Pathways to Respectability and Upward Social Mobility:
Twelve White-Collar Convicts in the Swan River Colony
By
Sandra Lynn Potter
Teachers Certificate, 1962, Claremont Teachers College, Graduate Diploma, Teacher Librarianship, 1987,
Western Australian College of Advanced Education, Bachelor of Arts, 1989, University of Western Australia.
This Thesis is presented for the degree of Master of Arts
of the University of Western Australia.
Discipline of History.
School of Humanities
2009
ii
iii
ABSTRACT
There has been little research carried out into the lives of white-collar convicts in
Western Australia, or indeed Australia. These men came from middle-class
backgrounds, were well educated and were sentenced to transportation to the Swan
River Colony after being found guilty of the crimes of fraud, forgery or embezzlement
in England.
To date, research into white-collar convicts in Western Australia has concluded that
they were always conscious of having worn the convict brand on their coat and that they
suffered socially because of their convict past. The aim of this thesis is to assess
whether it was possible for some white-collar convicts in the Swan River Colony to
regain respectability and gain social acceptance amongst free settlers, by examining the
lives of a sample group of twelve white-collar expirees who were transported between
1850 and 1868.
To contextualize their experiences, the origins and escalation of white-collar crime in
Britain is discussed, an historical overview of the transportation of white-collar convicts
to North America, the West Indies and then to New South Wales is provided, and
changing penal philosophy and its impact on conditions for white-collar convicts is
outlined. The reasons for the introduction of convicts to the Swan River Colony and the
types of skills required are then discussed, before an examination of the experience of
these white-collar convicts on their voyages of transportation to the colony. The
chapters that follow, focus on their lives in the colony to assess whether they were able
to regain respectability in the eyes of free settlers.
The monetary extent of their crimes ranged from £25 to £6000 and all, except one,
were first offenders. Their age upon conviction was between sixteen and forty-seven
years, and their sentences were between seven and twenty years. Their conduct in
English penitentiaries and then during their transport to the colony, ranged from ‘First
Class, Good’ to ‘First Class, Excellent.’ Their careers in the colony included clerical
work, accountancy, storekeeping, contracting, teaching, mining, medicine, farming,
journalism and land and property development. Four had bankruptcy problems during
economic recessions, but two of them recovered. The wives of four convicts immigrated
to the colony, one married the daughter of another white-collar convict, but most
married immigrant lasses or the daughters of free settlers. With the exception of three
who were childless, most of their children married the sons or daughters of free settlers,
with two marrying the children of Anglican clergymen. All died in the colony.
iv
The thesis concludes that white-collar convicts were able to regain respectability,
gain social acceptance by free settlers in the Swan River Colony, and that their convict
past did not prevent a number of them becoming leading citizens in the colony.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .............................................................................................. v
ILLUSTRATIONS ..................................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... x
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 1
The Transportation of White-Collar Convicts ............................................................ 4 Research into White-Collar Convicts in Australia ..................................................... 6 Primary Sources relating to White-Collar Convicts ................................................. 10
CHAPTER 1. Origins of White-Collar Crimes, Transportation to North America between 1597 and 1776, to Australia’s Eastern Colonies from 1788 to 1856, and their Perpetrators’ Experiences in British Penitentiaries. ..................................................... 15
Transportation to North America and the West Indies. ............................................ 15 Transportation to New South Wales. ....................................................................... 18 Changes in Prison Philosophy. ................................................................................ 25 Prison Experiences in Britain. ................................................................................. 27
CHAPTER 2. Swan River Colony Settlers For and Against Convict Arrivals and Some Experiences of Sample Group Members on their Transports. ...................................... 35
The Decision to Introduce Convicts......................................................................... 35 Alfred Daniel Letch on the Hashemy in 1850. ......................................................... 42 John Acton Wroth on the Mermaid during 1851. ..................................................... 43 Stephen Montague Stout on the Lord Raglan in 1858. ............................................. 47 Miall Malachi Meagher on the Sultana in 1859. ...................................................... 47 James Elphinstone Roe on York II in 1862. ............................................................ 50 Lionel Holdsworth on the Hougoumont during 1867/8, ........................................... 52 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 55
CHAPTER 3. Swan River Colony by 1850 and the Lives of Alfred Daniel Letch, John Acton Wroth, Joseph Lucas Horrocks and Thomas Matthew Palmer, who arrived between 1850 and 1854. .............................................................................................. 57
Alfred Daniel Letch. ............................................................................................... 61 John Acton Wroth ................................................................................................... 75 Joseph Lucas Horrocks............................................................................................ 86 Thomas Matthew Palmer......................................................................................... 92 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 97
CHAPTER 4. The State of the Colony from 1855 to 1859 and the Lives of Dr John Sampson, Stephen Montague Stout and Miall Reidy Meagher. ................................... 99
Dr John Sampson .................................................................................................. 100 Stephen Montague Stout ....................................................................................... 105 Miall/Malachi Reidy Meagher ............................................................................... 113 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 121
CHAPTER 5. Swan River Colony between 1861 and 1868 and the Lives of Herman Joseph Moll, James Elphinstone Roe, James Coates Fleming, James Murgatroyde Hubbard and Lionel Holdsworth. .............................................................................. 124
Herman Joseph Moll ............................................................................................. 126
vi
James Elphinstone Roe .......................................................................................... 129 James Coates Fleming ........................................................................................... 141 James Murgatroyde Hubbard. ................................................................................ 145 Lionel Holdsworth ................................................................................................ 153 Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 159
FINAL CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 161
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................... 174
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ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure Description
Page
Figure 1 John Wroth’s sketch of the sailing vessel, Mermaid.
44
Figure 2 Painting of the Hougoumont.
53
Figure 3 Edward and Mary Letch’s ‘Mill Cottage,’ in Finchingfield, Essex.
62
Figure 4 De Leech’s Grocery and Drapery Store in St Georges Terrace, Perth.
65
Figure 5 Amelia Letch, née French, dressed in middle class attire with fashionable jewellery.
66
Figure 6 Alfred Letch admits changing his surname from Letch to DeLeech in a notice in the Inquirer Newspaper.
68
Figure 7 Alfred and George Letch, after George’s arrival in the Swan River Colony in 1872.
69
Figure 8 The City of Perth Councillors Honour Board. .
70
Figure 9 A. D. Letch moves his shop from St Georges Terrace to Hay Street.
