The Hobart Town Gazette dated Saturday 25 May 1822 reported that 182 male convicts had arrived at Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land, on the ship Phoenix 1 the previous Monday. They had landed that morning, been inspected and assigned to employment with free settlers.
These convicts had boarded Phoenix 1 on 10 November 1821 at Portsmouth on the south coast of England, departed on 5 January 1822 and completed a sea journey of 151 days. One of these convicts was 21 year old Thomas Jeavons from Dudley, the eldest child of my 4x great grandparents, Andrew Jeavons and Hannah Nail, and brother to 3x great grandfather, William Jeavons.
Landing in Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania, Australia) on the other side of the earth at that time could only have felt something like being dropped off and left to colonise the planet Mars today. Thomas never returned to his family and home country.
Dudley
Thomas was baptised at St Thomas Church in Dudley on 8 February 1801. On his arrival in Van Diemen’s Land, Thomas claimed he was a farmer of Dudley. His father, Andrew Jeavons was a nailer. Karl Henn in his “Thesis on the Hand-made Nail Trade of Dudley and District”, first published in the Dudley Herald in 1928, noted that, “Small farmhouses even frequently used to have a nailshop attached, so that the farmer and his family could make nails when they could not work on the farm”.
Andrew’s brother, John, was registered as a farmer in Dudley on the 1841 census and Thomas’ description of his family circumstances may have been at least partially accurate. Thomas’ younger brothers went on to be either carters or miners in Dudley, again a blend of agricultural and industrial labour that may be typical of the town’s development during that time. It should be mentioned that nail making had had a long history in Dudley and had been important to the town since at least the Middle Ages. There were 35,000 to 40,000 nailers working in the Black Country in 1789 and Dudley was at the centre of this trade.
Turner’s watercolour of Dudley depicts the hive of industry that Dudley became during Thomas Jeavons’ childhood. Rapid industrialisation meant the population climbed dramatically from the time of his birth. Fields surrounding the town were given over to the development of industry and huddles of inadequate unsanitary housing. In the 19th century, the Jeavons family tended to live in appalling cramped housing conditions in streets that were designated the worst in Dudley.
The Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815 and Thomas’ youth was spent during a period of national agricultural and industrial depression with high food prices exacerbated by the introduction of the Corn Laws in 1815. Social unrest led to events such as the Peterloo massacre in Manchester in 1818. Dudley’s nail trade hit a low in this period which Karl Henn described as a, “Depression so severe that the poverty and disorganisation were more intense and lasting than those resulting from previous depressions”. A slight recovery between 1819 and 1822 relieved the situation somewhat but trade remained slack.
The path leading to criminal activity could have been a natural one for Thomas to have taken. His gaol report on arrival in Hobart indicates he had probably been involved in criminal activity for some time and was “supposed to be badly connected in distant counties”. Previous charges included house breaking in Worcester for which Thomas was acquitted as well as robbery in Dudley for which Thomas was held in custody but discharged.
Stealing Stockings
Thomas’ sentence for the crime he committed – stealing stockings – does appear harsh from today’s perspective although there is evidence of many others being sentenced to transportation for the same crime.
Ten other men were sentenced to 7 years’ transportation at Stafford Assizes on the same day as Thomas, 1 September 1821, and followed the same journey of transportation. Their crimes – stealing silver spoons, stealing in a dwelling house, stealing nails, stealing shirts, stealing a watch, stealing earthenware, stealing locks, stealing cheese, stealing money, stealing shoes and boots – appear similarly undeserving of such harsh punishment. The circumstances under which Thomas stole the stockings and was arrested are unknown. Clothing was then a valuable item and he may have intended to sell what he had stolen.
Leviathan Hulk Prison
At the beginning of October 1821, Thomas was transferred from Stafford prison to the hulk prison, Leviathan, anchored off Portsmouth. Hulks were decommissioned navy ships that were anchored at places such as Portsmouth, Plymouth and along the Thames and used as prisons from 1776 onwards. Leviathan had fought at the Battle of Trafalgar and decommissioned in 1816.
