Transportation of its own convicts to other colonies practised by South Australia between 1837 and 1851
Of the 264 South Australian criminals sentenced to be transported to other colonies between 1837 and 1851,178 were convictred for theft.
South Australia, while intent on to keeping itself isolated from the British export of its convicts to the colonies, practised transportation of its own convicts between 1837 and 1851.
As with other colonies in the empire, South Australia inherited British laws that allowed for the sentence of transportation for those guilty certain crimes. South Australia used the law to sentence 264 criminals to transportation (with two men being sentenced twice to be transported to otherAustralian colonies). Most these convicts were sent to Van Diemen's Land, although 60 were transported to Sydney before transportation there ended in 1840.
Those sentenced to be transported from South Australia were conveyed by small coastal traders that sailed between Port Adelaide, Sydney, southern New South Wales (later Victoria) and Van Diemen's Land. Their destination was largely determined by the itinerary of the next available vessel. Most of those transported, 178, were convicted of theft.
British enthusiasm for transportation of its convicts waned especially after the discovery of gold in New South Wales and Victoria in 1851. John Pakington, British secretary of state for the colonies, explained that it would be mistake to convey offenders, at the public expense, with the intent of later setting them free in the “immediate vicinity of those very gold fields which thousands of honest labourers are in vain striving to reach”.
In February 1851, the first public meeting to discuss ending transportation from South Australia was in February 1851. Later that year, the government responded by passing the Transportation Commutation Act, that became law in January 1852 and converted transportable offences to prison sentences to be served with with hard labour in South Australia. This meant Adelaide had build a new gaol as it didn’t have the capacity capacity to accommodate the extra prisoners.
The South Australian government’s State Records database gave details on persons convicted in South Australian courts to transportation. They showed that the South Australian courts were closely aligned to the sentencing strategies for transportation with their British counterparts.
