Jill’s
Black
Sheep Search
Convict &
Criminal Research, 1780-1900
Including Machine
Breakers, Rioters & Protestors
HOME
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Jill Chambers
E-mail Jillchmbrs@aol.com
Contact address: 4,
Quills, Letchworth Garden City Hertfordshire,
Current Projects
Transportation Index: Index of Convicts transported to Australia, 1787 - 1868. All counties
represented.
Protestors Index: Includes late 18th and 19th century machine breakers, rioters and protestors
etc.
Criminal Petitions Index: Index to Criminal Petitions in HO17 and HO18, at the National Archives
(formerly Public
Record
Office), covering dates 1819-1854. Now working on HO17/80-89.
Hulk Registers Index: At the moment this relates mainly to prisoners held on board hulks in
Bermuda (1824-1829), and the boys hulk, ‘Euryalus’
(1825-1843), but convicts on some other hulks are included.
The Story of the 1830 Riots: Now working on the riots in Kent and
Index
of Yorkshire Convicts sentenced to Death and Transportation – 1787-1868: The information for this Index is taken from a number of records both
in this country and Australia and will include name, age, offence, date &
place of trial, sentence, date of execution (if sentenced to death), name of
ship, date of sailing, and destination (if sentenced to transportation). In
many cases additional information will be included, such as occupation, prison
hulk or prison, native place (may just be county, but in some instance actual
place), whether married or single, and any previous convictions.
Parkhurst Prison Registers Index: This index is being compiled from registers HO24/15 and PCOM2, held at The National Archives (formerly Public Record Office), covering dates 1838 – 1863, and relating to boys sentenced to transportation, and at the end of this period, to imprisonment. So far I have the names of all the boys who were sent to Parkhurst Prison between 1838 and 1850, 2194 names in all.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was in the autumn of 1830 that the
agricultural labourers, mainly those in
the southern half of England, rose up against their masters in an effort to
better the lives of themselves and their families. By the beginning of 1831,
instead of the improved working and living conditions they had hoped for, many
families found themselves worse off with the breadwinner confined to prison or
worse still on board the hulks awaiting transportation to either New South
Wales or Van Diemen’s Land, as Tasmania
was then called, and many of those left behind described as 'on the parish.'
The
riots seem to have been caused by a number of factors the main ones being, poor
living conditions, low wages, at least three years of poor harvests, that of
1829 being followed by a very severe winter which caused further distress to
the farm labourer and his family, the last straw in some areas appears to have
been the introduction of the threshing machine, these machines were seen by the
labourer as taking away his winter employment. It was the threshing machine
that was to become the main target for destruction during the disturbances.
The first threshing machine was destroyed at Lower
Hardres in Kent on 28th August 1830, but before this, there had been
several cases of arson reported and a threatening letter had been received at Mildenhall in Suffolk as early as February 1830. The
trouble spread north and west from Kent reaching a peak in mid November by
which time most counties south of a line from Norfolk in the east to
Worcestershire in the west had been involved in one way or another. Threatening
or 'Swing' letters (so called as many of them were signed by the mythical
'Captain Swing') were however received as far west as Herefordshire a3nd
incidence of arson occurred as far north as Carlisle.
The main counties from which men were transported were
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset, Essex,
Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Huntingdon, Kent, Norfolk, Oxfordshire, Suffolk,
Sussex, and Wiltshire. One or two were also sentenced to transportation in
Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire,
Shropshire, Somerset, and Staffordshire.
The
disturbances took a variety of forms. 'Swing' letters were sent to farmers and
manufacturers threatening the destruction of their property if they failed to
remove the machinery or raise the wages. Stacks and barns were fired, and there
were riotous assemblies with demands being made for higher wages and reductions
in the tithes. Attacks were made on workhouses and overseers. In some counties
machinery and wrought iron foundries were attacked. In Buckinghamshire attacks
were made on the recently installed machinery at several paper mills along a
three-mile stretch of river between Loudwater and Chepping Wycombe. Paper mills
were also attacked at Colthrop, in Berkshire, and Lyng and Taverham in Norfolk.
Also in Norfolk machinery was destroyed at Robert Calver's sawmill at Catton
and the mill itself was set alight. At Wilton in Wiltshire a large mob caused
around £300 worth of damage at John Brasher's woolen cloth factory. Machinery
valued at £2,000 was demolished at Tasker's Waterloo Foundry at Upper Clatford
near Andover in Hampshire, while at Fordingbridge in the same county it was
East Mill, Samuel Thompson's sacking factory and William Shepherd's threshing
machine factory at Stuckton that bore the brunt of the labourers anger. There
were riots involving some Kidderminster carpet weavers, where needle-stamps and
presses were destroyed by workers at Redditch in Worcestershire, but it is not
certain that these were directly related to the labourers’ movement. In many
instances of machine breaking, particularly in Berkshire, Hampshire and
Wiltshire, the mob made demands for money, beer or food in return for what they
termed 'their services'. Many of those involved in this were to be charged with
robbery when they came to trial.
The
disturbances spread rapidly from one county to the next, taking less than a
week to reach Wiltshire from Sussex. The organisation of the movement was
almost entirely on a local level with leaders or 'Captains' being chosen from
the community. There were however some leaders who worked outside their own
areas the most notorious being 'Captain' or 'Lord Hunt' (real name James Thomas
Cooper), who led a number of riots in Hampshire, Wiltshire and Dorset. He was
executed at Winchester on 15th January 1831. In most instances
however bands of men from one village
travelled around the farms and hamlets in their area gathering men, demanding
higher wages, destroying machinery and in some cases levying money, as they
went. News of what was happening passed quickly from one village to the next
and it was not long before another band of men with similar grievances were
making their way around their area. In many counties the trouble was short
lived, for example, the riots reached Hampshire around the 10th
November and were virtually all over by the 26th of the same month.
It was
the contagious aspect of the riots that alarmed the authorities, although they
were rather slow to react at first. Some troops were dispatched to troubled
areas but the Government left it to the rural magistrates to deal with the
problem as they saw fit. When the new Home Secretary, Lord Melbourne, took
office in November 1830, it was seen that this was not enough. The Yeomanry
were mobilized, special constables were sworn in and landowners organised their own forces made up of tenants and
servants. By the end of December 1830, the main wave of rioting was virtually
all over and almost, 2,000 men and women had been rounded up and were awaiting
trial. The Government considered that the magistrates in Kent, who had already
tried some of the rioters, were being too lenient and a Special Commission was
set up to deal with those in what were considered to be the counties where
damage had been most pronounced, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire,
Buckinghamshire and Dorset. The remainder were to be tried at the Assize Courts
or Quarter Sessions. The trials did not bring an immediate end to the
disturbances. Riots and demonstrations continued into 1831, with several
threshing machines being broken and, if anything, the number of cases of arson
reported continued to grow after this time.
Almost
before the trials were over petitions were organised by individuals and the
inhabitants of numerous towns and villages throughout the country in an attempt
to save those sentenced to death and to put in a plea for a reduction in the
sentence of the others. In some cases the petitions had the desired effect but
19 men were executed, over 600 were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment
and around 500 were sentenced to transportation for either life, 14 or 7 years.
Their
exile began with the move from goal to the prison hulks, for the majority of
these men that meant a journey to Portsmouth and the hulk York. For many
the stay on the York was short, in the case of many of those who sailed
on the Eliza no more than a day or two was spent on the York, by
the 6th February, 1831, 244 men were on board the Eliza bound for Tasmania
and by April, 1831, most of the remaining prisoners were also on their way,
either on the Eleanor that sailed for New South Wales or the Proteus that carried 112
men to Tasmania, 98 of them having been convicted of machine breaking or connected
crimes. These particular ships took between 111 and 126 days to reach their
destination. Not all of those sentenced to transportation actually sailed, some
got no further than the prison hulks. Several more men and two women were to
follow the three main ships, arriving alone or in twos and threes over the next
few years making them one of the largest ever groups to be transported as a
result of what was possibly the worst ever disturbances in rural England.
The
majority of the men were farm labourers; many of the Buckinghamshire men were
described as ‘papermakers’. More unusual occupations included James Pumphrey, a
road surveyor from Hampshire, Thomas Whatley a carpet weaver from Wiltshire;
another Wiltshire man was blacksmith Maurice Pope who was also a prizefighter.
In some cases more than one member of the same family was transported, fathers
and sons, brothers, brother in laws and cousins.
The two
women sentenced to transportation were Elizabeth Studman, from Kent, who
arrived at Hobart on the Mary in October, 1831 and Elizabeth Parker who
was sentenced to transportation for seven years for breaking a threshing
machine at Tetbury in Gloucestershire but received a free pardon and was
discharged in July, 1831. She came up for trial again at the Gloucester Assizes
held on 28th March 1832, charged with stealing money from the person
of Daniel Cole. She was found guilty and sentenced to transportation for life
and sailed on the Frances Charlotte arriving in Hobart in January 1833.
On
arrival in Australia the men were kept on board until all their details had
been taken. This having been done they were then brought ashore. In 1831 the
assignment system was still in operation and after being brought ashore the men
were assigned either to government service or to individual settlers.
More
than half the men transported were married with families at the time of the
riots and after they had been in Australia a year or two a few of them applied
to the Governor for permission to have their family brought out at government
expenses. Other men had their families brought out at their own expense after
they were free and some, not all of them bachelors, married in Australia and
made new lives for themselves.
Even
before the Eliza sailed efforts were underway in Parliament to try and
obtain freedom for the men, but it was to be three years before Governor Arthur
was directed to release the first 'machine breaker'. In August 1835, 264
'machine breakers' were pardoned and more were pardoned in the years that followed.
By the mid 1840's the majority of the men had received their freedom, either by
way of a Conditional or Absolute Pardon or a Certificate of Freedom. The only
ones excluded were those who had been convicted of colonial offences. On the
whole the 'Swing' prisoners were fairly well behaved. The conduct records for
the Eliza and Proteus men show only minor offences in the main,
most relating to drunkenness or the neglect of duty.
Those
men who had received a Certificate of Freedom on the expiry of their sentence
or an Absolute Pardon, were free to return to England if they wished or could
afford to do so, some did. I have so far found more than twenty instances of
men making their way back to England where they were reunited with their
families after an absence in some cases of nearly ten years. For the vast
majority of the men though there was to be no return to England. Most stayed on
in Australia and made new lives for themselves, working as labourers,
tradesmen, farmers and innkeepers. Some made their way to Victoria during the
Gold Rush, others after much hard work, prospered, a prosperity they might not
have achieved had they remained in England.
Over
the last few years I have been contacted by a number of the descendants of
those involved and I am indebted to them for all the details they have passed
on to me on their particular ancestor and for putting me in touch with other
descendants. It would seem that a number of those transported maintained
contact with their former shipmates.
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The Story
of the 1830 Swing Riots
The following books all
follow the same format, with a day-by-day account of the riots and trials in
each county. Includes biographical details of all those tried for machine
breaking and associated crimes.
A5 Paperback
482 pages
Published 2004
Price: £19.00 (This includes
UK 1st Class & Australia
Surface Mail)
Add - £3.50 for Air Mail to
Australia
Wiltshire Machine Breakers
Volume 1: Riots and Trials
A5 Paperback
329 pages
Published 1993
Price: £10
Add p&p UK: 1st - £2.00;
2nd - £1.50. Australia: Air - £5.40; Surface - £2.50
Volume II: The Rioters
A5 Paperback
271 pages
Published 1993
Price: £10
Add p&p UK: 1st - £1.60;
2nd - £1.30. Australia: Air - £4.50; Surface - £2,00
Price (per set): £18.00
Add p&p. UK: 1st -
£3.60. Australia: Air - £10.00; Surface - £4.50
*********
Hampshire Machine Breakers
(2nd Edition)
A5 Paperback
521 pages
Published 1996
Price: £15
Add p&p UK: 1st - £3.00;
2nd - £2.20. Australia: Air - £8.00; Surface - £3,20
*********
Buckinghamshire Machine
Breakers
A5 Paperback
338 pages
Published 1998
Price: £10
Add p&p UK: 1st - £2.;
2nd - £1.50. Australia: Air - £5.40; Surface - £2.50
*********
Berkshire Machine Breakers
A5 Paperback
500 pages
Published 1999
Price: £12
Add p&p UK: 1st - £3.00;
2nd - £2,20. Australia: Air - £8.00; Surface - £3.20
*********
Gloucestershire Machine
Breakers
A5 Paperback
243 pages
Published 2002
Price: £10
Add p&p UK: 1st - £1.40;
2nd - £1.20. Australia: Air - £4.00; Surface - £1.90
*********
Dorset Machine Breakers
A5 Paperback
340 pages
Published 2003
Price: £13
Add p&p UK: 1st - £2.00;
2nd - £1.50. Australia: Air - £5.30; Surface - £2.50
*********
OTHER
TITLES:-
An ongoing project to index
Criminal Petitions, sent to the Home Office, on behalf of prisoners, between
1819 and 1854, (HO17 and HO18). The index is arranged alphabetical by surname
and gives name, offences, date and place of trial, sentence, reference numbers
and in many cases the age of the prisoners and name of prison hulk held on are
all included. All counties are covered in each Part.
Available as book, on fiche,
or CD-ROM.
