Hi
The Penal Servitude Act 1853 ended transportation (except in cases where a person could be sentenced to transportation for life or for a term not less than fourteen years) and substituted longer sentences in prison as a subsitute. The use of the ticket of leave, however, was kept, and prisoners with good conduct could be freed after serving a designated part of the sentence. If another crime was committed, the prisoner would be required to complete the full term of the original sentence. Thus the start of parole and parole records.
There is not much time between the start of parole records in 1853 and her death in 1855 and as it was a brand new system the numbers of women are quite low to begin with.
1853 - 10 (2 women convicted and sentenced in a London or Middlesex court - 20%)
1854 - 32 (6 women convicted and sentenced in a London or Middlesex court - 19%)
1855 -115 (16 women convicted and sentenced in a London or Middlesex court - 14%)
1856 (peak year) - 222 (36 women convicted and sentenced in a London or Middlesex court - 16%)
Transportation ended completely in 1857.
It is worth noting these parole records also contain paroles for women sentenced and convicted in Scotland.
The records for men are not online but are held at The National Archives. The numbers for male prisoners are substantially higher.
The records are very detailed
'Home Office and Prison Commission: Female Licences
Notes of licences to female convicts to be at large, and notes of revocation of such licences, under the Penal Servitude Acts 1853 and 1864 endorsed on old captions and, in some cases, transfer papers. Each file can include a photograph (from 1871 onward), letters or notes from the prisoner, a Medical History sheet, reports of misconduct whilst in prison, the court of conviction, details of crime and of previous crimes.'
Regards
Valda