Around a third of prisoners died in the early days of hulks and conditions were generally worse than in prison. James Rosenberg Tucker, a convict transported to New South Wales, wrote an autobiographical account of his experiences entitled “Ralph Rashleigh or The Life of an Exile” in which he described being imprisoned on the Leviathan in 1826, five years after Thomas’ imprisonment on the same hulk:
those who were transported that the time had now arrived for their removal to the hulk; and shortly afterwards those who like Rashleigh had been respited from death, in number upwards of fifty, were placed in two large vans, strongly ironed, handcuffed and chained together, as well as to the van, which drove off at a rapid rate. None knew which of the hulks they were destined for; but when the morning came Ralph recognised some objects, by which he knew they were on the road for Portsmouth; and accordingly, late on the afternoon of the same day, they reached the dockyard of that town, and shortly afterwards were permitted to alight on a wooden wharf, outside of which lay the gloomy bulk of the old Leviathan.
This vessel, an ancient 74, after having for many years borne the victorious banner of Britain in every sea from pole to pole, was at last condemned to the vile purpose of a convict hulk. Stripped of all her imposing tackle save two sticks, now degraded to the office of clothes props, with a singular sort of shed upon her deck, the unfortunate craft looked like a sort of living memento of the vicissitudes of all mundane matters and the perishable nature of all earthly grandeur.
In a few minutes the newly arrived criminals were paraded upon the quarterdeck of this old hooker, mustered, and received by the captain of the hulk, after which the irons they had brought with them were taken off and given back to the gaol authorities, who now departed. The convicts in the mean time were all marched to the forecastle and ushered into a washing-room, where each man was obliged to strip, get into a large tub of water, and cleanse himself thoroughly. Each then received a suit of coarse grey clothing consisting of jacket, waistcoat and breeches. A very rough twilled cotton shirt, striped with blue and white, a round-crowned broad-brimmed felt hat, and a pair of heavily-nailed shoes completed this unique costume; and when they had been divested of their whiskers and got their hair closely cropped, the metamorphosis was so complete that Rashleigh no longer knew any of those who had arrived with him. Here, too, each man was double-ironed with a pair of heavy fetters, and after this they again emerged on deck, where a hammock and two blankets, with a straw bed, were supplied every new prisoner, and they were now ordered to go below.
They followed one of the guards down what seemed to them an endless succession of step-ladders. When they reached the bottom, a perfect chaos of sounds saluted their ears. The first glimpse of the lower deck of this convict hulk showed a long passage bordered by iron palisading, with lamps hung at regular intervals. Within these rows of palisades were wooden partitions, which subdivided the deck into upwards of a score of apartments. In each of these about fifteen or twenty convicts slept and ate. As Ralph and his associates in punishment marched past these dens, they were saluted by obstreperous shouts of “New chums! New chums!” from both sides; and at length Rashleigh and another were placed in one of the cells, as they were called.
The first night our adventurer slept but little, the men who were there before him playing all sorts of tricks upon the newly arrived. At daybreak next morning he was awakened from a short doze by a most villainous smell, that seemed to pervade the whole atmosphere. Putting his head over the side of his hammock, he saw his companions all busily discussing the contents of a wooden tub, or kid, with their spoons, and from this tub the smell that had so much shocked his sensitive olfactory organs appeared to exhale. He was now hailed by his future messmates, who demanded to know whether he did not intend to get up and have his breakfast.
In truth, Ralph was hungry, so up he got and hurried on his clothes. One of the men lent him a tin pot, which he filled at the kid, and, spoon in hand, prepared to attack this unsavoury mess.
… The whole of the convicts, save those employed on board in cleaning the hulk, cooking, and attending on the officers, were sent every morning to labour in the dockyard, where they were employed in large parties, most appropriately designated gangs, at various works. Ralph was placed in a timber gang, and was quickly yoked to a large truck with twenty others, each man having a broad hempen band or collar put over one shoulder and beneath the other arm, so that in pulling, his weight pressed against it across his breast. Each gang was under the orders of a veteran sailor of the Royal Navy, some of whom were glad to repay upon the wretched convicts the tyranny with which they had been treated by their officers in former times, while others were more occupied in screwing out money from those under their charge, to enable them to pay frequent visits to the tap, where they solaced themselves with repeated libations of heavywet.
