List of tables; Preface; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction: 'Empire of Hell'; 2. Saints, Whigs and penal colonies, 1788–1822; 3. 'Hell upon earth': Sir George Arthur in Van Diemen's land, 1823–1837; 4. Quakers and convict concerns; 5. Christian utilitarianism and Archbishop Richard Whately; 6. Catholics, Protestants and the 'horrors of transportation'; 7. 'Ocean hell': Captain Maconochie and Norfolk Island, 1837–1844; 8. Probation in Van Diemen's land, 1840–1849; 9. 'Political parsons' and the anti-transportation movement, 1847–1854; 10. 'Floating hells': Bermuda, Gibraltar and the Hulks, 1850–1875; 11. 'Reformatory colony': Western Australia, 1850–1868; 12. Conclusion: 'this great scheme of human redemption'; Bibliography; Index.
Challenges preconceptions of convict transportation from Britain and Ireland, penal colonies and religion.
Hilary M. Carey is Professor of Imperial and Religious History at the University of Bristol. She is the author of God's Empire (Cambridge, 2011), nominated for the Ernest Scott Prize, and co-editor of Religion and Greater Ireland (2015). She is conjoint professor at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities.
'This brilliantly original and insightful book offers an entirely
new interpretation of penal transportation in Britain's imperial
world that will fundamentally alter the perspective of historians
of punishment and the British Empire. Empire of Hell is an
outstanding contribution to the field of religious, criminal
justice and colonial history, and will be a key point of reference
for many years to come.' Clare Anderson, University of
Leicester
'Empire of Hell is a laboriously researched, comprehensive,
authoritative study. It ranges geographically from Van Diemen's
Land to Gibraltar and denominationally from Evangelical Anglicans
to Secular Utilitarians, from Catholics to Quakers, and much more.
Hilary M. Carey is unquestionably one of the greatest scholars of
religion under British rule working today.' Timothy Larsen, Wheaton
College, Illinois
'By insisting on the centrality of religion to convict colonialism,
Hilary M. Carey has broken down a long-standing and restrictive
divide in imperial historiography. The result is an outstanding and
highly-readable book that provides a radical new interpretation of
both the anti-transportation moment and of imperial reform itself.'
Kirsten McKenzie, University of Sydney
'This book restores a pulse to British nineteenth-century penal
policy. As Hilary M. Carey demonstrates, religious arguments
empowered the development of overseas convict colonies while
simultaneously fuelling the forces that tore them down. Empire of
Hell transforms our understanding of the decline of transportation
and the rise of the prison.' Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, University of
Tasmania
'… Empire of Hell mounts the most comprehensive examination to date
of religious responses to convict transportation. It is a rich,
detailed, and nuanced work covering transportation from Britain and
Ireland to the Australian penal colonies, Bermuda and Gibraltar
between 1788 and 1875.' Zoë Laidlaw, Journal of British Studies
'This is a welcome addition to a rich and growing body of
scholarship dissecting and grappling with the historical
relationship between religion and empire, especially for the
British imperial context … Carey's book provides profound and
sobering food for thought.' Hugh Morrison, The Journal of
Ecclesiastical History
'... a fresh, detailed perspective on British and colonial debates
over convict transportation ... makes a major contribution to the
religious history of empire and convict transportation.' Ann
Curthoys, Victorian Studies
'… Carey's book makes for indispensable reading. It is an
outstanding examination of the subject of convict transportation
and comes highly recommended.' C. Brad Faught, Anglican and
Episcopal History
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