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I'm going to cheat and type this up from a book upstairs. Nice little yellow paperback about Port Arthur by Ian Brand. Got a lot of information in it for the size. ARTHUR'S SYSTEM This is the system Governor Arthur set up in VDL the mid 1820s through to 1840. It was supposed to encourage/reward good behaviour by moving through the classes - higher classes = more freedom Class 1 - Ticket of leave. Could own property, work for wages (and often for higher wages than a free man). About 10% were in this class Class 2 - Assigned servants. Settlers had to feed/clothe them and in return they did whatever work was required. About 50% were in this class Class 3 - Employed in public works by the government Class 4 - Road Gangs. 20% were in classes 3 & 4 Class 5 - Hard labour in chains about 5% Class 6 - Convicted of offences in the colony. Hard labour in penal settlements (Maria Island, Macquarie Harbour later Port Arthur) Class 7 - Same as 6 but served sentence in chains. 5% were in classes 6 & 7 Rest were invalids. Now for women (and I've just been to the Female Factory today so... actually, that could be another email in itself) Class 1 - Assigned servants Class 2 - Minor offences Class 3 - Major affences & offences commited in colony Obviously, class 1 were sent elsewhere, classes 2 & 3 varied in the type of work they did PROBATION SYSTEM Let's see. Convicts had to work at a probation station for a period of time (see below). They were put into gangs of about 300 and sent out to do agricultural and road work. At the end of the time they were given a Probation Pass (so that's what they were!) then a Ticket of Leave then a Conditional Pardon. System collapsed due to a depression that made it hard for TL holders to find work and I bet the free settlers who'd lost their cheap servants weren't happy either). Three classes now. Class 1 lived in huts with little supervision, Class 3 were chain gangs. Guess Class 2 fell in the middle somewhere. Now time spent in probation depended on original sentence.
So, hope that's of interest to someone Back to main page Return to the index page
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