By Irma Walter, 2024.
Western Australia was the last of the colonies to accept convicts from Britain, with the first ship-load arriving in 1850. Prior to this date, some of our own offenders were being transported as convicts to other colonies, mainly to Tasmania (known then as Van Diemen’s Land), although at least seven of them were sent to New South Wales, some having served time there previously.
The first permanent prison building in WA was known as the Fremantle Round House, completed in January 1831. The building, which still stands today, had eight prison cells and a jailer’s residence within its walls. Aboriginal offenders were also held there, or were sent to Rottnest Island.[1] The Fremantle premises proved to be inadequate, so those guilty of more serious crimes were sometimes sent elsewhere.
The partly demolished Round House, Fremantle, October 1928.[2]
Van Diemen’s Land (VDL) was the main destination for these law-breakers. As well as receiving convicts from Britain, it was at that time the repository for offenders from other Australian colonies and New Zealand. Also sent there were prisoners from out-lying British colonies, frequently convicted soldiers from the various regiments based in areas such as Hong Kong, Bangalore, Port Louis, East Indies and St Helena.
Prisoners sent there from WA were transported in small batches on privately owned ships, such as the Champion, Alexander, Jesse and Sally Ann. One man was transported on HMS Fly.
[It may be of interest that a married woman named Keziah Lockyer was on the verge of being sent to Van Diemen’s Land as a convict, but was finally given the option of leaving the colony of her own accord. Keziah Brooks was born in 1781 at Clifton Reynes, in Buckinghamshire, and married Paul Lockyer at Paulton in Somerset, in 1804. They came to the Swan River Colony in 1830 onboard the Hooghly, along with their eight children. They had a tempestuous marriage, with Kesiah living apart from her husband after a very public breakup. Keziah was sentenced to seven years’ transportation for perjury. The ruling was overturned and she was permitted to leave the Colony as a free woman. Keziah Lockyer was on the next ship to Tasmania, the Socrates, along with Frederick Turner, who was also given a remittance of his sentence by the Governor – [3]
‘Keziah Lockyer, the female who was found guilty of perjury at the last quarter sessions of the peace, has been allowed the same indulgence as that extended to Mr Turner, namely, that she should leave the colony in the first vessel, never again to be allowed to visit these shores.’ [4]]
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The following is a list of those men who were convicted of crimes in the Swan River Colony and were sentenced to transportation. Note that although it is a comprehensive list, there could well be others. Several had their sentences reduced, and were permitted to serve their terms in WA.
The information has come from early colonial newspapers, NSW and Tasmanian Convict records, followed by entries (in blue) from the online version of Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, at
http://www.friendsofbattyelibrary.org.au/the-bicentennial-dictionary-of-western-australians.html
Allard, Iden (John/James) – Arrived in WA in 1840, as a private in the 51st Regiment. He was convicted as John Allard on 21 April 1841, of being drunk and asleep when on guard duty at the Perth Treasury on 6 February 1841. [At the time Allard was suspected of being involved in a case of robbery from the Treasury building, when John Wade was put on trial but was acquitted.] Allard’s sentence of 14 years was commuted to seven years.[5]
He arrived in VDL on the Vixen on 13 August 1841, described as a labourer, aged 21, 5’5½”, unable to read or write, originally from Maidstone in Kent. He received his Ticket of Leave (T/L) on 28 February 1845.[6]
Allard’s record reveals several more convictions in Van Diemen’s Land –
On 10 January 1843 – At W. Bay, charged with misconduct, fighting – seven days in solitary confinement. He was given his Conditional Pardon at Morden, allowing him to travel to Launceston.[7] Noted at bottom of page: Again convicted VM Book 5. No. 1509. Again transported VM Book 7 No. 2227.[8]
2nd Conviction
Reconvicted at Launceston on 2 May 1849 as James Allard, No.1509, aged 28, for stealing a shirt valued at 5/- and other articles, to be imprisoned in the Launceston House of Correction for one year with hard labour. [His connection to the 51st Regiment and previous conviction in Western Australia was noted.][9]
3rd Conviction
On 29 December 1851 at the Oatlands Supreme Court, James Allard, No. 2227, was tried and found guilty of uttering a forged order for £1, and along with Daniel Murphy, was sentenced to 15 years.[10] [Allard’s 1849 conviction was listed in this record and his connection to the ship Vixen.]
On 9 March 1852 he arrived at Norfolk Island, where he committed some minor offences, including having tobacco on 6 December 1857 – sentence two months. On 5 May 1857, he received his Ticket of Leave. His Colonial Conditional Pardon was approved on 26 June 1860.[11] From 23 February 1856 he was employed by AW Chatfield at Port Arthur.[12]
DEATH, 1865 –
ALLARD – At H.M. General Hospital, Launceston, on the 6th December, James Allard, aged 42 years, a native of Coxheath, near Maidstone, Kent.[13]
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Ames, Thomas – In 1834 the following was reported in the Perth Gazette –
Thomas Ames underwent an examination touching certain kangaroo skins which he was charged with having stolen from James Ryan, a private in H. M.’s 21st Regt., and shoemaker to the detachment.—Bailed to take his trial at the next Quarter Sessions.[14]
The outcome of that trial is not known. However Ames was again convicted on 23 December 1838, of striking his superior officer. Following this conviction in Perth he was sent from the Swan River Colony to Van Diemen’s Land on 5 June 1840, onboard the Jean.[15] His wife Mrs Ames accompanied him as a cabin passenger, while Thomas Ames was a steerage passenger.[16]
In VDL Thomas Ames, (No. 864) was described as aged 43, 5’7½”, from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire. This record says that he arrived on the Britomart, 24 January 1839.[17] [Note: The ship Britomart, Captain M’Donald, from London, departed the Swan River Colony for Hobart Town on 6 January 1839.[18]] Ames was variously punished for drunkenness. He was appointed as Constable in charge of a working party on 17 October 1840, and although his performance was several times questionable, he held that position for almost two years. On 10 December 1840 he was charged with suffering a female in his charge to get drunk and getting drunk himself – 14(?) days Solitary Confinement on bread & water. On 20 January 1841 he was sent to serve one months’ hard labour on the roads and suspended from police during that period. On 20 May 1841 he allowed a prisoner to escape from his custody. On 27 January 1842, for allowing a pair to get drunk while in his charge, and dismissed the police ….. (indecipherable)[19] Dismissed as Constable in February 1842.[20]
In January 1844, Thomas Ames, Britomart, was awarded his Ticket of Leave.[21]
AMES, (Pte) Thomas, of 21st Regt. Arr. 24.7 .1833 per lsabella with wife. Both dep. 6.1840 per Jean for Tasmania.[22]
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Banks, William –Along with Edward MacDonnell and Eli Crisp, in 1845, charged with burglary in the house of George Robert Teede, of Guildford, Licensed Victualler, and stealing therein some sovereigns and bank notes, the property and effects of George Longbottom, of the Upper Swan. Verdict, Banks and MacDonnell guilty, sentenced to ten years. Crisp not guilty.[23]
William Banks, (Police No. 511), arrived at VDL on 21 August 1845 onboard the Champion. He claimed that he had arrived in the Swan River Colony in 1839 on the Parkfield. He was listed as William David Banks, a Protestant, able to read and write, a sawyer by trade, aged 23, height 5’5½”, from Snowbridge in Wiltshire. He received his Ticket of Leave on 3 September 1850 and his Conditional Pardon on 23 May 1854. On 17 September 1855 he was given his Certificate of Freedom.[24]
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Barr, George – A soldier in the 51st Regiment, convicted on 7 October 1846 of stealing a length of calico from Mrs Okely. Sentenced to seven years’ transportation, commuted to three years to be served in Fremantle Gaol, due to evidence that he had committed the robbery as a way of avoiding transfer to India.[25] A warrant was declared that he had been granted a pardon, provided that he serve a term of three years’ hard labour in Her Majesty’s Gaol at Fremantle.[26]
BARR. (Pte) George of 51st Regt. Stationed in WA 1840-1847. At Augusta 1840. In Sept & Nov. 1846 was charged with assaulting Catherine Stanton & stealing from Mrs Okely. Sentenced to 7 yrs transportation.[27]
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Bennet (Bennett), George – Convicted of stealing bank notes to the value of £29, the property of George Bracher of Australind. Sentenced on 3 January 1842 to seven years’ transportation.[28]
He arrived in VDL from WA on 3 February 1842 on the Lady Emma, (No. 3550). A mariner, unable to read or write, aged 28, 5’8”, married, from Philadelphia. His religion was C. of E., and his next of kin were his wife, father and mother in Philadelphia.[29]
On 11 June 1842, he was charged with striking a fellow prisoner – received 25 lashes. He was employed at Bagdad by George Armytage from 1 April 1843. He was appointed Constable on 18 January 1844. [George Bennet was overseer of the Ross party in April 1844.[30]] On 12 August 1845, he received his Ticket of Leave.[31] On 1 September 1846, as Constable, Bennett was charged with assaulting William Shotter in his own house – six months’ hard labour, at Public Works and ….. (indecipherable), reduced to three months. On 4 January 1848, felony, James Burgess – Case dismissed.[32]
?BENET(T), George, arrived 1834 per Haraboo as a crew member. On 7.3.1834 asked permission to live in W.A.[33]
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Blake, George Parnell – Employed as a shepherd in Western Australia, forged an order in the name of Samuel Moore, to the value of £10. He used the money to pay an account and to buy alcohol from publican William Gibbs. Blake was convicted on 1 July 1842 and sentenced to seven years’ transportation. He arrived at VDL on 25 March 1843 onboard the Champion. He claimed that he had originally arrived in WA on the Strathfield. He was mate on the Thomas before she was burnt near Hobart in 1833. Following the fire he left Hobart on the Currency Lass. He had experienced service in the Merchant Service on several more ships. His father has some landed property in Shrewsbury. Description (No. 177) – aged 35, single, 5’7½”, could read and write. Was from Shropshire, a seaman – able to navigate a vessel. He had many tattoos. He was appointed Constable from March 1846, until December 1848, when he was dismissed. This was despite being several times punished for neglect of duty, drunkenness, absence from post, etc., during that time. A list of his placements is provided in the Tasmanian records. He received his Ticket of Leave on 7 August 1848, and his Certificate of Freedom on 2 July 1849.[34]
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Blakey, Thomas – Arrived at the Swan River Colony with his wife Sarah on the Parmelia, as servants to Governor Stirling. Appointed as a civil servant – ….Before these clerks were appointed Thomas Blakey had been made messenger at a salary of £68/5/ which was later reduced to £25.[35]
In January 1837 Blakey stole five shirts from GF Moore, Esq. – He said at his trial that he was obliged to do so, ‘due to the scanty pittance allowed him by the Government’.[36] In December 1837 he was suspected of having stolen a considerable amount of money from the Office of the Collector of Revenue. He admitted the crime, saying that he was inebriated at the time, and showed the police where he had hidden the money in Mr Purkis’s garden. On 1 January 1838 he was found guilty of stealing £90 from the office of the Collector of Revenue and was sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[37]
He was transported to New South Wales on the Elizabeth in 1838.[38] He was in Campbelltown when he received his Ticket of Leave in February 1843.[39] On 10 January 1845 he was awarded his Certificate of Freedom.[40]
[In 1864, under the heading ‘Missing Friends’, a Lydia Mather of Newcastle-on-Tyne, was seeking information about the whereabouts of Thomas Blakey of that place, who arrived in the Colony many years earlier and was supposed to have held the appointment of steward to one of the Colonial Governors.[41]]
BLAK(EL)EY, Thomas, b. 1792 (England), arr. 1.6.1829 per Parmelia with wife Sarah b. 1802. Servants to Lt. Gov. Stirling. Govt. messenger to the Council. Dep. 1832 per Sulphur with Stirling & returned with him 1834. Mrs Blakey arr. 26.6.1836 per Addingham, & dep. 29.3.1837 per Shepherd. Blakey convicted of stealing £90 from revenue and was sentenced to 7 yrs transportation 1838.[42]
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Blundell, Joseph – Convicted on 17 February 1844 at the Swan River Colony, along with Henry Wortley, of desertion from his regiment, and sentenced to seven years. He arrived at VDL on 7 December that year on the Vixen and the Eliza. On arrival Blundell (No. 402) stated that he had been convicted of desertion after about six weeks’ absence. He had been three times convicted by Courts Martial for being drunk, serving 30 days’ penal servitude each time. He said that the two men were sent off from Swan River to Adelaide on the Vixen, where they laid there for a week with only a drunken steward onboard. They were persuaded to leave the ship by a waterman who came by in a boat. He took them to Kangaroo Island, where they remained about six months before he gave information about them in exchange for a reward of £10, which resulted in their apprehension. Blundell had served in the 51st Regiment for six years. He came from a place near Warwick and his trade was a groom. He was a Roman Catholic, single aged 21, 5’11”. He had the letter ‘D’ stamped on his left side, indicating that he was a deserter from the military.[43]
In Van Diemen’s Land he was an uncooperative prisoner, in trouble for absconding, using abusive language and being riotous and disorderly, serving time at Maria Island. On 2 December 1845 in the Supreme Court, he was struck off the Probation Record and was sent to Port Arthur for three years. On 7 February 1848 he was charged with absconding and was to serve 18 months’ hard labour in chains. However he died at Port Arthur on 20 February 1848, as a result of wounds received on 17 February, confirmed in a letter from the Coroner dated 21 February 1848.[44] The cause of his death was reported as follows –
Murder – Nathaniel Westerman stood charged with having, on the 17th February last, not having the fear of God before his eyes, and being moved and seduced by the instigation of the devil, did kill and murder Joseph Blundell, at Port Arthur.
Nathaniel Westerman told the Court that Blundell had used offensive language against him, so he had struck him over the head with a wooden batten that he had removed from his cell wall. Westerman, unrepresented in the Court, was found guilty of murder and a sentence of death was pronounced against him.[45] He was executed on 4 April 1848 at the front of the gaol. A newspaper reported that ‘The attendance, including (we regret to say) many women, was very numerous.’[46]
BLUNDELL, (Pte) Joseph, of 51st Regt. Stationed in WA 1840-1847. At Fremantle & was charged with desertion 1.1844.[47]
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Bolger, Michael – Convicted in WA of stealing a goat, the property of Robert Powis, and sentenced to seven years’ transportation. Arrived at VDL on 21 August 1845 on the Champion. He came from County Carlow (place name unreadable), (No. 570), aged 26, married with three children, Roman Catholic, 5’3½”. He stated that he had arrived in WA from Liverpool on the Ganges, Captain Walker, about four years earlier – said that he had never been in prison before. On 6 November 1849 he received his Ticket of Leave and on 7 July 1852 he received his Certificate of Freedom.[48] From 15 December 1856 he was employed by J Donellan of New Town.[49] He was charged by a neighbour with removing some stones, but his employer spoke up on his behalf saying that they came from his property, and had the charge against Bolger dismissed.[50]
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Booker, William – Early in 1833 Booker (32), and Benjamin Hinks escaped from Fremantle gaol, using a long nail to scrape through the soft limestone wall, but they were soon re-captured. Booker was serving 14 years for burglary. A reward of £20 was on offer for information about their whereabouts. Booker’s description at the time – 5’10”, fair complexion, grey eyes, brown hair, dressed in a straw-hat, covered with oil skin, fustian shooting jacket, white trousers and shoes.[51] He was re-arrested near Bull’s Creek and transported to New South Wales on the Governor Bourke for Sydney, leaving on 24 January 1833, along with prisoners Thomas Warrall and C (Charles) Lewis, arriving there on 21 February 1833.