72
Figure 10 The Toodyay Convict Hiring Depot.
80
Figure 11
Photograph of John Wroth, taken 1867-1877. .
82
Figure 12 The Toodyay Honour Board with John Wroth’s name as Secretary from 1871 - 1876.
83
Figure 13 The commemorative plaque honouring the Wroth family is on the side of the public bench seat, near the old Courthouse in Toodyay.
85
Figure 14 Map of Horrock’s Model Village at the Gwalla Estate, Northampton.
88
Figure 15 Horrock’s Church, built in 1864 in his model village at Gwalla,
89
Figure 16 Map of Horrocks Road, linking Horrocks town to Northampton.
92
Figure 17 Map showing the location of Horrocks Town.
92
Figure 18 Photograph of Horrocks Beach.
92
viii
Figure 19 Copy of Thomas Palmer's Will. 95
Figure 20 Copy of Palmer's Estate and Effects for Probate. 96
Figure 21 Sophia Sampson's Personal Estate shown on an affidavit for Probate.
103
Figure 22 A Statement of Sophia Sampson's Assets and Liabilities. 104
Figure 23 Stout’s photograph of the Convict Establishment at Fremantle, after completion in 1859.
107
Figure 24 Middle-aged Stout, fashionably dressed, probably photographed while he was teaching at the Pensioner Barracks between 1873 and 1877. .
109
Figure 25
Photograph of Inquirer’s office in Perth, on the left.
112
Figure 26 Photograph of Stout with his white bell-topper hat and cane, on the way to work at the Inquirer Newspaper Office.
112
Figure 27 A portrait of Malachi Meagher’s wife, Caroline, dressed in the fashion of the day.
114
Figure 28 A portrait of Malachi Reidy Meagher circa the 1870s.
116
Figure 29 The Guildford Hotel, where Meagher was the proprietor from 1869- 1872 and also operated twice weekly transport to and from Perth.
116
Figure 30 Guildford Municipal Council Honour Board, with Meagher as Chairman in 1876.
117
Figure 31 Herman Moll's Court Case reported in the Times, 10 July 1861.
127
Figure 32 Inside the classroom at Central Greenough where the Roe's taught.
134
Figure 33 Their Central Greenough schoolhouse.
134
Figure 34 Photographs of James Roe, teacher and journalist, and his wife, Susannah Roe, schoolmistress.
134
Figure 35 The first heliograph, tried successfully between Rottnest Island and Fremantle by Fleming, while he was the Superintendent of Telegraphs.
143
Figure 36 Fleming on a camel, while working on the Albany to Eucla telegraph line.
144
Figure 37 Map of Fleming's telegraph route from Perth to Eucla. 144
ix
Figure 38 A section of the Guildford Town Council Honour Board
showing Hubbard as Town Clerk from 1887 to 1896.
148
Figure 39 A list of Hubbard's Unsecured Creditors' Names and Amounts.
149
Figure 40 An advertisement for the Auction of Hubbard's valuable properties.
150
Figure 41 ‘Braeside,’ Holdsworth’s home, fronting Stirling and Ord Streets in Fremantle which was completed in 1889.
156
Figure 42 Map showing location of Braeside near the old Fremantle Prison, and the street named after Holdsworth.
157
Figure 43 Minutes of Scotch College’s first meeting of the School Council, showing Holdsworth and the other Councillors.
158
x
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
While writing this thesis I received much support from Battye Librarians, the
University of Western Australia Library and local librarians, for which I am very
grateful. My academic advisor, Professor Jenny Gregory, couldn't have done more to
assist my efforts and pleasantly advised many changes in my thesis, which must have
taken much of her time and a lot of effort. I could not have achieved the completion of
this thesis without my husband, Terry, who spent many long hours checking details,
managing my computer and helping with all the graphics, especially during the final
stages prior to its submission.
1
INTRODUCTION
My father rarely spoke about his family’s past. But as I was curious about my
ancestors, I decided to embark on some genealogical research. So I went into the J.S.
Battye Library of Western Australian History and asked a librarian for assistance. I was
surprised when she asked whether my great-grandfather was a free settler or a convict,
then astonished when I discovered that he was a convict. Before long I had found the
records of his court case, that he had been convicted of larceny and embezzlement and
arrived as a convict to Western Australia in 1850. On my way home from the library I
dropped in to talk to my father about his grandfather, Alfred Daniel Letch being a
convict and found him alone in his garden. He was not amused, and as he had remarried
after my mother’s death, I was firmly advised that, ‘There’s no need to worry Denise
(his new wife) or your brother (divorced and lately remarried)’, about my findings. Dad
appeared to be quite agitated, but by now I was really intrigued and all the more
determined to find out more about the dark secrets of the Letch family.
As my great-grandfather Alfred Letch was a ‘white-collar convict’ I decided to
research the lives of his and other white-collar convicts who had been transported to the
Swan River Colony for this thesis. Approximately four per cent of the convicts
transported to Western Australia - some four hundred - were literate and apparently
respectable white-collar offenders from British middle-class society. Their non-violent
crimes were usually connected with illegal documentation, usually written by them in
the course of their occupation. However most had left few traces of their past. I
researched more than forty court cases dating from 1848 to 1867 of that category of
convicts but, even where details could be found, the evidence about most was scant.
Hence I selected twelve white-collar convicts about whom a considerable amount of
evidence remained, for detailed examination in this thesis. They all had middle-class
origins, were well educated and had been found guilty of white-collar crimes, the
monetary value of which ranged between £25 to £6000. Their court cases were fairly
evenly spaced between 1848 and 1867 and their ages upon sentencing, ranged from
sixteen to forty-six years. They were sentenced for between seven and twenty years.
Prior to being transported, five of these convicts were single, one had a girlfriend, and
the other six were married. Of the married convicts; the wife of one stayed in England,
but the others came to the colony. Two were childless, but the children of the other three
came to live in the colony. All these convict expirees and their wives were buried in the
Swan River Colony.
2
There were mixed feelings in the colony about the general reputation of the convicts.
Police Superintendent Smith reported to the Colonial Secretary in 1884 that:
To judge from the criminal statistics, to speak generally, they (convict expirees) are not of good moral character. At the same time, I am happy to say that there are a certain number of noteworthy exceptions of the (bond) class, who have raised themselves to positions of competency and respectability.1
Smith was well qualified to judge who was, or was not regarded as ‘competent’ and
‘respectable’ in the colony, but it is how and the extent to which these noteworthy
exceptions of the bond class became socially acceptable among the free settlers, which
is debatable.
