Don't come back too soon!

Today's case highlighted at Old Bailey Online concerns a man "indicted for having been found at large in the city of London before the expiration of the term for which he had received sentence to be transported." Not only that, but apparently he was up to his old tricks, trying to break into a house. Other witnesses identified him as a man sentenced to transportation for robbery.

The prisoner's explanation? He was "taken up" in Philadelphia, accused of being a convict from England and they were going to keep him imprisoned unless he "left the province." So he got on a ship that was supposedly going to let him off at one of the "lower provinces" but the captain wouldn't let him go and they sailed to Bristol.

A witness agreed that the accused (Joseph Taylor) had been imprisoned in Philadelphia and accused of being a convict from England, and that he was taken by two officers to the ship bound for Bristol, "but did not know whether he objected to going on board that ship or not."

Verdict? Death.

Why death? Because if you returned from transportation before the completion of your sentence, you would be subject to the other penalty for the crime for which you were convicted, which was usually death.

However, I note that the witness in America says Joseph Taylor was escorted to the ship by two officers. That doesn't sound like Joe had a lot of choice in the matter.

On the other hand, why was Joe arrested in Philadelphia in the first place? Was being a convict in England enough? I'd have to do some more research on that, although if I wanted to avoid a lot of time trying to find out something that may not be easily got, I'd have Joe caught stealing again. After all, he was caught doing that back in England. What would have happened if the man had just laid low and gotten a regular job?

Here's how I'd use such a situation for a story seedling:

If I wanted to make Joe the hero, he'd either have been falsely accused and convicted, or else on the road to redemption. But something happens that forces him to return to England -- either he's caught and sent back against his will, or he willingly returns because he has a compelling reason, even though he knows he'll be executed if he's caught.

Or I could have had him already be back in England, living under another alias and leading an honest life, while carrying the burden of his secret and the knowledge of what might happen if the truth is discovered. I'd have to decide if he was innocent and falsely accused, or guilty and trying to redeem himself.

What of the heroine? Well, she could either be completely unaware of the past and what can happen if he's discovered, or somehow involved in the original charge and conviction.

What if she's completely ignorant of his past? The man she's falling in love with is keeping something from her. What? How important is it? Does it involve another woman? Maybe it does -- that would add another layer to the conflict. Why was Joe stealing? To survive? To retrieve something? Something incriminating that belonged to the woman he thought he loved? Or did she put him up to it and he was naive enough to agree? That could make a guy bitter, so not only does Joe have this secret that could have life-threatening consequences, he feels wronged by a woman. It'd take some heroine to get that guy to not just fall in love, but express it.

But let's not stop there. What if it's not Joseph Taylor, but Josephine? And what if one of the people who recognizes her back in England is the man who loved her and believes she betrayed him? Does he rat her out? Or does he approach her and...what? Offer to keep quiet if she'll sleep with him? If I wanted to write an erotic historical, this might be a way to go.

If he's just a guy who recognizes her, he could make the same threat, and then he'd be a villain. Who would the hero be? Could be a relative who wonders about Villain's new squeeze and realizes she's been coerced. Could be a friend of the villain, or perhaps a man from her past who also recognizes her. Would she admit what's going on? Pretend she's a willing participant? Beg him to forget her? Fear he was going to turn her in?

Clearly, there are a couple of ways I could go with such a story. How do I decide? I go with what's going to give me interesting characters with a compelling backstory and an interesting, deep conflict on multiple levels that will (hopefully) pack the biggest emotional whallop for the reader.