Booker had previously served time as a convict in New South Wales.[52]
Previous Transportation to NSW in 1818
William Booker first arrived in New South Wales from Kent (Town and Port of Hythe) onboard the Isabella, arriving on 14 September 1818. William Booker, (Isabella 1), was described as a wheelwright, when on 12 December 1822 he was assigned to Jane Roberts.[53] He received his Certificate of Freedom on 13 January 1825.[54]
Re-transported to New South Wales in 1833
Following his release William Booker ‘Long Bill’ made his way to the Swan River Colony, where he was convicted of burglary, before escaping from the Fremantle Gaol in January 1833 with Benjamin Hinks. They were re-arrested and convicted, before being sent back to New South Wales on the Governor Bourke, arriving in 1833.[55] Born 1801, aged 32, height 71 inches, term 14 years. A Protestant, married, born in Sussex.[56]
?BOOKER, William, b. 1801. Was to be transported for 14 years for burglary but escaped from jail 12.1.1833 and absconded.[57]
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Bowler, William – Boatman and groom. Charged in WA with stealing shoes, the property of Mr Stewart. He was convicted on 1 April 1835 and sentenced to seven years.
He arrived at VDL in June 1835 from WA on the Sally Ann, (Police No. 2256). Described as single, aged 46, a Protestant, unable to read and write, from Casteen, Massachusetts, America. Said that he had previously sailed to VDL onboard the Deveron about 10 years earlier. Had been employed on the Lady Melville Aly (?) of Edburgh as mate.[58] He received his Ticket of Leave on 20 October 1839. He died shortly afterwards in the service of WJ Foster, on 23 November 1839.[59]
?BOWLER, William, sailor, arr. 3. 7.1833 per Cape Breton. On 12.8.1833 he sought permission to live in W.A. Illiterate.[60]
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Brady (Bradey), Peter – Along with Philip Corrigan, convicted of stealing a box containing valuable cut glass. When detected, Brady threw the box down on the ground, smashing the contents. They said that they were looking for grog. They were tried on 1 October 1834 at Perth and sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[61] [See also correspondence on this case from WH Mackie to VDL authorities.[62]]
As ‘Peter Bradey’, convicted of larceny in Perth WA on 1 October 1834, native place County Dublin, labourer, aged 30, 5’6”, with brown hair, brown complexion, and dark grey eyes, arriving VDL on the schooner Jess.[63]
Travelled to VDL on 30 October 1834, ships the Cleopatra and Jesse. (No. 2167) On 13 March 1843, Brady was granted his Ticket of Leave. There were further instances of stealing – on 30 March 1843 he was charged with misconduct in keeping up illicit intercourse with a woman, and suspected of stealing a pair of bullocks – three months in hard labour.[64]
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Bukas – Said to be from Calcutta, arriving at VDL from Western Australia onboard the Champion 21 August 1845. Musselman and Emble (ship names?). Twice to Swan River Colony, where he was convicted of the rape of the 11-year-old daughter of Mrs Clay and sentenced to a term of transportation for life. [No details of the case have been found in newspapers.]
He said that he had arrived at the Swan River Colony onboard the Emily Taylor, Captain McDermott, 15 years earlier. [This ship was wrecked in 1834 at Cockburn Sound.]
Bukas was described as a cook/servant by trade, from Calcutta, single, unable to read or write. He was aged 34, height 5’4”, with a copper-coloured complexion, black/grey hair and whiskers, with ears pierced for rings. He had several scars from burns.[65] On arrival at VDL he was told that he would have to serve 12 years from the date of his conviction. He received his Ticket of Leave on 7 August 1855. He worked for a number of employers, with occasional punishments for minor misdemeanors. His assistance during a fire was noted on 9 April 1853.[66]
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Burns, John – Correspondence from WH Mackie, Chairman of the Court of Petty Sessions of Western Australia, stated that John Burns had pleaded guilty to an offence and was to be transported for seven years.[67] While a prisoner in the Fremantle Gaol he was convicted on 2 April 1834 of stealing sugar, along with Stevens and Willis.
He arrived at VDL on the Fanny in May 1834, (No. 2079). He was a single man who had previously served five years in the 21st Fusiliers, a Scottish regiment. He served several periods in irons or in a chain gang for various misdemeanors, such as absenting himself from his gang. From 21 July 1835 he spent six days in solitary confinement for falsely stating that he had not received his rations. On 22 September 1835 he was convicted of using improper and disrespectful language to an Overseer in Chapel – five days’ solitary at Port Arthur. On 3 October 1835 he received 36 lashes for illegally having tobacco in his possession. He received his Certificate of Freedom on 27 April 1837.[68]
BURNS, John. Transported for 7 years to Tasmania (early 1830s).[69]
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Carey, Richard (alias for Timothy Callanan) – Tried and convicted at Perth WA in 1837 and sentenced to 14 years’ transportation – Richard Carey, a recent importation from the neighbouring colonies, was charged with stealing a duck frock and trowsers the property of James Cook. Mrs. Cook identified the property, and Mr. Barron deposed that he had taken from off the person of the prisoner the articles produced, and the prisoner acknowledged to him his having stolen them from Mrs. Cook. In his defence, the prisoner stated that he was drunk when he went to Mrs. Cook’s house, and when he left it he did not know how he fell in with the frock and trowsers, or how he came to put them on. Verdict—Guilty. Sentence, 7 years’ transportation.[70]
Ships Abeona & Joshua Carroll. Richard Carey arrived at VDL per Joshua Carroll. (Police No. 2278) Real name Timothy Callanan. Described as a groom, single, aged 35, 5’7”, from Cork, religion RC, unable to read or write. Next of kin – Father William Callanan, labourer, and mother, four brothers, Peter, John, Thomas & Edward. He stated that he had previously been transported to NSW under the name ‘Timothy Callanan’, in July 1820 in Isabella (2), and was assigned to Thomas West. He had obtained his Certificate of Freedom at Sydney but had lost it.[71]
His name was advertised as an absconder in September 1839, as Richard Carey, per Joshua Carrol, reward of £2 offered.[72] When re-captured on 16 October, he was sent to Port Arthur, to serve 12 months’ hard labour. His conduct was to be reported, Vide Lieut. Governor’s Decision 25 October 1839.[73]
After serving his term in VDL, Carey’s Certificate of Freedom was issued on 4 April 1844.[74] He later went to NSW.[75] The following incident which occurred in 1858 may refer to him —
ABUSIVE LANGUAGE -Timothy Callanan was charged before the bench on Thursday by John Bellevue with having used abusive language towards him. On the 6th instant Callanan was going along Church street with a wheelbarrow and Bellevue asked him to keep off the footpath, when he sat down on his barrow and called him a black cannibal, a flogger at Norfolk Island and other equally abusive names. Callanan did not deny having used the language but pleaded provocation. He was sentenced to pay a fine of 20s, or in default to be imprisoned for seven days. [76]
CAREY, Richard. Arr. 1836/7 from Eastern colonies. Transported to Tasmania 1837 for stealing trousers.[77]
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Corrigan, Philip – Convicted at Perth on 1 October 1834, along with Peter Brady, for stealing a box containing valuable cut glass. When detected, Brady threw the box down on the ground, smashing the contents. He said that they were looking for grog. Both were sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[78]
[See correspondence on this case from WH Mackie, Commissioner of the Civil Court, to VDL authorities.[79]]
Sent to VDL. (Police No. 1774) – Ships Marquis of Anglesea & Jesse. Described as a labourer, from Farmannagh (Fermanagh?), Ireland, aged 33, height 6ft, with brown complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. Sent on schooner Jess to VDL.[80]
Said that his wife Isabella and three children were at Swan River – he expected her to come to VDL. His Ticket of Leave was issued on 11 February 1839, and he was appointed as Constable on 20 May 1840.[81] He was convicted of embezzlement of 1/3d from a drunken prisoner as a watch-house keeper. He was sent to the roads on probation for three months, lost his Ticket of Leave and had his term of transportation extended an extra 12 months.[82] His Ticket of Leave was again issued on 3 February 1842, and his Certificate of Freedom later that year.[83]
CORRIGAN, Phillip, he arr. 7.1829, his wife Isabella arr. 8.6.1829 per Sulphur, Chd. Thomas b. 1829. Private 63rd Regt. Stationed at Kelmscott. His Perth house, when he vacated it, was to house sick Aborigines.[84]
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Coyle, Alexander – Convicted 2 October 1844 at Perth of stealing 16 yards of flannel from Mr Cross and sentenced to seven years’ transportation.
Arrived in VDL on the Champion on 26 October 1844. (Convict No. 388). Said that he had arrived in WA about seven years earlier on the Ellen barque from the Cape, a seaman, aged 21 (?), from Argyleshire, 5’5½”, Roman Catholic, able to read and write. On 14 January 1845 he attempted a breakout from gaol, and had his term of transportation extended by 12 months. Twice he was reported for concealing food, once for having bread in his possession, and a second time for potatoes. On 13 August 1850 he was informed that he would be recommended for Ticket of Leave, once the reward for his apprehension was paid. His T/L (Ticket of Leave) was awarded on 10 September 1850. On 25 March 1852 the extra term was remitted by six months and on 27 April 1852 he was given his Certificate of Freedom.[85]
Alexander Coyle (Champion) applied for permission to marry Emily Witheridge (Cadet) in March 1857.[86] They were married in Campbell Town on 10 April 1857, Alexander aged 28, a sawyer, single, and Emily a widow, aged 37.[87]
[Emily Witheridge, a married woman, dressmaker, with three children, had been convicted at Exeter on 23 February 1847 of stealing a pair of boots and was sentenced to seven years. She arrived at VDL on the Cadet on 2 January 1848. (Convict No. 723) Her native place was Sheerness. She received her Certificate of Freedom in 1854.[88]]
COYLE, Alexander. Stole 16 yds of flannel & was sentenced to 7 years transportation to Tasmania 10. 1844.[89]
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Dearden, John Cunliffe – A sergeant in the 51st Regiment, charged in 1846 with forging and uttering a money order in an attempt to defraud the WA Bank. Sentenced to 7 years’ transportation.[90] A petition was signed, out of sympathy for his wife and four children, who would be left behind.[91] His sentence was commuted to five years’ hard labour in Fremantle Gaol.[92]
On 28 March 1846 a letter from WN Clarke was published in the Perth Gazette, stating that he was the author of the petition presented on behalf of Dearden. Further, Clarke was of the opinion that instead of transporting offenders to Van Diemen’s Land, they should be retained in the Colony and employed on much needed public works. He concluded by saying that to all intents and purposes, the Swan River Colony was already a penal settlement, due to the importation of juvenile offenders from the Isle of Wight.[93]
In 1852 John Dearden published in a Perth newspaper a lengthy treatise, addressed to the Archbishop of Sydney, on behalf of members of the Roman Catholic community.[94]
John Matthew Dearden, aged 77, son of John Cunliffe Dearden and Margaret Wilkinson, died in 1884.[95] Foul play was at first suspected —
Our correspondent at Fremantle telegraphed this morning as follows : — The body of a half-caste man, which has been identified as that of John Dearden, was found on the South Beach about a mile from Fremantle at daybreak this morning. The head presented the appearance of being much lacerated, and there are other marks on the body which lead to the belief that foul play has occurred. The body was found divested of all clothing beyond a shirt and a pair of boots and socks. The police are busily engaged in investigating the matter.[96]
A Police Report of his death is held in WA State Records.[97]
His death notice reads as follows –
At Perth on Sunday, July 13th, John Cunliffe Dearden, late of Spotwood, Rochdale, Lancashire, aged 76 years. Deeply regretted by his family and a large circle of friends.[98]
His wife Margaret (née Wilkinson) had died in May that year, aged 72. They had seven children.
DEARDON, John Tuncliffe, b. 1807 (England), d. 13.7.1884 (Perth), arr. 25. 6.1840 per Runnymede with family, from Tasmania, m. Margaret WILKINSON b. 1812 d. 22.5.1884 (Perth). Chd. Alfred , Maria b. 1833 (Ireland) d. 1918, Robert John Wilkinson b. 1841 d. 1901, Elizabeth b. 1843, James Joseph b. 1848 d. 1888, Ellen b. 1849, John J. b. 1852. Corporal in 51st Regt. stationed at Perth. Discharged from the army 8.1.1846. Perth Town Lot Y23 bt. 1841 & NB 12 bt. 1867. Employed 12 T/L men 1851-1877. Licensee of Freemason’s Hotel, RC.[99]
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Deiz (Diez), Jose – A man of colour, a servant in the employ of Mrs Littleton, charged with stealing a ring, value 20/-, and a picture, valued 20/-, the property of Constantine Norman. Sentenced on 1 April 1841 to seven years’ transportation.[100]
On 13 August 1841 he arrived at VDL on the Vixen. Described as a servant, aged 25, Roman Catholic, unable to read or write, 5’3”, single, from Goa, East Indies.
His record in VDL was mostly good. On 4 August 1843 he was convicted of stealing an amount under £5, and his term was extended by six months. On 28 February 1845 he was awarded his Ticket of Leave.[101] His Certificate of Freedom was awarded in October 1848.[102]
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Dover, Thomas – Thomas Dover was indicted for a burglary in the house of Mr. R. Viveash, and stealing several articles of jewellery. The prisoner (who is recently from Van Diemen’s Land, and who styled himself “an old Vandonian”) pleaded not guilty, but his defence amounted to a mere denial of any knowledge of the circumstances, while the evidence against him was most clear and satisfactory. He was found guilty on 2 October 1844 and sentenced to ten years’ transportation. William Vance and Thomas Dover (the afore-mentioned convict) were charged, the former with stealing, and the latter with feloniously receiving, 2lbs. of mercury, the property of the Queen. The prisoners pleaded not guilty, but were both convicted on the evidence. Vance was sentenced to seven years’ transportation. No additional sentence was passed on Dover. The several convicts sentenced to transportation will be shipped off for Van Diemen’s Land by the Champion, which sails for Hobart Town on the 10th instant.[103]
Dover arrived at VDL on 26 October 1844 on the Champion. (No. 3173) He said that he had previously been to Tasmania as Thomas Jones on the Governor Ready. [A Thomas Jones, from the Middlesex gaol delivery, arrived at VDL as one of the 192 convicts transported on the Governor Ready, arriving there on 26 March 1827.[104]] He said that he was convicted of receiving about 65 bushels of wheat and barley, not knowing it was stolen.
