5 June –
Treason Act 1790 comes into effect, abolishing
burning at the stake as the penalty for women convicted of offences of
treason (which include
coining and
mariticide): they are to suffer
hanging, bringing the punishment in line with that for men. As a consequence of the change of law, the sentence on Sophia Girton, convicted in April of coining, is delayed and she is in fact
transported to the new penal
Colony of New South Wales.[4]