Punishment outcomes for selected offences

This stacked bar chart, based on the same data as the previous visualisation, documents how penal outcomes for those sentenced to death varied according to offence. It shows a clear hierarchy of offences, with those convicted of offences involving violence (murder, highway robbery, and wounding) or involving the undermining of the currency of the realm (forgery and coining) most likely to be executed (orange), with transportation (grey) largely replacing it for those convicted of less serious offences. Imprisonment (yellow), free pardons (light blue), and miscellaneous punishments (dark blue) were largely reserved for the least serious capital offences, notably shoplifting.

Credit: Robert Shoemaker

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