A description of the daily proceedings on the Leviathan hulk in 1838 also gives a hint of what life may have been like on board in 1821.
The prisoners’ day began at 5.30 in the morning with a muster at 5.45 and then breakfast. Each prisoner then stowed away his hammock on deck and then left the hulk at 6.45 to work at the dockyards after they and their irons had been checked. The prisoners returned to the hulk at noon, were searched again to see if they had brought anything with them from the dockyard, mustered and fed. The prisoners were then locked up until 1.20p.m. when they resumed labouring returning to the hulk at 5.45. School started at 6.30 and prayers read at 7.30 when prisoners were locked up for the night. Prisoners washed thoroughly on Saturday evening and remained on the hulk on Sundays when the decks were washed, clothes kept in good repair and convicts attended a religious service.
Thomas’ conduct during the five weeks he remained on the hulk was recorded as “orderly”.
Phoenix 1
The Phoenix 1 embarked 120 convicts from Leviathan on 10 November 1821 including Thomas and the other ten prisoners sentenced at Stafford on 1 September. The convicts were issued with prayer books and bibles the next day, a Sunday, at Spithead (lies between Portsmouth and Isle of Wight) and attended a “divine service”.
Tucker also described this part of the transportation process:
It was in the evening when, according to the custom of the hulk, the names of all those who were destined to depart were called aloud on each deck by the boatswain, and they were directed to prepare for the “Bay ship” on the morrow. …
The next day the convicts were duly washed, shaved, cropped, and supplied with two suits each of new slop clothing. They were all ironed too afresh, having each a new pair of double irons put on, and were then paraded before the surgeon superintendent of the vessel in which they were to sail. This officer rejected a few of those who appeared sickly, and others were called in their room. Shortly afterwards the whole body was transferred to a large lighter, which conveyed them out to Spithead, where the good ship fraught with their destinies lay like a mighty sea-bird asleep on the bosom of the open roadstead. On being placed on board, the prisoners were mustered down below, between the decks, into their proper sleeping-places, where each found a numbered bed and blanket. They were then left to pass the night as they listed.
The Phoenix and the Richmond left Portsmouth for Van Diemen’s Land on 5 January 1822 and the Mary Ann and the Denmark the next day.
Royal Navy Surgeon Superintendent, Evan Evans, joined the ship at Deptford on 19 October 1821 and he kept a medical journal throughout the voyage. This journal recorded that Thomas Jeavons was sick at sea after leaving Rio De Janiero shortly before arrival in Hobart, Tasmania:
10 November 1821 at Portsmouth: Embarked 120 convicts from the Leviathan Hulk, and 64 from the York.
11 November 1821 at Spithead: Issued the bibles, testaments, prayer books etc to them [convicts] before the divine service. No sick today.
22 November 1821 at Spithead: The wind blowing hard from the westward prevented the ship sailing today.
25 November 1821 at Spithead: Some of the convicts who had been selected sang psalms during the proper times during divine service.
30 November 1821 at Spithead: In consequence of the severity of the gale last night, the ship drove some distance, and this day the crew were employed in getting the anchors up and in working the ship to an anchorage at the motherbank which took up most of the day, consequently very few convicts permitted on deck.
3 December 1821 at Motherbank.
21 December 1821 in the Channel: 9am blowing very hard and has blown a hard gale all night, mostly from the SW. The prison very wet, leaking in every direction over the prison and most of the convicts very sea sick, bearing up for Dungeness. At 10am had the convicts with their wet things on deck, fire in the airing stove in prison, and had the prison well dried.
28 December 1821 at Dungeness. Blowing a hard gale and the ship pitching very much, the sea washing constantly over her, the convicts not able to come on deck this day. Several of the convicts very sea sick and much debilitated. Allowed them some medical comforts. The prison leaking in several parts, which have given slight colds to several of the convicts.
