(Extracts from) The Complete Book of Immigrants in Bondage 1614 – 1775

Peter Wilson Coldham, 1988

(This article lists the English Phelps who were sentenced by legal process to be transported to American colonies. This copied list has been restricted to Virginia primarily. Also included are excerpts from several related books.  Extracted by Doug Phelps)

INTRODUCTION

Between 1614 and 1775 some 50,000 Englishmen were sentenced by legal process to be transported to the American colonies. With notably few exceptions their names and the record of their trial have survived in public records together with much other information which enables us to plot the story of their unhappy and unwilling passage to America. These records are now combined and condensed in this volume to form the largest single collection of transatlantic passenger lists to be found during the earliest period of emigration.

The bitterness and controversy aroused amongst certain American scholars when the nature and scale of convict transportation to the colonies were first hinted at have been forced to yield to the weight of documentary evidence accumulated mainly during the post-war years. Marion and Jack Kaminkow were the first to publish extensive lists of transported felons taken from British Treasury records, and it was that work which encouraged me to undertake further research to determine the existence and location of other records in this area.' The scale on which transportation was regularly practiced became clear as the annals of the Old Bailey were slowly unraveled and matched against the Treasury papers unearthed by the Kaminkows. The first fruits of this labour were published in English Convicts in Colonial America, Volume I (1974) covering Middlesex, and Volume 11 (1976) London.2 In order to present a more comprehensive account, the records of the Assize and Palatinate courts- covering all the counties of England were then studied one by one and a further series of volumes incorporating Vols. I and II. of English Convicts in Colonial America was then published as Bonded Passengers to America (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1983). Bound in three volumes, it also included a history of transportation from 1615 to 1775. There remained to be examined, however, the scattered records of over fifty Courts of Quarter Session each having the power to impose sentences of transportation, and that work, which has now been largely accomplished, is included in this one comprehensive volume. To facilitate reference to what has grown into a publication of substantial proportions, the,former arrangement by county has been dropped in favour of a completely° alphabetical listing.

The notes and appendices which follow are intended to summarize the history of English criminal transportation and the nature and location of source material used in compiling this book. However, in view of the volume and diversity of the sources used, any who seek more detailed notes and references are advised to consult those which prefaced volumes in the original series of Bonded Passengers to America.

(Several other pages were not copied)

… In addition, many contracts for the transportation of felons, gaolers' accounts, bonds, and lists relating to transportation are to be found in County Record Offices. Further information about most of the felons sentenced to transportation in London and Middlesex may be found in the printed series of Old Bailey Sessions Papers, copies of which are held in the London Guildhall Library and in the British Library at Bloomsbury.

A summary list of references to Public Record Office documents used in the compilation of this volume will be found in Appendix I (pardons issued up to 1717), Appendix II (shipping and passenger lists), and Appendix III (Assize Court records).

Arrangement of this Book

It will be appreciated that the lists presented in this volume are very highly condensed from original records and are intended principally to show the researcher where to look for further information. Each entry is therefore constructed as follows:
 

a)Surname and Christian name(s) with aliases where given in original documents.

b) Parish of -ongin. (Where none is shown the original bills of indictment should be consulted.)

c) Occupation or status. (Most often shown' as "labourer" in original documents and therefore not transcribed.)

d) Sentencing court, offence, and month and year of sentence.

e) Month, year, and ship (if known) on which transported.

f) Place, month, and year (if known) landed in America.

g) English county in which sentenced.

[The following includes the list of Phelps from the preceding book with possible added information from Bonded Passengers to America, Vol V and VI]

Edward Phelps Sentenced to Transportation stealing leather breeches Summer, Transportation Bond Sept 1753, Gloucestershire

Hugh Philips of Lyme Regis, Reprieved for transportation for Barbados Feb 1714, Dorset

John Phelps Sentenced on condition of transportation to the colonies for 7 years normally (alternate of 14), March 1745, Devon

John Phelps Sentenced on condition of transportation to the colonies for 7 years normally (alternate of 14) Dec 1756, Middlesex

Mary Phelps Sentenced on condition of transportation to the colonies for 7 years normally (alternate of 14), Lent 1748, Surrey

Thomas Phelps Sentenced on condition of transportation to the colonies for 7 years normally (alternate of 14)stealing at Selwick Lent 1752, Herefordshire

Thomas Phelps Sentenced on condition of transportation to the colonies for 7 years normally (alternate of 14), stealing lamb & Reprieved for transportation, 14 years Lent 1775, Berkshire

William Phelpes, Rebel Transported 1685

William Phelps Sentenced on condition of transportation to the colonies for 7 years normally (alternate of 14), Lent Transportation Bond March 1731 Gloustershire

William Phelps Sentenced on condition of transportation to the colonies for 7 years normally (alternate of 14), stealing at Bisley Lent Transportation Bond April 1747 Gloustershire