Dover was able to read and write – he signed an application for T/L in 1850(?), stating that he was a sawyer, aged 41, originally from Ipswich in Suffolk, and currently employed by Mr Allen Carswell at King’s Meadows.[105] His Conditional Pardon was approved on 27 November 1849 and Certificate of Freedom on 11 August 1852.[106]
DOVER, Thomas, arr. from Tasmania late 1844. He stole from Robt. Viveash & from the Govt. Stores & was sentenced to 10 years transportation 10.1844.[107]
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Farrell, Michael –– Aged 27, 5’8½”, labourer, a soldier from Dublin. Convicted at Fremantle on 12 January 1835 of stealing a pistol from Mr Lewis – seven years’ transportation. Sent to VDL (No. 700), arriving on the Ellen – Described as single, RC, able to read and write. He had a previous conviction in WA for stealing a saw, for which crime he served 12 months on the roads. He had been three times punished in his Regiment for drunkenness. Ship Jane to Swan River. His next of kin were listed as his father, a tobacconist, one brother and one sister, at his native place.[108]
His conduct in VDL was bad, with multiple charges of being absent, insolent, drunk and out after hours, etc., with severe punishments such as going on the tread-wheel for 14 days, being placed on bread and water, and having his sentence extended by 12 months. In 1843 he was granted his Free Certificate.[109]
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Gee, Charles – In 1838 charged at the Swan River Colony with stealing ducks and turkey. Sentenced to seven years transportation.[110] [He had previously been convicted of stealing soap in 1833, when he declared his wife to be innocent of the charge, although the soap was found wrapped in her apron.[111]]
Charles Gee remained at the Swan River Colony. No evidence of transportation has been found. Charles Gee, his second wife Mary Ann and five children had arrived in 1829 on the Carolina at the Swan River Colony as employees of Henty. Their names appear in the General Muster Book dated 6 November 1829 as follows—
LABOURERS TO HENTY. … Charles Gee … 32 married. Mary Ann Gee … 22 wife. Charles Gee … 12 child. Joseph Gee . . . 10 do. William Gee … 6 do. Walter Gee … 4 do. Alfred Gee . .. . 9mths. do.[112]
Charles Gee acquired a Crown Grant of a block of land in Perth, Lot P8, in Murray Street, Perth.[113]
MAGISTRATES COURT, PERTH.
Wm. Gee, a boy, about 12 years of age,— although of tender years, an old and hardened offender,— was sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour, suited to his years, for stealing potatoes from the garden of J. Morgan, Esq.
Charles Gee, of Perth, carpenter, was sentenced to pay a fine of £5 for beating his wife.[114]
[The same man was convicted in 1833 of beating his wife with a rope, the third time for this offence.[115]]
In 1839 Mary Ann Gee was fined 5/- for punching a man called William Izzard over the head.[116]
He advertised as follows in 1843 –
CHARLES GEE wishes to inform such gentlemen as are willing to favour him with the care of their flocks, that he has formed an establishment at CHETIER, about 40 miles from Guildford (to the north), where he has a most excellent run for sheep or horned cattle. For further particulars application to be made to Joseph Gee, Vineyard Farm, or at the Guildford Hotel, at Guildford. May 26, 1843.[117]
1844 – A FARM containing 320 acres, situated on Lake Chittering, about twenty-five miles from the head of the Swan, lately in the occupation of Charles Gee. The greater part of the land in composed of rich alluvial soil, 16 acres of which have been cleared and cropped. A team of bullocks, a cart, and other farming implements, will be let with the farm, and a few cows may be had on shares. For particulars apply to WM. L. BROCKMAN. To be sold, or exchanged for wheat or live stock, Two buggys, which may be seen at Herne Hill.[118]
By 1841 his 2nd wife left him –
NOTICE.
I, CHARLES GEE, Sen., hereby give notice that I will not be answerable for any debts incurred by Mary Ann Gee.
Perth, Jan, 2, 1841.
In 1843 Mary Ann Gee was lodging in the house of James Brown.[119]
? GEE, Charles (Sr), b. 1792 (England), arr. 12.10.1829 per Caroline with family, m. 1st Hannah KIMBERS, m. 2nd (UK) Mary Ann LASSETER b. 1792 (England). Chd. Charles b. 1817, Joseph b. 1819 d. 1894, William b. 1823, WaIter b. 1825 d. 1831, Alfred b. 1829 d. 1831, George bp. 1830, Charlotte Hannah b. 1833 d. 1916, ?Frederick Walter. Indentured servant to Henty paid £50 to be freed from bond. Perth. Lot P8. Carpenter. Lit.[120]
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Green, John – One of the Parkhurst boys, found guilty in July 1848 of stealing a pair of razors, the property of Mrs Okely, and selling them – seven years’ transportation.[121]
GREEN, J. Arr. 22.1.1846 per Cumberland, Parkhurst boy indentured 4.2 .1846 for 4 yrs as a domestic servant employed by J .B. Wittenoom, tried for shoplifting 30.6.1848. Convicted July for stealing razors, sentenced to 7 yrs transportation – reduced to 3 yrs, escaped from jail & left aboard an American whaler 1848.[122]
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Hawker, Stephen – A labourer of Perth, stole money to the value of 19 shillings from the dwelling house of James Gillespie, on 27 January 1834. He was found guilty of the charges on 2 April 1834 and sentenced to seven years’ transportation. [See letter from WH Mackie to VDL authorities.[123]]
Stephen Hawker was indicted for stealing from a chest in the dwelling house at Perth of James Gillespie, nineteen shillings and sixpence. The prisoner had been employed as a porter to convey things from the house for Mr. Patterson, who, a short time previously, had rented it to J. Gillespie, but on this occasion the prisoner was observed by Dorothy Embleton coming out of the window of the house, and the money was shortly afterwards missed from the chest in which it had been deposited. Verdict – Guilty. Seven years transportation.
[A confirmed habit of stealing, for which Hawker has repeatedly suffered punishment in our Jail at Fremantle, will account for the severity of the sentence.][124]
Hawker left WA on 2 April 1834 on the Fanny, arriving at VDL in May 1834. (No. 1770). He reported in as follows – ‘Father and mother at Stratton near native place Plymouth, a clergyman. I took nearly £500 to the Swan River and lost it all there – Four brothers & four sisters – Robert a clergyman at Whelstone, Thomas a surgeon at London, Claudius at Cambridge going through his degrees as clergyman, the fourth (Stephen) at home. One sister married to a clergyman at Kingdon near Launceston, (at school, the rest at home.) Single.’[125]
On 28 June 1834 he was sent to Port Arthur. On 26 January 1835 charged with making away with or misappropriating a quantity of wine, issued for the public service at the Hospital whilst in charge of same – Solitary confinement for one calendar month / Port Arthur. The Lieutenant Governor approved the issue of his Ticket of Leave on September 1837. His Certificate of Freedom was issued in 1841.[126] [Note: In 1842, a Stephen Hawker gave evidence at a trial involving the stealing of flour. At the time he was working at the Supply Mills, in charge of loading a boat.[127]]
HAWKER. Stephen, b.1806, arr. 19.5.1830 per William, was a labourer to S. Bryan. Convicted for theft 1831 & 1833. Sentenced to transportation for 7 yrs 4.1834.[128]
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Hickey (Hickie), Peter – He arrived at VDL on the Champion on 25 March 1843. His Tasmanian records show that he had been convicted at Perth WA on 1 April 1842, of having stolen £70 or £80 from the safe of his employer, Daniel Scott. He was found with some money on his person and a ring, which he claimed to have been given to him by Mr Scott’s sister. He carried a certificate proving that he had served on the Metropolitan Police for 3½ years. He was described as a clerk, single, aged 25, 5’8½”, RC, able to read and write, from County Carlow. Conduct good. On 23 March 1844 his original term for robbery expired.
On 18 August 1845 he lost his position as Office Constable in the Police Office, after admitting a common prostitute into the office at 3 a.m. On 3 November 1846 he received his Ticket of Leave, but this was revoked on 30 March 1847. On 2 January 1847 he had been employed as Constable at Fingal, but was charged with larceny of less than £5, receiving a term of six months. On 6 March 1849 his Ticket of Leave was restored. On 2 November 1849 he gained his Certificate of Freedom.[129]
After his prison term expired, Peter Hickey departed from Launceston in 1849, onboard the City of Sydney, bound for Portland Bay in Victoria.[130]
? HICKEY. Peter, b. 1818, arr. 15.10.1841 per Ganges. Labourer. RC.[131]
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Hinks, Benjamin – In April 1833 Benjamin Hinks was charged with breaking into the Harbour-Master’s Office. Frances Hagan saw the prisoner at the book case, removing the books, and said good morning to him, which civility he returned, and said “You see Hagan I’m reading a bit.”
The prisoner put in a written defence in which he stated that, since his last confinement in Jail, he could not get anybody to allow him to sleep in their houses, and had merely taken shelter in the Harbour Master’s office for the night. Finding the cupboard open, he was merely amusing himself by reading a bit. Verdict—guilty.— Sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[132]
Hinks and William Booker had escaped from Fremantle jail in January that year, using a long nail on the soft rock wall, but were soon re-captured. At that time Benjamin Hinks was described as stout and square-made, height 5’10”, with light sandy hair, light grey eyes, dressed in a white brown hat, brown cloth jacket, corduroy breeches and white cotton stockings.[133] NSW records show Hinks arriving there on the Jolly Rambler in 1833, and receiving his Certificate of Freedom ten years later on 10 August 1843.[134] On 17 August 1845 Benjamin Hinks was heading from Sydney for Calcutta, on the barque Bussorah Merchant.[135]
[Earlier records show Benjamin Hinks being sent to Van Diemen’s Land on 5 July 1820 on the Caledonia from England, arriving there on 17 November, for a term of seven years.[136] Records at the Old Bailey for 1819 show Benjamin Hinks, born 1795, convicted of stealing a saddle, and James Francis (b.1774), convicted of receiving the stolen item. Both were said to be notorious thieves, Hinks, with three records, was sentenced to seven years. Francis with five records, was sentenced to 14 years.[137] Following his conviction, Hinks was sent from Newgate Prison to the prison hulks.[138]
On 23 March 1822, while in VDL, he assaulted Dr Mountgarrett and was given 50 lashes and was sentenced to three months’ hard labour in the Gaol Gang in irons, with a ruling not to be assigned to any other settler for three years. He was frequently punished for various crimes – on 22 December 1831 he was charged with stealing £35 from Jonathon Smith.[139] He was freed on 31 July 1828.]
HINKS (HINDS), Benjamin. Released from his indentures to Thos. Peel 7.1830. Transported to Tasmania per Jolly Rambler 1833 after having escaped from the Fremantle Gaol in January.[140]
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Keats, William – He arrived at the Swan River Colony in 1829. Charged at Fremantle on 12 January 1835 and convicted of stealing from the wreck Cumberland – 14 years’ transportation. In 1833 his son William Keats (Jnr) aged 18, in the company of his brother James (14), had been speared to death after he shot Aboriginal leader Yagan.[141]
After arriving in VDL (No. 476) onboard the Ellen, it was recorded that Keats [ships Gilmore & Ellen] was a married man with one child, 5’4”, aged 46, a mason’s labourer, originally from Corf(e) Castle, in Dorset. His wife Emma was living at Fremantle, keeping a Public House – she had no other means.[142] William was a Protestant, and could read. On 21 November 1838 he received various goods, knowing them to have been stolen – to be kept at hard labour for two years. [An associate was Francis Reed (or Reid?), who was found guilty of stealing a cask of flour.][143] On 7 April 1842 Keats was convicted of drunkenness and served four hours’ exposure in the stocks. On 1 July 1845 he received a Conditional Pardon.[144] In 1853 William Keats, ‘a free man’, went on a drunken spree, breaking a pane of glass at the front of the Royal Hotel in Liverpool Street, Hobart, then assaulting a policeman. He was fined 1/- and £1.[145]
[Whether his wife joined him in VDL is not known. [?] In 1884 in the Court House at Ouse, a man named William Keats gave evidence against a man named Henry Stocks, who was charged with killing the daughter and infant grand-daughter of Keats. He had shot and buried them. Elizabeth Keats was married to Stocks, but the child was not his. Her brother William Keats (Jnr), also gave evidence at the trial. Henry Stocks was convicted of wilful murder.[146]]
KEATS, William, b. 1792, arr. 15.12.1829 per Gilmore with wife Ann b. 1797 & 2 sons, James b. 1820 (India), William b. 1815 d. 1833 killed by Aborigines after the shooting of Yagan. Claimed to be a foreman mason in London. Fremantle publican at “Kings Arms” in 1833. “A character better known than respected”, he was transported to Tasmania for plundering the wreck of the Cumberland (31.1.1835 Perth Gazette). His wife dep. 25.1.1836 per Giraffe. (see William Keites).[147]
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Kemp, Ansell (Ansel) – Convicted on 3 April 1843 in WA of stealing some items belonging to Mary Ann Gee, from the house of James Brown in Perth.[148]
Ansel Kemp,—stealing a quarter dollar, the monies of James Brown, of Perth, carpenter, and some wearing apparel the property of Charles Gee of the Upper Swan. Plea guilty. Sentence 7 years transportation.[149]
Kemp arrived at VDL on HMS Fly from Western Australia on 10 [or 6?] November 1843. Description – aged 35, 5’6½”, Protestant, single, able to read and write, listed as Ansell Kemp, (No. 244), HMS Fly.[150] A Certificate of Freedom was granted to Ansel Kemp, Fly, in April 1850.[151] Described as a Protestant, single, aged 35, labourer, 5’6½”, from Wexford, Massachusetts. He said that he was drunk at the time of the robbery, and had never been in prison before. Sentence of probation – 18 months. Various misdemeanors recorded against him – drunk and disorderly, indolence, using obscene language, being in a Public House, etc. There is a very long list of employers. His Free Certificate was given on 3 April 1850.[152]
Ansel Kemp died aged 63, at Campbell Town, Tasmania, on 4 January 1872.[153]
[No reference to him in Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians.]
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Ledgard, William – Convicted on 12 January 1835 in WA of plundering the shipwreck Cumberland along with three others, and sentenced to seven years’ transportation. As Police No. 895, his description after arrival in VDL on the ship Ellen, was – an apothecary by profession, married with no children, born at Mirfield in Yorkshire. Aged 27, height 5’7”. He stated that he had arrived at the Swan River Colony on the ship Rockingham.[154] His wife Elizabeth [née Bateman] was living at the Swan River on her property, 200 acres on two grants of land. William named four brothers and two sisters as his family in Yorkshire.[155]
In VDL, Ledgard was awarded his Ticket of Leave on 25 April 1839, with his good conduct noted at the time of a fire at the property of Mr Burke in Elizabeth Street. He was given his Certificate of Freedom on 13 January 1842.[156] He was also issued a Free Pardon in November that year.[157] By that time he was already running a business in Hobart. In October, Ledgard was advertising that at his pastry shop, situated at 41 Elizabeth Street, he was also operating as ‘A General Registry Office for Servants’.[158] By the following year he was operating a different business from the property next-door –
POULTRY, at WILLIAM LEDGARD’S, 42, Elizabeth street.
