CONVICT DEPARTMENT - REGULATIONS For the Hiring of Probationary Ticket-of-Leave Holders.
1 - PERSONS who may wish to hire Convicts of this class must obtain the sanction of the Lieutenant-Governor through the office of the Comptroller-General, and it is desirable, to prevent delay in the consideration of the application for authority to hire, that it should be sent through the Police or Assistant Police Magistrate of the district in which the applicant resides.
As it is intended that these Convicts should generally be distributed in country districts, his Excellency's special authority must be obtained in each case before they can be hired in Hobart Town or Launceston.
2 - Convicts of this class can only be hired at the Prisoner's Barracks, Hobart Town, and such other government establishments as may be hereafter notified in the Gazette, tot some one of the following periods : — 1 year and a half, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years and 5 years, according to the length of their original sentence; each period being, however, subject to a diminution of one-fifth for continuous service, without offence ; and on completion of these periods they will be no longer subjected to the restraint of having to work for a particular master, but will be eligible for a Ticket-of-Leave with the privileges now attached to that indulgence by law and regulation. Any failure on the part of the convict in fulfilling his engagement, will render him liable to punishment, and defer the period of his becoming eligible for higher indulgence.
3 - Two-thirds only of the wages at which the convict is hired are to be paid to the convict himself, at intervals not exceeding three months; the remaining third to be paid by the employer to the Comptroller-General on account of the government. The payments to the Comptroller-General are to be made half-yearly, in the months of January and July. No wages will be payable during any period for which the employer may be deprived of the services of the convict by misconduct or sickness.
4 - Employers will be required to furnish suitable lodging on their own premises, with a proper supply of bedding, together with provisions and soap, in accordance with the following scale of daily ration : — 1 pound of meat, 1 & 1/2 pound bread, or 1 pound bread, and 2 pounds of vegetables, 1/4 ounce tea, 1 ounce sugar, 1/2 ounce soap, 1/2 ounce salt. The convict must provide himself with clothing.
5 - During the term of engagement, the employer will be required, at his own expense, to provide the convict with requisite medicines and medical attendance, or he may be sent to the nearest General or Station Hospital, upon his employer undertaking to pay the regulated charge of one shilling per diem for any period not exceeding one month, should the term of engagement not previously expire, after which he will remain in hospital free of charge to the employer.
6 - Employers will be required to forward to the Comptroller-General, in the months of January and July of every year a return of the convicts of this class who were in their service on the first day of these months respectively, and a similar return to the police magistrate of the district in which they reside.
7 - The convict must attend Divine Service in accordance with his professed creed, at least once every Sunday, wherever there is a place of public worship within two miles, or other reasonable distance of his employer's residence. When there is not a place, of public worship within such distance, he will attend any private meeting for worship and religious instruction his employer may appoint provided such worship and instruction be in accordance with the professed creed of the convict.
8 - No convict of this class will be allowed to be employed in whaling or other vessels.
9 - The convict is under no circumstances to be permitted by his employer to work for his own benefit, or to be otherwise at large, or not under proper control.
10 - The arrival of the convict at his place of service must be reported by the employer, to the police authority of the district, and should an employer have occasion to send the convict to any other district, he must be supplied with a pass from the police magistrate.
11 - No engagement can be broken or altered by the convict; but an employer may terminate an engagement and return the convict to the service of the government by forwarding him, under charge, to the nearest hiring depot or police station, the employer sending in a written report to the Comptroller-General as to the cause of his having thus concluded the engagement, and specifying what the conduct of the convict his been up to the time of his discharge. Under such terminated engagement the convict will be deemed to be entitled to wages up to the period of his being returned to the government.
12 - Should the convict be sentenced by a magistrate to imprisonment, he will be returned to his service to complete the term of engagement after the expiration of the sentence, unless the employer states to the magistrate or notifies to the Comptroller-General that he does not desire to receive him back again, and at the same time forward any balance of wages that may be due to the convict at the period of his leaving.
13 - A summary power will be exercised by the Lieutenant-Governor of terminating any engagement, if his Excellency shall be of opinion that such a measure is called for.
14 - The Convict having any complaint to make against his employer will be at liberty to prefer such complaint before the Police or Assistant Police Magistrate of the District ; for which purpose the employer shall, on application to that effect, furnish the convict with a pass. The Convict must, however, bear in mind that he will be liable to punishment if his complaint be found to be either frivolous or groundless.
15 - Police and Assistant Police Magistrates will have the power of withdrawing the convict from his service upon any complaint being substantiated against an employer which renders the return of the convict to the service inexpedient in the opinion of the magistrate. Such withdrawal of the convict will be subject to the final approval of the Lieutenant Governor, on the report which will be transmitted through the comptroller general.
16 - Probationary ticket-of-leave holders are amenable to convict law only.
17 - Should any employer act in wilful contravention of, or refuse to comply with, the foregoing regulations, convicts will not be allowed to continue in, or hereafter enter into, the service of such employer.
18 - The wives and families of this class of convicts will be sent out to the colony when half the cost of doing so has been paid by themselves or their friends or parishes in the United Kingdom, and any sum paid by their employers to the Government under the preceding regulations will be accepted as part of the contribution towards this object.
J. S. HAMPTON,
Comptroller-General.
Comptroller-General's Office,
21st November 1850 1
- 1REGULATIONS - The Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas. : 1835 - 1880) 28 November 1850: page 847
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