Warrant for the transfer of five convicts from Norfolk Gaol to Millbank Prison prior to transportation by [TRANSPORTATION] - 1843

Norwich & London: 8 November, 1843. Well preserved with old folds.. Bifolium sheet, the first two pages comprising letterpress, the remainder blank, manuscript notations in two hands. Original warrant confirming the transfer of five convicts to Millbank Prison from Norfolk jail as a prelude to transportation. The warrant is signed and dated, with manuscript details of six named convicts. The warrant authorises movement of the convicts only after they had been examined by a Medical Officer and declared 'free from any putrid or infectious distemper'. The convicts named are Robert Lincoln (alias Thomas Dove), Ellis Love, Joseph Wickham, William Chapman, Jason Howes and another man surnamed Cann (although the truncated first name is not recognisable). A manuscript note at conclusion of the warrant states 'Received into the Millbank Prison this 8th day of Nov. 1843 the Convicts named in the margin of the foregoing warrant. For the Governor Sam. Hatchard.' The document was issued at a time of increased transportation. Due to the social upheaval brought by the Industrial Revolution, crime and rates of conviction reached unprecedented levels by the early 1840's. A spike in the transportation of felons, especially to Van Diemen's Land, was a direct consequence. Such was the fate of Ellis Love, one of the convicts listed on this warrant who was shipped to Van Diemen's Land aboard the transport Equestrian in January 1844 to complete a ten year sentence.