2
These white-collar convicts all appear to have come from British middle-middle
class or lower-middle class, as defined by François Bèdarida.
The main aim of this thesis is to inquire into the degree of competency,
respectability and social acceptance achieved by these twelve white-collar convicts,
who were transported to the Swan River Colony between 1850 and 1868, by examining
their lives before and after they became expirees.
3
1 Police Superintendent Smith, ‘Report to the Colonial Secretary,’ 31 July 1884, in the Convict Census 1884, A.N. 24, Perth 2, ACC 1172, File 10/1884, SROWA.
Middle-middle male
occupations included solicitors, barristers, doctors, civil engineers, university
professors, public schoolmasters, literary men, merchants, managers in commerce,
accountants and senior clerks from central or local governmental services. Generally
their income ranged from £800 to £300 a year. Those in the lower-middle classes
included small employers, shopkeepers, bank clerks, office workers, minor civil
servants and schoolmasters, whose average annual income varied from under £300
down to £60. Ideally both classes aspired to be law abiding, worked hard, had pride in
their business prowess, exhibited good morals and ethics in business, believed in free
trade and feared bankruptcy or business failure. They displayed gentlemanly conduct
and many enjoyed a comfortable standard of living and were devoutly religious. Most
tended to be married, ensured their children were well behaved and educated, and they
were well aware of their standing within their community. They aspired for inclusion in
2. Smith, Matthew Skinner, Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, pre 1829-1888, vol. IV, R-Z, p. 2872. Matthew Skinner Smith was a British General’s son, who had been Captain of the 44th Regiment in the Crimea, China and the East Indies for thirteen years and placed in charge of Bombay Public Works from 1864 to 1865, prior to his arrival in the Swan River colony in 1868. He was employed as the 2nd Clerk in the National Bank that year, became the Superintendent of Police and a Justice of the Peace in 1871, was elected onto the Weld Club committee in 1875 and was Sheriff of the Colony during 1876 and 1877. After he was appointed Acting Colonial Secretary in December 1884, he set up the Royal Mail Coach Service from Perth to Bunbury, before returning to his position as Superintendent of Police in 1887. 3 François Bèdarida, A Social History of England, 1851-1990, trans. A. S. Forter & J. Hodgekinson, London ,Routledge, 1991, pp. 38, 39, 48- 54.
3
the governing strata from the parish vestry upwards and placed themselves in the public
arena, through belonging to various societies devoted to religion, philanthropy,
education, science and cultural activities. Many were charity minded, practiced private
philanthropy, were members of various educational and scientific societies, were
interested in community affairs, taught in Sunday schools and supported church
activities.
They also encouraged their children to participate in cultural activities such as music
and reading uplifting moral stories. Some employed one or more live-in servants or a
daily help. When they imbibed alcoholic beverages, it was in a temperate way. They did
not have gambling debts, their appearance was neat and their houses were clean. They
followed a middle-class lifestyle, were self-disciplined, morally excellent and public
spirited. These were the ideals to which they aspired. As far as the income required to
sustain a middle-class lifestyle, Rob Sindall quoted a letter from The Times in June
1858, which queried whether it was possible for middle-class men, ‘to be happily
married on an income of £300 per annum.’4
The twelve white-collar convicts discussed in this thesis had middle-class origins and
a good education, but had committed the crimes of fraud, forgery and/or embezzlement.
My approach in the thesis was to divide them into three groups to determine whether
changes in government, trends in penal philosophy or changes in the colonial convict
system affected their lives in any way.
Those in the lower middle class income
bracket with a large family would clearly have had some difficulty in keeping up
appearances.
The first group arrived between 1850 and 1854 while Charles Fitzgerald governed
the colony. It comprised Alfred Daniel Letch, who was a former grocery and drapery
store manager, John Acton Wroth, a printer’s apprentice, Joseph Lucas Horrocks, the
owner of a merchandising business and Thomas Matthew Palmer, a clerk who had
worked for an agent connected with the Earl of Lichfield’s trustees.
The second group stepped ashore during Arthur Kennedy’s government between
1855 and 1859. It included Dr John Sampson, a qualified surgeon, Stephen Montague
Stout, a land agent and surveyor and Malachi Reidy Meagher, a civil engineer.
The third group, transported between 1862 and 1868 during John Hampton’s
government, includes Joseph Herman Moll who was the Belgian Consul’s clerk in
Britain, Reverend James Elphinstone Roe, an Anglican clergyman, James Coates
4 Rob Sindall, ‘Middle Class Crime in Nineteenth Century England’, Criminal Justice History: An International Annual, vol. 4, 1983, p. 35.
4
Fleming, a merchant and shipbroker, James Murgatroyd Hubbard, a clerk who worked
in his father’s small brewery and Lionel Holdsworth, a ship and insurance broker. All
these men were likely to have featured among Police Superintendent Smith’s
‘competent’ convicts and would have appeared to be ‘respectable’ in the eyes of many
settlers, by the time they received their Certificates of Freedom and became expirees.
Many questions have been addressed in this thesis to assess their level of social
acceptance in the Swan River Colony. Were they all first time offenders? Were there
any obvious motives other than greed, to explain why they committed their white-collar
crimes? How many of them pleaded guilty either before or early during their court
cases? At what stage did they start showing signs of character reformation? How were
they employed before and after gaining their Tickets-of-Leave in the colony and what
salaries did they receive? Was there any support or interaction between them and other
convicts or expirees? What careers did they pursue? Whose wives joined them in the
colony, who married immigrant lasses or expirees’ wives or daughters and whose
children married the progeny of free settlers? To what extent did their criminal
backgrounds appear to impede their careers, marriages or marital prospects, or impact
on their children’s careers and marital prospects? How many were involved in property
transactions? But as well, it is necessary to ask, how did they cope with negative factors
such as drought or economic recession? Could they fulfil middle-class ideals by gaining
election onto the Perth or other local Councils, Road Boards, Education Boards,
Agricultural Societies, Church or school committees, or work as secretaries in some of
those areas? Is there anything left behind, to remind us of their community service?