WILLIAM LEDGARD begs leave most respectfully to acquaint the ladies, gentlemen, and inhabitants in general of Hobart Town and its vicinity, that having again entered upon the premises which he formerly occupied in Elizabeth street, as a Pork and Poultry Salesmonger (and which has since been carried on by Messrs. Meyers,) to those who will favour him with any orders he will make it his study to give satisfaction, by supplying them with a good article, and by using the utmost despatch and promptitude in fulfilling their commands.[159]
By 1846 William Ledgard was living in South Australia. Described as a poulterer, he appeared in the Adelaide Court, charged with stealing a saddle, but was acquitted.[160] Also in 1846, at that time renting 20 acres on the Bay Road, Ledgard was engaged in an unedifying court case over access to water from a well. During the dispute with landowner WWG Nicholls, mention was made in regard to William Ledgard’s time spent in Van Diemen’s Land, along with a derogatory reference to the woman who lived as his wife being previously known as ‘Dirty Eliza’ in Hobart Town.[161]
In 1855 William Ledgard was acting as one of the auditors for the Para Wirra Council in South Australia.[162] In 1867 there was another court case, this time over damage done by a fire to a vineyard owned by Ledgard.[163] In 1872 he was appointed as a Medical Officer in the Para Wirra District, to ‘attend to the destitute poor and aborigines’. [164]
William Ledgard passed away in May, 1877 –
DEATH OF AN OLD COLONIST.—Mr. William Ledgard, of Cudlee Creek, well known as “Dr. Ledgard,” died suddenly of heart disease on Monday, May 28. He was 68 years of age, and was a colonist of over 30 years. Mr. F. Hannaford, M.P., J.P., having enquired into the circumstances attending his death, certified that an inquest was not necessary.[165]
So ended an eventful life. A resourceful and intelligent man, William had overcome the convict taint which resulted from his foolish decision to plunder a shipwreck back in the Swan River Colony, forty-two years earlier.
In 1880 the case of Daniel Ledgard v. James Ledgard in the matter of William Ledgard’s estate, took place in the Supreme Court, with James Ledgard approved as the lessee of his father’s farm for 21 years, provided that £100 per year was provided to Elizabeth Vanderplank for her maintenance. Miss Vanderplank, the annuitant of William Ledgard’s will, made application in 1894 for past arrears on the payments due to her from the estate, valued at £2,162. 17s. 2d. [166] [Eliza Vanderplank was a convict sent to Van Diemen’s Land in 1839 on the Majestic.[167]]
LEDGARD (LEDYARD), William, b. 1808 (England). arr. 14.5.1830 per Rockingham, m. 24.12.1834 Elizabeth BATEMAN. She m. 2nd 1838 Robert FERRES. Left England without informing his parents. Claimed to have studied to be a surgeon, but went farming. Qualified for a grant of 800 acres. Applied for position of Keeper of Govt. Stock at York in 1831. In 1.1835 sentenced to 7 yrs transportation for plundering the wreck of Cumberland.[168]
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Lee, John – Along with Ambrose Wood, both sailors off a whaling ship, pleaded guilty in 1834 to stealing from the Fremantle jail store. Thomas Stephens (Stevens) and Frederick Willis were also convicted of aiding and abetting the crime. All were sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[169] Willis later declared in VDL records that John Lee and Ambrose Wood had received sentences of six months. (See further details of their crime under Thomas Stevens in this document.)
[No record in VDL.]
LEE, John. A crew member of the American whaler Maraboo. Asked permission to live in W.A. 7.3.1834. Was convicted of larceny in 1834 and transported to Tasmania for 7 years.[170]
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Lewis, Charles – Sailed on the Governor Bourke for Sydney on 24 January 1833, along with prisoners Thomas Warrall and William Booker.[171] [No details of his crime have been found.]
Charles Lewis was said to have previously served a term of transportation at VDL. Most likely as Charles Lewis, (No.334), who arrived on the Lady East, departed Falmouth on 22 May 1822, charged with stealing a handkerchief from a person, and due to a record of seven previous convictions in England, was sentenced to seven years. His conduct was good.[172] In June 1829 he received his freedom.[173] On 9 January 1830 Charles Lewis departed VDL on the brig Thomson, bound for the Swan River Colony.[174] He may have worked his passage attending to the cattle, sheep and other Colonial produce being transported from Tasmania by shipping agent Captain William Wilson.[175]
The death of Charles Lewis, (Governor Bourke), at the Newcastle Hospital in New South Wales, was registered on 25 May 1837 in the NSW Convict Death Index.[176]
LEWIS, Charles, b. c.1800, ?son of James, arr. 16. 2.1830 per Thomson from Tasmania with Capt. Hobb’s stock. An ex- convict with a certificate of freedom. He was jailed 21.12.1830 for debts & again 30.8.1831. He was transported for 7 yrs on 10.1832 for larceny. Apparently returned to W.A. Reported as an inmate in the colonial hospital 12.10.1842. ?This man (carpenter) m. 8.6. 1857 (Toodyay RC) Eliza LANGAN b. 1830 (Ireland), dtr. of Patrick. She arr. 13.3.1855 per Berkshire.[177]
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James Stewart McDonald (James Morris?) – Following his conviction on 10 February 1847 of stealing a whale boat and a gun, McDonald was tried on board with Peter Stewart. He was sentenced to two terms of seven years and ten years’ transportation on the same day, to be served consecutively. [No details of the robbery have yet been found in newspapers on the Trove website.]
McDonald arrived on 10 May 1847 at VDL on the Alexander. (No. 44977). He said that he came from Haddingtonshire in Scotland, described as a labourer, Roman Catholic, unable to read and write, aged 40, 5’8”, a widower with two children. Identified by Mr Guin (Gann?) as James Morris per Aurora, No. 1354 FS (?)
Likely Previous Conviction in 1835 as ‘James Morris’
A James Morris (or Morrison) was convicted in Edinburgh on 2 January 1835 of housebreaking, and with previous offences, was sentenced to seven years. He spent time on a prison hulk and arrived at VDL on 8 October 1835 per Aurora, (No.1354). He was married to Catherine and had two children. Said that his real name was James Morris. His conduct was moderately good. He was given his ticket of Leave on 9 October 1839 and his Certificate of Freedom on 18 February 1842.[178] On arrival his description was as follows – a farm labourer from Fifeshire, aged 31, 5’8”, with dark brown hair, grey eyes and a narrow face. Had tattoos including a dove, thistle, initials ‘K.S. P.’, a cross and star, anchor, etc.[179]
On 2 August 1853 – ‘McDonald must serve eight years from date of conviction before Ticket of Leave.’ On 6 March 1855 he was arrested for absconding and was sentenced to 18 months’ hard labour, with an extra six months in a quarry gang. On 19 May 1857 he was awarded his Ticket of Leave, and on 5 April 1859 his Conditional Pardon was approved. A surcharge was imposed by the Colonial Government for maintenance while in Hospital and at Brickfields Depot[180] in 1860, at a cost of £12/8/5d. On 2 February 1864 he was in hospital with paralysis. James Stewart McDonald died on 21 December 1867 at Port Arthur.[181] His death certificate gives his age as 62, a farm labourer, died of diarrhoea at Tasman’s Peninsular.[182]
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MacDonnell, Edward – Along with William Banks and Eli Crisp, on 2 July 1845, charged in WA with burglary in the house of George Robert Teede, of Guildford, Licensed Victualler, and stealing therein some sovereigns and bank notes, the property and effects of George Longbottom, labourer, of the Upper Swan. Verdict, Banks and MacDonnell guilty, sentenced to ten years. Crisp found not guilty.[183]
Arrived in VDL 21 August 1845 onboard the Champion, (No. 512), described as a butcher from Dublin, aged 22, 5’7”, Roman Catholic, able to read and write a little. He said that he had arrived at the Swan River on the Ganges (?) in 1841, and that Bolger had been on the same ship. 24 April 1847 – His good services noted during a fire at Mr Palmer’s, Bagdad. On 2 August 1851 convicted of absconding – 12 months’ hard labour. On 10 June 1852, absconding again – 18 months’ hard labour. On 2 July 1855 he was given his Certificate of Freedom.[184]
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Martin, Thomas – Boatman and groom, aged 30, 5’7”. Charged at Fremantle on 1 April 1835 – Sentenced to Transportation for Life.
Fremantle, Wednesday, April 1, 1835. Before W.H. Mackie, Esq., Chairman, & a full Bench of Magistrates. Thomas Martin, was charged with breaking into Mr. Bailey Maycock’s house, at Perth, and stealing therefrom a box containing silver coins to the amount of 30 or 40 shillings, and a silver watch. Verdict – Guilty. Sentence – Transportation for life, the prisoner having been formerly indicted for the same species of offence.[185]
In VDL Martin stated that he had come from Plymouth per Asia, free, to Sydney about eight years ago. Went from Hobart to Swan River on the Monarch about 18 months ago. Arrived at VDL from Swan River on the Sally Ann, in June 1834. – (No. 1302). ‘No relations living that I know of.’[186]
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Miller, John – Charged at Perth on 5 April 1839 with stealing one duck frock, one pair of canvas trousers, and one pair of woollen cloth trousers, the property of Thomas Davis, of Perth, blacksmith. Verdict—Guilty. Sentence—7 years’ transportation.[187] Arrived in VDL on Socrates.[188]
(No1756) – ‘Mariner, from London, age 36, 5’6 ½”, convicted Western Australia on 5 April 1839. Single, RC, unable to read & write – Father John a farmer at native place, 3 brothers and 4 sisters all with father. Arrived VDL on ship Socrates, 31 May 1839. Stealing 2½ bushells of wheat, pros..d, Robert Smith once for trespass, discharged. My father is free by servitude.’[189]
A comprehensive list of his offences shows John Miller’s full record of incarceration in VDL [CONS35-1-1 Image 394]. Summary as follows –
John Miller, Dromedary and Socrates
January 1820 – Arrived at VDL following trial on 21 April 1819 – seven years. [Convicted of larceny on that date at Middlesex, aged 17, sentence seven years – in Newgate prison before.[190]]
15 April 1829 – Tried at Supreme Court, Hobart – seven years.
5 April 1839 – Tried at Supreme Court, Western Australia – seven years.
Described as a seaman, aged 36, 5’7”, native place Spitalfields.
1st Term at VDL
During his first term at VDL he regularly received 25 or 50 lashes as punishment for offences, such as drunkenness, neglect of duty, or mutinous conduct. He was granted his Freedom by Servitude on 26 February 1829.
2nd Term at VDL
A few months later, on 15 April 1829, he was in the Supreme Court in Hobart, on trial for stealing, and was sentenced to another seven years. From that time, his record reveals a litany of harsh punishments for insubordination, drunkenness, insolence, etc., resulting in many instances of 25 to 50 lashes, solitary confinement, and relegation to a chain gang for long periods. On 31 April 1831 he was working at the Orphan School. On 25 July 1831 for insubordination, he was sent to the hulk chain gang for two years. From that time, for similar offences, he was subjected to 36 lashes, 6 and 14 days on the tread wheel, solitary confinement and hard labour.
In April 1834 he was removed to Constitution Hill, where later that year on 25 November he was charged with committing an assault against a watchman Richard Hamby(?), earning 50 lashes.
Surprisingly, on 21 February 1835, Miller was appointed as Special Constable, but was soon in trouble for permitting a prisoner to escape and receiving an award for his re-capture – punishment three months’ hard labour.
His list of offences and punishments continued, up until his release on 2 July 1835.
3rd Term at VDL
On 5 April 1839, John Miller was convicted at Perth Western Australia of stealing clothes during a house robbery. He arrived back at VDL on the Socrates. Although his record for this term of servitude features offences such as drunkenness, etc., the punishments were less drastic. On 13 February 1843 he was strongly suspected of a felony and was kept to hard labour.
In 1846 John Miller received his Certificate of Freedom. No more is known about him from that time. Departed VDL on the Dromedary for NSW –
[Note : In his VDL record CON31-1-32 – ‘To New South Wales per Dromedary, Index No. 49540 – See 184 for offences.’]
MILLER, John . Arr. 27.1 .1833 per Cygnet. Dep. 5.1839 per Socrates for Tasmania.[191]
[The 1833 arrival date in this entry doesn’t match John Miller’s record at VDL.]
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Mills, William –A private soldier in the 21st Regiment, guilty of larceny. Convicted on 3 April 1837 at Perth, WA – seven years’ transportation.[192] (Police No. 1592) – Ships Trunshall and Joshua Carroll.
Drunkeness seems to be his main offence in VDL. On 7 April 1842 he was awarded his T/L and his Freedom Certificate in 1844. To NSW on the Tunchall (sic).
After arrival at VDL he admitted stealing 3½ bottles of wine – ‘I was stationed at a farm house of Mr Hardy’s at York, Swan River, where the wine was taken from.’ Single.[193]
Convictions –
14 February 1840 – Misconduct with drinking in a Public House and making away with 5/- the property of his master – 14 days’ solitary confinement on bread & water.
22 July 1840 – Murdoch, repeated drunkenness – hard labour on the roads for two months.
3 October 1840 – Murdoch, drunk and neglect of duty – 25 lashes and return to service.
20 October 1842 – Misconduct – two Calendar months’ hard labour.
7 April 1842 – Ticket of Leave approved.
In 1844 William Mills received his Certificate of Freedom.[194]
MILLS, (Pte) William, of 21st Regt. stationed in WA 1833-1840. At Perth 1833.[195]
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Paget (Pagett), John —– Came to Western Australia per Jane in 1833 as a private with the 21st Regiment.[196] He faced several charges –
John Paget, a private in the 21st Regt., was fined 10s. for drunkenness, and assault upon George Smith, and on refusal to pay, was sentenced to one Calendar month imprisonment, with hard labour.[197]
In 1834 Paget was serving six months in gaol for stealing cabbages from the Government House garden. He broke out of prison with Francis Reid –
GOVERNMENT NOTICE.
Colonial Secretary’s Office, Perth,
July 12, 1834
WHEREAS two Prisoners (as hereinafter described) having made their escape from the Jail at Fremantle, His Honor the Lieutenant Governor directs it to be notified to the Public generally, that any Person or Persons found harbouring the said Prisoners after this Notice, will be prosecuted with the utmost rigour of the Law; and all Constables and other persons are hereby called upon to use all diligence in apprehending the said Prisoners, and conveying them to some place of security.
John Paget, 21st Fusiliers, about 21 yrs. of age, black hair, florid complexion, dark eyes, about 5 ft. 10 inchs. high, and slight made.
Francis Reid, sailor from the Maraboo, 23 or 24 yrs. of age, black hair, sallow complexion, 5 ft. 6 inchs. high, and stout made.[198]
Verdict, both guilty —Sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[199]
Paget – ships Jane & Jessie. Arrived in VDL on Jessie on 30 October 1834. (Police No.1081)
Tried at Perth WA on 1 October 1834.