Series 1 (HO17) 1819
- 1839
Part 1 - HO17/40-49
2,130 names
Published 2000 Book: £3.50 Fiche: £3.00
Part 2- HO17/50-59
3,265 names
Published 2001 Book: £4.00 Fiche: £3.00
Part 3- HO17/60-69
2,121 names
Published 2000 Book: £3.50 Fiche: £3.00
Part 4- HO17/70-79
2,547 names
Published 2002 Book: £3.50 Fiche: £3.00
Part 1 -4 (HO17/40-79) - Now available on CD-ROM - Runs through Adobe Acrobat Reader Version
5, which is included on the disk. Fully searchable.
10,063 names
Published 2002 CD-ROM: £11.00
Fiche & CD-ROM prices
include p&p; for books add £0.50 p&p for UK; Australia Air - £2.00;
Surface – 1.00, per book.
All these publication are
available directly from me at the above address, or can be ordered from
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1830 Riots Links
Swing Rioters to Van
Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) – http://www.rootsweb.com/~austas/proteus.html
Selborne & Headley Riots - http://www.johnowensmith.co.uk
Family History & the Napoleonic Wars - http://members.aol.com/BJCham2909/homepage.html">HOME_PAGE
Old bailey Records – www.oldbaileyonline.org
Machine Breakers’
News, or Machine Breakers, Rioters, and
Convict Research Newsletter, to give it the full title, is published three time
a year, April, August and December. It contains articles on 18th and
19th century protest in England and Wales, including the swing
Riots, Luddites, Chartists etc., and articles on general convict and criminal
research.
The subscription to the
Newsletter is £5.00 a year (includes UK & Surface Mail) or (£7.00 Air
Mail). Back-copies of the Newsletters are available, or copies of individual
articles can be ordered. Send for details.
The following articles have appeared in Machine
Breakers' News.
April 1995
Letter from a Luddite ; Carpet Weavers' Riot Kidderminster, Worcestershire,
1830; Riots in Bibury, Gloucestershire, 1830; The Paper Machine Breakers; Samuel North: A Wiltshire Swing Rioter; The Leviathan Hulk, Portsmouth Harbour; A Little Local Difficulty, Isle of Wight, 1837
August 1995
Riots in the Years 1766 & 1767; The case of Joseph Smith, A Leicestershire Luddite; Yorkshire Luddites in Linthwaite, 1812; William Dove: A Norfolk Swing Rioter; Sarah Holdaway: The wife of a Hampshire Swing Rioter
December 1995
Weaver’s
Riots in Barnsley, Yorkshire, 1829; Petitions Index; From the Petitions at the
PRO, HO17 & HO18; The Austen Connection; Some Northamptonshire Machine
Breakers, 1830/1831; Trouble at the Lace Mills, Chard, Somerset, 1842
April 1996
The
Littleport Riots, Cambridgeshire, 1816; Taskers of Andover, Hampshire; Update
on Frank Mirfield & William Ashton, of Barnsley, Yorkshire; Arson – Crime
or Protest?
August 1996
Wiltshire
shearmen against the Gig Mills, 1802; Joseph Pinchin: A Wiltshire Swing Rioter;
Bread Riots in Exeter, Devon, 1854
December 1996
Swinging
out of Van Diemen’s Land; The Attleborough Riots, Norfolk, 1830; The escape
& re-capture of eight convicts from the prison hulk Fortitude, 1838;
Criminal register Indexes.
April 1997
Echoes of the Riot:
Hampshire1830; ‘To The King’s Most Excellent Majesty’: Hampshire1830; Jeremiah
Brandreth: the Nottingham Captain, Derbyshire, 1817.
August 1997
The Other John
Newland, Hampshire; Sutton Scotney’s ‘Tolpuddle Martyrs, Hampshire; James Pinchin:
The Son of a Wiltshire Swing Rioter; Where did all the Breakers Go?
December 1997
From Great Bedwyn,
Wiltshire, to Van Diemen’s Land; John Newland, The Trumpeter, Hampshire; Miners Strike, County Durham, 1863.
April 1998
Richard Hailey,
High Constable of Wycombe, Buckinghamshire; Alexander Somerville & Joseph
Carter, a Hampshire Swing Rioter.
August 1998
The Dean Forest
Riots, Gloucestershire, 1831; Coventry Riots, 1831, Warwickshire; Convict Love
Tokens; Chartists Riots of 1839, Llanidloes, Montgomeryshire.
December 1998
The Riots Begin,
Swing Riots of 1830; Jane Channon and the Bristol Riots, 1831; The Red sign
Post & Botany Bay Farm, Dorset; Machine Breaking in Cambridgeshire, 1832.
April 1999
Trouble for the
Great Shefford Relieving Officer, Berkshire, 1835; Censored Mail, Complaint
from Chartists, John Frost, William Jones, & Zephania Williams; Depositions
& Examinations of Richard Jordan & Susan Day, Berkshire, 1830.
August 1999
Historic Convict
Settlement, Lynton Station, Western Australia, established 1853; A case of
Arson in Kent, 1830; William Nation, A veteran of the Bristol Riots.
December 1999
Cover Picture -
James Gunton, a Norfolk Swing Rioter; Thomas Kershaw, a Rochdale Weaver;
Suffolk Machine Breakers.
April 2000
John Kingshott, A
Hampshire Machine Breaker; Thomas Mackrell in Tasmania, a Berkshire Swing
Rioter; The Merthyr Tydfil Rising, 1831; What became of Thomas Mackrell,
junior?; Convict Prison Hulks, Part 1.
August 2000
Convict prison
Hulks, Part 2; The Capture & Trial of Four Yorkshire Luddites; Escape from
Bristol Gaol, 1831; Huntingdon Swing Rioters, Part 1.
December 2000
What we know about
Mary Hindle, a Lancashire Rioter, 1826; Petition on behalf of Joseph Mason, a
Hampshire swing Rioter; Huntingdon Swing Rioters, Part 2.
April 2001
Daily Life on Board
a Convict Ship; Dorset Poverty in Print; Juvenile Crime in the 19th
Century
August 2001
William Wareham –
Swing Rioter; Prisoner’s Questionnaire
December 2001
Convict Hulks in Bermuda;
Swing Rioter News; Notes on the Pentrich Rising, 1817; Transported 4 times
April 2002
Charity Stevens, a
Machine Breakers’ Daughter; In Prison on Census Night
August 2002
Children of the
Hulks; Admiralty Hulk Records; Machine Breaking at Minster, Kent, 1830; One
Monday in November … and Beyond
December 2002
The Other Five
Percent; Children of the Hulks – Part 2
April 2003
Frederick Matthias
Alexander; Too Effeminate to be a Special Constable; Is this a Record?; James
Taylor, a Smuggler from Margate, 1822; Riots in Durley, Hampshire, 1830
August 2003
Parkhurst: The
Boy’s Prison; Editing Emigration History: The Story of a man of Steel
Thomas Phasey:
Records of a Convict Boy; Swing Riots in Banwell, Somerset, 1830; Yorkshire Luddite
Trials: A short abstract of the depositions against the prisoners.
Fatal encounter between the Coastal Blockade & Smugglers, Sussex 1831; The Plug-Plot Riots, Staffordshire, 1842; Isaac Reeves, 1st Foot Guard & Special Constable in 1831.
Isaac Richardson, a Kent Machine Breaker; Sentences of some
Luddites, York 1813.
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The convict ship Eliza
sailed from Portsmouth on the 6th February 1831. On board were 224
male convicts, all of them had been convicted of machine breaking or associated
crimes. All the convicts survived the voyage. The Master of the Eliza was
John S Groves and the Surgeon Superintendent was William Anderson. The Eliza
arrived at Hobart Town on the 29th May 1831.
The following list gives the
name, age, place & date of trial, and sentence of those on board. Further
information on the men from Berkshire, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire and
Wiltshire will be found in the appropriate county book. See Publications page for details of prices.
Abery Thomas, 32 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Alexander Joseph, 25 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Alexander Matthias, 18 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Allen John, 51 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Amor Shadrach, 21 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Andrews Henry, 23 Kent
Quarter Sessions 25 November 1830 – 7y
Arney William, 27 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Atkins Joseph, 33 Oxford
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 14y
Baker David, 29 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Baker Henry, 36 Essex
Special Gaol Delivery 6 December 1830 – 7y
Baker William, 27 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Ball George, 23 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Ball Robert, 22 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Banstone Samuel, 41 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y (alias Macey)
Barrett John, 24 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Barrett Robert, 26 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Barrett Samuel, 30 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Barrow George, 26 Kent
Special Gaol Delivery 13 December 1830 – 7y
Bartlett David, 24 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Bartlett William, 30 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Bates Daniel, 25 Reading
27 December 1830 – Life
Beale John, 38 Kent
Special Gaol Delivery 13 December 1830 – 7y
Beckingham Richard, 26 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Beckley Charles, 20 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y (alias Giddings)
Be(a)minster Joseph, 26 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Binstead Arthur, 48 Sussex
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 14y
Binstead George, 18 Sussex
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 14y
Bishop Thomas, 28 Gloucester Quarter Sessions 4
January 1831 – 14y
Blake Robert, 25 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Blandford James, 28 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 14y
Boyes John, 50 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Boxall Thomas, 24 Sussex
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 14y
Brind Thomas, 38 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Broadway Henry 33 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Brown Thomas, 19 Sussex
Special Gaol delivery 18 December 1830 - Life
Brown William, 33 Kent
(Dover) Quarter Sessions 21 December 1830 - 7y
Burden James, 36 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Burge Charles, 19 Sussex
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 14y
Burt Thomas, 26 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Bushell Stephen, 28 Kent
(Dover) Quarter Sessions 21 December 1830 - 7y
Bushell William, 17 Kent
(Dover) Quarter Sessions 21 December 1830 - 7y
Camel Edward, 33 Oxford
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 7y
Case James, 47 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y (alias Kass)
Champ David, 21 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Chubb Joseph, 32 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 14y (alias Harvey)
Cole Richard, 37 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Cole William, 46 Essex
Special Gaol Delivery 6 December 1830 – 7y
Collins George, 24 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Collins John, 33 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Cook William, 38 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Cooper James, 29 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Compton Henry, 25 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 14y
Cowley Robert, 24 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Crockford Hurlock, 27 Sussex
Special Gaol Delivery 18 December 1830 - Life
Cullender Robert, 18 Essex
Special Gaol Delivery 6 December 1830 – 7y
Curtis William, 28 Essex
Special Gaol Delivery 6 December 1830 – 7y
Davey George, 28 Essex
Special Gaol Delivery 6 December 1830 – 14y
Dicketts Henry, 19 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Dorey James, ? Sussex
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 7y
Duke John, 20 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Dunk James, 35 Kent
Special Gaol Delivery 13 December 1830 – 7y
Dunnett Charles, 44 Essex
Special Gaol Delivery 6 December 1830 – 7y
Durham William, 22 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Edgeworth James, 28 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Edgington Joseph, 42 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Eldridge Henry, 22 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Elton William, the younger, 23 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Eyres John, 35 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Fielder Arthur, 43 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Fisher Joseph, 22 Oxford
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 7y
Foot Thomas, 30 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Ford James, 19 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Fribbens Robert, 23 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Gange Thomas 20 Salisbury 27 December 1830 –
7y (alias John Gauge)
Goble Edward, 41 Sussex
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 14y
Grant James, 31 Essex Special Gaol
Delivery 6 December 1830 – 14y
Grant John, 25 Essex
Special Gaol Delivery 6 December 1830 – 7y
Grant Thomas, 29 Essex
Special Gaol Delivery 6 December 1830 – 14y
Groves Richard, 21 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Hale James, 28 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Harford Samuel, 22 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Hart John, 24 Essex
Special Gaol Delivery 6 December 1830 – 7y
Hawkins, David, 39 Reading 27 December 1830 –
Life
Hayhoe Samuel, 34 Essex Special Gaol Delivery
6 December 1830 – 7y
Hayter William, 28 Salisbury 27 December 1830
– 7y
Hayward John, 20 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Heath David, 20 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Heath, David, 23 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Heighes Thomas, 28 Winchester 18 December 1830
– 7y
Hepburn Thomas, 30 Kent (Dover) Quarter Sessions
21 December 1830 - 7y (alias Winterbourn)
Herrington Henry, 40 Salisbury 27 December 1830 –
7y
Hibberd William, 44 Salisbury 27 December 1830 –
7y
Hill William, 25 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 7y
Hillier Arthur, 22 Salisbury 27 December
1830 – 7y
Hillier William, 25 Salisbury 27 December 1830
– 7y
Hillman William, 30 Salisbury 27 December 1830 –
7y
Hiscocks John, 23 Salisbury 27 December
1830 – 7y
Hollands George, 28 Kent Special Gaol Delivery
13 December 1830 – 7y
Holmes William, 27 Salisbury 27 December 1830
– 7y
Holt William, 19 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Hopgood John, 30 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 7y
Hotson John, 33 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 7y
Houghton Peter, 34 Winchester 18 December 1830
– 7y
House James, 23 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Hulks Henry, 23 Kent
Quarter Sessions 25 November 1830 – 7y
Hunt John, 20 Gloucester Quarter Sessions 4 January
1831 – 7y
Hunt Joseph, 20 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Hutchinson Barnabas, 19 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Ingram John, 24 Essex Special Gaol Delivery 6 December 1830
– 7y
Jacobs John, 28 Oxford Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 7y
Jefferies William, 20 Gloucester Quarter Sessions 4
January 1831 – 7y
Jeffries William, 45 Essex Special Gaol Delivery
6 December 1830 – 7y
Jenman George, 20 Winchester 18 December 1830
– 7y
Jenman William, 21 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Kettle Elias, 18 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y (alias
Kiddle)
Kibblewhite William, 20 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Kimmer James, 18 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y (alias Kimber)
Lane Charles, 18 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Lane James, 36 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 14y
Liddiard Joseph, 24 Salisbury 27 December 1830 –
7y
Light Thomas, 48 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Looker Edward, 19 Salisbury 27 December 1830
– 7y
Mann Worthy, 22 Gloucester Quarter Sessions 4 January
1831 – 7y
Marsh William, 25 Salisbury 27 December
1830 – 7y (alias Maish)
Matthews Richard, 21 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Moore George, 22 Kent Special Gaol Delivery 13 December 1830 –
7y
Morey Samuel, 19 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 7y
Millard Levi, 26 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Mitchell John, 25 Gloucester Quarter
Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Moon John, 26 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Moon Stephen, 24 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Morgan Abraham, 28 Salisbury 27 December 1830 –
7y
Mould James, 23 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y (of Tisbury)
Munday William, 38 Salisbury 27 December 1830 –
7y
Mould James, 39 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y (of Hatch)
Musto Edward, 29 Gloucester Quarter Sessions 4 January
1831 – 7y
Newcombe John, 28 Salisbury 27 December 1830 –
7y
Newman John, 33 Winchester 18 December 1830 – Life
Norris Francis, 45 Reading
27 December 1830 – Life
North Daniel, 28 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
North Samuel, 30 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
North William, 22 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Olden John, 28 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Oliphant Rochesr, 26 Kent
(Dover) Quarter Sessions 21 December 1830 - 7y
Overy Thomas, 23 Kent
(Dover) Quarter Sessions 21 December 1830 - 7y
Pagden John, 18 Sussex
Special Gaol Delivery 18 December 1830 – 14y
