categories of theft and violent theft.
16th century England began the
criminalization of "The Wandering People." Eventually it became a felon to even impersonate one.
Blankets, bed covers, and sheets were woven, stamped or taped with "LCC" (London County Council) to deter theft.
"Underwood" is an olde english term for the undergrowth in a forest.
In 1767 it became a felony, without benefit of clergy, to rob mail or steal letters from the Post.
In the nineteenth century, as society became less tolerant of violence, two statutes turned the most serious offences into felonies.
This crime is still going on in the UK, with reports of stealing fish being front page news in 2015.
Theft was a common law offence, but there was a large number of statutes which mandated specific punishments for particular types of theft.
Due to the divorce laws in existence in the 19th Century, bigamy was a common occurrence.
Because of fashion trends and materials, women’s clothes in the 19th century were highly flammable.
The full title of this law was An act for the more effectual preventing the counterfeiting of the current coin of this kingdom, and the uttering or paying of false or counterfeit coin.
The passing of Hardwicke’s marriage act in 1753.
This was not because shrouds were particularly valuable or desirable, but because a corpse was officially not property, and therefore could not be stolen.
In the 16th century, Acts of Parliament regulated the watermen working on the tidal Thames between Gravesend and Windsor.
An incorrigible rogue is also anyone that was previously convicted as a rogue or vagabond, and resists apprehension.
Naval stores are all products derived from pine sap, which are used to manufacture soap, paint, varnish, shoe polish, linoleum, and roofing materials.