RT Article
T1 Convict police and the enforcement of British order: Policing the rum economy in early New South Wales
JF The Australian and New Zealand journal of criminology
VO 53
IS 2
SP 248
OP 264
A1 Allen, Matthew
LA English
YR 2020
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1782250158
AB Among the many peculiarities of early New South Wales was the absence of a police force to manage a population largely composed of convicted criminals. Instead, the early Governors were forced to employ trusted convicts and ex-convicts to act as watchmen and constables and police their fellows. This article explores the history of these neglected convict police in the context of the contemporary development of modern policing in the British world. Using a case-study of a crack-down on illicit distilling under Governor King in 1805-1806, I demonstrate that the convict police were both surprisingly effective and prone to corruption, reflecting the legacy of British policing traditions and the influence of reformist ideas.
K1 Alcohol
K1 Convicts
K1 Distillation
K1 Police
K1 New South Wales
DO 10.1177/0004865819896398