30 December 1821 at Dungeness. 9am ship getting under weigh. 10.15 am working out of Dungeness.
1 January 1822: At 4.25pm anchored at Motherbank.
5 January 1822 at sea: 9am weighed and made sail.
8 January 1822 at sea: Took 31 convicts out of irons. They were the cooks, those employed in keeping the prison clean, barbers.
13 January 1822 at sea: Performed divine service and read a short discourse on the ‘importance of a religious life’. 1.30pm Island of Palma, South East, distance 30 miles. 30 men were taken out of irons this morning.
18 January 1822 at sea: Appointed Thomas Graham, a steady man to instruct the boys, five of them being unable to read and such of the men as are anxious for instruction. Took the irons off the whole of the convicts this day.
25 January 1822 at sea: Weather being very hot commenced issuing lemonade to convicts and Guard in proportion ordered by my instruction.
26 February 1822 at sea off Rio De Janeiro.
1 March 1822 at sea. Put all the convicts in irons as the ship is close into Rio De Janiero.
3 March 1822: at 3 anchored at Rio De Janiero. The master put in for the purpose of taking in water and fuel, which articles the ship was in want of, particularly fuel, not having above a week on board.
4 March 1822 at Rio De Janiero.
8 March 1822: Weighed and stood out of Rio De Janiero. Took all the convicts out of irons their conduct being orderly and regular
9 March 1822 at sea: Died the infant child of Lieutenant Colonel Cameron (commanding the Guard) being about 5 months old, he had been in a lingering and very sickly state, since its birth.
20 March 1822 at sea: 6am blowing very hard with constant rain, no beds or convicts on deck. The prison very wet, leaking over every berth, kept it constantly swabbed and dry as possible.
23 March 1822 at sea: Served one shirt and one pair of trousers to each convict.
24 March 1822 at sea: Five boys which had their wine stopped had it again today.
5 April 1822 at sea: Stopped Thomas Herrot’s (boy) wine for stealing from one of his fellow convicts.
16 April 1822 at sea: Served one pair of stockings to each convict as the weather is getting cold.
24 April 1822 – T Jeavons complains of a fixed pain in right side, which he has had about 7 months ago, he is of a weak constitution, very spare habits[?], applied a blister to the part affected and gave him an opening draught, brought him to the Hospital and allowed him medical comforts.
25 April 1822 T Jeavons his side is much better, blister rose well, was purged three times – gave him nitrous medicine to take three times a day.
[Purging = the use of vomiting, diuretics, or laxatives to clear the stomach and intestines.]
26 April 1822 T Jeavons quite well.
5 May 1822 at sea: Performed divine service, delivered a sermon, the test proverbs chap 11, verse 7 ‘when a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish’.
19 May 1822: In consequence of the ship working towards the Derwent, Van Dieman’s Land, Divine Service could not be performed.
19 May 1822: At 9.30pm anchored at Hobart’s Town.
22 May 1822: 10am the Colonial Secretary came on board to muster the convicts and inspect the prison. 11.30am the Inspector came on board to ascertain the trades of the convicts.
23 May 1822: The Chief Magistrate and the Lieutenant Governor Clerk came on board to examine all the convicts which took up the whole day.
25 May 1822: Served the convicts the shore clothing. At 10am they were sent ashore to the jail yard and were inspected by his Honour the Lieutenant Governor who was well satisfied with their healthy appearance and the treatment they had received during the voyage. …
The decks were frequently fumigated with nitrous acid. The whole of the convicts were taken out of irons few days after we left Portsmouth and kept out of irons the whole of the voyage, with the exception of four days that the ship was at Rio De Janiero, their conduct was at all times, with very few exceptions very orderly and correct. It is with great pleasure that the utmost harmony prevailed at all times between Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Cameron, commanding the Guard, Mr T Weatherhead, the master and myself. Only necessary to punish two convicts during the whole time on board with 24 lashes each for very mutinous conduct soon after they embarked. The boys and men that could not read were daily at school, under a man selected for that purpose who acquitted himself well in that capacity. Every pains were taken to improve their morals but I am afraid not with very great success, but however no very bad characters amongst them, at least did not show themselves so during the time they were on board the Phoenix.
