The Fortunate Transport

This engraving depicts several scenes from the ca. 1740 novel The Fortunate Transport; or, the Secret History of the Life and Adventures of the Celebrated Polly Haycock, the Lady of the Gold Watch. The novel follows the titular Polly, an unrepentant criminal and prostitute, who is sentenced to be transported from London to Virginia for stealing a golden watch. Narrowly avoiding being sold into a marriage when she arrives in Virginia, she becomes an indentured servant on a plantation. During her indenture she is mistreated by her master and brutally whipped. She makes her escape by seducing and marrying a ship captain, who takes her with him to Jamaica. Her husband dies shortly after arriving in Jamaica, leaving Polly all of his wealth and property. The novel ends with Polly becoming exactly the kind of violent enslaver she had fled in Virginia, as depicted in the last vignette of this engraving.