Tried in VDL on 29 June 1836 – Life. 9 October 1837 – Death commuted to Life.[200]
In 1837 John Paget was found guilty of highway robbery upon Dr. Cameron, from whom he (with two other men) took about £12 in money, and made him take off his boots.[201] John Paget, charged with highway robbery and putting in bodily fear, pleaded not guilty, but afterwards requested to alter his plea to guilty. His Honor advised him to stand his trial, but he persisted in his latter plea, and a verdict of guilty, which subjects the prisoner to the extreme penalty of the law, was recorded.[202] [Dr Cameron later said that Paget was the least forward in the robbery, and had given him back his watch.[203]]
Described as a labourer, 5’9”, aged 20, his native place Calthorpe, Leicestershire. Had a number of tattoos. Sent to Norfolk Island in 1837.[204]
PAGET, (Pte) John, of 21st Regt., stationed in WA 1833- 1840. At Perth 1833.[205]
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Petty, George – Generally known as ‘Sydney George’. At the Swan River Colony he was convicted of stealing spoons from John Monger, inn-keeper of York. Sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[206] [No evidence of his transportation.]
?1853 – June 3.— George Petty, charged with taking a bird, belonging to another, out of the house of Mr. W. Pead, and receiving a reward; to return the reward and pay costs.[207]
?1864 – YESTERDAY week an inquest was held in York on the body of a free laborer, named George Petty, who died in the Depot Hospital there shortly after being brought in from Mr Lennard’s, at St. Aubyn’s, some distance from that townsite. The man was taken ill while shearing, and brought to York for medical treatment, but died very shortly after his arrival, from apoplexy. The jury at the inquest returned a verdict to that effect.[208] [The WA Death Index has an entry that year for a George Petty, aged 53.[209]]
? PETTY, George Edward, b. 1802 (Irel), d . 19.10.1864. arr. 1832 per Isabella, m. 17.4.1840 (York) Elizabeth WOODSALD (or WOODS), widow (nee Chapman?). Chd. Mary b. 1841 bp. RC 1851. Worked at “Addington” Beverley in 1840s. Perth, Police Constable 1852. Employed 2 T/L men 1852 & 1854. Listed in York Census 1859 as labourer. (1859 wife at Moore River). Employed by S. Burges. Illit. RC.[210]
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Phillips (Philips), William – William Phillips & James Reynolds, both privates in the 51st Regiment, escaped from Fremantle Gaol and a £5 reward was offered for their re-capture in 1841.[211] They had been convicted of stealing a pair of boots and selling them and were each sentenced to 12 months.[212] On 1 July 1841 they were back in Court, charged with absconding [from the Fremantle Gaol?] and another charge, in association with John Rose, of stealing flour and brandy from Messrs. Samson. All three were sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[213]
On 13 August 1841 Phillips arrived in VDL on the Vixen. (No. 1654) He was described as a Protestant, single, aged 22, 5’6”, a labourer, able to read and write, from Gravesend in London. His next of kin were his father and a sister in London.[214] On 7 October 1842 he was in possession of tobacco after robbery in hold of ship Isabella – three months’ hard labour in chains. Various other minor offences. On 26 June 1843 – charged for misconduct – not having his hair cut when told – six days in solitary. Ticket of Leave issued on 22 September 1845.[215] He received his Certificate of Freedom in 1848.[216]
PHILLIPS, (Pte) William, of 51st Regt., stationed in WA 1840 -1847. At Perth & Frem. 1840.[217]
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Pickering, Joseph – A Parkhurst boy, convicted at the Swan River Colony in 1849, along with James Slater, of stealing a horse, the property of J Jones. Both were sentenced to 15 years’ transportation, but it appears that they avoided transportation to Van Diemen’s Land, spending their prison term in WA. Joseph was a shoemaker.[218] He was recorded as a Colonial Prisoner (982) in WA Prison records, due for his Ticket of Leave in June 1853 – ‘Left the Colony’.[219]
Local Intelligence.
An Incorrigible. — The Parkhurst lad Pickering again escaped from custody. He slipped the irons over his feet on Thursday afternoon. Natives were immediately put on his tracks, but he returned in the evening of his own free will, and gave himself up, saying that he could get nothing to eat in the bush, and did not know where to go to procure food. Orders have been given for him to receive heavier irons, with the addition of a log secured to his foot while at work. During his journey to and from the gaol, it will be removed, and he will have the satisfaction of carrying it to and from his place of labour. During the intervals of labour and at night, he will be subjected to solitary confinement for the space of one month.[220]
Colonial Secretary’s Office, Perth,
March 25, 1850. £2 REWARD.
WHEREAS Joseph Pickering, a Government Juvenile Immigrant effected his escape from the Prison Road Gang on the 25th of February last, a Reward of £2 will be paid to any person who may apprehend and lodge the said Pickering in the custody of the nearest Magistrate or Constable, or who may give such information as may lead to his apprehension. In height he is about 5 feet 6 inches, stout, dark brown hair, grey eyes, sallow complexion, and is a native of Ireland, and under 20 years of age.
By His Excellency’s command,
For the Colonial Secretary.
T.N.YULE.[221]
PICKERING, David (Joseph). b. 1830, arr. 2.1849 per Ameer. Inq. 10.1849 & 5.1850. Troublesome absconder – stole horses & ammunition, intended going to KGS & boarding an American whaler but was recaptured. Convicted at Perth 1851 of housebreaking, he was sentenced to 15 yrs imprisonment. Subsequently left the colony.[222]
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Powell, Michael – In 1836, pleaded guilty to stealing a chest of tea, a box of sauces and some peas. Sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[223] [No VDL or NSW records have been found.]
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Prescott, Thomas –- Along with George Swift, Thomas Prescott was arrested in 1843 at King George’s Sound and charged with stealing 250 sovereigns from the house of JW Andrews, mariner. Both men were sentenced to 10 years’ transportation.[224] Prescott(s) was said to be an escapee from Van Diemen’s Land.
First Sentence of Transportation, 1820
Thomas Prescott, Dromedary, first arrived at VDL in 1820, after being convicted at Middlesex on 7 April 1819.[225] Thomas Prescott, seaman, was charged with repeated neglect of duty when on Public Works in 1820.[226] He received his Ticket of Leave in June 1826.[227]]
Second Sentence of Transportation, 1843
FROM THE GOVERNMENT GAZETTE. Colonial Secretary’s Office, Perth, November 10, 1842. £10 REWARD. WHEREAS it has been represented to His Excellency the Governor that a person of the name of Thomas Prescott(s), supposed to be an escaped convict from Van Diemen’s Land, stands charged with having broken into the house of a settler in Albany of the name of J. William Andrews, and taken therefrom a sum of money amounting to more than £450; Notice is hereby given, that a reward of (£10) ten pounds will be paid to any person or persons who shall apprehend and lodge the said Thomas Prescotts in any of Her Majesty’s Gaols.
DESCRIPTION. Name — Thomas Prescotts. Age — about 42 years. Height — about 5 feet 6 inches. Complexion — brown from exposure. Head— rather long. Eyes — large, prominent, and light grey. Hair — sandy, and thin, and lank. Whiskers — red, but not very large. He has been a shepherd. When he speaks he draws his mouth rather on one side. He has rather a long visage, with a prominent chin. His nose is rather large, and not sharp. He does not walk well. He talks softly and plausibly, and expresses himself in better language than men in ……..(?) [228]
Following Prescott’s re-conviction in WA on 23 January 1843, he arrived in VDL onboard the Champion on 25 March 1843. (Police No. 179). His description – aged 40, 5’4”, Protestant, able to read and write, many tattoos. Married with 5? children, lisps slightly. Labourer from St James, Piccadilly. It was recorded that he had previously arrived in Hobart per the Dromedary with a seven-year sentence –
Prescott declared – ‘I am innocent of this offence and was on discharge from the police office. Mr Williams [J. William Andrews?] stated afterwards that he only lost £112 from a small writing desk which was in the room where I and Williams & a young man who had agreed to go whaling slept. I had agreed to go as a whaler. The money was in gold and silver. I was lodging with Swift when apprehended – I arrived in Hobart Town per Dromedary in 1819 under sentence of seven years for stealing a pocket book, in the name of Thomas Prescott. I was employed as overseer between Glenorchy and N. Norfolk. I married wife Sarah, a prisoner per Mary in the name of Sarah Emery.’[229] [See contradictory evidence in report of the trial of Prescott and Swift at Albany, WA.][230]
During his period of probation Prescott spent 2½ years at Port Arthur. He was employed at Oats by G Williams, 22 April 1848.[231] He was awarded his Conditional Pardon in May 1849.[232]
[Note: Thomas Prescott, widower, married Sarah Emery, spinster per Mary, on 6 April 1835 at Hobart Town, Buckingham County. She signed with a cross.[233]
Sarah Emery had been first convicted at the age of 13 at the Staffordshire Assizes in 1830, of stealing three gowns and other wearing apparel from a house. The jury recommended mercy due to her tender age. The judge spoke sternly to her father about her upbringing, impressing upon him the need to teach her virtuous principles, before sentencing her to two months’ imprisonment.[234] Sarah’s term in prison had the opposite effect, for the following year she was convicted of stealing three cheeses from a shop, resulting in a sentence of seven years’ transportation.[235] She arrived in VDL on the Mary (3), on 19 October 1831. As No. 34, she was described as a care nurse of Lane End, Staffordshire, aged 15, height 4’9”, with blue eyes, brown hair, a small face and fresh complexion.[236]
Sarah’s record in VDL shows her employed by Watson, charged with insolence and neglect of duty on 25 September 1832. By the same employer, she was charged with using indecent language and neglect of duties on 8 January 1833. Then on 13 November 1833, her employer was Prescott (presumably Thomas Prescott, whose term had by then expired), in whose service she was accused of general misconduct, and was relegated to C Class, with a sentence of three months, one of which was to be served at wash tub.
On 1 March 1835 Sarah was charged with allowing Mr Prescott to take an indecent liberty with her person, and was consequently returned to the House of Correction, ‘to remain there until her marriage with Prescott takes place’. On 3 March 1837 (by that stage married), Sarah was in Prescott’s employ, charged with immoral conduct and general misconduct, serving a term of 12 months in the Crime Class.[237]
[It appears that Thomas Prescott left his wife and children behind in Van Diemen’s Land when he left for the Swan River Colony. Whether they were ever re-united is not known.]
PRESCOTT(S), Thomas, b. 1800. Shepherd Albany district. In 11.1842 he was reported to be an escaped convict from Tasmania & had £10 offered for his apprehension.[238]
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Reid (Reed), Francis – Broke out of Fremantle Gaol with John Paget.[239] Verdict, both guilty – Sentence, 7 years’ transportation.[240]
Francis Reid was convicted at Perth on 1 October 1834 and arrived in VDL on 30 October 1834 onboard the Jesse. He was previously one of the crew on the Maraboo [Captain Skelton of the whaler Maraboo preferred charges against three out of the six crewmen, who absconded from his ship in one of his boats.[241]]
On arrival at VDL, Reid was described as ‘Francis Reed, Jess schooner, labourer, from Sunderland, aged 22, 5’5”, with brown complexion, light brown eyes and brown hair, marked on both arms.[242] Reid said that he was convicted of larceny for stealing a blanket while in prison, and had left his ship and stole a boat, after being at sea for 10 months. Claimed that he was recommended by the ship’s captain. Had a long list of offences recorded against him in VDL.[243] As ‘Francis Reed’, he was convicted, along with three others, including William Keats, of stealing a cask of flour from the wharf.[244]
[No details of Reid’s Ticket of Leave or Certificate of Freedom found. There is a record of a ‘Francis Read’ absconding, with his sentence extended by 12 months in May 1835.[245]]
REID, Francis, arr. 1834 per Maraboo (crew). On 7.3 .1834 he asked permission to live in WA. Was gaoled & escaped 12 .7. 1834.[246]
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Reilly (Riley), Richard – He was a trusted employee of James Stokes at Guildford, acting as an agent selling supplies. In November 1837 Reilly was charged with setting fire to a house rented by his employer. He swore that all of the contents were destroyed, but witnesses said otherwise. Reilly was convicted of arson on 1 January 1838 – Sentence 14 years.[247]
On arrival in NSW as Richard Riley, he was described as aged 45, born 1793, Protestant, height 65.25 inches, sentenced to 21 years in Perth WA for arson.[248]
Another NSW record has Richard Riley, ship Elizabeth, arriving in NSW in 1838, tried Col. Perth WA 1838, gained his Ticket of Leave in the Windsor District [no date].[249] On 15 October 1850 Richard Riley, Elizabeth, was recommended for his Ticket of Leave Passport by the Commissioner of Crown Lands, Liverpool Plains.[250] On 28 January 1851 Richard Riley, Elizabeth, was again recommended for his Ticket of Leave Passport, by the Wee Waa Bench.[251] On 15 March 1852 he received his Conditional Pardon.[252] He had served 14 years. A Conditional Pardon excluded him from returning to the United Kingdom or Western Australia.[253]
REILLY, Richard, arr. 1830/1 probably with naval vessel. He had served 10 yrs with British Army, including time in India. Discharged with rank of Quartermaster. He was a clerk in Surveyor’s Office 2.1832 at which time he feared retrenchment & set up a school at Fremantle. He lost his Freemason’s Certificate. Acted as an interpreter for Indian seaman in Court 1832. The 1837 Census stated he was in gaol. Was guilty of arson & sentenced to 11 yrs transportation, sailing 6.1.1838.[254]
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Reynolds, James – James Reynolds and William Phillips, both privates in the 51st Regiment, escaped from Fremantle Gaol and a £5 reward was offered for their re-capture.[255] They had been convicted of stealing a pair of boots and selling them and were each sentenced to 12 months.[256] On 1 July 1841 they were back in Court, charged with absconding and another charge, in association with a seaman named John Rose, of stealing flour & brandy from Messrs. Samson. All three were sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[257]
Reynolds arrived in VDL onboard the Vixen, on 13 August 1841. Description – age 37?, height 5’6”, bricklayer, could neither read or write, from Newport, Isle of Wight. On 8 November 1842, he was released from the primary gang. He was awarded his Ticket of Leave on 28 February 1845.[258]
In 1842 – Well behaved. On 11 March 1843 – to Port Arthur as a Constable. On 28 February 1845 he received his Ticket of Leave. On 29 January 1846 he was charged with being drunk (fined 5/-) and driving negligently (fined 10/-). On 17 September 1846 he was employed as a Constable at Hobart – drunk, fined 10/-. On 12 September 1846, as a Constable in Hobart – offending against decency in a public street, fined 10/-. On 28 September 1846 while a Constable, he was charged with being absent from his duty and being in company with a female prisoner illegally at large – fined 20/- and recommended to be dismissed from the police. On 10 December 1846, his Ticket of Leave was returned.[259] On 17 March 1849 he was issued his Certificate of Freedom.[260]
REYNOLDS, (Pte) James of 51st Regt., stationed in WA 1840-1847. At Perth & Frem 1840. Sentenced to 7 yrs transportation for stealing 7.7.1841 & left? in 1842.[261]
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Rose, John – A seaman named John Rose stole a bridle in 1841 at the Swan River Colony and was sentenced to three months’ hard labour.[262] He was subsequently arrested along with William Phillips and James Reynolds and charged with stealing flour and brandy from Messrs. Samson’s store. All three men were sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[263]
On 13 August 1841 he arrived in VDL on the Vixen. Rose claimed to be from New York, a sailor and labourer, aged 22, 5’6”, single.
