Towards ending an unclean thing: The Molesworth committee and the abolition of transportation to New South Wales, 1837–40<sup>1</sup>

Ritchie, John

doi:10.1080/10314617608595544

Cited by 34 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…While the use of flash houses in this context may appear similar to the popular discourses discussed above, the discussions of flash houses in Select Committee reports reflect genuine and detailed policing knowledge, rather than popular and perhaps at times imaginary allegations. Select Committee reports are a valuable source because they represent the best approximation of direct accounts from police officers for this period, albeit refracted through the leading questions of the interviewers (see Allen, 1821: 3; Philips and Storch, 1999: 119; Ritchie, 1976: 149). The concerns about the potential for corruption of police officers through their interactions with offenders in flash houses were constantly tempered by police officers arguing that flash houses provided them with valuable opportunities for important police work and information collection.…”

Section: Official Discoursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Flash houses’: Public houses and geographies of moral contagion in 19th-century London

Bland

2021

History of the Human Sciences

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‘Flash houses’, a distinctive type of public house associated with criminal activity, are a shadowy and little-studied aspect of early 19th-century London. This article situates flash houses within a wide perspective, arguing that the discourses on flash houses were part of concerns about the threat of the urban environment to the moral character of its inhabitants. The article draws on an original synthesis of a range of sources that refer to flash houses, including contemporary literature, newspapers, court documents, and government papers. It demonstrates that flash houses were part of both popular intrigue about the perceived ‘criminal underworld’ and official concerns about the collusion between police officers and suspected offenders, since police officers allegedly frequented flash houses to gather criminal information. A detailed examination of this term reveals anxieties about the state of the metropolis, poverty, and criminality that were central to the early 19th-century consciousness. However, the discussion of flash houses in this context also demonstrates a powerful connection in contemporary minds between the physical spaces of the city and the risks that they posed to inhabitants' morals. While associations between the physical environment and morality have been drawn throughout history, flash houses represent a paradigmatic moment in this dialogue. This is because different moral concerns coalesced around the discourse on flash houses: anxieties about the criminal underworld, the potential for moral degradation of young people who frequented these spaces, and the corruption of police officers through contact with known or suspected offenders.

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Section: Official Discoursesmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Flash houses’: Public houses and geographies of moral contagion in 19th-century London

Bland

2021

History of the Human Sciences

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“…390 Molesworth was an arch-Benthamite and his fellow students, according to John Ritchie, joked that Molesworth 'not only admired Bentham but also understood him'. 391 Bentham's influence ran deep, and it is striking how similar Molesworth's parliamentary reports on transportation are, stylistically, methodologically and philosophically, to Panopticon versus New South Wales. 392 They are key documents in the history of transportation and were responsible for shaping perceptions Fig.25 'The Kangaroo' by Arthur Bowes Smyth, c.1787-9.…”

Section: Jeremy Bentham and Panopticon Versus New South Walesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Memorandoms by James Martin

Martin¹

2017

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List of illustrations xiii List of abbreviations xv A note on the ages of the escapees xvi xvi A note on the ages of the escapees Recording with precision the ages of those transported to Australiaparticularly of those sent early in the convict period-can be a difficult task. There is often disagreement between primary sources as to how old the transportees were, and convicts themselves may have had reason to conceal their true ages from the authorities. A number of sources consulted in the preparation of this give differing accounts of the ages of the nine transportees at the heart of this work. As a result, unless there is definite proof of when one of the group was born or baptised, a range of dates are provided when giving their years of birth, for example William Bryant (b.c.1758-61, d.1791). The sources consulted for the ages of the escapees were:

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“…Transportation, according to the committee, did not fulfil a deterrent function and the convicts were neither punished nor rehabilitated under that system. 20 Accordingly, in 1840, convict transportation to NSW was discontinued, although some convicts were still sent to Van Diemen's Land. Then, the assignment system in Van Diemen's Land was also terminated in 1842 and replaced by a probation system; a system that was rooted in the major penal philosophy in Britain that favoured separation and classification.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colonial Britain's Convict Labour Policies and the Cape Colony, 1806-1899

Swiegers

Wessels

2022

Historia

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This article evaluates how convict labour alleviated labour shortages experienced in the Cape Colony from 1806 to 1899. It explores and evaluates Britain's significant impact on labour policies followed in the Cape Colony and focuses on the imperial government's role in developing legislation and procedures regarding management and transportation of convicts. It also considers the influence of nineteenth century policies of convict control in Britain, and the application of these policies and labour regimes in the Cape Colony. The article describes convict transportation, anti-convict agitation by Cape colonists and the economic significance of convict labour and public works projects. Finally, the convict lease system - the practice of hiring convicts to mines and to farmers - and Cape labour legislation's role in increasing the convict labour force through criminal sanctions will be examined.

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Towards ending an unclean thing: The Molesworth committee and the abolition of transportation to New South Wales, 1837–40¹

Cited by 34 publications

References 4 publications

‘Flash houses’: Public houses and geographies of moral contagion in 19th-century London

‘Flash houses’: Public houses and geographies of moral contagion in 19th-century London

Memorandoms by James Martin

Colonial Britain's Convict Labour Policies and the Cape Colony, 1806-1899

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Towards ending an unclean thing: The Molesworth committee and the abolition of transportation to New South Wales, 1837–401

Cited by 34 publications

References 4 publications

‘Flash houses’: Public houses and geographies of moral contagion in 19th-century London

‘Flash houses’: Public houses and geographies of moral contagion in 19th-century London

Memorandoms by James Martin

Colonial Britain's Convict Labour Policies and the Cape Colony, 1806-1899

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Towards ending an unclean thing: The Molesworth committee and the abolition of transportation to New South Wales, 1837–40¹