Hobart Town
The British had had a settlement in Van Diemen’s Land since 1803. The first convicts had been sent from New South Wales and convict ships had only been arriving from England for six years in 1821, when the population reached around 6,000. Tasmania was essentially a colony in its infancy.
On arrival, Thomas was assigned to Valentine Champion, a free settler, born in Holborn, London in 1801, the son of John Champion, a merchant. At the age of 21, Valentine left as a free settler for Van Diemen’s Land on the Lusitania on 6 July 1821 arriving on 28 October. He sailed on with Lusitania to Sydney in November but returned to Hobart in January where he established himself as a merchant.
In July 1822, Valentine gave notice in the Hobart Gazette that the “Business of Slated House” would be known as Champion & Co and had moved to premises on the corner of Macquarie and Argyle streets, close to the docks. Champion & Co traded in livestock as well as all kinds of household and other goods. An advertisement in 1823 refers to canvas, twine, cutlery, cabinet ware, chairs, brandy, gin, cloth, flannel, hats, corks, glassware, jewellery, counterpanes, stationery, hats, hams, starch, soap, gunpowder, cheese, vinegar, sugar, pickles, pictures and oars.
Valentine’s brother, Frederic, and sister, Elizabeth, followed him out to Van Diemen’s Land arriving in Hobart in August 1822 and Frederic joined the company of Champion and Co. Valentine’s businesses were not completely successful though as he took 600 acres on Bruny Island off the coast of Tasmania which failed. He later managed the Derwent Distillery but left Tasmania in 1828. By 1830, he was in Calcutta, India where he worked at various times as an indigo planter, commission agent and merchant, married, had 6 children and died in August 1848.
Thomas Jeavons was assigned to Valentine Champion from 1822 to 1826, presumably working for Champion & Co in Hobart Town. As a “servant”, he would have lived on his master’s premises and would not have been allowed out at night. This appears to have been a comparatively uneventful period for Thomas as he did not get into any trouble with the authorities or law. He may have been reassigned in 1826 due to the failure of Valentine’s businesses.
Kangaroo Point
Thomas’ next master was John Monday or Munday, very probably John Monday/Munday born in Port Jackson, New South Wales in 1790, the son of John Munday, a marine who arrived with the First Fleet. John (Jnr) came to Hobart in 1818 and died at Kangaroo Point in 1832, a small township that lay east across the river Derwent from Hobart.
A steam ferry operated across the river. Since Thomas was charged with being absent from his master’s premises without leave from Friday to Tuesday and coming into Hobart Town without a pass on 27 December 1826, there is indication that his master did reside outside of Hobart so that Kangaroo Point is the feasible location of Thomas’ second assignment to a free settler.
There were degrees of discipline and punishment for convicts at various times that included incarceration at a penal settlement in chains, confinement at a penal settlement, work in a chain gang, the lash, hard labour in a road party or service in public works. As punishment for his absence, Thomas was put on public works, maybe working on roads or construction, where he was again charged on 30 December 1826 with stealing a waistcoat at his master’s property. This charge was dismissed for want of evidence. It is unclear as to whether Thomas remained on public works or returned to John Munday.
Ticket of Leave – Certificate of Freedom
Thomas was issued with a Ticket of Leave in 1827 and this was reported in the Hobart Town Gazette on 13 October.
A Ticket of Leave was awarded to convicts for good behaviour and permitted Thomas to seek work within a specified district, presumably Hobart, but not leave it without permission. One year later, he was given his Certificate of Freedom, meaning his sentence was complete and this was reported in the Hobart Town Gazette on 28 October 1828. Thomas Jeavons was finally a free man who could work where he chose or leave the colony. The conduct record registered that Thomas got his freedom of servitude on the night of 30 October and that he had to find sureties for his good behaviour for the next three months.
These three months did not pass by without incident. Thomas was fined 5s for being drunk and disorderly on 19 November 1828. Just a few weeks later, on 30 December, Thomas was charged with stealing and having a fowling piece (a shotgun for birds, wildfowl and small animals) in his possession that was the property of John Jones. This charge was dismissed and the fowling piece returned to John Jones. Shortly after this incident, Thomas was again fined 5s for being drunk on 5 January 1829.