On 31 August 1842 his period of Primary Gang Labour expired. Employed by Degraves at Pontville on 25 October 1843 – charged with insolence, 24 hours in Solitary. Same employer, on 20 December 1842, insolence, 24 lashes.
18 May 1844 – Bread & water/ absent from his station without leave, and being on the streets of Hobart at 2 o’clock in the morning – seven days’ Solitary.
30 April 1845 – Attempted to get a pass for Hobart under a false pretext – one month hard labour.
On 1 November 1845 – Larceny under £5 – discharged. Again on 28 September 1847 – Hobart larceny under £5 – 12 months’ imprisonment with hard labour.
On 2 October 1847 – Approved Port Arthur, leave cancelled.
On 2 October 1848 – To Freedom – will receive on completion of hard labour sentence.[264]
He first had his T/L on 28 February 1845, and again on 26 October 1847. He earned his Freedom Certificate on 2 October 1848.[265]
ROSE. John. arr. 14.5.1830 per Rockingham with wife & 2 sons. On 1.5. 1831 he asked permission for wife Sarah & self to leave colony per Eagle. Listed 6.1831 for Nimrod but did not embark. A son? was sentenced to 7 yrs transportation for stealing 7. 7.1841.[266]
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Slater, James – James arrived in Western Australia as a Parkhurst boy. He was one of a group of young offenders sent from the Isle of Wight as apprentices, arriving in WA onboard the Ameer on 2 February 1849.[267]
Soon after his arrival, James Slater (aged 16), was convicted in 1849, along with Joseph Pickering (aged 17), another Parkhurst boy, of stealing a horse, the property of J Jones. Both were sentenced to 15 years’ transportation, but it appears that they avoided being sent to Van Diemen’s Land, spending their prison term in WA. James had a troublesome life, frequently appearing in the Perth Courts, charged with vagrancy, drunkenness, and occasionally for stealing. Date of death unknown.
SLATER, James, b. 1830, arr. 2.1849 per Ameer. Parkhurst boy. A troublesome absconder, he was sentenced 6.1849 to 15 yrs transportation to Tasmania for robbery.[268]
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Stevens (or Stephens), Thomas – Aiding and abetting others in a felony. Stealing 10 gallons of gin stored at the jail, along with John Lee, Ambrose Wood and Frederick Willis.[269]
Thomas Stevens and Fred. Willis, two of the seamen who escaped from H.M.S. ‘Alligator’ have been apprehended, on a charge of breaking open Messrs. Samson’s stores, and stealing 4 cases of gin. By their confession, it appeared, that Johnson, the man who escaped from the Jail some time back, and for whose apprehension a reward was offered, was also implicated. By information obtained, we believe, from the prisoners, his secret haunt was discovered in the rocks near the Cantonment, and he was taken after a severe struggle, he defending himself with a clasp-knife and broken bottle, swearing that he would not be taken alive. Willis was secured by Vincent on board the ‘Emily Taylor’; he had a loaded horse pistol by his side. If he had not been taken by surprise, there is little doubt but one or other of their lives would have been sacrificed. The germ of a band of bush-rangers has thus been destroyed: further light will be thrown upon this affair, it is expected, by the evidence of a boy of the name of Cooper, who, with several other boys, we are told, has been the associate of these desperate characters.[270]
Stevens left Fremantle on the Fanny, on 2 April 1834, and arrived at VDL May 1834. Recorded there as Thomas Stevens (No. 1854). ‘I was in gaol for deserting from the Alligator. I was in her two years.’ Married, with wife Elizabeth at Portsmouth. On 28 June 1834 he was sent to Port Arthur. Over several years he was punished on several occasions for being drunk, absent from his work-place, or out after hours, for which crime his Ticket of Leave was delayed for a month and he was put to hard labour in the Bagdad Party.[271] He was dismissed from the position as Constable in 1837.[272] His T/L was restored on 10 February 1838.[273] In 1841 he received his Certificate of Freedom.[274]
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Stewart, Peter (Lang or Laing) – Convicted on 10 February 1847 of stealing a gun and a whaleboat at King George’s Sound, along with James Stewart McDonald. They were said to have been tried onboard. McDonald was sentenced to two terms, ten years and seven years, to be served concurrently.[275] Stewart was sentenced to seven years. He arrived at VDL on 10 May 1847 onboard the Alexander, described as a labourer, 5’7”, aged 30, his native place Salcott, Ayr. Said by Mr Gann (?) to be an absconder Peter Long (Laing), Isabella (1). [See records under that name.[276]]
Stewart’s original VDL record, under the name ‘Peter Lang’, states that on 20 October 1832 he was convicted at Glasgow of picking a woman’s pocket, and due to three previous convictions with 60 days’ imprisonment each time, he was sentenced to be transported. He departed Plymouth on 28 July 1833 onboard the Isabella (1). (Police No. 788). Gaol report ‘Bad’, Hulk report ‘Orderly’. The surgeon’s report was ‘Good’.
There is a long list of offences committed by him in VDL, with time spent at Port Arthur. He was given his Ticket of Leave on 17 November 1843. There is a footnote at the bottom of his record as Peter Lang, stating that he was a returned convict, under the name of Peter Stewart, having absconded from VDL and later being arrested and tried at King George’s Sound in WA on 10 February 1847, convicted of stealing a gun and a whaleboat, receiving a term of seven years.[277]
He was sent back to VDL on the Alexander, under the name Peter Stewart.[278] He was given his Conditional Pardon in May 1853, listed as Peter Lang, alias Peter Stewart, Isabella & Alexander.[279] On 19 March 1853, Peter Stewart, fisherman, aged 36, married Elizabeth Langing, servant, aged 30, at the Catholic Church of Saint Joseph in Hobart Town.[280]
? STEWART, Peter, b. 1811 (Scotl). Fisherman at Rottnest 1832 Census.[281]
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Swift, George – Along with Thomas Prescott, George Swift was arrested in 1843 and charged with stealing 250 sovereigns from the house of JW Andrews, mariner, at King George’s Sound. Both were sentenced to 10 years’ transportation.[282] [See details under Prescott.]
George Swift arrived at VDL on the Champion on 25 March 1843, described as a ploughman, etc., Protestant, able to read and write, aged 27, 5’1½”, native place Stockton. Swift said he was a publican at King George’s Sound. A married man – his wife Rose was at King George’s Sound. He said that ‘Prescott was taken at Swan River eight or nine months after the robbery was committed, having absconded from pursuit of Williams (another name for J William Andrews?) [283]
Ploughman, understands cattle thoroughly. (……Indecipherable – Uncles?) Thos. Jas. Wm Swift at native place, potters. ‘I arrived per Palleson(?) to St.(?) George’s Sound direct from London about nine years ago.’[284]
SWIFT, George, b. 1808, d. 24. 10. 1869 (Frem), arr. as an Enrolled Pensioner Guard, m. (?2nd) 10.8.1861 (RC Frem) Ann KELLY d. 15 . 2.1861. Chd. Mary Rose bp. 1847 (Albany), Ann d. 1922. Formerly Pte. 88th Regt (Previously in 63rd, he was stationed at Albany in 1847 when dtr. Mary Rose was baptised).[285]
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Thomas, James – One of the plunderers of the wreck Cumberland, convicted along with his father John Thomas, William Ward and Richard Thorne on 12 January 1835. James Thomas was sentenced to six months’ hard labour for his part in the crime.[286]
[No VDL record.]
? THOMAS, James/John, (Captain) b. 1818. m. Fanny DAVIS. Chd. Mary Ann Matilda b.1849, Fanny Sophia b.1850, Katherine Ellen. Charged with others of plundering wreck of Cumberland & sentenced to 7 yrs transportation to Tasmania 3.1.1835. Returned early 1840s. To Albany (with wife) as whaler in company with Solomon Cook & John Craigie until 1847. Boat owner 1873. Listed at Albany 1881 with Mary Ann b. 1849.[287]
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Thomas, John –– 5’6”, aged 48, an architect, from Langharne (Wales). A Protestant, a widower with four children, was able to read and write. One of four men charged at Fremantle on 12 January 1835 with stealing from the Cumberland wreck. Sentenced to transportation for seven years.
Ships Gilmore & Ellen. Arrived at VDL on the Ellen on 25 March 1835. (No. 864) He said that he was a widower with four children, and that one son James was tried along with him and was sentenced to six months.
On 28 May 1838, John Thomas was convicted while at Public Works of conniving at a prisoner’s neglection of duty, & employing himself for his own benefit – six months’ hard labour in chains/ DW/ Reibey’s Ford Road Party, chains remitted, conduct to be reported, 9 June 1838.[288]
THOMAS, James/John, (Captain) b. 1818. m. Fanny DAVIS. Chd. Mary Ann Matilda b. 1849, Fanny Sophia b. 1850, Katherine Ellen. Charged with others of plundering wreck of Cumberland & sentenced to 7 yrs transportation to Tasmania 3.1. 1835. Returned early 1840s. To Albany (with wife) as whaler in company with Solomon Cook & John Craigie until 1847. Boatowner 1873. Listed at Albany 1881 with Mary Ann b. 1849.[289]
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Thorne (Thorn), Richard –– A gent’s servant, baker and cook, along with three others, was charged on 12 January 1835 at Fremantle with stealing from the wreck Cumberland, along with William Keats, John Thomas and William Ledgard – sentenced to 14 years.
Ships Lotus & Ellen. Arrived at VDL on 6/10/35 onboard the Ellen. (Police No. 893). Next of Kin – one brother and one sister at native place (not named).[290] Described as single, aged 38, 5’4¼”, originally from Winchester. On 7 December 1840 he was convicted of being drunk and harbouring others in his hut – 12 months’ hard labour on road. A portion of this sentence was remitted. On 11 October 1842 he received his Ticket of Leave. Recommended to the Queen for a Conditional Pardon on 13 September 1844 – Approved Vide Gazette – Received in September 1844. Extended to Australian Colonies 12/8/45. [291]
? Possibly one of four men convicted at Launceston of burglary in 1860 – six years’ penal servitude.[292] Mary Ann Capston and Mary Thorne were acquitted.[293] This Richard Thorne was recorded as ‘free by servitude’.[294] [A marriage took place between Richard Thorne (28?), and Mary Eagan (18), in the Longford Catholic Church on 31 July 1854.[295]]
THORN(E) , Richard. b . 1797 . arr. 6. 10.1829 per Lotus as an employee of Latour. Labourer & domestic servant & later employed by Weavell at Fremantle. Convicted of plundering wreck of Cumberland (Perth Gazette 3.1.1835). 14 yrs transportation.[296]
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Turner, Frederick – Charged with wilful perjury in 1839 and sentenced to transportation for seven years, after giving false evidence that he saw Messrs. Samson, Collinson and Crichton drunk on the street.[297] A strong recommendation for clemency appears to have saved him from transportation. He was given his freedom, provided he left the colony. He departed on the ship Socrates in May 1839 – REMISSION OF SENTENCE — His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to remit the sentence in the instance of Frederick Turner,—the case is reported in our present number,—in consideration of his leaving the colony by the first opportunity. The recommendation by the prosecutor to mercy, and Mr. Turner’s occasional aberration of mind, arising from wounds received in H. M.’s service at an early age, have no doubt weighed with His Excellency in exercising this prerogative.[298]
TURNER, Frederick, b.1799. arr. 5.3. 1831 per Eliza with family, m. Sarah b.1806. Chd. John b.1824, Alfred b.1826. The boys attended Perth School 1834. Granted 1,400 acres. Midshipman in Royal Navy 1807 to 1816. A legacy from grandfather of £7,000 had been squandered. His father cut him off with an annuity of £150 per annum giving him 3 yrs in advance to enable him to go to Swan River. He was in gaol 1833. Wife petitioned for his release saying drink was his downfall. He left for Tasmania 5. 1839 per Socrates & his family followed per Joan, 5. 1840.[299]
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Vance, William – William Vance and Thomas Dover were charged, the former with stealing, and the latter with feloniously receiving, 2lbs. of mercury, the property of the Queen. The prisoners pleaded not guilty, but were both convicted on the evidence. Vance was sentenced to seven years’ transportation. No additional sentence was passed on Dover. It may be well to remark that in this, as well as in the preceding case, the public has been secured, by the conviction of the offenders through the means of the party to whom the stolen goods were offered for sale, Mr. B. D’Arcy, who very properly gave information to the magistrates of their having been sought to be disposed of. The several convicts sentenced to transportation will be shipped off for Van Diemen’s Land by the Champion, which sails for Hobart Town on the 10th instant.[300] Vance had previously held the position in charge of the Colonial Dispensary, the position held by the informant D’Arcy.[301]
William Vance arrived at VDL onboard the Champion on 26 October 1844. (Police No. 389) – Claimed to have gone to the Swan River Colony on the Trusty, about two years before his arrest. Described as a surgeon, Protestant, aged 24, 5’5½”, originally from Bloomsbury. After a period of 12 months working in a gang, he was employed at hospitals and by various doctors. On 24 June 1847 he was drunk and out after hours and served time in hard labour. On 3 October 1848 he was awarded his Ticket of Leave, his Conditional Pardon on 5 February 1850.[302] He gained his Certificate of Freedom in 1852.[303]
VANCE, William, b. 1821, arr. 12.1842 per Trusty. Hospital Attendant at Perth. Dismissed 26.7.1843 In 10. 1844 sentenced to 7 yrs transportation to Tasmania for stealing. Apparently returned to WA. A man named Vance gave evidence in a court case on 3.1850 concerning the bashing of Fletcher.[304] [Dates don’t match.]
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Wade, John –John Wade arrived at the Swan River Colony in 1829 on the Calista. At one stage he was the publican at the Perth Hotel. In 1841 he was charged with stealing some money from an iron box kept in the Treasury building, but was acquitted.
He was again charged with robbery on 2 October 1844. He was in prison awaiting a charge when he decided to leave the prison at night and commit a robbery at Francisco’s in an attempt to raise money for his trial, before returning to the prison. He was found in the prison yard the following morning, claiming that he had been forced to leave the prison because he was being starved there. A local newspaper concluded its account of the trial as follows –
The convict is a person of very good family, at home, but one who, from low habits and profligate associates, has long lost himself in the estimation of every proper-minded person. It is lamentable to see good natural gifts, and better opportunities than fall to the lot of millions, thus perverted and thrown away, and we trust that Wade’s fate will be a warning to all who are tempted to deviate, in ever so little, from the strict path of rectitude.[305]
Wade was sentenced to 14 years’ transportation. He arrived in Van Diemen’s Land on 26 October 1844, on the Champion. (No. 387) He was described as a clerk, single, aged 40, able to read and write. He said that he had been in the Swan River colony since the time of its formation.
