> "Recusant convict" was a phrase frequently used in the English penal laws.
> It literally referred to people who had been convicted of recusancy, i.e.,
> of not conforming to the established church.  If a person didn't conform
> to
> the established church but had not been convicted of non-conformity, they
> were simply recusants.  Some of the penal laws applied only to "recusants
> convict" and not to plain old recusants.
>
. . . .
> Beatriz B. Hardy, Director
> Special Collections Research Center
> Earl Gregg Swem Library
> College of William and Mary
> PO Box 8794
> Williamsburg, VA 23187-8794
> 757-221-3054
>
Interesting. A few months ago there was some costly litigation in Canada
that turned on the precise meaning of a contract as determined by the
presence or absence of a single comma.

In this context, article 5 of the 1769 “Act for regulating the election of
Burgesses . . .” (Hening 8: 307) presents a list of categories of persons
who, even if they “are freeholders” (i.e. hold sufficient property) are
nevertheless declared ineligible for voting “at any election of Burgesses”
and incapable “of being elected.”

The 1769 list includes
•	feme sole    [ie., unmarried woman or widow]
•	feme covert     [ie., married woman]
•	infant under the age of twenty-one     [ie., minor]
•	recusant convict    [ie, no comma but “convict” is the
            first word of the next line]
•	any person convicted in Great-Britain or Ireland, during
            the time for which he is transported [to the colonies
            as punishment]
•	free negro
•	mulatto
•	Indian

In article 7 of the 1762 “Act for directing and better regulating the
elections of Burgesses . .  .” list (Hening 7: 519) the list differs to
two ways as shown below 1) in the phrasing of the exclusion of women, 2)
by the presence of a comma separating recusant and convict.
•	“no feme, sole or covert”     [ie., no unmarried, widowed,
            or married woman]
•	infant under the age of twenty-one
•	recusant
•	convict
•	any person convicted in Great-Britain or Ireland, during the
            time for which he is transported
•	free negro
•	mulatto
•	Indian

If, as suggested, “recusant convict” _could_ represent a distinct category
of persons (rather than a typographical conjuncture of two discrete
categories), that presents the logical possibility of an intentional
change by the legislators rather than the omission of a comma by Hening’s
typesetters.**  That said,
   Do we have ANY evidence of formal convictions for recusancy in colonial
Virginia?

  Dr. Jon Kukla, Executive Vice-President
  Red Hill - The Patrick Henry National Memorial
  1250 Red Hill Road
  Brookneal, Virginia 24528       www.redhill.org

** Years ago I examined original colonial manuscripts at the Library of
Congress from which Hening published mid-17th century laws. His penciled
instructions to the typesetters are still visible on these original
manuscripts.

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