Paice George, 23 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Palmer George, 37 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Pearce John, 20 Sussex
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 7y
Perry John, 49 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Pinchin John, 26 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Pinchin Josepg, 45 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Pitman Richard, 29 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Pointer James, 30 Kent
Special Gaol Delivery 13 December 1830 – 7y
Ponting Christopher, 43 Gloucester Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 –
7y
Poole John, 28 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Porter Thomas, 18 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Potticary Henry, 30 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Pudney John, 27 Essex Special Gaol Delivery 6 December 1830
– 7y
Radway William, 31 Oxford
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 7y
Ranger David, 30 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Read Thomas, 25 Kent
Quarter Sessions 25 November 1830 – Life
Reed Thomas, 23 Sussex
Special Gaol Delivery 18 December 1830 – 7y
Ring Joseph, 23 Oxford
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 7y
Rixon Thomas, 45 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y (alias Rixen)
Roberts Isaac, 22 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y (alias Rabbits)
Rogers William, junior, 18 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Rose John, 25 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Seal(e) Samuel, 32 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 14y
Seaman John, 45 Kent
Special Gaol Delivery 13 December 1830 – Life
Shepherd Charles, 26 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Sheppard Aaron, 40 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Sheppard John, 20 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Ship Thomas, 52 Essex
Special Gaol Delivery 6 December 1830 – 7y
Sidders William, 26 Kent
Quarter Sessions 25 November 1830 – 7y (alias Deverson)
Silcock John, 27 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Skittrell Charles, 25 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Slade John, 45 Winchester 18 December 1830 – Life
Smith George, 36 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y (alias Evans; alias Ewens)
Smith Stephen, ? Sussex
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 14y
Smith Thomas, 28 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Smith William, 33 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Snook William, 22 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Snow William, 26 Sussex
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 14y
Spencer William, 21 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Stannard John, 26 Kent Quarter Sessions 25 November 1830
– 7y
Steel Edmund, 41 Reading
27 December 1830 – Life
Stevens Joshua, 45 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 14y
Stevens Robert, 50 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Stone William, 31 Kent
Quarter Sessions 25 November 1830 – 7y
Strood Thomas, 21 Kent
Quarter Sessions 25 November 1830 – 7y
Sydenham Edward, 21 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Thornton Henry, 37 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Tickner John, 59 Kent
Special Gaol Delivery 13 December 1830 – 7y
Timbrill Benjamin, 25 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Tongs John, 34 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Topp Thomas, 20 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Town James, 33 Oxford
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 7y
Townsend George, 26 Sussex
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 14y
Triggs John, 24 Sussex
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 14y
Venwell Richard, 21 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Vinen Thomas, 19 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y (alias Vining; alias Viney)
Vivash Robert, 22 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Vokings John, 20 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Wadley Thomas, 20 Oxford
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 7y
Wadley William, 22 Oxford
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 7y
Waters Charles, 24 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Watts William, 24 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Weaving Thomas, 30 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Webb George, 23 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Webb William, 21 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Weeks John, 28 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Webb John, 34 Essex Special Gaol
Delivery 6 December 1830 – 7y
Wells Thomas, 21 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Welsh George, 34 Sussex
Quarter Sessions 3 January 1831 – 14y
Wheeler James, 25 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Whitcher William, 26 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
White Edmund, 20 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Whitebread John, 29 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y (alias White; alias Whitehead)
Wild John, 20 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Willoughby Robert, 28 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Witchell William, 40 Gloucester
Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Young John, 21 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
The convict ship Eleanor
sailed from Portsmouth on the 19th February 1831. 140 male convicts
were originally embarked, all of them had been convicted of machine breaking or
associated crimes, 7 of these men were re-landed before sailing, three more
convicts were embarked at Cape Town. All the convicts survived the voyage. The
Master of the Eleanor was Robert Cock and the Surgeon Superintendent was
John Stephenson. The Eleanor arrived at Sydney Cove on the 26th
June 1831.
John Stephenson’s Journal
can be found at the National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office)
ADM101/23/1
The following list gives the
name, age, place & date of trial, and sentence of those on board. Further
information on the men from Berkshire, Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire will be
found in the appropriate county book. See Publications
page for details of prices.
Adams William, 35 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 14y
Aldridge John, 36 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Allen Solomon, 35 Reading 27 December 1830 - 14y
Annells James, 20 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Arlett George, 24 Reading
27 December 1830 - 14y
Arney Joseph, 26 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Baker Robert, 28 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 14y
Batton John, 21 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Bennett, Cornelius, 34 Reading 27 December 1830 – 7y
Blake Shadrach, 22 Salisbury
27 December 1830 - Life
Brown Levi, 38 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 14y
Brown Luke, 24 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Bulpitt Charles, 25 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Bulpitt John, 23 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Bunce Henry, 24 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Burgess, James, 21 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
Burrough John, 44 Salisbury
27 December 1830 - Life
Burton Isaac, 24 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Carter William, 30 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Coombs Charles, 24 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Clarke George, 20 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Childs Abraham, 50
Winchester 18 December
1830 – Life
Cook James, 28 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 14y
Clarke George, 25 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 14y
Carter George, 39 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 14y
Cole Isaac, 20 Salisbury
27 December 1830 - Life
Cheater William, 27 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Darling Alfred, 22 Reading 27 December 1830 – Life
Davis Charles, 32 Salisbury
27 December 1830 - Life
Davies Thomas, 41 Graham’s Town 19 April 1830 – 14y (Not
Machine Breaker)
Deadman, Aaron, 30 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 14y
Down James, 29 Salisbury
27 December 1830 - Life
Durman George, 26 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Edney, Joseph, 28 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
Eldridge Henry, 24 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Elkins George, 25 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Elkins Henry, 34 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Fay Charles, 22 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Ford John, 22 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Francis William Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Gilmore John, 25 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Goodall Thomas, 28 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Goodfellow Thomas, 24 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
Green Charles, 27 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Greenway Jason, 19 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Harding Aaron, 41 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Hancock Daniel, 24 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Hanson, Thomas, 27 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
Harris, Edward, 25 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
Hatcher Stephen, 27 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Hawkins William, 42 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Heath John, 45 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Hibberd William, 32 Salisbury
27 December 1830 –
Hicks Thomas, 23 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
Holdaway Robert, 37 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Hopgood George, 34 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Horton Charles, 23 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
Horton John, 21 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
House Abraham, 21 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Hughes William, 21 Dover
21 December 1830 – 7y
James Henry, 38 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Jennings John, 18 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Jerrard Charles, 21 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Knight Abraham, 20 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Lawrence Lazarus, 25 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 14y
Lawrence Thomas, 19 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Legg John, 22 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Legg William, 28 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 14y
Lewis William, 30 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Mackrell Thomas, 43 Abingdon
5 January 1831 – 14y
Manns Isaac, 20 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Manns James, 24 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Mason Joseph, 32 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Mason Robert, 25 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
May Timothy, 24 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Milson, Charles, 28 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
Myland George, 28 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 14y
Nash John, 20 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
Neale Thomas, 20 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 14y
New James, 32 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Newman William, 22 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 14y
Nicholas Joseph, 29 Reading
27 December 1830 – Life
North Gifford, 25 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Oakley William, 24 Reading
27 December 1830 – Life
Orchard John, 21 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 14y
Page William, 39 Reading
27 December 1830 – Life
Page Robert, 32 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Pope Joseph, 51 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Primer William, 34 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Pointer John, 29 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Pumphrey James, 29 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Pain Charles, 22 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Pope Maurice, 40 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Pounds John, 19 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Quinton Samuel, 20 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Radborn Thomas, 29 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Read Charles, 34 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Reeves John, 20 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 14y
Romain James, 40 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Sims William, 33 Reading
27 December 1830 – Life
Simonds James, 27 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
Simonds William, 27 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Symes Charles, 20 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Spicer Henry, 21 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Shepherd Joseph, 40 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Sims William, 54 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Stanford William, 24 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life, alias Stanmore
Shepherd William, 24 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Stroud William, 37 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 14y
Sims Daniel, 20 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Shergold George, 25 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Shergold Henry, 31 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Shergold George, 28 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Shergold John, 22 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Stone Laban, 23 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Stone Aaron, 37 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 14y
Smits George, 51 Grahams
Town 16 April 1830 – 7y (Not Machine Breaker)
Tuck Joseph, 29 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Thorne Adam, 21 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Thorne James, 30 Dorset
10 January 1831 – 7y
Triggs Matthew, 37 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Turner Jacob, 22 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Toomer James, 36 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Toombs Henry, 21 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 14y
Viccus Edmund, 21 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
Westall William, 20 Reading
27 December 1830 – Life
Williams Stephen, 20 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
Williams George, 21 Reading
27 December 1830 – 14y
West James, 32 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Waving William, 35 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Wheeler John, 25 Reading
27 December 1830 – 7y
Warwick Thomas, 35 Winchester
18 December 1830 – Life
Whatley Thomas, 17 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Watts Joseph, 28 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – Life
Waldron Job, 39 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 14y
The
convict ship Proteus sailed from Portsmouth on the 14th April
1831. On board were 112 male convicts, all but 13 of them had been convicted of
machine breaking or associated crimes. All the convicts survived the voyage.
The Master of the Proteus was Sylvester J Brown and the Surgeon
Superintendent was Thomas Logan. The Proteus arrived at Hobart Town on
the 3rd August 1831. In his Journal of the voyage Thomas Logan makes
the following comments about the prisoners in his charge. ‘Most of them are
from the country, farm labourers, a few of them were artisans. Generally
speaking they had the sturdy build of labouring men. Their awkwardness and
stiffness were such that I became desirous of removing the embarrassment which
their irons too evidently occasioned – not to speak of the danger of accidents
to which they exposed them. They were accordingly all removed before leaving
Portsmouth; nor did subsequent experience teach me that this act of
consideration and beneficence had exceeded the limits of prudence.’
Thomas
Logan’s Journal can be found at The National Archives (formerly the Public
Record Office) ADM101/62/6.
The following list gives the
name, age, place & date of trial, and sentence of those on board. Further
information on the men from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hampshire and
Wiltshire will be found in the appropriate county book. See Publications page for details of prices.
