ABSTRACT
The first document includes the October 1820 trial and sentence of two cases of theft by offenders aged 14, which illustrate the remarkable inconsistency of sentencing. Additional archival sources tell people that Harwood was sentenced to 21 years’ transportation, though the trial transcript says for life, and sent to Van Diemen’s Land on 8 April 1821, arriving in Australia on 27 July 1821. The second document is taken from the Calendar of Prisoners of the Liverpool Sessions of October 1849, showing the crimes, previous convictions, and sentences of a number of offenders who came before the City Recorder. Ann McGivern, age 22, had been punished for the past two years by imprisonment of a few days or months for the crimes of prostitution, stealing money, and being a reputed thief. Assaulting police constables, even with a list of priors, attracted sentences of 7 and 11 months’ hard labour.