Initially in this introduction, it is necessary to contextualise the experience of white-
collar convicts by briefly discussing the history of convict transportation from Britain,
including white-collar convicts' transportation to other countries. A discussion of the
existing historical research on white-collar convicts arriving in the eastern states of
Australia, and the conclusions that have already been drawn about the fate of the white-
collar convicts in Western Australia follows. Other primary and secondary sources
which have been utilised in this thesis are then detailed, and lastly an outline of the
structure of this thesis is provided.
The Transportation of White-Collar Convicts
Numerous historians have studied the 50,000 or so British convicts, who were
transported from Britain to the North American colonies and the West Indies, after
5
Britain’s Transportation Act of 1718 until America gained her Independence in 1776.
As is discussed further in Chapter 2, A. Roger Ekirch’s study of British convict
transportation to the colonies, describes their life-threatening conditions in small ships
where they were chained and crowded together below deck in semi-darkness, in damp
and cold conditions, with little fresh air and barely enough provisions or water, which
was frequently contaminated. Seasickness, goal fever, smallpox and dysentery caused
many deaths and disobedient prisoners were sometimes keelhauled. Between 1719 and
1736, there was a 10.7 per cent average mortality rate of convicts over thirty-eight
voyages of six to eight weeks duration, from London to North America. However
conditions on transports improved between 1770 and 1775, and the mortality rate from
Bristol to North America was reduced to 2.3 per cent over twelve voyages.5
After America gained her Independence in 1776, the British Parliament passed the
Hulks Act as a temporary measure to relieve the problem of old, overcrowded
penitentiaries. British prisoners were also housed in cramped, disease-ridden quarters in
old warships, moored alongside the Thames River and at Plymouth and Portsmouth at
night, where they constructed new dockyards and raised ballast for ships during daylight
hours. By 1780, when those hulks were overflowing due to a crime epidemic, there was
a greater reliance on capital punishment.
6 When the British penal authorities’ plans to
transport their criminals to West Africa failed, the exploration of the east coast of
Australia by Captain Cook in 1770, followed by the recommendations of Sir Joseph
Banks in 1779, resulted in the British Government’s decision to transport their criminals
to Botany Bay.7
Many white-collar convicts had been transported to North America and the West
Indies between 1749 and 1771. Ekirck’s research revealed that, although 74.7 per cent
of British forgers who were tried in Britain’s Old Bailey were executed, the others
received transportation pardons to North American colonies. He found some interesting
practices occurring among wealthy and ‘well-to-do’ convicts including, nepotism or
undue favours for convicted men by relatives, evasion of attaint (preventing forfeiture
of their land and savings upon conviction), by handing them over to family members
until their sentences were completed. Some even arrived by hackney coach to their
transports. Evidently many ‘wealthier’ and ‘well-to-do’ convicts paid for private cabins
on the deck rather than below, took a large chest of clothes and food provisions on
5 A. Roger Ekirck, Bound For America: The Transportation of British Convicts to the Colonies, 1718-1775, Oxford, England, Clarendon Press,1987, pp. 27 & 98-105. 6 Ibid., pp. 230 & 231. 7 Ibid., pp. 236 & 237.
6
board and purchased their liberty on arrival in the colonies. Ekirch’s white-collar
convicts were mainly employed in the Colonies as servants, physicians or schoolmasters
and he discussed their treatment by employers, family support from Britain and the
stigma they suffered upon returning to Britain.8
There have been several studies of the impact of the British penal system on white-
collar convicts. Lion Radzinowicz and Roger Hood’s research provides a sound base for
an understanding of the changing philosophies underpinning the British convict system
as prescribed by Sir Joshua Jebb from 1844 to 1863, Sir Edmund Henderson from 1863
to 1869, followed by those of Sir Edmund Du Cane from 1869 to 1895.
9 Philip
Priestley’s collection of English prisoner biographies, written between 1830 and 1914,
are indispensable for gaining a sense of how various educated convicts felt during the
lead up to their court cases, during separate confinement and in public works prisons
during that period.10 Rob Sindall decided that by 1870, the number of British middle-
class citizens had grown significantly, and that the criminality of that class was ‘far
more extensive than those of other social classes,’ but ‘went largely unnoticed by
society.’11 After researching white-collar fraud, embezzlement and business morality in
Britain between 1845 and 1929, George Robb concluded that white-collar convicts
‘took a heavy toll on the economy,’ and that nation was ‘painfully slow’ in addressing
those problems.12
Research into White-Collar Convicts in Australia
There has been a limited amount of research into the actual physical transportation
by ship of white-collar convicts to Australia. Charles Bateson found there were many
improvements in convict transports arriving there between 1788 and 1868 and reported
the experiences of some white-collar convicts while on board.13
8 Ibid., pp. 35, 36, 119, 102, 144, 145 & 147-149.
Alan Brooke and David
Brandon produced evidence of the appalling conditions on the early transports to
Australia’s eastern colonies, which had radically improved by the time transportation to
9 Sir Leon Radzinowicz and Roger Hood, ‘Erecting a Convict System,’ Part 6, The New System; Its Hopes and Conflicts,’ pp. 490-521 and ‘Turning the Screw of Repression,’ pp. 526-567 in A History of English Criminal Law and its Administration from 1750 , Vol. 5, London, Steven & Sons, 1986. 10 Philip Priestley, Victorian Prison Lives: English Prison Biography 1830-1914, London and New York, Methuen, 1985. 11 Rob Sindall, op. cit., p. 38. 12 George Robb, ‘Final Considerations’, White-Collar Crime in Modern England: Financial fraud and Business Morality, 1845-1929, Cambridge, U.K.., Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 189 & 191. 13 Charles Bateson, The Convict Ships, Sydney, Australia, A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1974.
7
the Swan River colony was initiated.14 A.G. Evan’s research on John Boyle O’Reilly,
describes better conditions and entertainment on board the Hougoumont for the Fenians
and other convicts including Lionel Holdsworth, prior to their arrival in the Swan River
Colony in January 1868.15
Generally, however, historians have commented on the white-collar convicts who
were transported to Australia in passing. A.G.L. Shaw maintained that educated
convicts contributed to colonial life in Botany Bay, where many became successful
farmers and a handful rose to significant positions. White-collar convict Richard
Fitzgerald, for example, was employed as the Superintendent of Public Agriculture,
George Howe became the first editor of the Sydney Gazette, William Redfern became a
successful medical practitioner and George Crossley was noted as the one of the eastern
colony’s greatest entrepreneurs.