Acres William, 23 Essex Quarter Sessions 4
January 1831 – 7y
Aggers William, 26 Norfolk Quarter Sessions 5
January 1831 – 7y
Annetts John, 38 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 7y
Atkins Stephen, 27 Aylesbury 10 January 1831
– 7y
Baker James, 43 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 14y
Barnes Francis, 30 Norfolk Quarter Sessions
5 January 1831 – 7y
Barton David, 25 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Barton James, 29 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Besant John, 25 Wiltshire Assizes 24 July 1830 – 7y (Not
Machine Breaker – Housebreaking)
Blizzard Thomas, 30 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 –
Life
Bloomfield William, 33 Essex Quarter Sessions 4 January
1831 – 7y
Bowles Thomas, 35 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 –
7y
Breemer William, 21 Middlesex Gaol Delivery 10
September 1829 – 7y (alias Beaumont; Not MB –Stealing a waistcoat)
Briant Joseph, 24 Aylesbury 10 January 1831
– 7y
Briant William, 24 Aylesbury 10 January 1831
– 7y
Briant William, 45 Aylesbury 10 January 1831
– 7y (alias Larry O’Briant)
Burgess William, 26 Winchester 18 December 1830
– 7y
Butler John, 22 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Butler William, 51 Aylesbury 10 January 1831
– 7y
Catchpole William, 40 Norfolk Quarter Sessions 5
January 1831 – 7y
Clarke George, 18 Winchester 18 December
1830 – 7y
Clarke John Simon, 22 Huntingdon Assizes 8 March 1831
- 14y
Coleman George, 24 Winchester 18 December 1830 –
7y
Colley William, 27 Huntingdon Assizes 8 March
1831 – 7y
Conduit William, 24 Winchester 18 December 1830
– 7y (the younger)
Cotton Robert, 24 Oxford Assizes 1 March
1831 – 7y
Cross James, 24 Essex Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Crutch John, 19 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Dandridge John, 45 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 –
7y
Davey Robert, 33 Essex Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
Dewberry William, 25 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Dove William, 21 Norfolk Quarter Sessions 5 January 1831 – 7y
(alias Dow)
Draper Samuel, 25 Essex Quarter Sessions 4
January 1831 – 7y
Eade Stephen, 42 Essex Quarter Sessions 4 January 1831 – 7y
East John, 22 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Edwards William, 20 Middlesex Gaol Delivery 15
April 1830 – 7y (Not Machine Breaker –Stealing wearing apparel)
Everett James, 22 Suffolk Quarter Sessions
10 January 1831 – 7y
Everett Thomas, 47 Suffolk Quarter Sessions 10
January 1831 – 7y
Farmer Jeremiah, 30 Winchester 18 December 1830 –
14y
Fisher Thomas, 24 Aylesbury 10 January 1831
– 7y
Freemantle Nicholas, 34 Winchester 18 December 1830 – Life
Gathercole Rice, 22 Norfolk Quarter Sessions 28
January 1831 – 7y
Gee David, 20 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Gee Worthy, 19 Salisbury
27 December 1830 – 7y
Glasspoole James, 33 Winchester 18 December 1830 –
7y
Goddard Thomas, 29 Salisbury 27 December 1830 –
7y
Goodman Thomas, 22 Sussex Special Gaol Delivery 18
December 1830 - Life
Green Thomas, 22 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 14y
Gregory Thomas, 33 Winchester 18 December 1830 –
7y
Gunton James, 28 Norfolk Quarter Sessions 5 January 1831 – 7y
Harding Thomas, 32 Winchester 18 December 1830
– 7y
Harding Thomas, 21 Wiltshire assizes 24 July 1830
– 7y (Not Machine Breaker – Sheep stealing)
Harris Thomas, 18 London (Westminster)
Quarter Sessions 10 September 1830 – 7y (Not MB - Stealing a coffee cup)
Hollis Thomas, 26 Oxford Assizes 1 March
1831 – 7y
Holt Moses, 22 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Horner William, 24 Huntingdon Assizes 8 March
1831 – 7y
Howes George, 25 Norfolk Quarter Sessions 5 January 1831 – 14y
Hughes William, 35 Huntingdon Assizes 8 March
1831 – 7y
Hurrell Isaac, 21 Norfolk Quarter
Sessions 5 January 1831 – 7y
Isles Isaac, 26 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 7y
Keeble Robert, 28 Essex Quarter Sessions 4
January 1831 – 7y
Keens Richard, 34 Winchester 18 December
1830 – Life
Kimber John, 35 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 7y
Kimmence Robert, 35 Suffolk Quarter Sessions 10
January 1831 – 7y
Kingshott John, 36 Winchester 18 December
1830 – Life
Knibbs William, 22 Aylesbury 10 January 1831
– 7y
Legg John, 19 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 14y
Legg Thomas, 21 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 14y
Lincoln Robert, 25 Norfolk
Quarter Sessions 5 January 1831 – 7y
Lush James, 42 Salisbury 27 December 1830 - Life
Martin James, 33 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 14y
Miles James, 19 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Miller Isaac, 37 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Moody John, 26 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Moore
Giles, 40 Suffolk
Quarter Sessions 10 January 1831 – 14y
Nash John, 32 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 14y
New Jeremiah, 17 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Nicholson James, 27 London Gaol Delivery 27 May
1830 – 7y (Not Machine Breaker – Stealing a handkerchief)
Nutbeene Edmund Charles, 19 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 7y
Payne Joseph, 21 London Gaol Delivery 17 February 1831 – 7y
(Not MB– Robbing my master - Embezzlement)
Phillimore William, 30 Hampshire Assizes 19 July 1830 –
Life
Pizzie Charles, 25 Salisbury 27 December 1830
- Life
Potter Cromwell, 26 Suffolk Quarter Sessions 10
January 1831 – 7y
Priest Joseph, 36 Aylesbury 10 January 1831
– 7y
Rampton Richard, 25 Winchester 18 December 1830 –
7y
Rose George, 24 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 7y
Salter Arthur, 20 Aylesbury 10 January
1831 – 7y
Scotchings William, 35 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Sexty William, 19 Wiltshire Quarter
Sessions 15 February 1831 – 7y (Not Machine Breaker – Stealing Silver spoons)
Ship Stephen, 18 Suffolk Quarter Sessions 10 January 1831 – 7y
Simms John, 28 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 7y
Smith John, 28 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Stapleton Thomas, 39 Huntingdon Assizes 8 March 1831
– 14y
Sullivan John, 21 London Gaol Delivery 9
December 1830 – 7y (Not Machine Breaker – Stealing carpenter tools)
Summerfield Samuel, 21 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Taylor William, 49 Salisbury 27 December 1830
– 7y
Thorne John, 25 Salisbury 27 December 1830 – 7y
Tolland John, 23 Winchester 18 December 1830 – 7y
Toomer George, 36 Salisbury 27 December 1830 –
7y
Turner Moses, 42 Aylesbury 10 January 1831 – 7y
Walduck John,
23 Aylesbury 10
January 1831 – 7y
Walker Henry, 22 Aylesbury
10 January 1831 – 7y
Walker William, 19 London
Gaol Delivery 27 May 1830 – 7y (Not Machine Breaker – Stealing parchment from
master)
Wareham William, 26 Winchester
18 December 1830 – 7y
Weedon Richard, 42 Aylesbury
10 January 1831 – Life
Whitaker Farewell, 40 Norfolk
Quarter Sessions 5 January 1831 – 7y
Whitford Thomas, 26 Warwick
Assizes 27 March 1830 – 7y (Not Machine Breaker- Stealing books)
Wilkinson Thomas, 18 London
Gaol Delivery 9 December 1830 – 7y (Not Machine Breaker – Stealing a coat from
Barge)
Williams William, 19 Suffolk
Quarter Sessions 10 January 1831 – 7y
Wilson John, 21 London
Gaol Delivery 16 September 1830 – 7y (Not Machine Breaker – Shoplifting)
Wingrove Edmund, 25 Aylesbury
10 January 1831 – 7y
Withers Peter, 24 Salisbury
27 December 1830 - Life
Convict Research (1788-1868) undertaken
at The National Archives (eg. Criminal Registers, Assize Records, Old Bailey
Sessions, Prison Hulk Records, convict Transportation Records, Criminal
Petitions, Surgeons Journals etc), and Newspaper Library, - £15.00 for the
first hour, then £10 an hour for each additional hour after the first.
Research from own Indexes Transported to
Australia, Criminal Petitions, Swing Rioters, Parkhurst Boys etc - £8.00 and
hour.
Criminal Research (1868-1900)
undertaken at The National Archives (eg. Criminal Registers, Assize Records,
Old Bailey Sessions, Gaol Calendars, Gaol Registers, Licences etc, - £15.00 for
the first hour, then £10 an hour for each additional hour after the first.
·
Sunday
30th January 2005 Bracknell Sports Centre, Bagshot Road, Bracknell
10am – 5pm
· Saturday 12th November 2005 – The Yorkshire Coast FHF, The Spa Grand hall, Scarborough.
TALKS
As well as publishing books on the Swing Riots and various
indexing projects I am also available for talks. Topics covered include –
General Talks on Swing Riots; Swing Riots & the records available; Swing
Riots in particular areas – county/town/village; Convict & Criminal
Research & the records available; 19th Century Juvenile Crime.
2005
·
Wednesday
22 June – Records of the Swing Riots – Society of Genealogists
At the beginning of the 19th Century there
were over 100 crimes for which the death sentence could be imposed. In many
cases this sentence was automatically reduced to a term of transportation,
service in the army or navy, or imprisonment. During this period the Home
Office was inundated with petitions, sent on behalf of people who had been
sentenced to death, transportation and various terms of imprisonment, from as
little as a week or two. Some of these petitions were successful, with
sentences reduced or pardons recorded, but most were ineffective and have the
word ‘nil’ scribbled on them or even worse ‘the law to take its course’.
This Index forms the part of an
on-going project to index the petitions in HO17 (1819-1839) and HO18 (1839-54),
held at the National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office), Kew.
The offences mentioned in these
petitions are as varied as the characters committing them. There are sheep and
horse stealers, poachers and common thieves, machine breakers and Chartists,
highwaymen, coiners and forgers, murderers and bigamists, smugglers and
pirates, alongside the simple ‘rogue and vagabond’. There are men, women, of
all ages, and children as young as nine, represented, and they are from all
walks of life. Together with the labourers, clerks and housemaids, are the
ex-soldiers and sailors, with wounds from Waterloo and Trafalgar.
The majority of these documents are
directed at the Judge, the Home Secretary of the day, or the Monarch, begging
for a mitigation of the sentence, but there are a few which advise against any
such reprieve. The petitions themselves vary in length and presentation. Some
of the documents simply list those who are on the Hulks or in the General Penitentiary
at Millbank, who ‘have served more than half of the Term of their respective
Sentence .... and on account of their Quiet, Orderly and Uniform good Behaviour
since they came to the ship’ are seen as ‘fit Objects for Royal Mercy’. These
often tell you of the behaviour of the convict and sometimes how they were
employed during their time on board the hulk or in prison.
A few of those committing crimes were
judged to be insane and were committed to a lunatic asylum. In many cases their
details are written on printed forms and can include age, date and place of
trial, offence, and date of committal.
On some of the documents the age of
the person concerned has been recorded, and this has been included in the
Index, but it should be remembered that many of these ages are not accurate.
Occasionally the name on the outside of the document will differ to that given
on the petition. In at least one case that I looked at this was because the
person on trial had sought to protect his family from the upset of being
related to a criminal, and he had used a false name. There were of course many
others who may have used false names and not recorded the fact.
There are short, simple letters,
written by an anxious husband, wife, parent or child of behalf of their convicted
relative. Others are large documents on parchment, written in elaborate scripts
and signed by virtually all the local landowners and tradesmen. Some like those
on behalf of the ‘Tolpuddle Martyrs’, who were sentenced to transportation
in1834, fill a whole box, (HO17/42 Ft1), and were sent from towns throughout
the country. There are others that are so detailed that it is possible to build
up a picture of the person on whose behalf the petition was sent.
There
are some interesting cases to be found among the petitions. Like the letter
written by a Mr Philips, and dated 35 St James’s Street, Augt 31
1833, on behalf of Joseph Tuner, one of the Pentrice Rebels who were tried at
Derby in 1817. At the time the letter was written he was in New South Wales, and
said to be the ’Governor of the institution for the reception of female
emigrants’. (HO17/60 Ks3). Mr Philips says that, ‘This case has excited a
strong interest in the minds of many of my constituents, and I beg to urge
their request that the circumstances of Turner’s trial & sentence may
receive the immediate & serious consideration of his Majesty’s Government.’
Unfortunately the letter does not appear to have had the desired effect as
‘Nil’ has been written on the front.
The bundle relating to Alexander Cole,
who was committed to the House of Correction at Lewes, Sussex, for 3 months, as
a ‘Vagrant for telling fortunes’, also makes very interesting reading (HO17/60
Ks39). It would appear that Alexander Cole had, since September 1832, lived in
Brighton with wife Elizabeth and their six children, and where he was, in his
own words, a ‘dealer in Feathers and hare and Rabbit skins’. In May 1833 two
officers came to his house and took away his wife on a charge of telling
fortunes. He ‘locked up his house, and with the remainder of his family
followed to the Town Hall to hear the charge that was against her.’ Cole and
his whole family were sent to Lewes House of Correction for three months, and
Cole was kept to Hard Labour. While the family were at Lewes their household
furniture and effects were sold. Cole was most concerned about the loss of £40,
in a feather bolster, that he ‘had particularly put by for the purpose of
setting his two boys one 14 the other 10 years old to some business,’ together
with the £7 that was in a stocking, of which only £5 - 11 - 6 was accounted
for.
As well as Alexander Cole’s Petition,
which appears to have been written and signed by himself, from 3 Church Street,
Deptford, on the 9th September 1833, there is his ‘Account of his property not
accounted for’, statements by the following Police Officers, Henry Solomon,
Chief Officer of Police, Brighton; Charles Somerset Penfold, of Brighton,
Constable; James Thoburn of Brighton, Constable; George Mitchell of Brighton,
Constable; and John ?, of Brighton, the
present High Constable, a copy of the ‘Examination of Alexander Cole as to
settlement & pass to Scotland’, and a copy of the Commitment of Alexander
Cole. It all makes for a very interesting story.
USING THE INDEX
The
Index is laid out in 8 columns, as follows:-
Surname:
ALLWORTH
Forename:
Richard
Age:
48 (when given)
Offence:
Disposing of HM Stores
County
of Trial: (using Chapman County Codes) together with Court (Assize or Quarter
Sessions) date: LND Nov 1825
Sentence:
7y
Additional
information: (e.g.. Hulk, Prison, Alias, Regiment, etc.) Newgate
Reference
to the document: 44/2 Gl22
(Note:
Some pieces come in two boxes, if this is the case it is shown as 67/1 (Part 1)
or 67/2 (Part 2). Each document or bundle in the box has an individual
reference written on the top left hand corner (i.e.. Gl22). To look at the
above petition the following document reference would be used, HO17/44, when
ordering at the PRO. People using a known alias have been indexed under both
names. The offence and age of many of those in the Penitentiary (Millbank) was
taken from the Penitentiary Registers (PCOM2/60).