Launceston
It is not known where these incidents took place exactly but at some stage Thomas moved to the north to Tasmania’s second town of Launceston, probably working as some kind of labourer. Two brushes with the law at Launceston put Thomas into indirect contact with two well-documented characters from Australia’s history.
The first of these was John Pascoe Fawkner. As a child, John Fawkner had arrived in Tasmania with his family on the ship, “Calcutta” in 1803. His father has been transported for 14 years for receiving stolen goods. John (Jnr) had a number of occupations including that of sawyer and a baker on Macquarie Street in Hobart. In 1814, he was imprisoned himself for helping convicts to escape. He returned to baking in Hobart but had financial difficulties and moved to Launceston in 1817 where he married and established a timber business, a bakery, a bookstore, the Launceston Advertiser and the Cornwall Hotel. Thomas Jeavons stole fruit from Fawkner’s garden, maybe at the Cornwall Hotel, and was sentenced to two months’ hard labour in the House of Corrections on 25 March 1831. John Fawkner went on to become one of the founding fathers of Victoria where he ran newspapers, owned a hotel and land and was later elected to Victoria’s first Parliament.
After serving two months’ hard labour, Thomas ran into trouble again later in the same year.
On 26 September 1831, he was charged with illegally cutting and splitting timber on the land of Mrs Mary Reibey at Patterson’s Plain, to the east of Launceston, and fined £5. He was ordered to return 400 split palings and to be sent once again to the House of Corrections for 3 months should he not make the payment of his fine within 7 days.
Mary Reibey is pictured on Australia’s 20 dollar bill.
As a 15 year old with the maiden name of Haydock, she had also been sentenced to 7 years’ transportation at Stafford. She married Sydney Thomas Raby two years after arrival in New South Wales in 1794. The couple acquired farms, land and businesses over the years. When her husband died in 1811, Mary took over the sole responsibility for the businesses and her seven children. Her businesses expanded and included a shipping operation so that Mary became an extremely wealthy woman. Her sons ran her Tasmanian interests.
What happened next?
What happened next is slightly mysterious. The following is entered on Thomas Jeavons’ conduct record:
23 September 1837 to be imprisoned 1 Calendar month and to pay a fine of 10 pounds to the King and further imprisonment until paid.
16 October 1837 to be confined in Hobart Town Gaol for the period of his sentence of 1 month imprisonment and to be kept in gaol until the fine of ten pounds, also imposed by the court, to be paid vide (see) memo.
There are also entries that state “gaol” on 18.9.37 and (?) 14.4.78.
A register started in Launceston in 1834 with some earlier entries made retrospectively. These two records appear for Thomas Jeavons:
February 22 1839 Resisting the apprehension of Wm Pemberton, and making use of words of contempt to D Wentworth Esq. [D’Arcy Wentworth – Launceston] Police Magistrate. To find Sureties for his good Behaviour (WT) [Probably William Tarelton – Launceston]
April 8 1839 Drunk & making use of obscene language, Fined 5/- and 5/- (WT).
It does appear Thomas served further time in prison and remained in Tasmania.
There are open questions though:
– The crime for which Thomas was fined £10 in 1837 is not mentioned. Did this still refer to the fine for taking timber from Mary Reibey in 1831? Moreover, the King had died in June 1837 and Queen Victoria was on the throne by September. It seems slightly odd that Thomas was to pay a fine to a King who did not exist.
– Bearing in mind the variations in the press for Thomas’ surname throughout the years, there seems to be no newspaper record of the court decision or indeed of any misdemeanour, when the Tasmanian newspapers appeared to report even minor fines for drunkenness (… and I have tried every search imaginable here).
– I cannot find Thomas Jeavons on the register of prisoners admitted to Hobart Gaol in 1837.
– Did Thomas ever pay the fine? £10 must have represented a large sum of money.
– Is 14 April 1878 his date of death? Or, was the jail time in 1878 a separate conviction for which no description is given either?
If you have any clues or can gain access to documents that may solve the mystery, I would be delighted to hear from you.