16 J.J. Auchmuty reported that Governors believed that
white-collar convicts transported for forgery were in a special class and they were often
appointed to work in minor governmental clerical positions. Others were employed by
wealthier settlers as schoolmasters, a few were employed by merchants who required
their educational qualifications and some even became associated with the legal system.
Francis Greenway, who was convicted for forgery, was appointed as the colony’s Civil
Architect and Assistant Engineer, under Governors Macquarie and Brisbane. He was
responsible for designing and building a lighthouse at South Head, Sydney Harbour, the
Queen’s Square Courts and three churches at Windsor and Liverpool, including his
masterpiece, St James in central Sydney.17
A few historians have focussed specifically on white-collar convicts in Australia.
David Robert examined an experiment involving forty well-educated convicts, who
were sent to a remote penal station in the Wellington Valley in New South Wales from
1827 to 1830. Rather than working in the usual clerical or supervisory capacities, they
were punished by being put to work on demeaning manual labour tasks, such as
building wheat stacks and hoeing hayfields, to reinforce their punishment.
18
14 Alan Brooke and David Brandon, 'The Convict Classroom,' Bound for Botany Bay: British Convict Voyages to Australia, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond Surrey, U. K. 2005, p. 19.
Sandra
Blair focused on the educated convicts’ middle-class origins in the eastern colonies and
the need for their skills as pressmen, compositors and engravers, as well as their
15 A. G. Evans, Fanatic Heart: A Life of John Boyle O, Reilly, 1844-1890, Nedlands, UWA Press, 1997, Chapter 7, pp.54-63. 16 A.G.L. Shaw, ‘1788- 1810', A New History of Australia, Frank Crowley (ed.), Melbourne, Australia, William Heinemann, 1974, p. 22. 17 J. J. Auchmuty, ‘1810-1830,’ ibid., pp. 59 & 64, 18 David Roberts, ‘The Valley of the Swells: ‘Special’ or Educated Convicts on the Wellington Valley Settlement, 1827-1830,’ History Australia, vol. 3, No. 1, June 2006, pp. 11.1 - 12.1.
8
suffering from prejudice or discriminatory treatment at the hands of some of their
employers in the late 1830s.19 John Hirst found that educated convicts in Australia’s
eastern colonies were not expected to work as common labourers, but rather as teachers
in private houses, book keepers and newspaper reporters. Colonists did not harp on their
past crimes, as they were more interested in their previous occupations. He found that
‘Wealthy convicts who conducted themselves respectably, were generally treated as
respectable people and reference to their past was dropped.’20
For educated convicts, their middle-class origins were more important than their convict station in the eyes of most employers and patrons, and this fact saved them from discriminatory treatment, as long as they remembered the obligations of a client relationship.
While Sandra Blair
argued that in New South Wales,
21
Barrie Dyster and a small team of researchers focusing on Australian convicts as
working people, found that people who broke the law came from all spheres of
conventional English and Irish society. They argued that there were black sheep in
every family and surmised that ‘when incomes are low all round, theft becomes an
option…to adopt or reject.’ However, his research team also concluded that many
convicts were useful because ‘the majority of prisoners brought specific skills to New
South Wales.’
22
There are conflicting views on whether convicts could ever be regarded as
respectable in Western Australia. In 1959, Alexandra Hasluck’s opinion was that, ‘a
considerable number of convicts did make good, acquire property, marry and melted
into the community.’
23 But twenty years later, Tom Stannage countered her argument,
believing that convicts who stayed in Western Australia and made good, still ‘carried
the mark of shame with them to the grave.’24
19 Sandra Blair, ‘Patronage and Prejudice: Educated Convicts in the New South Wales Press 1838’, Push from the Bush, No. 8, Canberra, Australia, 1980, pp. 62-67.
Sandra Taylor tested the validity of the
idea held by some Western Australians, that convicts arriving there were generally
guilty of only ‘minor offences, were generally ‘better’ behaved than those who were
transported to the eastern colonies and did not lower the moral tone in the Swan River
Colony. However she found that as time progressed, the crimes for which convicts were
20 J. B. Hirst, Convict Society and Its Enemies: A History of Early New South Wales, Sydney, George Allen & Unwin, 1983, pp. 89, 94 & 206. 21 Blair, op cit, p. 84. 22 Barrie Dyster, ‘A New View - Convicts as Working People’, Westerly, No. 3, English Department, U. W. A., Nedlands, W. A., September, 1985, p. 61. 23 Alexandra Hasluck, Unwilling Immigrants: A Study of the Convict period in Western Australia, Melbourne, Angus & Robertson, 1959, 24 C. T. Stannage, The People of Perth: A Social History of Western Australia’s Capital City, Perth, Perth City Council, 1979, p. 101.
9
sent to Western Australia worsened.25
…a significant percentage struck roots in the colony and even prospered. However all those who remained in Western Australia, were to be conscious for the rest of their lives, of having worn the shameful coat of a convict.
Rica Erickson’s research in 1985 led her to
believe that
26
She further found that middle-class, educated convicts suffered socially because, ‘the
bond class were not eligible for membership of certain societies, and they were not
allowed to dine with the genteel, nor attend their Assembly Balls’.
27
There have been some biographical studies of white-collar convicts in Western
Australia. Rica Erickson’s convict biographies in Brand on His Coat include several
white-collar convicts,
28 while genealogists such as Marcia Watson have detailed the
lives of a few including Stephen Stout.29 Others crop up in large studies, such as
suburban and other histories. Malachi Meagher appears in Michael Bourke’s history of
the Swan District in Western Australia30, and also in Jennie Carter’s social history of
Bassendean.31
White-collar convicts have also made brief appearances in three university theses.
Cherry Gertzel provided an overview of the convict system in Western Australia that
included factors relating to white-collar convicts, such as the need for educated convicts
as clerks and constables in connection with the Fremantle and Perth prisons and country
depots.
32 Peggy Anderson’s thesis also mentioned the need for educated convicts in
Western Australia,33 while Shirley Leahy’s thesis dealt with the relationship between
educated convict schoolmasters and their students in the Swan River colony and the
initial public apprehension about their appointment, by free settlers.34
25 Sandra Taylor, ‘Who were the Convicts? A Statistical Analysis of the Convicts Arriving in Western Australia in 1850/51, 1861/62 and 1866/68’ in C. T. Stannage (ed.) Studies in Western Australian History, No. IV, Perth, Department of History, U. W. A., December 1981, p. 19.
