The Felonry and the Free? Divisions in Colonial Society in the Penal Era
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2759762 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sandra Blair (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1983 |
| Issue | 45 |
| Pages | 1 |
| Publication date | 1983-01-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Labour History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0023-6942 • E-ISSN: 1839-3039 |
| Publisher | Liverpool University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.2307/27508602 |
| OpenAlex | W2324136683 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
'Major' James Mudie expressed an extreme view of the nature of social divisions in the colony of New South Wales in The Felonry of New South Wales.1 He argued that the distinction between convict and free provided the means to separate society into two castes, which he labelled the 'felonry' and the free immigrant settlers.2 The latter, in Mudie's opinion, deserved to receive the civic rights and political rep resentation that rightfully belonged to all free British subjects. Mudie believed that the former category, which included ex-convicts as well as convicts, should be excluded forever from rights which would create equality with voluntary immigrants of an unblemished character. This principle, if applied to the colonies, would have reduced the numerous group of ex-convicts within the free population to a permanently in ferior status. Mudie's detractors have suggested that he wanted to ex tend these disabilities even further, by making them hereditary and thus perpetuating the division between convict and free. The main target of Mudie's invective was Governor Richard Bourke and the liberal
Colonialism · Criminology · Political science · Project commissioning · Publishing · Sociology · Colonialism, slavery, and trade · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Law
| Citations per year | 0.08 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1989 - 2022 (34) |
| Highly cited | No |