By Irma Walter, 2021.
Joseph Gant [sic, Cant] and John Henry Eason were criminal associates in Lincolnshire. When arrested in March 1853 they were suspected of having committed a number of other crimes in the Boston area of the Holland District:
Lincolnshire Chronicle, 11 March 1853.
A cache of stolen goods had previously been found at their former premises in Pinfold Lane, Boston. Mention is made in the article below of previous charges against both Gant and Eason:
Lincolnshire Chronicle, 21 January 1853.
Further charges followed. On 4 April 1853 at the Holland Quarter Session, both men were charged with having broken into a building of Edward Dean’s at Algarkirk, stealing a coat and a jacket.[1] They were both found guilty of breaking and entering multiple premises and were given lengthy terms of transportation. With their previous convictions taken into account, Eason was sentenced to ten years and Cant to seven years. Soon afterwards the unusual step was taken to record extra convictions against them, with terms of seven years being added to each. Eason’s permanent record shows a term of ten years, plus a further seven years at the expiration of his original sentence. Cant’s sentence was seven years plus seven years further.[2]
This may have been a way of ensuring that they would not be allowed early release on Ticket of Leave once in Western Australia.
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Joseph Cant (c1824 – 1913) (Reg. No. 3249)
Joseph Cant had already spent two years behind bars at Spalding Prison for the crime of ‘assault with intent to ravish’, following an attack on a young girl in 1850.[3]
Following his arrest in 1853 along with John Henry Eason, Cant spent time in Spalding Prison, where his conduct in Separate Confinement was ‘Good’, and at Wakefield Prison in Yorkshire, his conduct was ‘Very Good’. He also spent time as a Class 1 prisoner on the Warrior hulk, a floating prison based at Woolwich.
On 2 February 1855, Joseph Cant sailed to Fremantle in Western Australia on the convict ship Stag, arriving on 23 May. The ship’s surgeon recorded Cant’s conduct as ‘Very Good’ during the voyage. On arrival he was described as a labourer, single, aged 25, with dark brown hair, dark hazel eyes, a long face, dark complexion, and middling stout in build. He had a scar under his left ear.
His convict record in Western Australia is brief, indicating mostly good behaviour:
9/7/53 – Bread & Water for seven days, and Class suspended for three months – earned ten days. Remission.
14/10/55 – Treacle forfeited for a fortnight.
16/6/57 – Ticket of Leave.
29/10/55 – Sent to North Fremantle.
22/1/56 – M.E. (Mount Eliza)[4]
Joseph was awarded his Conditional Pardon on 9 June 1860.[5]
No records have yet been found of his employment in WA, apart from a year’s service between 29 October 1867 and October 1868 at ‘Springhill’, Australind, the property of Ben Piggott.[6]
In 1876 he married Margaret Cundell, widow of former convict David Cundell (Reg. No. 5003), who had died in 1872 and was buried at Australind Cemetery. Formerly Margaret Tutill, she had come from England on the Palestine in 1866. Margaret Cant died on 8 January 1892, aged 71. Her death was registered as ‘Margaret Kant’.[7] She was buried in the Bunbury Pioneer Cemetery as Margaret Cundle.
Prior to his wife’s death in 1892, Joseph Cant was living at the Mt Eliza Old Men’s Home on the Swan River in Perth –
PERTH POLICE COURT.
(Before Mr. G. W. Leake, P.M.)
TUESDAY, JULY 2.
DRUNKENNESS.
Patrick Gilterman and Joseph Cant, inmates of the Invalid Depot, Mount Eliza, were charged with drunkenness. When Cant was arrested 17s was found in his possession. The prisoners were fined 5s each.[8]
From 1903 the WA Electoral Rolls show Joseph Cant residing at the Old Men’s Home, which in 1906 was moved to Claremont.[9] The entry for 1910 has him listed as a baker, residing at the Claremont Retreat, Claremont WA.[10]
His death was registered there in 1913.[11]
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John Henry Eason (3900 & 10037) (c1825 – 1879)
Unlike his partner-in-crime Joseph Cant, John Henry Eason’s life of crime continued in Western Australia.
Following his multiple convictions of breaking and entering at Boston, Lincolnshire, in 1853, Eason received two terms of transportation, one of ten years, plus seven extra years, to be served concurrently.
Before being transported, he spent time in Spalding Prison, where his record describes him as aged 24, previously convicted of ‘one felony, twice trespass, twice sureties, one charge of vagrancy and a record of assisting police.’
He also served time as a Class 2 prisoner on the hulk Stirling Castle.[12] On 16 October 1854, he was sent to hospital from the Stirling Castle.[13] He was transferred to Dartmoor Prison on 23 March 1855.[14]
John Henry Eason arrived in Western Australia aboard the William Hammond, on 29 March 1856. [Joseph Cant had arrived a year earlier on the Stag.]