26 Rica Erickson, ‘What it was to be an Ex-Convict in Western Australia', Westerly, 30, No. 3, Nedlands, W. A., Centre for Studies in Australian Literature, English Department, U.W.A., September 1985, p. 45. 27 Ibid., p. 49. 28 Rica Erickson, The Brand on his Coat: Biographies of some Western Australian Convicts, Nedlands, UWA Press, 1983. 29 Marcia Watson, ‘Stephen Montague Stout (4901)’ , Convict Links, Convict Historical and Research Group, Vol. 17, No. 2, June 2003,Western Australian Genealogical Society, Bayswater, W. A. pp. 8-14. 30 Michael J. Bourke, On the Swan : A History of the Swan District Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, UWA Press, 1987, pp. 203, 231-2. 31 Jennie Carter, Bassendean: A Social History 1829-1979, Perth, W. A., Town of Bassendean, 1986, pp. 58-59, 131. 32 Cherry Gertzel, ‘The Convict System in Western Australia: 1850-1870’, B. A Honours Thesis, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, W.A., 1949. 33 Peggy Anderson, ‘Economic Aspects of Transportation to Western Australia,’ BA Honours Thesis, Special Collection, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, W.A.,1950. 34 Shirley Leahy, ‘Convict Teachers and the Children of Western Australia, 1850-1896 ' , B.A. Honours Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Churchlands, W.A.,1993.
10
However there has been very little research that has focussed exclusively on white-
collar convicts in Western Australia. The exceptions are Martin Gibb’s article on Joseph
Horrock’s Gwalla Estate in Northampton, which focuses on the importance of his
copper mine to the colony, his support of unemployed people and his business
connections with free settlers, many of whom supported him and respected his
resourcefulness,35 and my article on Alfred Daniel Letch.36
Apart from these, there has
been no other research dedicated to white-collar convicts in Western Australia.
Primary Sources relating to White-Collar Convicts
Extensive research into a very wide variety of primary sources was essential for this
thesis. A range of British newspapers were searched to locate details of the court cases
of all the white-collar convicts discussed in the thesis. Magazine articles of the period
were also valuable. Two anonymous articles appearing in the Cornhill Magazine have
been attributed to white-collar convict Reverend James Roe. In ‘A Convict’s Views of
Penal Discipline,’ and his ‘Letter from a Convict in Australia to a Brother in England,’
he presented his viewpoints about the convict system, from his court case to receiving
his Ticket-of-Leave in the colony.37
Official convict records were also indispensable. ‘General Rules and Daily Routines
for Prisoners,’ ‘Prison Orders from Governor Fitzgerald to Comptroller General
Henderson, 1850-1852’ and ‘Clothing Allowed for Ticket-of-Leavers’
38
Rica Erickson and Gillian O’Mara’s Convicts in Western Australia, 1850-1888, a
biographical dictionary, was searched for details of any white-collar convicts. It
in the
Temporary Convict Establishment Records, gave some indication of the situation for the
white-collar convicts arriving in the early transports to the colony. ‘General Register’ or
‘Character Book’ prison records were located for all except one of the white-collar
convicts discussed in this thesis, while Ticket-of-Leave records were found for eight of
them.
35 Martin Gibbs, ‘Landscapes of Meaning: Joseph Lucas Horrocks and the Gwalla Estate’ in Jenny Gregory (ed.), Historical Traces: Studies in Western Australian History, Centre for Western Australian History, Nedlands, U.W.A., Press, vol. 17, 1997, pp. 35-60. 36 Sandra Potter, ‘Alfred Daniel Letch: A White-Collar Convict,’ in Jacqui Sherriff and Anne Brake (eds), 'Building a Colony: The Convict Legacy', Studies in Western Australian History, Centre for Western Australian History, U.W.A Press, Nedlands, W.A., vol. 24, 2006, pp. 37- 47. 37 Anonymous [James Roe], ‘A Convict’s View of Penal Discipline’, The Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 10, London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1864, pp. 722-733, and Anonymous [James Roe], ‘A Letter From a Convict in Australia to a Brother in England’, The Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 13, London: Smith, Elder & Co., Jan-June 1866, pp. 489-512. 38 ‘General Rules and Daily Routines for Prisoners’, ‘Prison Orders from Governor Fitzgerald to Comptroller General Henderson, 1850-1852’, and’ Clothing Allowance for Ticket-of-Leavers’, AN 358, ACC 1156.
11
provided summary details from convict records including their convict number, birth
and death date, marital status, number of children, British occupation, education,
religion, place and date of conviction, crime and previous convictions if any. It also
includes their transport’s name, arrival date, date of their Ticket-of-Leave, Conditional
Pardons and Certificates of Freedom and sometimes their place of work, occupations in
the Swan River Colony, reconvictions, marriage partner arrivals, marriage in the colony
and also if they departed from Western Australia.39
After transportation of convicts to the Swan River colony had ceased, extracts from
three anonymous white-collar prisoners’ exposés were published in the late 1870s and
1880s in Britain. They focused mainly on their negative experiences within the British
penal system, but also highlighted some preferential treatment and concessions they
received while on remand, during their trials, in separate confinement and in public
works penitentiaries. ‘One-Who-Has-Endured-It,’ afterwards found to be Edward
Callow, maintained that his aim in writing was to inform British citizens about ‘what he
actually suffered, saw and experienced during the terrible ordeal of penal servitude.’