He was prone to irrational behaviour. In 1846 he was tried at Hobart for shooting at James Dedman, a keeper at the New Norfolk Asylum. Judgement was that he was quite mad, and should be retained at the New Norfolk Lunatic Asylum at His Majesty’s pleasure. The case was reported as follows —
John Wade, for shooting Mr Dedman at the New Norfolk Asylum, found not guilty by the jury on the ground of insanity, was brought up, when the following conversation occurred— His Honor—Is your name John Wade? Prisoner—who looked very wild—They say so, sir. His Honor—I must direct that you be taken back to New Norfolk Asylum, and there confined until her Majesty’s pleasure be known, The prisoner—with quickness—And in accordance with my own pleasure also. His Honor—Oh, no! Your pleasure cannot be taken into account; but I hope you will be comfortable. Prisoner—confidently—If they treat me well, I’ll perhaps stay; if they don’t, I’ll take the first opportunity of leaving them, and show them a light heel. His Honor—No doubt they will treat you well; if I did not think so I would not send you there. Prisoner—I’ll take care they do treat me well; if they don’t I’ll take care of myself; that is the best plan.[306]
A full account of John Wade’s trial can be read in the Cornwall Chronicle, Launceston, dated 28 January 1846. He was employed at the Asylum in keeping Mr Dedman’s quarters clean, and took the gun from a cupboard. When told to hand the weapon over, he shot Dedman in the arm. Wade addressed the Court at length, stating that he was a gentleman, and he fully expected to hang for the crime, which would be preferable to being permanently restrained in the Asylum. He complained that he was never allowed outside, and spoke of the mistreatment meted out to inmates. A doctor told the Court that in 1844 he had previously treated Wade at the Jerusalem convict station before recommending his transfer to New Norfolk. He reported that Wade suffered from epileptic fits, which might have contributed to his irrational behaviour.
It appears that John Wade did abscond from the Asylum. He was gazetted on 4 May 1852 – £1 reward, and gazetted again 11 January 1853 – Reward £2. He received his Ticket of Leave on 10 June 1856, and his Conditional Pardon on 1 December 1857.[307]
Whether John Wade had regained his freedom by this time is not known.
WADE, John, b. 1804, arr. 5. 8.1829 per Calista. Agriculturist, granted 266 acres, selected near junction of Jane Brook & Swan in 1830s (“Freedom’s Retreat”). By 1832 leased properties at Hamilton Hill &, was a boatman at Frem. Shared an interest in “Perth Hotel” with H.E.B. Hall. Advt. as licensee 4. 1836. Involved in robberies 1841 & 1844. Sentenced to 14 yrs transportation.[308]
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Walsh, Thomas Francis – In 1833, convicted of stealing a pair of boots from Mr Leake’s store at Perth – pleaded guilty – three months’ gaol.[309] In April 1836, he was charged with stealing one or more packages of tea from Mr. John Oxley – sentenced to transportation for seven years.[310]
Arrived at VDL on the Sally Ann in 1836.(No. 2121) Described as a surgeon’s assistant, from Athboy, Ireland, aged 25, 5’7½”, Protestant, able to read and write.
His record shows a long list of minor offences. On 7 September 1837 Walsh was employed as a Medical Attendant at Deep Gully – troublesome conduct, drunk, etc. On 3 November 1837 – absent without leave. On 7 February 1838 – absconding from Deep Gully, his sentence extended by 12 months. On 11 March 1838 he was a Medical Attendant at ……(?) Party, insolent and using obscene language – confined in cell on bread and water for ten days. On 25 April 1838, found in town having overstayed his pass. 8 June 1838, Road Party, disorderly conduct – seven days’ solitary. On 15 October 1838, at Halfway Hill Station, absent without leave. On 26 August 1839, misconduct in going to a Public House after he had received his mail at the special request of the Post Master – admonished and discharged.
In August 1841 he was awarded his Ticket of Leave. On 14 September 1842 – misconduct – one hour in stocks. On 24 December 1843 – larceny, 12 months’ hard labour.
His Free Certificate was awarded in 1844.[311]
[No more information found.]
? WALSH (WELCH), Thomas T. (or F), b. 1811 (Irel), arr. 1.6.1829 per Parmelia. Schoolmaster, 10.1.1831- 9.8.1831 complained that he had no pupils. Was appointed as clerk to Colonial Secretary, but was discharged as unsuitable 4. 12.1831. Listed as a boat-man in 1832 Census.[312]
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Ward, William – Was one of the group who plundered the Cumberland wreck near Penguin Island south of Perth. Ward was a boatman who lodged with publican William Keats, who said that they went together down to the wreck, and that Ward got one fourth share of the goods. All pleaded guilty. Ward was tearful and trembling in the Court. On a second charge, William Ward, William Keats and Richard Thorne pleaded guilty to breaking into Mr Samson’s stores and stealing goods while locked up in the gaol. For the two offences they received sentences of 14 years. John Thomas and William Ledgard received seven year sentences, while James Thomas was sentenced to six months with hard labour.
(No. 1901) – Aged 25, single, Protestant, able to read and write. A groom and gent’s servant from Suffolk. Charged at Fremantle on 12 January 1835 with stealing from the shipwreck Cumberland – fourteen years’ transportation. Ship William to Swan River. Next of kin – Father John, a farmer in Suffolk, eight brothers and one sister at his native place.[313]
On 24 June 1837- As Javelin Man (a prison constable or guard), gross neglect of duty upheld. On 24 August 1837- Javelin Man, neglect of duty in allowing a prisoner when searched by him to retain tobacco, removed from this situation and placed in the …… (unreadable) pty, recom. to be assigned out of this district/ JW/ Launceston for assignment. His Conditional Pardon was granted on 1 July 1842.[314]
? WARD, William. b. 1785. d. 5.5.1851 (Perth), arr. 13.2.1830 per Hooghly, m. (UK) Alice b. 1785 d. 26.6.1830. Chd. William b. 1812. James b. 1813, David b. 1817. He claimed that Peel robbed him of linen etc. Applied for land. (This man? _charged with plundering Cumberland) Perth. Gardener & brickmaker. Bequeathed his Town Lots GI4 & G15 to son James. His son William fractured his thighs in an accident at Perth 7.1850.[315]
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Warrall (Worrall), Thomas – In 1833, charged with stealing sundry articles, knowing them to have been stolen. He had earlier given evidence against William Booker, but was convicted also and was sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[316] He sailed on the Governor Bourke for Sydney on 24 January 1833, along with prisoners C. Lewis and William Booker.[317] He had been in VDL previously, and departed from Hobart on 23 August 1829 for the Swan River in the Orelia.[318]
His Earlier Conviction –
He was possibly Thomas Warrall, ships Almocah and Pilot, who arrived at VDL from England on 1 August 1816 after being sentenced to 14 years. (Probably for forging bank notes at Staffordshire.[319]) On 8 February 1818 this man was charged with neglect of duty, disobeying his employer’s orders, and assaulting a fellow servant – received 50 lashes. Several other offences followed, including a charge on 19 June 1828 of profaning the Sabbath by advertising meat for sale at his shop in Liverpool Street, for which he was fined 6/8d plus costs, with one third of the fine going to the informer. On 20 October 1828 as a CP he was charged with assaulting two men, but the charge was dismissed.[320]
His Second Conviction
A New South Wales record shows him as Thomas Worrall, convicted at Swan River, landing in NSW on the Governor Bourke in 1833. He was in Evan when receiving his Ticket of Leave.[321] In a Government Gazette list he was in the Invermein District in 1839 when awarded his Ticket of Leave.[322]
WORRAL(L). Thomas, b. 1793/4, arr. 12.10.1829 per Orelia. A butcher by trade, he came well equipped with materials for house & machinery. Served as a juryman 1831. In 1832 convicted of being an accessary to a burglary & was sent to Eastern colonies 14.12.1832 per Governor Burke. Storekeeper at Guildford 1842.[323]
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Willis, Frederick – Along with Thomas Stevens, John Lee and Ambrose Wood, he was found guilty of stealing from the jail store. All four were sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[324] (See details of their crime under Stevens, Thomas)
VDL records show that Willis was convicted on 2 April 1834 of aiding and abetting others in stealing 10(?) gallons of gin while in gaol at Fremantle. Willis declared in VDL records that John Lee and Ambrose Wood had received sentences of six months. [Note: A letter from WH Mackie addressed to authorities in Van Diemen’s Land states that Willis and Thomas Stevens aided and abetted John Lee and Ambrose Wood, mariners, in stealing eight pounds of beef and one bottle of gin.[325]] Willis arrived at VDL on the Fanny in May 1834. (No. 1760). His sentence was extended on 5 December 1839 for assaulting and beating another prisoner. He was awarded his Conditional Pardon on 23 May 1842 and his Free Certificate in 1843.[326]
WILLIS, Frederick. Transported for 7 yrs. 1832.[327]
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Wood, Ambrose – Along with John Lee, Thomas Stevens and Frederick Willis, he was found guilty of stealing from the Fremantle gaol store. All four were sentenced to seven years’ transportation.[328]
Willis later declared in VDL records that John Lee and Ambrose Wood had received sentences of six months. (See details of their crime under Stevens, Thomas.)
[No details of Ambrose Wood have been found in VDL or NSW convict files.]
WOOD, Ambrose, b. 1809, arr. 1834 per Haraboo as a member of the crew. On 7.3.1834 he asked permission to live in WA. Was imprisoned as a deserter & escaped jail 9.5.1834. Transported for 7 yrs.[329]
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Woods (Wood), John – John Woods, committed for trial in November 1835 for coining rupees. Verdict—Guilty. Recommended to mercy, on the ground that the offence had not been carried on to any extent by the prisoner, and was so easy of detection as practised by him. Sentence—7 years’ transportation.[330]
SHERIFF’S OFFICE.
Perth, January 11, 1836.
NOTICE is hereby given, that, on Wednesday, the twentieth day of January instant, at the hour of Twelve o’clock, the Sheriff will cause to be put up for sale by Auction, at this Office, the following Goods, forfeited to the Crown in consequence of the conviction (by the Criminal Court of this Colony) of a Prisoner named John Woods :—
3 TEA Kettles, 10 Pick-Axes,
A quantity of Lead, 3 boxes Sundries,
1 Cutlass, Quantity Tin, 3 damaged
Lamps, Iron Tea Tray, Some old Wire, A quantity of Clothes, A Mattrass, Tin-man’s Tools, Iron Vice.
GEO. FRED. STONE,
Sheriff.[331]
[? Possibly not transported.]
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Woods, Joseph – 1849 – Joseph Woods, one at the boys from the Philanthropic Institution, recently sent out, was charged with setting fire to a dwelling-house at Marline, the property of Mr. S. Parker. The prisoner was ably defended by the Guardian of Juvenile Immigrants, Mr. F. D. Wittenoom; the case, however, was too clear to admit of doubt, and the prisoner was found guilty. Sentence — 15 years’ transportation.[332]
[No details of Joseph Woods have been found in VDL records.]
WOOD(S), Joseph, arr. 12.1848 per Ranee. Sent out by Philanthropic Society. Charged with arson on 11.4.1849 & sentenced to 15 yrs transportation.[333]
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Wortley, Henry – Convicted on 17 February 1844 of deserting the 51st Regiment at the Swan River Colony, along with Joseph Blundell. Both men were sentenced to seven years’ transportation. They left for Van Diemen’s Land onboard the Vixen, but left the ship at Adelaide and were re-arrested on Kangaroo Island some six weeks later. They continued the voyage onboard the Eliza, arriving at VDL on 7 December 1844. [See details under the name of Joseph Blundell on these pages.] One record says that Wortley’s proper name was Henry Worth?, (or Worthy?), a labourer from Stroud in Kent – once before tried for desertion at Court Martial, with three months’ hard labour and the letter ‘D’.[334]
Wortley was described as a labourer, aged 23, 5’9½”, stamped twice with the letter ‘D’ [for Deserter] on his left side. His native place was listed as ‘The Strand’.
His VDL record shows him working for a number of different employers. On 19 December 1848 he was awarded his Ticket of Leave, but this was withdrawn on 18 December 1849, following an assault on Henry Stone. On 2 April 1850 he was charged with insolence and spent seven days in solitary confinement. On 27 March 1850 his Ticket of Leave was refused. On 18 February 1851 he received his Certificate of Freedom.[335]
? WORTHY, Henry – (Pte) Henry of 51st Regt. Stationed in WA 1840-1847. At Albany 1840 & Fremantle 1842.[336]
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[1] https://en.wikipedia.org.wiki/Round_House-(Western– Australia)
[2] State Library of Western Australia, call number 3881B/108
[3] Perth Gazette, 6 April 1839.
[4] Ibid., 13 April 1839.
[5] Inquirer, 21 April 1841.
[6] CONS37-1-1 Image 69.
[7] Hobart Town Advertiser, 11 July 1845.
[8] CONS37-1-1 Image 69.
[9] CONS37-1-5 Image 118
[10] Colonial Times, Hobart, 9 January 1852.
[11] CONS37-1-7 Image 132
[12] Employment, CON30-1-2, Page 126
[13] Launceston Examiner, 9 December 1865.
[14] Perth Gazette, 21 June 1834.
[15] Tasmanian Arrivals, CSO92/1/4 P78
[16] Passenger and Crew Lists to Tasmania, ancestry.com
[17] Indent of Convicts Transported From Other Colonies, CONS16-1-1 Images 88 and 89
[18] Perth Gazette, 12 January 1839.
[19] Name Indexes, CONS35-1-1 Image 15
[20] Hobart Town Advertiser, 22 February 1842.
[21] Ibid., 2 January 1844.
[22] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.36.
[23] Perth Gazette, 5 July 1845.
[24] CONS37-1-2 Image 176
[25] Perth Gazette, 7 November 1846.
[26] Ibid., 14 November 1846.
[27] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.136.
[28] Perth Gazette, 8 January 1842.
[29] CON13-1-1 Image 195
[30] Launceston Examiner, 3 April 1844.
[31] Description Lists of Convicts Arriving on Non-Convict ships, CONS37-1-1 Image 56
[32] Ibid.
[33] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.196.
[34] Description Lists of Convicts Arriving on Non-Convict ships, 1842-45, CON37-1-1 Image 186
[35] Article, The Birth of the Civil Service, West Australian, 2 July 1835.
[36] Perth Gazette, 7 January 1837.
[37] Ibid., 6 January 1838.
[38] NSW Convict Index, 4/4172; Reel 947; Entry No. 43/311
[39] NSW Government Gazette, 10 February 1843, Issue 14.
[40] NSW Convict Index, 4/4396; Reel1019, Entry No: 45/0044
[41] NSW Police Gazette, 17 February 1864, p.50.
