By Irma Walter, 2021.
William Messenger (c1840 – 1861) (Reg. No. 5136)
On 22 July 1854 William Messenger, just 14 years old, was convicted of the unusual crime of sacrilege at Lincoln and was sentenced to 14 years’ transportation. He was in the company of a 29-year-old man named James Taylor (alias ‘James or Thomas King’), when they broke into the Parish Church at Ropsley in Lincolnshire and opened a box containing documents, which were later found strewn around outside the building.
Church of St Peter, Ropsley, Lincolnshire.[1]
William’s conscience must have bothered him, as days later he went to the local police and confessed to the crime. He admitted having entered the church in the company of a tramp he named as ‘Thomas King’. They had broken a window and threw bibles and gowns around the church. King had told him that he hoped to get his hands on some sacrament plate that he could melt down and sell. William said that he had confessed because he didn’t want to be associated with King any longer, and was afraid of being transported. King was soon picked up from the roadside, where he was faking an illness. Once locked up, he was overheard telling Messenger that he ‘would rather serve 14 years’ transportation than have four years penal servitude, it would be better than tramping around the country’. Both were found guilty of sacrilege and King was sentenced to 14 years’ transportation. Despite his confession and contrition, William Messenger also received a 14-year sentence, but ‘with a view of being sent to some prison in this country, instead of being sent abroad’.[2]
The older man, James Taylor, alias ‘King’, (Reg. No. 4203), arrived in WA onboard the Runnymede on 11 September 1856.
[Note: With no-one to represent him, it seems that William Messenger was unjustly treated by the Court. In another case of sacrilege that same year, 14-year-old Edward Blunt of Ilfracombe was convicted of entering the Ilfracombe Church and stealing £3 from a donation box, sharing some of the money with two school friends from the Independent School. He was sentenced to just one month in prison. He was represented by Mr Baron Martin, who remarked that ‘he was evidently a very smart and observant boy, and it was a great pity that property was so carelessly left as to offer temptation.’]
Incarceration in England
As a result of his conviction of sacrilege, a nervous young William Messenger spent five months and 24 days in Lincoln Prison, followed by one month and 12 days at Millbank Prison.[3] His next of kin was listed as his father, James Messenger, postman, of Finch Court, Grape Passage, Reading.[4]
Permission was then sought to have him admitted to Parkhurst, a reformatory on the Isle of Wight.
Correspondence concerning the transfer of Messenger to Parkhurst.[5]
William’s conduct while at Lincoln Prison was described as ‘Bad’, at Millbank ‘Good’, and at Parkhurst, ‘Tolerable’.[6] Parkhurst records describe him as aged 14, height 4’11½”, with dark brown hair, grey eyes, a fresh complexion, thin, with a cut over his right eyebrow, a small scar on the left side of his neck, and a mark from a burn on the upper part of his left arm. [Of the 15 boys listed on the same page, one was only 12 years old, and all but one were less than five feet in height.][7] Out of his total time spent at Parkhurst, of three years, five months and 28 days, William spent 31 months and five days in Separate Confinement.[8] Not good for his mental health, one thinks.
He was transferred to Portsmouth Prison on 19 January 1858.[9] After nearly five years in various English gaols, William Messenger finally faced his worst fear, of being transported, arriving in WA on 21 November 1858 onboard the Edwin Fox. By this time, as Registration. No. 5136, he was described as a 19-year-old labourer, Protestant, single, with brown hair, grey eyes, an oval face, a fresh complexion and middling stout in build.[10]
In Western Australia
20/5/59 – Pro. Prisoner received back from Mt Eliza.[11]
21/5/59 – An errand boy, aged 16. On Ticket of Leave.[12]
14/1/60 – RM Bunbury – Exceeding pass – six weeks. Discharged 14/4/60.[13]
21/1/60 – William Messenger, errand boy, convicted at Bunbury of vagrancy – six months.[14]
30/1/1860 – Reconvicted Prisoner to Sutherland Bay.
13/4/1860 – Reconvicted Prisoner received at Mt Eliza.[15]
William was discharged from the service of CS Oliver on 16 November 1860 and it was intended that he would enter the service of Frederick Sherman (?) at Peninsular Farm on 16 November 1860 for three months, at the rate of 30/- per month.[16]
However, the record below (abbreviated) shows that William Messenger shot himself at 20 years of age while still in the service of S Oliver at Bassendean, where he had been employed since 9 August 1860.[17]
The official death record for William Messenger reads as follows –
William Messenger, age unknown, names of father and mother unknown, place of birth unknown.[18]
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James Taylor (c 1814 – ?) (Reg. No. 4203)
A tramp named James Taylor, (alias James King, Thomas King) aged 29, was convicted in 1854 of the unusual crime of sacrilege, along with a 14-year-old boy named William Messenger.
