Hi
Matthew Venn aged 19
Date of trial 4th August 1847 Bath City sessions Somerset
cannot read or write
Burgulary
11 others convicted of the same offence (though didn't necessarily all commit a crime together just that this was the most common crime), three transported, the other two sentenced for 7 years, Matthew was sentenced for 10 years. Others received sentences of 8 months to a year in prison.
1851 census HO107 1660 folio 512
Defense Invalid Convict Depot Alverstoke Hampshire
Matthew Venn 19 Convict Farm Labourer Cutcombe, Somerset
His age is at variance with the age given at the trial but the 1841 census supports the trial age as being correct
1841 census HO107 936/3 folio 11
Coombe Farm Cutcombe Somerset
Mary Ven 45
Matthew Ven 14
Silas Ven 12
Sarah Ven 7
all born Somerset
Adult ages, those over 15, usually rounded down to the nearest 5
All prisoners given sentences of transportation or a period of penal servitude (once transportation increasingly became a less viable option) - two years or more hard labour, were called convicts -they were government prisoners held in government establishements - prisons/hulks/depots. All other gaoled offenders were prisoners not convicts and were placed in local prisons to serve out their much shorter sentences.
Regards
Valda