[42] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.237.
[43] CONS37-1- 2 Image 63
[44] Ibid.
[45] Hobarton Guardian, 11 March 1848.
[46] Launceston Examiner, 5 April 1848.
[47] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.246.
[48] CONS37-1-2 Image 175
[49] Ibid.
[50] The Britannia and Trades’ Advocate, Hobart, 11 February 1847.
[51] Perth Gazette, 5 January 1833
[52] Jessica Barratt, Escape From the Roundhouse, https://ancestrysearch.wordpress.com/2015/01/04/escape-
from-the-roundhouse/
[53] NRS12193, [4/4520, p.049-050]; no.526; Reel 586; Fiche 746
[54] NSW Convict Index; 4/4423; Reel 601/ Entry No. 038/3034
[55] NSW Convict Record, [4/4423; Reel 601, Index No. 65
[56] Convict Indents (Ships and Arrivals Registers) cin31071
[57] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.259.
[58] Indents of Convicts Locally Convicted or Transported From Other Colonies, CONS16-1-1 Images 12 & 13
[59] Conduct Registers of Male Convicts, CONS31-1-5 Image 191
[60] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.274.
[61] Perth Gazette, 4 October 1834.
[62]CONS13-1-6 Images 223, 224
[63] CON13-1-6 Image 220
[64] CONS37-1-5 Image 161
[65] Description of Convicts arriving on Non-convict Ships, 1845-48.
[66] CONS37-1-2 Image 174
[67] Ibid.
[68] CONS31-1-5 Image 132
[69] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.403.
[70] Perth Gazette, 8 July 1837.
[71] CONS16-1-1 Images 68 and 69
[72] Hobart Town Courier, 20 September 1839.
[73] CONS37-1-7 Image 451
[74] Colonial Times, Hobart, 2 April 1844.
[75] CONS31-1-7 Image 451
[76] Maitland Mercury, NSW, 10 July 1858.
[77] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.469.
[78] Perth Gazette, 4 October 1834.
[79]CONS13-1-6 Images 223, 224
[80] CONS13-1-6 Image 220
[81] CONS31-1-7 Image 283
[82] Colonial Times, Hobart, 26 May 1840.
[83] CONS31-1-7 Image 283
[84] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.671.
[85] CON37-1-2 Image 49
[86] CONS52/1/3, page 81
[87] RGD37/1/10 No62, Image 30
[88] Cornwall Chronicle, 15 April 1854.
[89] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.694.
[90] Inquirer, 14 January 1846.
[91] Perth Gazette, 28 March 1846.
[92] Ibid., 30 May 1846.
[93] Ibid., 28 May 1846.
[94] Ibid., 23 July 1852.
[95] WA Department of Justice, Reg. No. 12660.
[96] Daily News, 6 September 1884.
[97] State Records of WA, AU WA S76- cons430 1884/1547
[98] Inquirer, 16 July 1884.
[99] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.798.
[100] Perth Gazette, 10 April 1841.
[101] CONS37-1-1 Image 54
[102] Cornwall Chronicle, 21 October 1898.
[103] Inquirer, 9 October 1844.
[104] Convict Records, Ships, https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/governor-ready/1827
[105] CON44-1-6, Image 107.
[106] CON33-1-56 Image 60
[107] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.880.
[108] Index of Convicts Locally Convicted or Transported from Other Colonies, CON16-1-1 Images 10 & 11
[109] Conduct Registers of Male Convicts Arriving in the Period of the Assignment System, CONS31-1-14 Image
[110] Perth Gazette, 6 January 1838.
[111] Ibid., 1 June 1833.
[112] West Australian, 14 July 1934.
[113] Daily News, 8 March 1905.
[114] Perth Gazette, 15 February 1834.
[115] Ibid., 14 December 1833.
[116] Ibid., 9 November 1839.
[117] Inquirer, 14 June 1843.
[118] Inquirer, 24 January 1844.
[119] Perth Gazette, 18 February 1843.
[120] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.1169.
[121] Perth Gazette, 8 July 1848.
[122] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.1261.
[123] CONS13-1-6 Images 184 and 186.
[124] Perth Gazette, 12 April 1834.
[125] CONS31-1-21 Image60
[126] Ibid.
[127] Launceston Examiner, 10 September 1842.
[128] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.1404.
[129] CONS37-1-1 Image 187
[130] Tasmanian Convict Records, Departures, POL220/1/1, Page 172
[131] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p. 1464.
[132] Perth Gazette, 6 April 1833.
[133] Australian, Sydney, 16 August 1845.
[134] NSW Convict Indexes, Citation: [4/4384; Reel 1014] [Entry No: 43/1276
[135] Australian, Sydney, 19 August 1845.
[136] Australian Convicts Index, https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/hinks/benjamin/74842
[137] Old Bailey Proceedings Online, trial of Benjamin Hinks & James Francis, (t18190707-79).
[138] England & Wales, Crimes, Prisons, etc, Newgate Prison Calendar, Series HO77, Piece No.26.
[139] CONS31-1-18 Image 82
[140] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.1487.
[141] Perth Gazette, 13 July 1833.
[142] Indents of Convicts Locally Convicted or Transported From Other Colonies, CON16 -1-1 Images 8 & 9
[143] Colonial Times, 27 November 1838.
[144] CONS31-1-26 Image 128
[145] Hobart Town Advertiser, 1 April 1853.
[146] Mercury, Hobart, 5 May 1884.
[147] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.1699.
[148] Perth Gazette, 8 April 1843.
[149] Ibid., 8 April 1843.
[150] Conduct Registers of Male Convicts arriving on Non-Convict Ships, CON37-1-1 Image 6
[151] Cornhill Chronicle, Launceston, 13 April 1850.
[152] CONS37-1-1 Image 253, Non-Convict Arrivals in Tasmania.
[153] Tasmanian Name Indexes, 1157949.
[154] Note: He married Elizabeth Bateman in WA in 1834. In 1848 Elizabeth Ledgard re-married, to Robert Ferres at Fremantle.
[155] Indents of Convicts Locally Convicted or Transported From Other Colonies, CON16-1-1 Images 10 & 11
[156] CONS31- 1- 28 Image 5
[157] Launceston Examiner, 26 November 1842.
[158] Hobart Town Advertiser, 25 October 1842.
[159] Courier, Tasmania, 24 February 1843.
[160] Adelaide Observer, 27 June 1846.
[161] Ibid., 5 December 1846.
[162] South Australian Register, 16 March 1855.
[163] South Australian Advertiser, 9 July 1867.
[164] SA Government Gazette, in Adelaide Observer, 6 April 1872.
[165] Evening Journal, 30 May 1877.
[166] South Australian Chronicle, 18 August 1894.
[167] Tasmanian Convict Name Indexes, CON40-1-10 Image 149
[168] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.1827.
[169] Perth Gazette, 12 April 1834.
[170] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.1830.
[171] Perth Gazette, 26 January 1833.
[172] CON31-1-27 Image 168
[173] Hobart Town Courier, 6 June 1829.
[174] VDL Departures, CUS33/1/1p.173
[175] Colonial Times, Hobart, 8 January 1830.
[176] NSW Convict Death Register [4/4549; Reel 690 Page 130]
[177] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.1855.
[178] CONS31-1-31, Image 68
[179] CONS18-1-4 Image 54
[180] Brickfields Depot was situated at Hobart Town and catered for invalids.
[181] CONS 37-1-3 Image 316
[182] Tasmanian Name Indexes:1154126, Image 154.
[183] Perth Gazette, 5 July 1845.
[184] CONS37-1-2 Image 177.
[185] Perth Gazette, 11 April 1835.
[186] Indents of Convicts Locally Convicted or Transported From Other Colonies, CONS16-1-1-Images 12 & 13
[187] Perth Gazette, 6 April 1839.
[188] Tasmania, Comprehensive Register of Convicts, 1842-47, ancestry.com
[189] Indents of Convicts Locally Convicted or Transported From Other Colonies, CONS16-1-1 Images 92,93
[190] England & Wales Criminal Registers, Middlesex, 1819.
[191] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2146.
[192] Swan River Guardian, 6 April 1837.
[193] CONS31-1-32 Image 121
[194] CONS31-1-32 Image 21
[195] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2171.
[196] Ibid., p.2403.
[197] Perth Gazette, 1 March 1834.
[198] Ibid., 12 July 1834.
[199] Ibid., 20 June 1834.
[200] Convict Records of Convicts Arriving Under the Assignment System on Non-Convict Ships, CONS35-1-1 Image 452
[201] True Colonist Van Diemen’s Land, 13 October 1837.
[202] Hobart Town Courier, 20 October 1837.
[203] Cornwall Chronicle, 14 October 1837.
[204] Convict Records of Convicts Arriving Under the Assignment System on Non-Convict Ships, CONS35-1-1 Image 452
[205] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2403.
[206] Perth Gazette, 7 April 1849.
[207] Inquirer, 15 June 1853.
[208] Perth Gazette, 28 October 1864.
[209] WA Department of Justice, Reg. No. 2638.
[210] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2476.
[211] Perth Gazette, 16 January 1841.
[212] Ibid., 9 January 1841.
[213] Inquirer, 7 July 1841.
[214] CONS16-1-1 Images 176 and 177
[215] CONS37-1-1 – Image 68
[216] Launceston Examiner, 2 September 1848.
[217] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2483.
[218] Convict Department, Estimates and Convict Lists, (128/1-32)
[219] Convict Department Registers, General Register (R21b)
[220] Inquirer, 17 October 1849.
[221] Perth Gazette, 26 March 1850.
[222] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2484.
[223] Perth Gazette, 9 January 1836.
[224] Inquirer, 8 February 1843.
[225] NSW & Tasmania Convict Musters, List of convicts Tasmania 1823.
[226] Ibid., 1820.
[227] Hobart Town Gazette, 3 June 1826.
[228] Inquirer, 16 November 1842.
[229] CONS 37- 1-1 Image 188.
[230] Perth Gazette, 11 February 1843.
[231] CONS 37- 1-1 Image 188.
[232] Hobart Town Advertiser, 4 May 1849.
[233] RGD36/1/2, no.2740, Image 175.
[234] Staffordshire Advertiser, 17 July 1830.
[235] Ibid., 12 March 1831.
[236] CON19-1-13 Image 513.
[237] CON40-1-3 Image 127
[238] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2529.
[239] Correspondence from WH Mackie to VDL authorities, CONS13-1-6 Images 221-222
[240] Perth Gazette, 20 June 1834.
[241] Ibid., 8 March 1834.
[242] CON13-1-6 Image 220
[243] CONS31-1-37 Image 169
[244] Colonial Times, 27 November 1838.
[245] Morning Star & Commercial Advertiser, Hobart, 19 May 1835.
[246] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2595.
[247] Perth Gazette, 6 January 1838.
[248] NSW Convict Indents, digital panopticon.org
[249] NSW Convicts Index [4/4191; Reel 953]; Entry No:44/1992
[250] Ibid., [4/4275; Reel 979]; Entry No. 50/0549
[251] NSW Convicts Index [4/4277; Reel 980] Entry No. 51/ 0005
[252] NSW Convicts Index [4/4474; Reel 795 Page 163-164] Entry No. 52/148
[253] NSW Government Gazette, in Peoples’ Advocate & NSW Vindicator, 26 June 1852.
[254] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2601.
[255] Perth Gazette, 16 January 1841.
[256] Perth Gazette, 9 January 1841.
[257] Inquirer, 7 July 1841.
[258] CONS37-1-1 Image 67
[259] Ibid.
[260] Cornwall Chronicle, 17 March 1849.
[261] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2606.
[262] Perth Gazette, 10 April 1841.
[263] Inquirer, 7 July 1841.
[264] CONS37- 1-1 Image 61
[265] Ibid.
[266] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2679.
[267] Convicts to Australia, convictrecords.com.au
[268] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2836.
[269] Perth Gazette, 12 April 1834.
[270] Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal, 11 January 1834.
[271] CONS31-1-40 Image 71
[272] Launceston Advertiser, 6 July 1837.
[273] https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON31-1-40$init=CON31-1-40p71
[274] Courier, Hobart, 30 March 1841.
[275] CONS 37-1-3 Image 316
[276] CONS 37-1-3 Image 317
[277] CONS31-1-28 Image 118
[278] CONS31-1-28 Image 118
[279] Cornwall Chronicle, Launceston, 4 June 1853.
[280] Tasmanian Marriage Register, RGD37-1-12, No. 687
[281] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.2944.
[282] Inquirer, 8 February 1843.
[283] CONS37-1-1, Image 189
[284]Convicts Transported From Other Colonies, CON16-1-2 Images 32 & 33
[285] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians p.2996.
[286] Perth Gazette, 17 January 1835.
[287] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3039.
[288] CONS31-1-43
[289] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3039
[290] CON16 – 1- 1 Images 8 & 9
[291] CONS31-1-43 Image 154.
[292] Launceston Examiner, 11 October 1860.
[293] Ibid., 9 October 1860.
[294] The Prosecutions Project, AB693 -1-1-1860
[295] RGD37/1/13 No 1161, Image 461
[296] Rica Erickson Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3058.
[297] Perth Gazette, 6 April 1839.
[298] Perth Gazette, 6 April 1839.
[299] Rica Erickson Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3125.
[300] Inquirer, 9 October 1844.
[301] Perth Gazette, 5 October 1844.
[302] CONS37-1-2 Image 50.
[303] Cornwell Chronicle, Launceston, 31 July 1852.
[304] Rica Erickson Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3142.
[305] Inquirer, 9 October 1844.
[306] Hobart Town Advertiser, 30 January 1846.
[307] CON16-1-1 Images 8 & 9
[308] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3159.
[309] Perth Gazette, 6 July 1833.
[310] Ibid., 9 April 1836.
[311] CONS37-1-1-47 Image 169
[312] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3187.
[313] CON16 -1-1 Images 10 & 11
[314] CONS31-1- 47 Image 95
[315] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3205.
[316] Perth Gazette, 5 January 1833.
[317] Perth Gazette, 26 January 1833.
[318] Tasmanian Names Indexes, 629064, https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/
[319] England & Wales Criminal Registers Staffordshire 1816, ancestry.com
[320] CON31-1-45 Image 21
[321] NSW Convict Index, Citation 4/4112; Reel 927, Entry No: 37/855
[322] Sydney Gazette, 23 April 1839.
[323] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3390.
[324] Perth Gazette, 12 April 1834.
[325] CONS13-1-6 Image 175-176, and 180.
[326] CONS31-1-47 Image 46
[327] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3337.
[328] Perth Gazette, 12 April 1834.
[329] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3367.
[330] Perth Gazette, 9 January 1836.
[331] Ibid., 16 January 1836.
[332] Ibid., 11 April 1849.
[333] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3374.
[334] Description Lists of Convicts Arriving on Non-Convict ships, 1842-45, ancestry.com CON16-1-2 Image 158.
[335] CON37-1-2 Image 64
[336] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, p.3392.