John Simpson (1832 – 1901) (Reg. No. 1624)
By Irma Walter and Rodney Dilley, 2021. John Simpson was born c1832 in Staffordshire to Enoch Simpson and his wife…
Category: Convict Histories
Cornelius Bradnum (1827 – 1898) (Reg. No. 2942)
By Irma Walter, 2021. Cornelius Morley Bradnum (frequently called Bradnam, or Bradman) was born on 23 March 1827 to parents…
The Dilworth Burglars
In March 1861 five men faced trial at the Liverpool Spring Assizes, charged with breaking and entering a farmhouse in…
John Jones (real name James Punt Borritt) (b.1813- ?) (WA Convict Reg. No. 4564)
The story of James Punt Borritt (alias George Parker, Thomas Parker, James Gazon, ‘Jemmy Punt’, John Jones), a seasoned and…
Jeremiah Prior (or Pryor) (c1833-1897) (Reg. No 7514)
By Irma Walter, 2021. [Note: Convicted as ‘Pryor’, but often recorded as Prior.] The Lord Dalhousie left Portland on 19…
George Woodcock (c1827 – 1909) (Reg. No. 4279) ‘The Yorkshire Cracksman’
By Irma Walter, 2021. The following newspaper article published in 1855 in England gives a good overview of George Woodcock’s…
Workhouse Boy Makes Good. James Wynn (alias James Ali) (c1842 – 1915) (Reg. No. 5838)
[Story by Rosalie D Ali, with added information from Irma Walter & Heather Wade, 2021.] Early Life James Wynn’s parentage…
A Daring Robbery Roderick O’Lochlin [O’Lachlan], (Reg. No. 8376) and Arthur Hewitt [Hewett] (Reg. No. 8286)
By Irma Walter, 2021. Two thieves, Arthur Hewitt (aliases Bennett, Groves, George Wallis or Wallace), and Roderick O’Lochlin or O’Lachlan…
Theodore Pennington (c1837 – ?) (Reg. No. 4864)
By Irma Walter, 2021. On 15 December 1856 at the Liverpool Boro’ Sessions, Theodore Pennington, a painter, aged 20, was…
The Leighton Buzzard Burglars
By Irma Walter, 2021. This story demonstrates the difficulties involved in researching the lives of some of the professional thieves…