Hi all.
I do a lot of family history and that has got me interested in Transportation to Australia etc all those years back.
I have tried to get a defining answer to my question but had no luck even when talking to people related to the convicts of years gone by.
Just to say contrary to popular belief most of the convicts sent abroad were not henious criminals but in truth many were sent away for relatively simple things like stealing bread or a sheep....many woman sent were stealing to feed the children they had,of course there were many bad apples sent also but in the main most were ordinary folk who were spared the death penalty and were sent away....indeed many did well and after the sentences(maybe pardoned or just done the time)went on to be the people that helped mould the fledgling countries...Australia Canada and the USA.
Anyway the question is once a criminal man or woman were sentenced to transportation(minimum 7 years max life)by the letter of the law was it the case that the marriage by law was ended because you were a criminal.
Now i know that many criminals were indeed reunited with there other halfs later on when the sentence was finished so were they still married?
I ask because there are many cases where criminals got remaried in there adopted
countries and census records show they were already married
I know a few will wonder what the hell i am on aboutso apologies for that but...i have looked at Wiki and emailed certain organisations but cannot get a defining yes/no answer........so any DEFINATE info with regard the law would be appreciated
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convict_women_in_AustraliaAs i say like the above link there is plenty of info on certain aspects but i cannot trace a definate on the law once you were sentenced......cheers all.