In 1828 the Select Committee on Metropolitan
Police, heard from J J Capper, the Inspector of the Hulk Establishments, that
the results of the juvenile hulk experiment (boys awaiting transportation were
held on the Euryalus and York hulk, while others were sent to
Millbank Prison) were not encouraging. When asked what had been the conduct of
boys after release, he concluded: ‘I am sorry to have to say it has been very
indifferent for eight out of ten that have been liberated returned to their old
careers.’ After hearing the evidence the Select Committee recommended the
abandonment of the use of hulks for boys and suggested that a separate juvenile
prison should be provided. [1]
Despite this suggestion it was not
until the 1835 Select Committee on Gaols also recommended that a separate
prison for juveniles should be established and their recommendation gained
parliamentary approval that another committee was set up the following year to
report on the proposed juvenile prison.
Dartmoor
was considered first, but the expense of conversion was considered to be too
great. Porchester Castle, Waltham Abbey and Enfield Lock were also considered
and dismissed for various reasons. On the 18th July 1836 the
committee looked at Parkhurst, part of the Albany Barracks, on the Isle of
Wight. The buildings being considered stood in the centre of fifty acres of
land owned by the Crown. The site was considered to be:
‘exceedingly healthy and remote enough
from other buildings and having adequate water connection for the conveyance of
convict boys to the prison and for their removal to the colonies when their
period of confinement was expired.’ [2]
The buildings had previously been used
as a hospital for the barracks and as an asylum for invalid children from the
military school at Chelsea. The proposition was approved and work started on
converting the old hospital buildings into a juvenile prison to house 280
convicts.
The Parkhurst Act was passed in 1838,
and for the first time in England a separate prison for young offenders was
established. In the original Act both male and female offenders are mentioned,
but when the prison opened only boys were admitted.
3. It shall be lawful for one of Her
Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State to direct the removal to Parkhurst
Prison of any young offender, male or female, under Sentence or Order of
Transportation and those under sentence of Imprisonment, having been examined
by an experienced Surgeon or Apothecary so appear free from any putrid or
infectious distemper to be removed from the Gaol, Prison or place in which the
offender shall be confined. [3]
Other Sections stated that:
4. Every offender sent there shall
continue there until they be transported or shall be entitled to their liberty
or unless the secretary of State shall direct the removal of such offenders to
the gaol from which they have been brought.
5. The secretary of state can at any
time order any offender to be removed from Parkhurst Prison as incorrigible and
in every such case the offender so removed shall be liable to be transported or
confined under the original sentence to the full extent of the terms specified
in the original sentence. [4]
It was on the 26th December
1838 that Robert Woollcombe, with a number of taskmasters, brought the first
102 boys to Parkhurst, and the prison was officially opened. Of these boys 49
were from the York hulk and 53 from Millbank. When the first official
report on the establishment, by the Prison Visitors and Robert Woollcombe was
submitted on 1st July 1839, 96 boys remained. In their report the
Prison Visitors set out their objectives for the prison. It would aim at ‘the
general correction of the boy with a view to deter, not only himself, but
juvenile offenders generally from the commission of crime.’ They also hoped for
the ‘moral reformation of the culprit.’ In his report Governor Woollcombe
wrote:
Your Lordship is aware that no specific
instructions for carrying on the several details of duty and discipline in the
prison have been furnished me and that the rules and regulations approved by
your Lordship for the general government of prisons, … [and] for establishing
prisons for young offenders, refer only to the general points of government in
the prison, and consequently, that it has been my duty in compliance with
certain of these rules to submit to your Lordship, from time to time, such
details of internal management as have presented themselves in my judgement
best adapted for the required purpose. [5]
In the same report the Reverend Thomas
England, the prison chaplain, wrote:
‘Prison duties are performed by half-past-seven,
every bed is made up, dormitories cleaned and ventilated and made ready for
inspection, prisoners and cells are inspected. Prisoners then march to
breakfast at 8 o’clock. From 8.30 to 9 there is a religious service and Bible
reading. From 9 to 9.45 an exercise period and then work commences. There are
thirty-three tailors, twenty shoemakers and two carpenters. 12 to 12.45 more
exercise. 1o’clock dinner. 1.30 back to their trades. 6 o’clock occupations
cease and prisoners have supper. 6 to 7.30 school period or exercises. 7.30
another religious service. 8 o’clock the watchman comes on duty and prisoners
are locked up for the night. One has fifteen years transportation; twelve have
ten years and eighty have seven years.’ [6]
Between 1838 and 1863 the prison was
enlarged and extended, with much of the work being undertaken by the boys as
part of their training in stonework, carpentry and ironworking. Provision was
also made for workshops for tailors and shoemakers, and land around the prison
was used ‘for employing the prisoners in agricultural labour.’
Robert Woollcombe was to remain
governor of Parkhurst until his resignation in 1843 when his place was taken by
George Hall who was to remain as the governor until Parkhurst closed as a boys’
prison in 1864.
One of the first changes made by George
Hall was to divide the prison into five wards:
A general ward
A junior ward for boys under thirteen
A probationary ward
A refractory ward
An infirmary ward
On arrival all boys were put into the
Probationary Ward where they were confined in a separate cell for 4 months.
During this time their capabilities and character were noted by the chaplain
and an officer, and for most of the time the silent system was in force. Here
they were taught to read, spell, write and calculate, and when not at school
they spent time picking oakum. After 4 months the boys were moved either to the
Junior or General Ward according to their age and on the recommendation of the
chaplain.
In the Junior Ward the boys attended
school for two and a half days a week, with the rest of the time being spent at
work. A few were employed in the tailors’ shop, others helped with pumping the
prison water supply and the rest worked on the farm. All were taught to knit.
When they were 13, or before if their
behaviour warranted it, they moved on to the General Ward where they were
employed in a wider variety of employment, including shoemaking, brickmaking,
blacksmithing, gardening, painting, cooking and laundry work, as well as
agricultural labour, useful training for when they were released or sent to
Australia.
An article on Parkhurst Prison appeared
in the Illustrated London News, 13th March 1847. I have
quoted part of it here.
‘The several buildings are of brick,
with cement dressings; and the portions appropriated to the Prisoners are
surrounded with walls fifteen feet high. The principal entrance is through a
rusticated archway, of Isle of Wight stone; flanking which are two lodges, that
on the left for the Porter; and on the right are the office of the Clerk of
Works, the Surgery, and the receiving-room; in the latter are slipper baths,
supply of hot water, and fumigating apparatus. Here each Prisoner, previous to
admission, is examined by the Surgeon; is next washed, and clothed in Probationary
Ward dress, entirely new. The Officers of the Prison wear military undress –
blue frock-coats, cloth caps, and leather belt and strap holding keys. Each
Prisoner wears a leather cap (made in the Shoemakers’ shop) and bearing on its
front the Boy’s No. in brass figures; the trousers and jacket are of grey
cloth; on the left breast of the latter are sewn P.P. and the No.; and P.P. on
the left thigh. The rest of the clothing is striped shirt, leather stock,
waistcoat for winter wear, worsted stockings and boots, all of which are made
in the Prison. On the right breast is worn a brass medal with No. The Penal
Class is denoted by yellow collars and cuffs, and letters of the same colour.’ [7]
The food was basic, consisting of gruel
for breakfast, until 1851 when this was replaced with bread and cocoa with
molasses, for dinner a pint of ‘very substantial’ soup on three days, and on
the other four days 3 ½ oz of boiled beef and broth with potatoes and bread,
and for supper one pint of oatmeal gruel. The food was the same every day
except Sunday when plum pudding was on the menu at dinner time. In the 1853
Report of the Select Committee Captain Donatus O’Brien tells us about the
pudding:
‘We have one special indulgence which
may appear trivial – anybody who had anything to do with juveniles will know
that you cannot get at them in any way so effectually as through their stomachs
– and taking that into consideration we have added to the Sunday dinner a plum
pudding. Boys who have committed any trivial offence are deprived of their
pudding, they are marched out and paraded up and down the yard while those who
have conducted themselves properly are eating their pudding. It may appear to
many people absurd that it should be so but practically it has had greater
effect upon their conduct than almost all else.’ [8]
Parkhurst Prison had its critics,
particularly those who thought that conditions in the prison were better than
they were in the workhouse. A particular opponent of the prison was Mrs Mary
Carpenter, who was interested in the improvement of poorhouses, she resented
the fact that criminal boys in Parkhurst were better housed, better fed and
better trained than boys who had committed no crime but because of poverty
found themselves in poor houses throughout the country.
During the 21 years of its existence
Parkhurst saw a total of 4088 boys enter the prison, with 1499 of them being
sent to the colonies, Port Phillip, Van Diemen’s Land, Western Australia and
New Zealand, under various descriptions, exile, on ticket of leave, 3rd
& 4th class boys, apprentice, and emigrant.
The last boy to be sent to Van Diemen’s
Land was John Robertjohn. He had been sentenced to 10 years at Exeter in 1848
and spent 4 years at Parkhurst before being sent there in October 1852. The
last boy to go to Western Australia was John Hearn, who had been tried at
Clerkenwell in July 1849 and sentenced to 10 years. He left Parkhurst on 5th
November 1852, sailing from Plymouth on the Dudbrook on 22nd
November 1852. [9]
With the establishment of reformatories
in the 1850’s prison sentences for children gradually became shorter. In
January 1856 boys from gaols other than Millbank were sent to Parkhurst. The
last boy to be admitted was 16 year old Frank Wilkins, from Manchester. He had
been sentenced to one year for stealing lead. He arrived at Parkhurst on 16th
December 1863 and was returned to Manchester Gaol on 13th April 1864
as the boys’ section of Parkhurst prison closed on that date, and the remaining
78 boys were transferred to Dartmoor Prison under the care of Captain George
Hall, the late governor of the prison.
(This article first appeared in the
August 2003 edition of Machine Breakers’ News)
On the 19th February 1823 16 boys
were received on board the Bellerophon from the Justitia hulk. The youngest was
ten year old William Murphy who had been found guilty of Felony at Salford on
the 22nd October 1821, and sentenced to seven years transportation.
Twelve year old William Donald was tried at Middlesex on the 11th
April 1821, also for Felony, and sentenced to transportation for life. A note
next to his name says that he was discharged 2nd March 1823 per Countess
Harcourt to New South Wales. [10]
On the 14th April 1823
fifty six boys from the Retribution hulk were received on board, they
included fifteen year old James Brown who had been found guilty of ‘Mobbing
& Rioting’ at Glasgow on 25th April 1822 and sentenced to 14
years transportation. He did not stay long on the Bellerophon as in the
‘How & When Disposed of’ column it says he was discharged 23rd
July 1823 per the Sir Godfrey Webster, NSW. [11]
Over the following months boys
continued to be transferred from other hulks, Newgate, and Horsemonger Lane to
the Bellerophon. On the 9th November three boys arrived from
Ilchester Gaol in Somerset. They were James Carter, age 12, Charles Haines age
16 and 15 year old Charles Old. All three had been tried for ‘Grand Larceny’ at
Taunton on the 13th October 1823, and sentenced to 7 years
transportation. A little less than two years later Charles Haines was on board
the Medway on his way to Van Diemans Land.
In his report, dated 24th July
1823, John Capper stated, ‘In obedience to your command and in reference to my
former Report upon the subject of Juvenile Offenders, I have now to observe,
that the whole of the Boys have been brought from the several Depots to the
Bellerophon, where they are fully occupied in carrying on various branches of
trades; and I have the satisfaction to report, that the arrangements which I
had the honour to submit to you for their future government and employment,
have been effectively carried into execution.’ [12]
In the same Report, dated 22nd
January 1824 he adds, ‘Since my former Report upon the measures which I have
taken in obedience to your orders for appropriating the Bellerophon Hulk into a
Prison Ship, exclusively for the Boys under sentence of Transportation, they
were collected together from the other Depots, and have for the last eight
months been employed in making clothing, and various other articles for the
Convict Establishment.
The number of Boys at present confined in
that ship, amounts to 320, the greater part of whom are under fourteen years of
age; they naturally require strict attention; but by keeping them fully occupied
little opportunity has offered from them to depart from regulations laid down
for their government; and considering them as Boys left in early infancy to
pursue the most vicious courses. I may safely state that their behaviour has
been much better than I had anticipated.’[13]
On the 1st July 1824, the hulk
Chaplain, the Reverend Edward Edwards, had reported to Mr Capper that, ‘The
boys on board this Ship have, generally, made a considerable progress in their
several Trades; their propensity to lying is, however, I am sorry to say, such,
that scarce any confidence can be placed in any thing they say.
From the first day of the passing of
the year to the present, seven hundred and eighty-five chapters of Holy Writ,
averaging about twenty-three verses, have been committed to memory.
Out of the three hundred and fifty
(the number now on board), a hundred and forty-four repeat the Church Catechism
from time to time; thirty-one, the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion; very many
of the remainder are yet incapable of reading, not knowing the alphabet when
they were brought here. Amongst these are many who are very dull, and others
are reluctant.
During Devine Service, owing to very
strict vigilance kept up, they conduct themselves very well.
Thanks are due and are hereby given to
the Commanding Officer, and others acting under his express directions, for
constant co-operation.” [14]
The quarterly hulk register for the
quarter covering the 1st October and 31st of December
1825 is signed by Samuel Owen.
