South Wales
Preserved but no longer current.
The system Worked well; and successive fleets took convicted felons to Australia until 1840 when the reception area was confined to Tasmania. Transportation was abolished in British law in 1853; though it still exists in France, where the penal settle- ments at Cayenne are in full use.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “South Wales” mean?
The system Worked well; and successive fleets took convicted felons to Australia until 1840 when the reception area was confined to Tasmania. Transportation was abolished in British law in 1853; though it still exists in France, where the penal settle- ments at Cayenne are in full use.
Is “South Wales” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.