New Flash Song, Made on the Noted George Barrington, A

DESCRIPTION: "Come all you blades of England I prithee draw near, And of the noted Barrington now quickly you shall hear." Barrington committed many daring robberies, and is sentenced to transportation; he's lucky the prosecutor did not charge him with a capital crime
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1964 (Anderson-FarewellToOldEngland); Anderson estimates the broadside to be from c. 1790
KEYWORDS: crime punishment transportation trial
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (2 citations):
Anderson-FarewellToOldEngland, pp. 62-63, "A New Flash Song" (1 text)
ADDITIONAL: Hugh Anderson, _Farewell to Judges and Juries: The Broadside Ballad and Convict Transportation to Australia, 1788-1868_, Red Rooster Press, 2000, p. 269, "A New Flash Song" (1 text, with a tune on p. 579)
Roud #V20828
NOTES [220 words]: Henry Boylan, A Dictionary of Irish Biography, second edition, St. Martin's Press, 1988, p. 13, has a brief description of George Barrington, whom he describes as a "pickpocket and author." He was born in 1755 in Maynooth, County Kildare. His birth name was Waldron. Sent to a grammar school in Dublin, he ran away in 1771 after being flogged for disciplinary reasons, and took the name "Barrington" when he joined a traveling company.
By 1777 he was in England, picking pockets; he was caught and sentenced to three years' hard labour on a prison hulk, but released after just a year for good behavior -- but kept offending and being caught and given additional sentences. He was sentenced to seven years' transportation in 1789.
"His eloquence and gentlemanly bearing in court earned him considerable notoriety, and two contemporary accounts of his life and adventures sold widely. Sent to Botany Bay in New South Wales. In 1792 received first warrant of emancipation ever issued. Became superintendent of the convicts, high constable of Parramatta for a considerable period, and earned the regard of the governor. He published A Voyage to Botany Bay (1801), A History of New South Wales (1802), and A History of New Holland (1808). He lived to a very old age, and died at Parramatta, date not recorded." - RBW
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File: AnFa062

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