‘I
Samuel Owen, late Overseer of the Bellerophon Hulk at Sheerness, now of the
Euryalus, Chatham, make Oath, that the above Return contains the name of every
person now confined on board the said Hulk, Euryalus, the Offence of which he
was guilty, the Court before which he was Convicted & the Sentence of such
Court, together with his age & bodily state, his behaviour whilst in
Custody, & of such Offenders as had died whilst in Custody, or have
escaped, or have been lawfully discharged from the said Hulks, between the
first of October & thirty first of December 1825, both inclusive.’ [15]
At this time we learn that were 11
adults on board, ranging in age from 49 year old William Wright, sentenced to
seven years for Grand Larceny at Sandwich on 27th December 1821, and
‘lent to the Dolphin 3rd Oct & discharged therefrom 26th
November 1825 per Free Pardon’, and 17 year old George James, sentenced to
transportation for life for Highway Robbery at Shrewsbury 20 March 1822, who
was discharged 23rd November 1825 per Woodman, NSW. The names of 410
boys are listed the youngest appear to be eight and the oldest 17. During this
period a number of the older boys were removed to other hulks, some were sent
to New South Wales on board the Woodman, at least two were discharged with a
Free Pardon and a similar number had there sentence mitigated to a short term
of imprisonment. Only one death is reported, that of 13 year old Thomas
Beeching, sentenced to seven years for Felony at Maidstone on the 29th
March 1825, and ‘Died 23rd Dec 1825 at 4 a.m. on board the Canada
Hospital Ship.’ We also learn that 9 year old John Scott is a ‘very good little
Boy’, 14 year old Edward Partridge is ‘rather idle’ and ‘very little improved’,
and 12 year old James Knox is ‘noisy & artful’. [16]
On 26th July 1826, the
Reverend Price submitted his first Report, after taking over as Chaplain on the
Euryalus.
‘In
consequence of my removal from the Retribution, Adult Convict Ship, at Sheerness,
to the Euryalus of this place, my services are transferred to the exclusive
charge of Juvenile Convicts.
Upon entering this new scene of
labour, it was represented to me, that whatever might be effected with adult
Prisoners, yet such was the depravity of the Boys, that every attempt to
moralize them would only terminate in disappointment.
I found much reason for the remark. My
confidence, however, was not to be overcome, and the last six months attention
to them has fully convinced me, that by the removal of some impediments great
good might here also be effected.
It must be borne in remembrance, that
these poor children are taken out of our streets, not only deplorably ignorant
of all religious knowledge, but with habits opposed to every moral and social
restraint; and nothing can operate so sufficiently as an auxiliary to my
instructions in correcting this evil, as a careful separation, and the adoption
of an effective classification, which, I lament to state, cannot possibly be
accomplished, on account of the inadequate size of the ship for so great a
number of delinquents.
There can be no question but that this
branch of the Convict Department is of paramount importance, as the hopes of the
future generation depend upon the care and culture of the present.’ [17]
In the same Report, dated 26th
July 1826, John Henry Capper said, “The Boys confined in the Euryalus Hulk at
Chatham have been employed on board in making clothing and other articles for
the Service. Scurvy and Opthalmia prevailed among them for a short time. But
both of those disorders have been subdued.” [18]
The following January Capper reported that
there has been some trouble from the boys of the Euryalus and put it down to
the size of the ship. ‘The Boys confined in the Euryalus Hulk have, upon two or
three occasions, been refractory, and committed outrages on the persons of some
of the Officers. The Ship in which they are confined is found too small to
effect a proper classification, - a measure which is absolutely required for
keeping them in a proper state of discipline.’[19]
In his reports the following year Chaplain
Price continued to urge separation and classification if any sort of reform was
to take place.
‘To
effect something more than an external decency of behaviour it is my most
serious conviction that it is absolutely necessary not only that a plan of
separation and classification should be adopted . . . but that these
unfortunately neglected boys should be governed by persons competent to so
highly important a charge; and in venturing to give this opinion I feel I am
only discharging a duty I owe to the Government and the country. It is true
that the exercise of power may restrain unruly dispositions, and the operation
of sinister motives may produce a degree of obedience; but no permanent and
radical reformation can ever be expected where the nature of mental and moral
discipline is not understood, and as such, cannot possibly be adequately
conducted.’
Six months later he reported, ‘I feel
I am under the necessity of further pressing upon your notice the subject of my
last report, in which I expressed it as my full conviction that no permanent
reformation can be effected among the juvenile prisoners confined on board the
Euryalus but by their being separated and classified . . . and besides, that a
more efficient system than at present be adopted for the better ensuring the
improvement of their morals and furthering the object the Government had in
view in placing them here. The great importance of the subject will, I trust,
be duly considered and meet the attention it deserves.’
Shortly after this the Reverend Price
was transferred to the Retribution at Sheerness, and his place taken by the
Reverend Henry John Dawes.
It was reported in 1828 that the
behaviour of the boys had improved after a substantial number of the more
‘recalcitrant boys’ had been shipped out to Australia. Mr Capper made the same
observation again in his Report dated 10th July 1834. ‘Since the
reduction of the number of the Convict Boys, by Transportation of the elder
ones, considerable improvement has manifested itself in the behaviour of the
younger ones.’ [20]
The following gives an insight into
what life was like for the boys on the hulks in 1835.
Report
of the Select Committee of the House of Lords Appointed to Inquire into the
Present State of Gaols and Houses of Correction in England and Wales. (Appendix
to Evidence before Select Committee on Gaol and House of Correction; PP1835
Vol. XI pp258-266; PRO Fiche No.38.92) The punctuation, spelling, and capital
letters are as they appear in the original.
Mr
Steadman is examined, and John Henry Capper Esq. is further examined, as
follows:
What
are the Boys on board this Ship? - They
are all Transports. When a Return is made from a Gaol of the Number of
Transports for Removal, the Boys under a certain Age are selected (I select
them) to send to this Ship, in preference to mixing them with the Adults, and
they remain here ‘till the Period of Transportation, that is, ‘till they arrive
at the age of Fifteen Years. It was thought at one period very inconvenient
transporting Boys at a very early Age.
At
Fifteen Years of Age they are transported? - Yes, they are, with very few
Exceptions.
How
many are there on board at present? – 250.
How
many of those are in the Hospital? – Seven.
(To
Mr Steadman.) Are you in charge of the Ship? – I am. The average number of sick
is about Six.
That
includes a Boy who had an Accident in this Ship Two Years ago? – Yes.
Will
that Boy ever recover? – I doubt it.
Will
he ever be fit for Transportation? – Certainly not.
What
is the age of the youngest Boy you have now in your Custody? – I think about
Ten Years of Age.
When
you receive a Boy, what do you do with him? – In the first instance we read the
Rules and Regulations of the Ship, and afterwards send him to the Wash-house to
be washed and thoroughly cleansed; then he is sent to his Ward, - to the Ward
appropriated for any Person.
How
long does he remain in the probationary Ward? – Perhaps a Fortnight; not much
longer.
How
do you class them? – Agreeably to their Character from the Gaols.
Do
you put all the worst Characters together? – Yes; The Upper Deck has those on
first Convictions, the Second has the next, and the Lower the worst Characters
from Gaols.
What
Employment do you give them? – Making their Clothing, and for the
Establishment, such as Shirts, Jackets, Waistcoats, and Breeches.
Are
they taught tailoring, and who teaches them? – Yes. The eldest Boy who is the best
Workman teaches them.
Is
he a Prisoner? – Yes, he is. The Persons who are Tailors in the Cutting-out
Place occasionally visit them, - Two of the Guards who are Cutters-out; and
they superintend.
Do
you find that making their Clothes is sufficient Employment for them? – They
make them for the whole Convict Establishment.
Mr
Capper.- There is a Return, filled up every Week, made to me, which states what
Work they have done; and it is the same with respect to the other Parts of the
Service, and every other material Occurrence.
What
time is allotted to enable the Boys to have Air and Exercise? – An Hour a Day,
the Dinner Hour, and an Hour after that.
How
long are they at their Dinner? – About Half an Hour; that gives the Guards Time
for their own Dinner, for the Guards of the Ship have to superintend.
Are
they permitted to make a Noise, or simply to walk the Deck? – They are not
allowed to make any Noise. A man may walk to the Quarter Deck and scarcely know
there is a Boy on Deck. I have made out
a Statement of a Day’s Proceedings, which I beg to present to your Lordships.
The same is delivered in and read, and is as
follows:
“May 1st, 1835.- A Report of the
Proceedings for One Day on board the Euryalus Hulk, Chatham.
“At
Five o’clock in the Morning ‘All Hands’ are called. Ports opened, Hammocks
lowered and lashed up, the Boys washed and examined. At Half past Five a Signal
is given to prepare for Chapel, when the Boys stand round in their respective
Wards, after which they go in, headed by the older Boys of the Ward, who place
them in their respective Seats with profound Silence: the Morning Hymn is sung,
and Prayers read by the Schoolmaster; the Officers and a Portion of the Guards
being present. After Prayers they return to their respective Wards and still in
Ranks ‘till the Breakfast is served down at Six o’clock, equally divided and
examined by the Steward and others; he then desires the Boys on One Side of the
Deck at a Time to go to their Table, hold up their Bread, give Thanks, and sit
down. At half past Six the Boys commence coming on Deck, each elder Boy heading
his Division, and his Deputy bringing up the Rear. Hammocks stowed, Boys filed
up into their respective Divisions by the elder Boy of their Ward, after which
the Officer orders all elder Boys on the Quarter Deck for the Purpose of making
known anything that might have occurred since their last Report, when each of
their Complaints are noted down in order that they may be inquired into. The
Boys return below, in a single File, to clean their respective Wards, with the
exception of those who are appointed to wash the Main and Quarter Deck. At
Eight o’clock the Boys are set to their respective Work, when Silence is
observed. At Nine the elder Boys, accompanied by those of whom they complain,
state their complaints to the Commander, when each correction is awarded as the
Nature of their Offence deserves, i.e. by stopping their Dinners, or correcting
them moderately with the Cane, or by Solitary Confinement on Bread and Water,
not exceeding Seven Days; but should anything of Consequence occur during the
Day it is immediately inquired into. At Twelve the Dinners are served down,
under the inspection of the Steward; all Quarter-masters and Guard are in
Attendance, for the Purpose of seeing that each Boy eats his proper Allowance.
At Half past Twelve Boys sent on Deck for Air and Exercise, but not permitted
to make the least Noise. At Half past One Boys filed up as in the Morning, and
sent below to their respective Work. At Two a Division consisting of One Third
of the Boys sent into the Chapel for the Afternoon, when they are taught
reading and writing. At Five the Boys leave off Work, clean their Wards, and
wash themselves. At Half past Five Supper is served down, after which the Boys
come on Deck for Air and Exercise. At Half past Six the Boys file up as usual,
and take their Hammocks down. At Seven the Signal is given to prepare for
Chapel, when they proceed in, as in the Morning; after which a Portion of the
Boys are catechised, the Evening Hymn sung, and Prayers read by the
Schoolmaster. The Boys return to their respective Wards. At Eight the Signal is
given to prepare for Muster, when each Boy stands with his Hammock placed
before him, till the whole of them are mustered; the Signal is then given for them
to hang up their Hammocks. At Nine profound Silence throughout the Ship; Boats
secured, Fires extinguished, Locks examined by the Officer, and the Keys
delivered up for the Night. The Watch, consisting of Two Guards, one of which
is placed below, and the other on Deck, relieved every Three Hours and a Half,
the Bell struck, and ‘All’s well’ called every Half Hour through the Night. On
Saturday the Boys are washed all over in tepid Water and Soap.
“Attendance
of the Chaplain and Surgeon.- The Rev. H.J. Dawes performs Devine Service twice
a Week, and examines the Boys Progress in Schools, and visits the Sick in the
Hospital Three Times, or oftener if necessary. Mr. Hope, Surgeon, attends
daily.”
Do
you find that the Boys prefer remaining on board this Hulk or being sent out of
the Country? - I must say that the
Majority wish to leave the Country.
Do
you think they look forward to the Time when they will be sent out with
Pleasure? – Yes, I think so; for with the close Confinement and Application to
Duty, and their being constantly watched, they are glad to be removed from the
Ship.
There
is no resident Surgeon in this Ship?
Mr
Capper.- No; there was a Hospital Ship, the Canada, which is broken up. There
was one Deck appropriated for the Men, and another for the Boys.
What
mode of punishing the Boys is resorted to besides solitary Confinement?
Mr
Steadman.- It is not often that we have recourse to other Punishments, but we
sometimes flog them on the Breech with a Cat, not more than a Dozen, or in One
or Two Cases a Dozen and a Half.
Is
that at your Discretion? – Yes.
It
is always reported in your Journal? – Yes, always.
Do
you ever punish them by stopping their Food?
Mr
Capper.- Yes; I believe that is more resorted to than any other Mode. Stopping
their Meat or lowering their Diet has a great Effect.
Mr
Steadman.- That is the first Recourse.
There
is no mention in the Book of working in the Garden? – That is a Garden on
shore; the Boys go on shore to assist in digging; there is a man to superintend
it.
Is
that the same Garden that belongs to the other Hulk? – Yes, Part of the same;
it is divided. There is a Burying Ground and a Garden for each Ship.
You
think depriving them of their Supper is a good Punishment? – I think it is a
very good Step for the first Offence.
Are
they ever punished by being prevented from seeing their Friends? – Yes, if they
deserve it.
Have
they any Means of communicating with Boats passing up and down the River? –
They are never allowed to speak to any Person.
Are
the Cooks Convicts?
Mr
Capper.- Yes.
Have
you any Showmakers?
Mr
Steadman.- A few, not above Half a Dozen. We found, after transporting the
elder Boys, the smaller Boys could not make a Shoe, and we were obliged to
abandon it. Had the Boys continued in this Country we could have gone n with
the Manufactory.
