"Criminals incapable of reform?" Re-assessing the population of Cockatoo Island Prison (Sydney), 1839-69

1787年至1868年间，超过160,000名英国和爱尔兰囚犯作为殖民者被运往澳大利亚，这引起了人们的极大关注。在新南威尔士州从“刑罚”殖民地过渡到“自由”殖民地之后，在刑事司法系统中受到惩罚的人少得多（Finnane, 1997: x-xi）。鹦鹉岛监狱始建于1839年，也就是向新南威尔士州运送罪犯停止的前一年，监狱的目的是惩罚那些被运送的罪犯中最惯犯和最暴力的人。这种原型在历史话语中盛行，他们被描述为“犯罪的疯子……[和]无法改造的罪犯”（Parker, 1977: 61）；“最绝望、最被抛弃的角色”（O’carrigan, 1994: 64）；和“可疑人物”（新南威尔士州政府建筑师办公室，2009:29）。然而，事实远非如此。我对1839年至1852年间抵达的1666名囚犯的分析表明，他们绝大多数是非暴力罪犯，在下级法院因轻微财产犯罪而受审。他们的人口也比通常认为的要多样化得多，包括澳大利亚原住民、中国人和黑人囚犯，以及大多数英国人和爱尔兰人（哈曼，2012）。这个项目将公开有关鹦鹉岛囚犯的极其详细的记录，向人们展示囚犯人口的第一手资料。原始登记簿的数字版本将包括罪犯的犯罪记录信息，还包括他们的工作，是否结婚或有孩子，甚至他们的长相。它还将是一个可搜索姓名的数据库，这样家族历史学家就可以搜索他们的祖先，他们可能曾被监禁在岛上。按照目前的情况，他们将能够在网上找到那些在“罪犯系统”中被流放的祖先的信息，但一旦他们获得休假证，成为“自由”，他们似乎就会消失。然而，新南威尔士州的许多前囚犯和自由移民都是在当地被定罪的，这些记录可以为我们提供他们在殖民地生活的信息。这些登记簿中包含的数据类型还将允许研究人员调查以下问题：(1)罪犯是否比自由移民更有可能再次犯罪？罪犯的孩子比其他人更容易犯罪吗？(3)像媒体报道的那样，在淘金热期间涌入的以中国人为主的移民实际上导致了犯罪浪潮吗？(4) 1830年至1853年间出台的法律，在起诉丛林盗猎者（拦路强盗）方面是否真的有效？(5)尽管澳大利亚的刑事司法系统是由更严厉的罪犯运输系统发展而来的，但澳大利亚的刑事司法系统是否更有利于罪犯的康复？除了数据集，该网站还将包括个别罪犯的“生平传记”，向你展示如何使用这个数据集拼凑出一个人生故事。它还警告人们不要只通过他们的定罪记录来了解现实生活中的人。有许多引人入胜的故事要讲，包括“约翰·佩里”（“黑佩里”）获奖拳击手；“两个弗雷德里克斯”的爱情故事；还有抵制监禁的中国拜金女谭。此外，还将为中学生和大学生提供教学资源，让他们不用离开教室就能直接接触历史材料。总的来说，这个网站邀请任何对犯罪和惩罚历史感兴趣的人，以及任何前往联合国教科文组织世界遗产“鹦鹉岛”的游客，尝试在数据库中搜索一个名字，或者阅读一个特别的罪犯的生活故事。然而，它要求他们思考这些人的生活如何以及为什么与国家相交，导致他们被监禁，以及历史如何抹去了他们在国家之外的大部分生活。

Significant attention has been paid to the more than 160,000 British and Irish convicts who were transported Australia as colonists between 1787 and 1868. Much less has been said about those punished within the criminal justice system that arose in the wake of New South Wales' transition from 'penal' to 'free' colony (Finnane, 1997: x-xi). Cockatoo Island prison opened in 1839, a year before convict transportation to New South Wales ceased, and was intended to punish the most recidivist and violent of the transported convicts. This archetype has prevailed in historical discourses, and they have been described as 'criminal lunatics... [and] criminals incapable of reform' (Parker, 1977: 61); 'the most desperate and abandoned characters' (O'Carrigan, 1994: 64); and people of 'doubtful character' (NSW Government Architect's Office, 2009: 29). Yet, this was far from the truth. My analysis of 1666 prisoners arriving between 1839-52 show they were overwhelming non-violent offenders, tried for minor property crimes at lower courts. They were also far more diverse population than commonly recognised, including Indigenous Australian, Chinese and black convicts alongside majority British and Irish men (Harman, 2012).This project will make publicly availably extremely detailed records relating to Cockatoo Island's prisoners to show people firsthand exactly who made up the inmate population. The digital version of the original registers will include information on convicts' criminal record, but also their job, whether they were married or had children, and even what they looked like. It will also be a name-searchable database so family historians can search for their ancestors, who may have been incarcerated on the island. As it stands, they will be able find information online about ancestors who were transported as long as they remained in the 'convict system', but they may seem to disappear as soon as they are awarded their ticket-of-leave and become 'free'. However, many former convicts, and free immigrants, to New South Wales were convicted locally, and these records can give us information about their lives within the colony. The type of data included in these registers will also allow researchers to investigate questions including:(1) were convicts more likely to offend again than free immigrants? (2) Were the children of convicts more likely to offend than others? (3) Did the influx of mostly Chinese migrants during the gold rush actually lead to a crime-wave, as reported in the press?(4) Were laws introduced between 1830 and 1853, actually effective at prosecuting bushrangers (highwaymen)? (5) Was the criminal-judicial system in Australia more rehabilitative, despite developing out of a harsher convict transportation system?Alongside the dataset, the website will include 'life-biographies' of individual convicts to show you how this dataset can be used to piece together a life-story. It also to warns against understanding a real-life person only through the records of their conviction. There many of fascinating stories to tell, including those 'John Perry' ('Black Perry') the prizewinning boxer; the love story of the 'Two Fredericks'; and Tan, the Chinese gold-digger who resisted his incarceration. In addition, there will be teaching resources for secondary school children and undergraduate university students who want to engage directly with historical materials, without having to leave their classroom.Overall, this website invites anyone with an interest in the history of crime and punishment, and any visitors to the UNESCO world heritage site 'Cockatoo Island', to try searching for a name in the database or read about a featured convict's life story. It asks them, though, to think about how and why these people's lives intersected with the state, leading to their incarceration, and how history has erased much of their lives outside of it.