Ticket of leave

For the film, see Ticket of Leave (film).

A ticket of leave was a document of parole issued to convicts who had shown they could now be trusted with some freedoms. Originally the ticket was issued in Britain and later adopted by the United States, Canada and Ireland.

Jurisdictions

Australia

The ticket system was first introduced by Governor Philip Gidley King in 1801. It officially began in 1853 when prisoners transported from the United Kingdom to Australia, and subsequently other colonies, who had served a period of probation—and shown by their good behaviour that they could be allowed certain freedoms—were awarded the ticket of leave. Once granted, a convict was permitted to seek employment within a specified district, but could not leave the district without the permission of the government or the district's resident magistrate. Each change of employer or district was recorded on the ticket.The convicts had to do jobs to get money to get a ticket of leave.[1]

Originally the ticket of leave was given without any relation to the period of the sentence being served. Starting in 1811, a concept of serving some term in prison first was established; and in 1821 specific terms were added to the length of the prisoner's sentence that must be first served before a ticket was to be allowed. These were 4 years served for a 7-year sentence, 6 years of a 14-year sentence, with a life sentence meaning that 8 years must be served before the "ticket" could be considered.[2] Once the full original sentence had been served, a "certificate of freedom" would be issued upon application.

Ticket-of-leave men were permitted to marry, or to bring their families from Britain, and to acquire property, but they were not permitted to carry firearms or board a ship, and they were often restricted to a specific district stipulated on the ticket. They were often required to repay the cost of their passage to the colony.

A convict who observed the conditions of his ticket-of-leave until the completion of one half of his sentence was entitled to a conditional pardon, which removed all restrictions except the right to leave the colony. Convicts who did not observe the conditions of their ticket could be arrested without warrant, tried without recourse to the Supreme Court, and would forfeit their property.

The ticket of leave had to be renewed annually, and those with one had to attend muster and church services.

NSW Colonial Government - Convict Ticket of Leave Passport

The ticket itself was a highly detailed document, listing the place and year the convict was tried, the name of the ship in which he or she was transported, and the length of the sentence. There was also a detailed physical description of the convict, along with year of birth, former occupation and "native place".

Tickets comprise two components. The ticket proper was issued to the person named and it was mandatory for the person to carry that document on their person at all times. The second component was the "butt"; this was the official copy and was kept by the Government on file. The tickets proper are quite rare as they were in constant use by the owner. The "butts" are still retained in archive records and are available for researchers.

According to Alexander Maconochie, tickets of leave could be suspended in summary fashion for the most "trifling irregularities," and a "very large proportion" of ticket-of-leave holders were returned to government work as a result.[3]

British military

In the Second World War the "ticket of leave" was a colloquial name given to the papers allowing a soldier to take leave from active service.[4]

Ireland

Walter Crofton administered the Irish ticket of leave system.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Bottomley: Parole in Transition: A Comparative Study of Origins, Developments, and Prospects for the 1990s". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2008-05-11.
  2. ↑ Alexander B. Smith; Louis Berlin (1988). Treating the criminal offender. Springer. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-306-42885-2. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  3. ↑ Doherty, Fiona (2013). "Indeterminate Sentencing Returns: The Invention of Supervised Release". N.Y.U. L. Rev. 88 (958).
  4. ↑ Smith, Richard (2004). Jamaican volunteers in the First World War : race, masculinity and the development of national consciousness (1. publ. ed.). Manchester Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-7190-6985-7.

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Ticket-of-leave.
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