Are
there any Boys here under Sentence of Transportation for Seven Years? – Yes
Will
that Boy of Ten Years of Age, whom their Lordships have seen, be sent Abroad? –
Yes.
Though
he will have but Two or Three Years to serve there? – Yes.
(The
examination of ten year old Samuel OGILBY follows here. This appeared in full
in Machine Breakers’ News Volume 7 No.1 April 2001 so has not been included.)
The
Reverend HENRY JOHN DAWES is called in, and examined as follows:
What
is you duty as Chaplain on board this Ship? – The One Service on the Sunday,
and One in the Week, and Evening Service; full Duty on the Sunday Morning; and
on the Friday Evening Service and Lecture.
Do
you read Prayers every Morning in the Ship? – No, I do not.
Who
does read them?
Mr
Steadman.- The Schoolmaster.
He
is not a Prisoner? – No, he is the Son of a Clergyman.
Does
he also read Prayers every Evening? – Yes.
(To
Mr. Dawes) You read then once on Sunday? – Yes.
Do
you attend the sick in the Boys Hospital? – Yes.
You
have nothing to do with the other Ship or the Hospital for the Men? – No.
Do
you devote the whole of you Time to this Hulk, or have you any other
Preferment? – I have no other Preferment.
What
is your Salary? - £200 a Year.
Do
you visit the sick every Day? – Not every Day; Four times a Week.
What
is the average of your Attendances in the Week? – Four; every Day if Occasion
should require it, when they are sick.
Do
you examine the Boys separately, or by Classes? – Sometimes separately,
sometimes by Classes.
Which,
in your Opinion, is the preferable Mode, by Classes or separately? – I think
examining them separately.
Would
you begin by examining them separately, to prepare them for the Class
Examination? – Yes, I should prefer that.
Do
you think the Boys are reformed by remaining here? – Yes, I think they are.
Have
you any Means of knowing what becomes of them afterwards? – In very few
Instances. I can only judge from the Improvement I have perceived in them while
they remain here.
Do
you think the keeping of Boys Ten or Twenty in a Ward together is so likely to
reform them as if they were kept in separate Cells? – I have had no Experience
enabling me to answer that Question.
Do
you think they become more depraved from remaining in this Ship, and
associating with each other? – I think lately there has not been that
Inconvenience, - these Two or Three Years, - in their being associated
together, which there was Five or Six Years ago. I think there is not any very
great Inconvenience, there is such a constant Supervision.
How
long have you been Chaplain? – Eight Years.
How
many Hour a Day, on the Days you come, do you generally remain on board? – An
Hour or Two generally.
Is
the Schoolmaster under your Directions? – Yes.
What
is the Salary of the Schoolmaster?
Mr
Steadman.- £60 a Year.
Does
he live on board? – Yes.
Has
he his Board besides his £60 a Year?
Mr
Capper.- No, he has a Cabin to himself, and lives on board; he keeps a Watch.
Mr
Steadman.- And is occasionally on Duty, because we are short of Hands.
Does
the School go on every Day? – Yes.
(To
Mr Dawes) Have you any Boys who object to attending the Church Service? – None.
Do
you find them on Admission generally very ignorant on Religious Subjects? –
Yes.
Are
the Boys from London more depraved than those from the Country?
Mr
Steadman.- I think the more depraved come from London.
There
is no Afternoon Service on the Sunday?
Mr
Dawes.- We have not; but the Boys read their Books in their Wards.
At
what Time do they go on Deck on Sunday?
Mr
Steadman.- Soon after Dinner they are allowed to walk the Deck quietly for Two
Hours; then we get them all into the Chapel, and the Schoolmaster reads the
Afternoon Service.
Without
a Sermon? – Yes.
Is
there more than One Sermon in the Week?
Mr
Dawes.- One on the Sunday and One on the Friday. I am at liberty on the Sunday
Afternoon, and should be happy to attend if I thought it would be beneficial.
On
Good Friday and Easter, and so on, there is Service; and every Friday Evening
there is full Service and a Sermon.
Have
you any other Religious Duty? – No other.
The
Duty is reading Prayers and preaching a Sermon on Sunday, and the same on
Friday Evening? – Yes.
There
is no other regular Duty? – No; and the Hospital every Day, if there should be
Occasion.
Have
you ever found any Boys with no Notion at all of Religion? – Yes I have.
(To
Mr Capper) What is the Salary of the Surgeon of the Euryalus? - £100 per Annum.
Is
he a Surgeon in the Royal Navy? No.
How
often does he visit the Ship? – Daily, and whenever his Services are required.
What
is the Salary of the Surgeon of the Fortitude? - £200 per Annum.
Is
he a Surgeon of the Royal Navy? – Yes.
Does
he receive his Half Pay? – Yes.
He
does not reside on board the Hospital Ship; how often does he visit the
Fortitude and the Hospital Ship? – He does not reside on board the Hospital. He
visits the Fortitude and Hospital daily, and whenever his Services are
required.
What
is the Salary of the Assistant Surgeon? - £70 per Annum.
Has
he been in the Royal Navy? – No.
Does
he reside on board the Hospital Ship? – Yes.
Do
the Surgeons keep a Journal of the Treatment of the sick? – Yes.
Do
the Surgeons or the Assistant Surgeons receive any Rations or Allowances other
than their Salaries or Half Pay? None.
Are
the Surgeons or Assistant permitted to have private Practice? – Only the
Surgeons.
Are
you of opinion that it would be desirable that the Boys now kept on board the
Euryalus should be confines on Shore in a proper Place, instead of on board
Ship? – I certainly should prefer their Confinement on Shore.
Would
it not be easier on Shore to prevent the better disposed Boys from being
contaminated by the more depraved? – Certainly.
Do
you think it would be expedient to send them Abroad at an earlier Age than is
now the Practice? – I am of the opinion that Boys of Fourteen Years of Age and
upwards should be sent Abroad.
Does the Chaplain prepare the Boys for Confirmation, and are they confirmed when fit? – No.
What
is the Salary of the Chaplain of the Fortitude? - £200 per Annum.
Does
he reside on board the Hospital Ship? – Yes.
Does
he receive Rations? – No.
Are
the Boys vaccinated on Admission? – No.
Would
it not be desirable to do so, and could it not be done by the Surgeon without
Inconvenience? – Yes.
Is
it the Practice to pardon any Boy for good Conduct on board the Euryalus? –
Yes, but very limited.
At
what age are they generally transported? – Formerly when they arrived at
Fifteen Years of Age, but latterly at Fourteen Years.
Have
you any means of knowing whether the Boys sent from the Euryalus behave well in
Australia? – I have not.
Do
the Boys often make their Escape? – No; they sometimes make Attempts, but an
Escape is of rare Occurrence.
Do
you see any reason why the Chaplain of the Euryalus should not give Two full
Services to the Boys on every Sunday? – None.
Do
you think that it would be desirable that he should devote not less than Four
Hours on the Average per Day to the Duty of the Ship, including Prayers? – I should
propose Four Days in each Week for not less than Three Hours on each Day.
Should
you recommend that he should explain the Scriptures to the Boys separately or
in Classes? – In Classes.
Can
you furnish the Committee with a Return of the Number of Boys now on board the
Euryalus, with their Ages when admitted, and how long they have been on board,
specifying those who could not read and write when admitted, and those who can
do either one or the other? – I can; which I herewith deliver.
The
Return follows, giving the names and ages of 258 Boys. Samuel Ogilby, at 8,
appears to have been the youngest boys at the time of his admission, along with
Samuel Dearn. There are four boys who were nine when they were admitted, with
the majority being 10 and over. The oldest is William George SMITH who was 17
when he was admitted on the 10th July 1834.
The
Report continues after the Return.
Are
they frequently punished? – Not often.
When
the Friends or Parents of the Boys are admitted on board, are they permitted to
see them alone? – No, an Officer or Guard being always present.
Is
an Inquiry instituted as to the Character of the Visitors? – None but Relatives
are allowed to visit them.
Do
the Boys receive any portion of their Earnings? – None.
Are
any of the Boys permitted to land at the Dockyard or to go into the Town? – No.
Can
they communicate with the Men Convicts? – No.
In
your Opinion does the system pursued on board the Euryalus reform many of the
Boys? – It is very doubtful.
Do
you think that when an Order is sent to a Convict Hulk for a certain Number of
Men to be sent Abroad that the present System of Selection is the best that
could be adopted? – The Practice now pursued will obviate any Irregularity, as
all Prisoners will be sent Abroad in regular Succession, unless ordered to be
detained by special Authority from the Home Department.
What
was the Expense of fitting up the Fortitude as a Convict Ship? - £12,500 was
the Amount paid to the Navy Board for the Ship and Fitting.
What
was the Expense of fitting up the Eurylaus as a Convict Ship? - £8,100.
What
was the Expense of fitting up the Wye Hospital Ship? - £900. It should be
observed that this Ship was fitted up by the Prisoners, and no charge was made
by the Navy Board for the Hull.
Please
to deliver your Reports dated the 10th of July 1834 and 29th
January 1835.
The
Witness delivers them in; they are read etc
Although the House of Lords Committee
recommended a reduction of the number of boys on the Euryalus and the eventual
deactivation of the hulk it was a long time in coming. By July 1836 the number
on board was down to 160, as priority had been given for a shipment of the
older boys to Australia. By the July of 1839 the number had risen again, up to
190 and John Capper again asked for a vessel to be chartered for the
transportation of the older boys. His request was granted. Over the next three
years between six and eight hundred boys left the Euryalus for Australia and
around the same number were transferred to Parkhurst Prison, on the Isle of
Wight. The last Quarterly Return for the Euryalus was for the Quarter ending 31st
December 1843, during which time only 42 boys remained on the hulk. Most of the
boys were transferred to the Fortitude Hulk during October, the last seven boys
being transferred on the 7th November. Three boys John Edwards,
George Long and Frederick Dell were sent to Millbank on the 29th
October, and four boys, David Field, William Martin, William A Grantham and
George Eade, were Pardoned between the 26th and the 31st
October. [21]
By the end of 1843
the Euryalus had been decommissioned and sent to the breakers yard. This did
not mean an end to the transportation of young boys, but now many of them spent
the first part of their sentence at Parkhurst, before being sent to Tasmania,
Western Australia and New Zealand, as either an apprentice, emigrant, or in the
case of the former places a transported convict.
(This article
appeared first in Machine Breakers’ News, August 2002)
Further information about these men and the
riots they were involved in can be found in the latest book in the Machine
Breakers Series, Essex
Machine Breakers.