40
While Callow conceded that there were some benefits during the first stage of ‘separate
confinement’ for educated prisoners, he concluded that the main problem for them was,
that they were incarcerated in a penal system, which failed to separate the ‘hardened
confirmed rogues’ from the ‘reformable first time offenders or gentlemen prisoners,’
during their second stage in public works penitentiaries.41 Ticket-of-Leave-Man,
George Bidwell, argued that his reason for writing was ‘to expose some evils connected
with the English Convict System and to suggest some remedies.’42 One-Who-Has-
Tried-Them, explained that his ambition was also to ‘expose the ill treatment and petty
tyranny existing in some of our prisons.’43
In John Wroth’s Diary, which he commenced in 1851 on his way out in the
Mermaid, he described occupations on board for well behaved educated prisoners, food
rations, regulations and rules and his reasons for distancing himself from other convicts
while on the transport. He also detailed his clerical duties in the temporary
establishment in Fremantle before gaining his Ticket-of-Leave, followed by more
39 Rica Erickson and Gillian O’Mara (eds), Convicts in Western Australia, 1850-1887, Dictionary of Western Australians, Vol. IX, Nedlands, UWA Press, 1994. 40 One-Who-Has-Endured-It, ‘Five Years of Penal Servitude’ in Martin J. Wiener (ed.), Crime and Punishment in England, 1850-1902, London, Rice University, Garland Publishing, 1984. 41 Martin J. Wiener, ‘Disillusion with the Prison,’ Reconstructing the Criminal: Culture, Law and Policy in England, 1838-1914, , Sydney, Australia, Cambridge University Press, 1996, p 311. 42 Ticket-of-Leave-Man (George Bidwell), Convict Life or Revelations Concerning Convicts and Convict Prisons, London, Wyman & Sons, 1879, preface. 43 One-Who-Has-Tried-Them, Her Majesty’s Prisons: Their Effects and Defects, Vols. 1 & 2, London, Sampson Low, 1881.
12
clerical duties, friendships and social problems during his romances while in the York
and Toodyay Convict Depots up to mid-1853. His marriage, family life, career,
monetary problems, health problems and land acquisitions after attaining his Certificate
of Freedom in 1861 were included in his Letter Book, written while at Toodyay.44
As far as possible mid-nineteenth century writings have been used to define
‘respectability’ in the Swan River Colony at that time. The anonymous writer of an
amusing article titled ‘Respectable and Not Respectable’ published in the British
periodical Chambers Journal in 1838, concluded with the truism, “respectable” ‘means
different things in different places, and with different men.’
45 Some contemporary
views on ‘respectability’ and the ‘social acceptance’ of educated convicts by free
settlers in the Swan River Colony, have been located in: Reverend John Wollaston’s
Albany Journals from 1848 to 1856; Mrs Edward Millett’s An Australian Parsonage
published in 1863; J. T. Reilly’s in Reminiscences of Fifty Years in Western Australia in
1903, and J. S. Battye’s in Western Australia: A History from its Discovery to the
Inauguration of the Commonwealth which was published in 1924.46 In an 1873
newspaper article ‘Notes of a Visit to Perth, West Australia by a Victorian,’ Howard
Willoughby conceded, ‘that (educated) convicts could make a position in society for
themselves on a business level’.47
Some idea of business dealings, credit ratings and in Alfred Letch’s case, Board
meetings about his overdrafts and bankruptcy details, have been gained from Western
Australian Bank Archives in Sydney, as were details about Joseph Horrocks, John
Sampson, Stephen Stout and James Roe’s bank accounts which were located there.
Land and property records including ‘Memorials of Conveyances,’ ‘Indentures of
Mortgages,’ ‘Transfers of Mortgages’ and ‘Certificates of Satisfaction,’ were researched
through the WA Department of Land Administration.
Most of their occupations, employers, employees, marriages, children’s births and
their own and their wives’ deaths were located in Battye Library’s Catalogue Cards.
Some news items involving white-collar convicts, reported in the West Australian,
Perth Gazette, Herald and The Inquirer and Commercial News, were also located there.
The Wills of Wroth, Horrocks, Palmer, Sophia Sampson (Dr Sampson’s wife), Hubbard
44 Diary of John Acton Wroth, 1851-1853, MN 725, 2816A/3 & Letter Book of John Acton Wroth at Toodyay, MN 118, 2290A/1, Battye Library ,Perth, Western Australia. 45 Anonymous, 'Respectable and Not Respectable' , Push from the Bush, A Bulletin of Social History, No. 21, October 1985, Armidale, New South Wales, University of New England, pp. 20-24. 46 J. S. Battye, Western Australia: A History from its Discovery to the Inauguration of the Commonwealth, Oxford, England, Oxford University Press, 1924. 47 Howard Willoughby, ‘Notes of a Visit to Western Australia, By a Victorian', Herald, 5 May 1873, p. 3.
13
and Holdsworth, a Letter of Administration by Hubbard and the Probate details of
Lionel Sampson, Wroth, Hubbard and Holdsworth, as well as bankruptcy details of
Letch, Meagher, Stout and Hubbard, and a Police Report on the latter’s demise were
found there. Valuable piecemeal information was also been gained from resources such
as Honour Boards, Reports of Municipal Council and Agricultural Society meetings,
five stained glass windows of Perth streets and inhabitants, photographs of James Roe,
his wife and their classroom in Greenough and Tom Fisher’s useful research on Roe’s
family background.48
The first chapter of this thesis initially defines white-collar crime and its escalation in
eighteenth century Britain, including public demand for severer punishments. It then
compares the transportation and employment of British white-collar convicts in North
America and the West Indies, with that in New South Wales. By the year 1850, when
convicts were first transported to the Swan River Colony, changes had begun to appear
in British prison philosophy. These had an impact on conditions in British penitentiaries
for white-collar convicts and were described in contemporary accounts.
The second chapter reviews various aspects of life on board the transports for white-
collar convicts including: Alfred Letch on the Hashemy in 1850; John Wroth on the
Mermaid in 1851; Stephen Stout on the Lord Raglan in 1858; Miall Meagher on the
Sultana in 1859; Joseph Moll and James Roe on the York 11 in 1862 and Lionel
Holdsworth on the Hougoumont in 1868, while on their way to the Swan River Colony.
The third chapter discusses includes an examination of the attitudes of early settlers
towards convictism, the campaign for convicts and whether a need for educated
convicts was specified. Conditions in the colony prior to convict arrivals is followed by
vignettes of the lives of Alfred Daniel Letch, John Acton Wroth, Joseph Lucas Horrocks
and Thomas Matthew Palmer, who were white-collar convicts transported to the colony
between 1850 and 1854, during Charles Fitzgerald’s government.
The fourth chapter briefly describes the state of the colony between 1855 and 1859,
followed by the lives of Dr John Sampson, Stephen Montague Stout and Malachi Reidy
Meagher, who arrived during Arthur Kennedy’s government. The fifth chapter outlines
the economic situation within the colony between 1861 and 1868. It also includes the
experiences of Herman Joseph Moll, Reverend James Elphinstone Roe, James
Murgatroyd Hubbard, James Coates Fleming and Lionel Holdsworth, who had been
incarcerated in British penitentiaries either during or after the Chatham riots of 1861,
48 Thomas P. Fisher, 'Susanne Roe (née Moore)', Paper on the Wife of Reverend James Roe, 1998.
14
when treatment of convicts became harsher in British penitentiaries and under Governor
Hampton in the Swan River Colony.