Taylor had a bad reputation for vagrancy. He obviously seduced the unworldly young boy into participating in a break-in at the Ropsley Church in Lincolnshire. His intention was to find some silver plate that he could melt down and sell, but when unsuccessful the church was vandalised, with a window broken and bibles and other objects thrown around. They carried away a locked box which was later forced open and documents were strewn around the churchyard. The papers were later picked up by a boy and were returned to the Churchwardens.[19]
In Court it was revealed that Messenger had given himself up to the police a week after the burglary, confessing his part in the crime and giving full details of the event. He told them that he no longer wanted to be associated with the tramp he knew as ‘Thomas King’, who was later picked up by police lying in a pretended fit on the road. The two were put into a cell together and were overheard arguing, with King accusing Messenger of hoping to get a £5 reward by giving him up to the police. He told the boy that they both should expect to get a 14-year sentence. During the trail James Taylor (alias ‘King’) complained loudly of the treatment he had received while in the Grantham Lock-up, but refused to answer questions about the Church robbery. He received a 14-year sentence of transportation, due to his many previous convictions. Messenger received the same, but with the possibility of him serving out his term in some prison in his own country, rather than being transported. This was not to be – Messenger spent a year in gaol, followed by three years in the Parkhurst Reformatory on the Isle of Wight, before being transported in 1858, to serve out the remainder of his term in Western Australia.
James Taylor’s Record in Western Australia
James Taylor (alias Thomas or James King), arrived in WA on 7 September 1856, onboard the Runnymede. At the time he was described as a farm labourer, married, aged 44, with dark brown hair, blue eyes, a round face, fresh complexion, and middling stout in build. His distinguishing marks were blue dots and the initials ‘D. K.’ tattoed on his left arm.[20] It was further recorded that he had spent time in various gaols throughout the Kingdom for vagrancy, and was held on the prison hulk Defence, with a rating of ‘Class 2’ as a prisoner, before being brought to WA. While in Separate Confinement his conduct was described as ‘Indifferent’, at Public Works ‘Good’. For a previous conviction he had served four months in Lincoln Prison, where his conduct was described as ‘Very Bad’, for constantly using threatening language to all the officers.[21]
His uncooperative attitude continued while in Fremantle Prison –
15/1/57 – Was working in a quarry when he complained of pain in the side. Given Anodyneas treatment.[22]
12/2/57 – Employed as a gardener when treated at the infirmary for a bowel complaint.[23]
20/4/57 – Class suspended for 10 days.
20/7/57 – Three months in Solitary Confinement, 13 days on Bread & Water.
22/3/59 – Given his Ticket of Leave at Toodyay.[24]
11/9/57 – Bread & Water – one day.
15/10/57 – Bread & Water – two days.
19/11/57 – Bread & Water one day. Class suspended for three months.[25]
22/12/59 – Reported engaged by Jos. Sheen(?) at Northam for £2 per month.
13/1/60 – District for Passport – Pass to York.[26]
15/2/60 – Engaged by J Bonser – Discharged 15/2/60 for refusing to work.
22/2/60 – Admitted to Depot for medical treatment.[27]
19/6/60 – Unemployed.
June ’60 – In service of C Glass at 30/- per month.
8/11/60 – Transferred from York.
13/2/61 – Passed from York.
16/2/61 – To Depot – unemployed.
30/3/61 – Engaged to Jno. Richards at 30/- per month.
24/4/61 – Engaged to G Best.
3/5/61 – To G Best (Jnr?) – piece work.[28]
29/1/62 – Awarded his Conditional Pardon.[29]
26/5/70 – His Certificate of Freedom sent to Mr Steere.[30]
Due to his common name, nothing more has been found about James Taylor’s family back in England, or his later life in Western Australia.
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[1] Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Peter%27s_Church,_Ropsley
[2] Lincolnshire Chronicle, 28 July 1854.
[3] National Archives, Portsmouth Prison Registers, Series PCOM2, Item 107.
[4] Ibid.
[5] England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, Institutions & Organisations, Series HO13, Correspondence & Warrants, Piece No. 103.
[6] Ibid.
[7] UK Prison Commission Records, Parkhurst Prison Register of Prisoners, 1853-1863.
[8] National Archives, Portsmouth Prison Registers, Series PCOM2, Item 107.
[9] UK Prison Commission Records, Parkhurst Prison Register of Prisoners, 1853-1863.
[10] Convict Department, Estimates and Convict Lists, 128/1-32.
[11] Convict Establishment, Receipts & Discharges (RD1-RD2)
[12] Convict Department Registers, Character Book (R8)
[13] Convict Department General Register (R1)
[14] Convict Department Registers (128/38-39)
[15] Convict Establishment, Receipts & Discharges (RD3-RD4)
[16] Convict Establishment, Miscellaneous, Ticket of Leave Swan District, 1859 – 1866.
[17] Convict Records, Miscellaneous, Ticket of Leave Swan District, 1859 – 1866.
[18] WA Department of Justice, Death Reg. No. 1659.
[19] Lincoln Chronicle, 28 July 1854.
[20] Convict Department, Estimates and Convict Lists (128/1-32)
[21] Convict Department Registers, Character Book (R19)
[22] Convict Establishment, Medical, Daily Medical Journals (M14-M16)
[23] Ibid.
[24] Fremantle Prison Convict Database, https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/history/convict-database/
[25] Convict Department Registers, Character Book (R19)
[26] Convict Department, Ticket of Leave Register (R6)
[27] Ibid.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Convict Department, General Register (R21B)
[30] Ibid.