part prompt the use of prisons for punishment and the start of prison building programmes. In 1785 Australia would be deemed a suitably desolate place to transport convicts; transportation would resume, now to a specifically planned penal colony, with the departure of the First Fleet in 1787. It has been estimated that over one-third of all criminals convicted between 1788 and 1867 were transported to Australia, including Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania). Some criminals could escape transportation if they agreed to join the British Army. Jurist William Blackstone said of the Bloody Code: Leon Radzinowicz listed 49 pages of "Capital Statutes of the Eighteenth Century" divided into 21 categories: High treason, including offences against the Protestant succession and the Protestant establishment Other offences against the State Offences against public order, including riot and destruction of flood defences and bridges Offences against the administration of justice Offences against public health Offences against public revenue, including smuggling Petty treason and murder Stabbing, maiming and shooting at any person Rape, forcible abduction and other sexual offences Simple grand larceny and allied offences Burglary and allied offences Larceny from the person Larceny and embezzlement by servants, Post Office employees, clerks and other agents Blackmail Offences by bankrupts Forgery of deeds, bonds, testaments, bills of exchange, stocks, stamps, banknotes, etc. Falsely personating another with intent to defraud Destroying ships to the prejudice of insurance companies Coinage offences Malicious injuries to property, including arson Piracy Relaxation of the law In 1823, the Judgement of Death Act 1823 made the death penalty discretionary for all crimes except treason and murder. Gradually during the middle of the nineteenth century the number of capital offences was reduced, and by 1861 was down to five. The last execution in the UK took place in 1964, and the death penalty was legally abolished in the following years for the crimes of: Murder, 1969 in England, Wales and Scotland, and 1973 in Northern Ireland Arson in royal dockyards, 1971 Espionage, 1981 Piracy with violence, 1998 Treason, 1998 Six military offences, 1998 See also Black Act 1723 Citations General sources Further reading External links Amnesty International: History of the Abolition of the Death Penalty in the UK Rough justice – Victorian style, BBC News Legal history of England Legal history of Ireland Legal history of Wales Capital punishment in the United Kingdom Georgian era