Free by Servitude — An Emancipist

For convicts with seven or fourteen year sentences when their sentence had expired they received a Certificate of Freedom. These ex-convicts had the right to return to the United Kingdom but very few did.

For convicts with life sentences after holding a Ticket of Leave for many years they were able to apply for a conditional pardon. Late in the system there were two classes of Conditional Pardons.

The Second Class Conditional Pardon No.46/294 was issued to William Curtin, one time Iron Gang member, on 23 May 1846. Curtin had been serving a life sentence for a crime committed in 1819. He was holding a Ticket of Leave which was noted as destroyed when he was handed his Conditional Pardon. The Conditional Pardon was written vertically across the form, followed by the note about the Ticket of Leave.

By serving out the full sentence term, a convict would gain freedom to live a normal life as a free citizen and be able to own property or to run a business. There were said to have become 'free by servitude' and an 'Emancipist' as a result. This group included people who had finished serving out their sentence term, as well as people who had been pardoned.