Following on from our previous Blog post of sending convicts by boat to England to await their transport ship, the advantage of the railway system is discussed in the following article:
Fifeshire Journal 13 th December 1849 – Removal of Convicts – On the 5 th instant, seven Fife convicts were removed from Cupar and Dunfermline Prisons by Mr Cook, the Governor of the County Prison, per Railway, on their way to Millbank Penitentiary. London. Their names and sentences were as follow: - From Cupar – George Ross for life, John Small for 10 years, John Hamilton or King for 7 years, Mary Hutchison for 7 years; from Dunfermline, William Hay for 14 years, Andrew Adam Young for seven years, Helen Connell or Scott for 7 years. The convicts will remain in Millbank until their ultimate destination be directed by the Secretary of State.
The rapidity with which Mr Cook and his assistants effected the transfer of the seven convicts, and returned himself to Cupar, is worthy of record, as showing the advantage of the railway system in dispatching the public
business of the country. Mr Cook, with his party – 11 in all – left the Cupar station at a quarter past ten on Wednesday, reached London at half past eleven the next morning, got his prisoners off his hands at Millbank Penitentiary, left London by the Train of the same evening, and reached Cupar, and was again upon duty in the County Prison on the following afternoon, - in a little more than two days.
