Convict History: Letter to Comptroller General of Van Diemen's Land

Convicts in Van Diemen's Land, December 1861 outer cover from Highbury in London, addressed to 'Dr Hampton, Comptroller General of Convicts, Hobart Town, Van Diemens Land' and bearing a 6d mauve issued in 1854. The back panel with a fine strike of the Launceston transit date stamp for 25 March 1862. The career of the addressee, Dr John Hampton, is deeply associated with the convict history of Australia. Hampton had served on a number of ships which transported convicts to Van Diemen's Land and was appointed Comptroller-General of Convicts in May 1846, arriving later that year. His period in that role coincided with allegations of inhumanity, corruption and profiteering which ultimately played out in the Tasmanian Legislative Council, the Privy Council and the courts. He next appears on the public record when he was appointed Governor of Western Australia in 1862, where his administration was dogged by similar allegations of personal and familial self-interest following the appointment of his son to the post of Comptroller-General of Convicts.