The 10 other men convicted on 1 September 1821
Thomas Green
18 years old. His crime was stealing boots and shoes.
Evan Evans:
Thomas Green; disease or hurt, severe pain in bowels, sick at the stomach, no fever, little thirst, complains likewise of his throat, several glands of the throat are indurated. Taken ill, 9 January 1822 at sea. Died 4 February 1832 at sea … It is with regret that I have to state that two deaths occurred during the voyage (all the rest, 182 convicts and 52 Guard with their wives and children were landed in excellent health, and the whole were immediately disposed of to the settlers, being a great acquisition to that fine colony, as most of them were farming men; …). The first Thomas Green, a young lad, who had been employed all his life at some confined manufacture at Manchester, consequently he was of a very sickly constitution, and of a complete scrophulous habit, he gradually sank in spite of every means that was led recourse too.
John Whitehouse
19 years old. 5ft 9ins, brown hair, dark grey eyes, scar back of left hand. A butcher from Sedgley (Dudley). Convicted of stealing money in West Bromage [West Brommwich?], Stafford.
10 November 1824 Public Works – charged with enticing from her home xxxx? daughter of William Bennett after being warned not to do so by her father – to be sent to PB.
Certificate of Freedom 19 September 1828.
10 December 1829 bound over to keep the peace for 3 months.
15 July 1830 charged with stealing at Glenarchy one xxx? value 6 pounds 10 – property of W.J.Hocker – complaint dismissed.
30 November 1832 threatening to assault William Cotton a private soldier in the 63rd Regiment to find sureties of the peace 6 months.
26 January 1833 threatening to assault xx. Downey a constable discharged on payment of costs.
3 June 1833 assaulting Mary Thomas on 31 May to find 30 pounds sureties to keep peace for 3 months.
Died 7 August 1868 in the General Hospital at Hobart – granular degeneration of kidney.
Death register records occupation fisherman, age 77 and birthplace Denbeigh.
William Blaze
A 30 or 31 year old clerk from Burslem convicted of stealing earthenware.
5ft 5½ins, dark brown hair, brown hair, small scar middle of forehead. His England gaol report states he was, “Supposed to have robbed from his employers for years. Badly connected”. He left behind a wife and 2 children in England and mentioned two brothers, Joseph and Israel.
Evan Evans:
Blaze; disease or hurt, pains all over attended with little fever. Taken ill, 9 December 1821 at Motherbank. 15 December 1821, quite well.
26 June 1827 drunk and disorderly first offence since Ticket of Leave.
18 July 1827 absent from Hobart Town without a pass having neglected to attend muster and church for which he had obtained his former pass having expired.
Certificate of Freedom 10 September 1828.
11 February 1831 having an unlicensed dog in his possession fined 2 pounds.
27 June 1831 drunk and disorderly on Sunday evening fined 5s.
James Chidlow
Born 1791, a boatman from Porti Bella, Stafford and transported for stealing locks. His gaol report stated he was an old offender and had a previous 6 month conviction for stealing hay. 5ft 6ins with scar out the corner of left eye and crippled right hand.
24 August 1824 neglect of duty.
Certificate of Freedom November 1828.
12 October 1830 cutting down and carrying away timber property of Mr. Crombie.
8 August 1833 obstructing Constable Smith and Poultney in the execution of their duty – fined 5s / in default prison 7 days.
Job Smith
a 36 year old gunlock filer and soldier from Wedgebury [Wednesbury?]. 5ft 1¾ins, dark brown hair, dark grey eyes, scar over left eyebrow, forefinger left hand crippled. He stole a watch. He was also considered an old offender who had attempted to escape from gaol. Stated that he had been in custody and tried at Stafford for a robbery but had been acquitted and “in Warwick Gaol for a bastard and served 3 months”.
His conduct report in Tasmania noted he was in a road gang on September 6 1824 and received 50 lashes for being absent from hut on Sat night.
4 November 1826 neglect of duty put on Public Works.
14 August 1828 harbouring a runaway fined 50 dollars and one dollar per diem for 8 days.
Certificate of Freedom 10 September 1828.