He was described as a labourer, single, aged 31, 5’4”, with dark brown hair, dark hazel eyes, a round face, sallow complexion and of stout build. He was pockmarked, with HEME and a heart on his left arm.[15]
On 4 October 1871, while serving time in WA as a Colonial Prisoner charged with horse stealing, Eason was described as a 46-year-old bricklayer, able to read and write, and a Protestant by religion. Early records state that he was a single man, but at this stage he is recorded as married to Sarah, father of two children William and Henry, the family living in Boston, Lincolnshire.[16]
His Record in WA
Eason worked as a woodcutter and general servant.
28/11/60 – Convicted of burglary at York. Six months’ imprisonment.[17]
10/9/64 – Conditional Pardon.
4/10/65 – John Eason, Conditional, breaking & entering house and larceny therein. Two years’ Hard Labour.[18]
28/11/65 – Was released to Point Walter on Ticket of Leave.
19/2/66 – Local, released to North Fremantle.[19]
17/4/66 – Was discharged to Bar Party.[20] Despite submitting a petition on 22/8/66, the Governor refused to intervene in his sentence.[21] He was discharged on 4/10/67.[22]
4/1/71 – As Colonial convict 3900, Eason charged with stealing a horse. Six years’ Penal
Servitude. Entitled to discharge 4 October 1877.[23]
10/1/76 – Remission ordered for Ticket of Leave. Issued 17/1/76.
12/1/76 – Cutting wood, piece work, Perth, Thomas Davey.
24/1/76 – General Servant, 40/- per month, Charles Allen, Fremantle.
26/1/76 – Fremantle to Perth.
30/1/76 – Perth Prison awaiting trial.
4/4/76 – Having prohibited articles in cell – One day Bread & Water.
4/4/76 – Unlawfully having 20 loaves of bread in his possession – Three days Bread & Water.
5/7/76 – JH Eason and Charles Bennett in the Perth Supreme Court, convicted of breaking and entering a warehouse and were each sentenced to nine years, to be released on 5 July 1885.[24]
29/7/76 – To Fremantle Prison. To be confined within the prison walls and carefully watched.
(Vide 7264/17)
30/11/77 – Fremantle Prison – Insubordinate conduct – Two days Bread & Water.
1865 Crime – SUPREME COURT- CRIMINAL SIDE.
John Eason, charged with breaking and entering the dwelling-house of Mary Fitts at York, and stealing sundry clothing and provisions; a second count charged the receiving.
Mary Fitts – Lives in York in a house with John Clark; on leaving the house on Saturday evening July 1st at 6.30p.m. we fastened the door with a chain and padlock; on returning at 10.30p.m. I saw the door was open, the chain having been broken. I found my box had been broken open, a pair of trowsers and three or four pounds of tea, four or five pounds suit [suet?] and meat, a comb, some jelly had been taken. The comb produced is the one that was taken. I went with the police sergeant to prisoner’s house and found there the comb, and half a bottle of ketchup which belonged to John Clarke; the trowsers belonged to my husband James Fitts. Clark is my servant.
John Clark – Is in the employ of James Fitts, and lives in his house; I left the house with his wife at half-past 6 on the evening of the 1st July, and on our return found the door open, and I went then to inform the police; I missed a bottle of ketchup with a very particular cork; the bottle is that produced; I saw it found by the Sergeant of Police at prisoner’s house. I also identify the comb. I made the ketchup myself and can swear it to be mine, it having been made in a peculiar manner.
Police Sergeant Moye, deposed to having found in prisoner’s house the articles identified.
Prisoner made no defence, and the Jury found the prisoner guilty of larceny. Two years’ hard labour.[25]
1871 Crime – HORSE STEALING.
James H. Eason, charged with horse-stealing at York, pleaded not guilty. P.C. MacKay, sworn, said— He remembered the 30th August; he was on his way to the Lower Canning Bridge. On the road I met two boys, from whom I got information; I acted upon their information; the boys told me they were tracking a horse; I followed the tracks of the horse until we arrived at Point Walter. There is a deserted camp there, and I found the prisoner with a horse at it. I asked him where he came from, and from whom he got the horse. He replied that he had purchased the horse from a man named Eaton at Bunbury, and that he had given 5 tons of sandalwood for it. I asked him if he had a bill of sale of it; he replied yes, and that it was in his bag; I took the bag and searched, but found no bill of sale in it; he said nothing, and I arrested him; I took the horse to the Fremantle station; the horse is branded on the near shoulder F, with part of a circle; I took the horse to York, and a man named Wm. Butcher identified it as his own; prisoner was charged at York with stealing the horse. William Butcher, sworn, said—I live at the 17-mile gully on the York road; I know the prisoner and have seen him before; I saw him on or about the 28th August; I saw him riding my horse; prisoner was charged at the York police station with stealing the horse, which I identified as mine; before I saw the prisoner riding my horse, I reported the loss of it to Sergeant Wisbey. Verdict— guilty. Sentence— 6 years’ penal servitude.[26]
