| Act of Parliament | |
 | |
| Long title | An Act for the further preventing Robbery, Burglary, and other Felonies, and for the more effectual Transportation of Felons, and unlawful Exporters of Wool; and for declaring the Law upon some Points relating to Pirates. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 4 Geo. 1. c. 11 |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 21 March 1718 |
| Other legislation | |
| Amended by | Criminal Statutes Repeal Act 1827 |
| Repealed by | Criminal Law Act 1967 |
Status: Repealed | |
The Piracy Act 1717 (4 Geo. 1. c. 11), sometimes called the Transportation Act 1717 (1718 in New Style[2]),[3] was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain that established a regulated, bonded system to transport criminals to colonies in North America for indentured service, as a punishment for those convicted or attainted in Great Britain, excluding Scotland. The Act established a seven-year transportation sentence as a punishment for people convicted of lesser felonies (those under the benefit of clergy), and a fourteen-year sentence for more serious crimes, in lieu of capital punishment. Completion of the sentence had the effect of a pardon; the punishment for returning before completion was death. It is commonly accepted that 30,000 convicts (women, men and children) may have been transported to the British American colonies, with some estimates going as high as 50,000.[2]
The Act established that merchants and others could contract transport convicts, after giving a surety bond that the transport would be made and the term of service would be completed. To accomplish this, the Act declared that the contractor had a property and interest in the convict's transport and service. Significantly under section five, and after noting the many idle youth "lurking" about London and elsewhere, wanting employment, and otherwise tempted toward crime "if not provided for," the Transportation Act included that merchants and others could also contract with 15-20 year-olds, who were willing to be transported and serve up to eight years indentured service. Other sections of the Act imposed stricter measures against fencing stolen goods, making them fourteen-year sentences instead of mere accessories to theft;[4] imposed a seven-year transportation sentence for those imprisoned for, or breaking, the long-time prohibition on exporting wool in violation of the Acts of Trade.
- ^ The citation of this Act by this short title was authorised by the Short Titles Act 1896, section 1 and the first schedule. Due to the repeal of those provisions it is now authorised by section 19(2) of the Interpretation Act 1978.
- ^ a b Ekirch, Roger (1987). Bound for America: The Transportation of British Convicts to the Colonies, 1718-1775. New York: Clarendon/Oxford University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0198202110.
- ^ As to the year of an Act, see Johnson, Privatised Law Reform, 2018, p 31; Johnson, Parliament, Inventions and Patents, 2018, note 1 to Introduction; Chitty's Statutes of Practical Utility, 6th Ed, 1911, vol 1, title "Act of Parliament", p 28.
- ^ Beattie, J. M. Crime and the Courts in England 1660 - 1800. Oxford: Clarendon, 1986, pp.189-90.