RESEARCHED BY PETER KILLACKEY HOW THE CONVICTS WERE TREATED While convicts were actually in the prison system or even on board the transports, they were treated simply as convicts without regard for the nature of their offences. In the colony things were different, those who were obviously gentlemen, and whose offences were not so infamous, were often given tickets-of-leave almost immediately, and found it fairly easy to obtain conditional pardons. If any convict showed a bit of gusto, or some extra merit, a free pardon was often handed out. A ticket-of-leave allowed the recipient to pursue any occupation he desired, so long as he remained within the district named on the ticket-of-leave. A conditional pardon gave entire freedom within the limits of the colony, whilst an absolute pardon allowed the grantee to return to England if that is what he or she wanted to do.