NAME OFFENCE TRIED SENTENCE
ABLETT,
Samuel Riot &
conspiring to raise wages Gt Clacton QS January 1831 18m
ACRES William, age 22 Feloniously
breaking a threshing machine, Walton Epiphany
QS 1831 7y
BACON
George Assembly at Steeple
Bumstead to demand wages etc QS
January 1831 6m
BAKER Henry, age 36 Feloniously
destroying a threshing machines, Gt Holland SA
Winter 1830 7y
BAREHAM
Daniel, age 30 Feloniously breaking a
threshing machine Lt Clacton Epiphany
QS 1831 12m
BARKER
James Riot to raise wages
at Henham Epiphany QS 1831 3m
BARRETT
Edward, age 33 Arson SA
Winter 1830 Not Guilty
BLOMFIELD
Mary, age 16 Arson at West Bergholt SA
Winter 1831 Not Guilty
BLOMFIELD Mary 16 Larceny by a servant Lent
ASS 1832 14y
BLOOMFIELD
William, age 33 Feloniously breaking a threshing machine Epiphany QS 1831 7y
BLOOMFIELD William Riot
& conspiring to raise wages QS
January 1831 18m
BROWN
Daniel, age 25 Riotous assembly at Mile End Heath SA Winter 1830 3m
BROWNING John Riotous
assembly at Gt Coggeshall QS
January 1831 Recognizances
BUGG William, age 18 Riotous assembly at Mile End Heath SA Winter
1830 6m
BURGESS
Robert, age 23 Feloniously destroying a
threshing machine Lt Clacton ASS
Lent 1831 Not Guilty
BURLS George, age 30 Riot at Sheering SA
Winter 1830 8m
BUTTON
Stephen Riot at Wenden Lofts Newport
HofC 7 Dec 1830 Recognizance
CASS Thomas, age 67 Feloniously sending a Threatening Letter,
Gt Hallingbury QS February 1831 18m
CAUSTEN
John Feloniously breaking
a threshing machine, Gt Clacton Epiphany
QS 1831 12m
CHALLIS
Job Assault, Elmdon Epiphany
QS 1831 2m
CLARKE
Elijah Riotous assembly
at Gt Coggeshall QS
January 1831 Recognizances
CLARKE
Thomas Assault on a SC in
execution of duty, Heybridge 1m
CLAYDON
Henry, age 27 Feloniously sending a
Threatening Letter, Lexden Epiphany
QS 1831, Colchester Not Guilty
COLE Amos, age 18 Feloniously
destroying a threshing machine, Walton ASS
Lent 1831 Not Guilty
COLE William, age 46 Larceny & Machine breaking, Lt Clacton SA Winter
1830 7y
COWEL
John Riot at Wendon
Lofts Newport
Hof C 7 Dec 1330 Recognizance
CROSS James, age 24 Feloniously breaking a threshing machine,
Gt Clacton Epiphany QS
1831 7y
CULLENDER Robert, age 17 Feloniously destroying a
threshing machines, Clacton SA
Winter 1830 7y
CURTIS
William, age 28 Larceny & Machine Breaking Lt Clacton SA Winter 1830 7y
DAVEY George, age 27 Feloniously destroying threshing machines,
Kirby SA Winter
1830 14y
DAVEY Rober, age32 Feloniously
destroying a threshing machine, Kirby Epiphany
QS 1831 7y
DAWSON
William Riot at Finchingfield
to demand increase in wages Epiphany
QS 1831 6m
DRAPER
Samuel, age 24 Feloniously destroying
a threshing machine, Kirby Epiphany
QS 1831 7y
DRAPER
William, age 21 Feloniously destroying
a threshing machine, Walton ASS
Lent 1831 Not Guilty
DUNNETT,
Charles, age 43 Feloniously destroying a
threshing machine, Gt Holland SA
Winter 1830 7y
DURRANT
William Breaking a threshing
machine, Tendring QS
January 1831 3m
EADE Stephen, age 42 Feloniously breaking a threshing machine, Gt Clacton Epiphany QS 1831 7y
EDWARDS
Edward, age 19 Riotous assembly, Mile End SA
Winter 1830 6m
EWEN Jame, age 34 Arson Rayleigh SA
Winter 1830 Death
FARROW
Thomas, age 60 Riotous assembly Mile End SA
Winter 1830 3m
FLETCHER
Merrick Feloniously sending a
Threatening Letter, Orsett Epiphany
QS 1831 No Bill
FROST John Riot
to raise wages at Henham Epiphany
QS 1831 3m
FULLER
John Riot to raise
wages at Henham Epiphany
QS 1831 3m
FULLER
William Feloniously
breaking a mole Plough at Gt Dunmow Epiphany
QS 1831 Not Guilty
GAGE William Riotous
assembly at Gt Coggeshall QS
January 1831 Recognizances
GLADWELL
Joseph, age 55 Riot & conspiring to
raise wages Gt Clacton QS January 1831 18m
GOODSON
Thomas Riotous assembly at Gt
Coggeshall QS
January 1831 Recognizances
GOULD
Isaac Riotous assembly
at Gt Coggeshall QS
January 1831 Recognizances
GRANT
James, age 31 Feloniously destroying a threshing machine, Kirby SA Winter 1830 14y
GRANT
John, age 23 Feloniously
destroying a threshing machines, Kirby SA
Winter 1830 7y
GRANT
Thomas, age 28 Feloniously destroying
a threshing machine, two convictions Kirby SA Winter 1830/31 14y
GRAVES
Shadrach, age26 Riot at Sheering SA
Winter 1830 6m
GROSS
Thomas, age 21 Feloniously destroying
a threshing machine, Ramsey ASS
Lent 1831 Not Guilty
HACKSHELL
Benjamin Feloniously breaking a threshing
machine, Lt Clacton Epiphany
QS 1831 12m
HAMMOND
William Riotous assembly at
Arkrsden Epiphany
QS 1831 3m
HARDWICK
William, age 26 Riotous assembly Mile
End SA
Winter 1830 12m
HARRIS
William, age 31 Feloniously destroying
a threshing machine, Lt Clacton ASS
Lent 1831 Not Guilty
HART James For
a Riot & assault in execution Writtle QS Easter
1831 3m
HART
John, age 23 Larceny &
Machine Breaking SA
Winter 1830 7y
HAYDEN
Charles Riotous assembly at
Arkesden QS
January 1831 3m
HAYDEN
James Riotous assembly at
Arkesden QS
January 1831 6m
HAYHOE
Samuel, age 34 Feloniously destroying a
threshing machines, Kirby SA
Winter 1830 7y
HAYNES
Josiah Riotous assembly at
Wenden Lofts Newport
HofC 7 Dec 1830 Recognizance
HOLLAND
Thomas, age 33 Riotous assembly Mile End SA
Winter 1830 9m
HUDSON
Joshua, age33 Riot & assaulting a
special constable SA
Winter 1830 3m
INGRAM
John, age 23 Feloniously destroying a threshing machines, Kirby SA Winter 1830 7y
JEFFERIES
William, age 45 Feloniously destroying a
threshing machines, Lt Clacton SA
Winter 1830 7y
JEFFERY
George Riotous assembly at
Arkesden QS
January 1831 8m
JEFFERY
Job Riotous assembly at
Clavering QS
January 1831 3m
JEFFERY
Joseph Riotous assembly at
Arkesden QS
January 1831 3m
JEFFERY
Joseph Riotous assembly at
Clavering QS
January 1831 3m
JEFFERY
Thomas Riotous assembly at
Arkesden QS
January 1831 3m
JENNINGS
William, age 36 Arson Althorne ASS
Summer 1831 Death
JUNIPER
Samuel Riotous assembly at
Gt Coggeshall QS
January 1831 Recognizances
KEEBLE
Robert, age 26 Feloniously destroying
a threshing machine, Kirby Epiphany
QS 1831 7y
KING George Assembling
together armed & causing an affray Peldon SA Winter 1830 No
Bill
KNIGHT
John For a Riot &
assault in execution, Writtle QS
Easter 1831 3m
LAPPAGE
William Riotous assembly at
Peldon QS
January 1831 12m
LEVITT
Samuel Riotous assembly
at Steeple Bumstead to demand wages etc QS
January 1831 6m
LILLEY Samuel, age 21 Riotous assembly Mile End SA
Winter 1830 3m
LINES George, age 27 Arson Writtle ASS
Summer 1831 No Bill
LINNETT
Thomas, age 21 Feloniously breaking a
threshing machine, Lt Clacton Epiphany
QS 1831 12m
LOVE William Riotous
assembly at Gt Coggeshall QS
January 1831 Recognizances
LOVEDAY James Riotous
assembly at Wenden Lofts Newport
HofC 7 Dec 1830 Recognizance
LOVEDAY
John Riotous assembly at
Wenden Lofts Newport
HofC 7 Dec 1830 Recognizance
MARTIN
Thomas, age 26 Feloniously destroying
a threshing machine, Lt Clacton ASS
Lent 1831 Not Guilty
MARTIN
William Riot at
Finchingfield to demand increase in wages Epiphany
QS 1831 6m
MATTHEWS
George Riotous assembly at
Clavering QS
January 1831 6m
MEAD George Riot
to raise wages at Henham QS
January 1831 3m
MILLS John Feloniously
breaking a threshing machine, Gt Clacton Epiphany
QS 1831 3m
MILLS William, age 18 Feloniously destroying a threshing machines, Ramsey SA Winter 1830 3m
MYHILL
William Riot at
Finchingfield to demand increase in wages Epiphany
QS 1831
NEAL
Abraham, age 24 Feloniously destroying a threshing machines, Wix SA Winter 1830 6m
NEVARD
John, age 19 Feloniously destroying
a threshing machines, Ramsey SA
Winter 1830 3m
NEVARD
Samuel, age20/26 Riotous assembly Mile End SA
Winter 1830 6m
NEWLAND
Robert Riotous assembly at
Clavering QS
January 1831 6m
NEWMAN
Abraham Feloniously destroying
a threshing machine, Gt Clacton Epiphany
QS 1831 3m
NEWMAN
James Riot at Finchingfield
to demand increase in wages Epiphany
QS 1831 6m
NEWMAN
Thomas Feloniously breaking a
threshing machine, Gt Clacton Epiphany
QS 1831 12m
NORRIS
Joseph Riot at Sheering SA
Winter 1830
OWEN Thomas Assembling
together armed & causing an affray SA
Winter 1830 No Bill
OXXE Jonas Destroying
a threshing machine, Walton SA
Winter 1830
PAINE Charles Feloniously
breaking a mole Plough at Gt Dunmow Epiphany
QS 1831 6m
PARISH
Joseph Riotous assembly at
Arkesden QS
January 1831 3m
PARKER
Charles, age 46 Feloniously destroying
a threshing machine, Walton ASS
Lent 1831 Not Guilty
PAYNE Thomas Feloniously
sending a Threatening Letter, Danbury ASS
Lent 1831 Not Guilty
PAYNE Thomas jun Feloniously
sending a Threatening Letter, Danbury Epiphany
QS 1831, Colchester No Bill
PEELING
Mark, age 18 Feloniously destroying a threshing machine, Lt Clacton ASS Lent 1831 Not
Guilty
PEELING
Mark Oliver Housebreaking, Lt
Clacton SA
Winter 1831 Death
PETCHELL
Edward, age 16 Riotous assembly Mile End
Heath SA
Winter 1830 6m
PHIPPS
John, age 20 Feloniously breaking
a threshing machine, KIrby Epiphany
QS 1831 7y
POOL Edward For
a Riot & assault in execution Writtle QS Easter
1831 1m
POOL William For
a Riot & assault in execution, Writtle QS
Easter 1831 1m
PORTER
Charles For a Riot &
asault in execution Writtle QS Easter
1831 1m
PORTER
Edward For a Riot &
asault in execution Writtle QS Easter
1831 1m
PORTER
George, age16 Feloniously destroying a
threshing machines at Ramsey SA
Winter 183 1y
PORTER
John Feloniously
breaking a mole Plough at Gt Dunmow Epiphany
QS 1831 Not Guilty
PUDNEY
John, age 27 Larceny & Machine Breaking, Lt Clacton SA Winter
1830 7y
QUIN William 16 Arson at Writtle, Writtle ASS
Summer 1831 No Bill
RALFE Daniel, age
19 Feloniously breaking a
mole Plough at Gt Dunmow Epiphany
QS 1831 Not Guilty
RANDLE
William Riotous assembly at
Steeple Bumstead to demand wages etc QS
January 1831
RICHARDSON Jonathan, age 56 Arson Rayleigh SA
Winter 1830 No Prosecution
ROWLAND
Richard, age 17 Feloniously destroying a
threshing machine at Ramsey SA
Winter 1830 3m
RULE George Riotously
assembling at Wenden Lofts Newport
HofC 7 Dec 1830 Recognizance
RULE James Riotously
assembling at Wenden Lofts Newport
HofC 7 Dec 1830 Recognizance
SALMON
William Riot at
Finchingfield to demand increase in wages Epiphany
QS 1831 6m
SANDERS
John Riotous assembly at
Arkesden QS
January 1831 4m
SELLERS
James, age 18 Feloniously destroying a
threshing machine at Walton Walton ASS Lent 1831 Not Guilty
SEXTON
Samuel, age31 Feloniously destroying
a threshing machines at Ramsey SA
Winter 1830 1y
SHEAD James Riot
at Finchingfield to demand increase in wages QS
January 1831 1y
SHEAD Samuel Riot
at Finchingfield to demand increase in wages QS
January 1831 15m
SHELFORD
William Riot at Finchingfield
to demand increase in wages QS
January 1831 6m
SHEPHERD
John, age 19 Feloniously sending a Threatening
Letter, Hawkwell Epiphany
QS 1831 6m
SHERMAN
Thomas Feloniously breaking a
threshing machine Epiphany
QS 1831 No Bill
SHIP
Thomas, age 50 Larceny &
Machine breaking, Ramsey SA
Winter 1830 7y
SMITH John Feloniously
breaking a mole Plough at Gt Dunmow Epiphany
QS 1831 N Not Guilty
SMITH William Riotous
assembly at Peldon QS
January 1831 6m
THOMAS
Daniel, age 19 Riot at Sheering SA
Winter 1830 6m
THOMAS
David, age 21 Riot at Sheering SA
Winter 1830 6m
THOMAS
Richard, age 28 Riot at Sheering SA
Winter 1830 3m
THOMPSON
Thomas Riot to raise wages at
Henham QS
January 1831 4m
TILLET
John Feloniously
breaking a threshing machine, Gt Clacton QS
Easter 1831 Not Guilty
TURNER
George Riot to raise wages
at Henham QS
January 1831 2m
UNWIN
Nathan Riotous assembly
at Arkesden QS
January 1831 3m
WARNER
William Riotous assembly at
Peldon QS
January 1831 15m
WATLING
George Riot & conspiring
to raise wages Gt Clacton QS January 1831 18m
WEBB
John, age 32 Feloniously
destroying a threshing machines SA
Winter 1830 7y
WEDLOCK
James Riotous assembly at
Arkesden QS
January 1831 3m
WITHAM
John, age 23 Riot at Sheering SA
Winter 1830/31 6m
WRIGHT
James, age 17 Riotous assembly Mile End SA
Winter 1830 12m
Updated
April 2005
[1] Select Committee on Police of the Metropolis (1828) vi, pp103-104
[2] Fagin’s Children; Criminal Children in Victorian England – Jeannie Duckworth
[3] The Parkhurst Act, 1838
[4] The Parkhurst Act, 1838
[5] Report of the Prison Inspectors (1839)
[6] Report of the Prison Inspectors (1839)
[7] Illustrated London News, 13th March 1847
[8] Select Committee on Criminal and Destitute Juveniles (1853), p822
[9] See Parkhurst Prison Register at National Archives HO24/15
[10] PRO HO9/7 folio 219 page 73
[11] PRO HO9/7 folio 221 page 78
[12] PP Vol. XIX page183 (1824 Fiche 26.119)
[13] PP Vol. XIX page185 (1824 Fiche 26.119)
[14] PP, Report of John H Capper dated 15 July, 1825, Sessional Papers (Commons)
[15] PRO HO8/7 f151
[16] PRO HO8/7
[17] PP, Vol. XIX page 139 (1826-27 Fiche 29.147)
[18] PP, Vol. XIX page 137 (1826-27 Fiche 29.147)
[19] PP, Vol. XIX page 143 (1826-27 Fiche 29.147)
[20] PP Vol. XLV page 1 (1835 Fiche 38.358)
[21] PRO HO8/78