1876 Crime – BREAKING INTO THE CUSTOM-HOUSE.
Charles Bennett and John Eason were jointly charged with having, at Fremantle, on the 26th May last, feloniously broken into the Custom-house and stolen there-from a quarter-tierce of negro-head tobacco, the property of Her Majesty the Queen. A second count charged the prisoners with receiving the same, know it to have been stolen. No counsel appeared for the defence. Mr. Lewis Duffield, store-keeper at the Custom-house said that the bonded store was securely locked, as usual, on the evening of the robbery, but on the following morning the lock was discovered to have been forcibly broken; and an examination of the stores disclosed the fact that a qr.-tierce of tobacco was missing. Mr. L. Worsley Clifton, the Collector of Customs, said the tobacco in question was in bond, under his charge. It weighed about 210lbs., and, with duty paid, was worth £50.
Being informed of the robbery, witness gave information to the police. Sergeant Campbell, stationed at Fremantle, deposed that on receiving information of the robbery, he and a native tracker proceeded to the Custom-house, and discovered the tracks of two men who had apparently been engaged in rolling a heavy cask in the direction of the south beach. The tracks were followed up for some distance and then lost, but subsequently picked up again by the native assistant. They were found to lead to the prisoner’s residence in Suffolk street. Witness searched the house but found none of the booty there. The prisoner’s boots, however, were found, on examination, to correspond exactly with the footprints tracked from the Custom-house to the beach, and thence to the house in Suffolk street – where the prisoners resided. A few days afterwards witness saw the two enter Mr. Rankin’s shop, and noticing that they looked very bulky, his suspicions were aroused, and he followed them. On searching them about 15 lbs. of negro-head tobacco, exactly similar to that stolen, was found on each of them. Bennet, when this discovery was made, said –“It is a case, we are lagged.”
Police constable McCoy corroborated the preceding evidence as regards the arrest of the prisoners and the finding of the tobacco upon them. Shortly after they were locked up, Eason, in conversation with witness, said – alluding to his arrest – “This will finish me now, but it was not my fault.” He also, at the same time, volunteered to show where the remainder of the tobacco was concealed. The other prisoner likewise gave information as to the whereabouts of the booty, and it was discovered by the police planted in the sand on the south beach, as indicated by the accused. This was the case for the prosecution. The prisoners offered no defence, and the jury without hesitation convicted them. His Honor then proceeded to pass sentence. Addressing Eason he said he found by the record before him that there were several previous convictions against him, both at home and in this colony, and the sentence which the Court would now pronounce upon him was that of nine years penal servitude. The prisoner thereupon became very excited, and on being led out of the dock, shouted out, “You may make it in twenty years if you like, or life, if you please, I don’t care a — if you sentence me to death. I hope you, (alluding to the learned judge), you old sinner, will remain where you are until I return, when I will bring you a dead monkey.” Bennett, the other prisoner, whose antecedents were equally discreditable, received the same sentence.[27]
John Henry Eason was correct when he said – ‘This will finish me now.’ He was never released from Fremantle Prison. In 1879 he died in the Prison Hospital of heart disease.[28]
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[1] Algarkirk Convicts Sent to Australia,
[2] Convict Department Registers, Character Book (R18)
[3] England & Wales Criminal Registers, County of Lincoln, 14 & 15 October 1850.
[4] Convict Department Registers, Character Book (R18)
[5] Fremantle Prison Convict Database, https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/history/convict-database/
[6] From list compiled by Pat Rodgers of ‘Springhill’.
[7] WA Department of Justice, Death Index, Reg. No. 71.
[8] West Australian, 3 July 1889.
[9] Mt Eliza Convict Depot history, https://sappers-minerswa.com/of-interest/convict-hiring-depots/mt-eliza-convict-depot/
[10] Australia, Electoral Rolls for WA, at ancestry.com.au
[11] WA Department of Justice, Death Index, Reg. No. 125.
[12] UK National Archives, England & Wales Crimes, Prisons, etc., Registers of Prisoners in County Prisons of Wakefield, Series HO3, Piece No. 15.
[13] UK National Archives, Institutions & Organisations, etc., Quarterly Returns, Series HO8, Piece No.121.
[14] Ibid, Series No. HO8, Piece No. 123.
[15] Convict Department, Estimates and Convict Lists (128/1-32)
[16] Convict Department General Register (R16)
[17] Convict Department Registers, (128/38-39)
[18] Convict Establishment, Miscellaneous, Record of Court Cases (V23)
[19] Convict Establishment, Receipts & Discharges, (RD5-RD7)
[20] Ibid.
[21] Convict Establishment, Miscellaneous, Local Prisoners’ Register (V16)
[22] Convict Establishment, Miscellaneous, Record of Court Cases (V23)
[23] Ibid.
[24] Ibid.
[25] Perth Gazette, 6 October 1865.
[26] Inquirer, 11 October 1871.
[27] Herald, 8 July 1876.
[28] Fremantle Prison Convict Database, https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/history/convict-database/