Possibly the Job Smith who died in New Norfolk on 12 May 1858 as a “decay of nature”.
James Robinson
a 32 year old shoemaker from Manchester convicted of stealing silver spoons. 5ft 6½ins, dark brown eyes and hair, man on the right arm and woman on the left arm (presumably tattoos), large scar on left temple.
His England gaol report states he was connected with uttering of base coin and James’ personal statement says he had a previous conviction for stealing a shawl at Stafford for which he had served 6 months. He left behind a wife and 2 children at Chester and his mother and 2 brothers in Manchester.
9 June 1823 received a weekly sum of money from a convict named Middleton to excuse him from labour 50 lashes, to Public Works.
9 April 1824 absconded from his master’s xxx coming to Hobart Town without his master’s leave and without a pass 25 lashes and confined to Public Works.
14 February 1825 insolence to the chief constable in the execution of his Duty. 50 lashes.
10 March 1824 50 lashes insolence.
23 November 1831 – drunk and disorderly last night fined 5s during freedom of servitude – meaning he had his Certificate of Freedom.
Joseph Hackney
His crime was stealing in a dwelling house. Again, his gaol reports he was badly connected and his personal statement said that he had been in custody before for picking pockets at Stafford but had been acquitted. He was 19 years old.
Sentenced to 12 months in the chain gang for aiding a band of bushrangers (Mathew Brady, James Murphy) – reported in the Hobart Town Gazette 10 June 1826.
Certificate of Freedom September 1828.
Married Louisa Chandler 6 May 1832, both of Campbelltown.
1842 resident of his own property Commercial Street, Richmond, Van Diemen’s Land.
Adam Grattage
21, with a wife and child in Stafford. His crime was stealing nails and his gaol report states he was a bad character.
18 November 1822 absent from muster and church.
15 May 1823 absent from muster and church.
9 October 1823 drunkenness and neglect of duty – discharge no prior.
7 September 1824 absent from lodgings after hours last night.
21 September 1824 assaulted Constable Jenkins discharged no prior.
23 March 1825 absent from muster and church Sunday last.
12 October 1825 drunk and disorderly discharged no prior.
11 April 1825 neglect of duty and absent from premises last night.
3 March 1827 absent from church and muster last Sunday.
5 June 1827 out of his lodgings at half past 10 o’clock last night.
21 August 1827 out after hours last night at past 8 o’clock.
22 October 1827 found gambling with others between 11 + 12 o’clock at the House of Jas Farquhan in Goulbourne St – 7 days chain gang.
3 November 1827 neglect of duty.
27 December 1827 absent from muster in the P.B. last night.
Certificate of Freedom September 1828.
3 November 1828 drunk and disorderly fined 5s.
1830 assaulting and beating John Danvers a Constable on Constitution Hill at midnight on the 25th Dec fined 3 pounds and costs.
24 April 1832 drunk fined 5s.
4 June 1833 drunk fined 5s. 1 October drunk fined 5s.
Hobart Town Gazette 13 May 1834 fined 5s for drunkenness.
John Paine
19 years old and a boatman from Hertford Bridge. 5ft 6ins, dark brown hair and eyes, scars under chin, some small scars middle of forehead, lost joints of little and ring finger on left hand. His crime was stealing shirts. His gaol report said he was, “Very badly connected, supposed to be a common thief”.
27 February 1823 neglect of duty and disobedience of order 25 lashes.
21 July 1823 repeated neglect of duty and insolence to his master 50 lashes.
27 October 1823 disobedience of orders and neglect of duty 50 lashes.
1839 3 months imprisonment.
Samuel Hughes
A 39 year old with a family in Stafford, he was transported for the crime of stealing cheese. He had a previous conviction for stealing a pair of Hanies(?) and had served 6 months for this. His gaol report concluded he was an old thief.
Public Works 19 November 1824 drunk and disorderly.
Public Works 28 November 1825 did not attend muster.
Public Works 1827 absent from muster.
Certificate of Freedom September 1828.
22 March 1830 – Saturday drunkenness in the streets of Hobart Town fined 5s.