In each of these chapters, the ability of these white-collar convicts to regain their
competency and respectability is assessed. As previously there has been no substantial
analysis of whether it was possible for white-collar convicts to gain social acceptance
amongst the free settlers of the Swan River Colony, this thesis aims to fill that gap.
15
CHAPTER 1. Origins of White-Collar Crimes, Transportation to North America between 1597 and 1776, to Australia’s Eastern Colonies from 1788 to 1856 and their Perpetrators’ Experiences in British Penitentiaries.
Nowadays, barely a week goes by without stories relating to huge financial fraud
appearing in news media and some of us may be tempted to believe that white-collar
crime is a rapidly escalating, modern phenomenon which has occurred mainly in our
era. However, George Robb discovered that:
The real origins of white-collar crime, however, lie almost two hundred years in the past, in the tremendous financial growth which accompanied the British Industrial Revolution… (around the early 1800s which) called into being a complex economy increasingly dependent on finance and investment… characterized by a vast banking network, a burgeoning commercial nexus of insurance, stocks and credit, and an increasingly complicated legal system. These phenomena as well as the concomitant increase in lawyers, brokers and financiers, greatly expanded the potential for white-collar crime.1
David Roberts perceived that the official response to rising convictions for that type
of crime and management of their perpetrators who were unsuited to hard labour then,
was:
…an emerging demand for greater equality and severity from the transport experience…guaranteeing the certainty and integrity of punishment through its more rigorous and impartial application … ensuring that diversities within the punishment experience were determined by obedience and merit, rather than social status, class privilege or other forms of luck.2
Transportation to North America and the West Indies.
British historians, Alan Brooke and David Brandon both agreed that, ‘In a sense,
transportation was a logical development of the medieval practice of banishment… or
involuntary exile.’3
1 George Robb, op. cit., pp. 1 & 2.
Roger Ekirch, who has studied early American history and culture,
found that when transportation to the Northern American Colonies and the West Indies
sugar cane and tobacco plantations was initiated in 1597, ‘it began as a form of exile to
rid Britain of rogues and vagabonds.’ After King James I began granting Conditional
Pardons from the death sentence, white-collar and other convicts were subject to ‘the
2 David Roberts, op. cit., p. 11.1 & 11.6. 3 Alan Brooke and David Brandon, 'The Convict Classroom', Bound for Botany Bay: British Convict Voyages to Australia, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond Surrey, U. K. 2005, p. 19.
16
felony of attaint’ which meant they had to forfeit their goods to the Crown, including
profits from freehold land and their loss of civil rights, prior to leaving Britain.4
From the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, punishment by transportation was
the official response to concerns by governmental authorities and law abiding citizens,
that ‘crime was getting out of control’ in Britain.
5 After the Transportation Act of 1718
was passed during King George I's reign, foreign exile for all serious commercial
crimes such as frauds, forgeries and embezzlements became law.6 Nearly 89% of
forgers had been executed between 1749 and 1771,7 but according to V. A. G. Gratrell,
‘Thomas Maynard was the last man hanged for forgery, on 30 December 1829.’8
Consequently, white-collar convicts were transported to North America and the West
Indies for fourteen years, where servants could sign contracts with their masters if a
magistrate endorsed it. But they were not allowed to acquire further property, sue
anyone, give evidence against colonists or serve as a juror or a witness in court, and
their masters could take any money convicts had earned in their free time. However
they were allowed to give evidence against other convicts in Virginia and Maryland, but
only in cases involving other convicts. All were disqualified from voting by 1749 and
they lost their right to freedom dues for service in 1753, after which all convicts were
under the total control of their master. However, if the courts found that a master had
been abusive, they could end his convict’s contract of service or transfer his services.
9
Ekirch found that nepotism played a part in some white-collar offenders gaining
reprieves from hanging. William Parsons, the son of a Nottinghamshire baronet who
was due to hang for forgery in 1749, gained a reprieve through his brother-in-law, who
was a Justice of the Peace in Kent. Subsequently, Parsons was allowed to carry ‘a large
chest of clothes on board’ on the way to America, and ‘received an annuity of £30 per
annum from his family’ while there.
10 While most convicts travelled to the docks
chained and on foot, some well-to-do felons paid for hackney coaches and were allowed
to purchase their own provisions to take on board.11
4 A. Roger Ekirch, op. cit.., p. 1. Also Bruce Kercher, ‘Perish or Prosper: The Law and Convict Transportation in the British Empire’, Law and History Review Journal, Vo. 21, March, 2003, p. 4.
Once convicts boarded the
contracting merchant’s ship, ‘the British government had little further interest in her or
5 Alan Brooke and David Brandon, op. cit., pp. 19 & 12. 6 Ekirch, op. cit., Introduction, p. 1. 7 Ibid., p, 35. 8 V. A. C. Gatrell, The Hanging Tree: Executions and the English People, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 416. 9 Bruce Kercher, op. cit.., pp, 3 &4. 10 Ekirch, ibid., pp. 36, 102 & 178. 11 Ekirch, ibid., pp. 72, 71, 93, 102 & 178.
17
him, so long as the convict did not return early…the penalty for which was death.’12
Bruce Kercher found that some wealthy British families were able to pay for a
private cabin for their relatives, to prevent them being thrust amongst the lower class
prisoners in the hold of ships on their way to the American Colonies. On their arrival,
some ‘could buy their own liberty,’ probably ‘costing somewhere between £15 and £25’
at that time, but they were still exiled until their term was completed. By the eighteenth
century, ‘those who could only pay part of the required price, worked off the rest of
their time in a somewhat similar fashion to British indentured servants, in accordance
with the length of sentence which had been handed down at their trials in Britain.’
It
appears that a wealthy white-collar employee facing conviction could evade attaint, if
he chose to distribute his wealth legally to family members before his trial. In turn, he
was supported by them while living reasonably freely in North America or in the West
Indies, and probably regained his money upon his return to Britain.
13
Up to 1736, overcrowding on small transports by corrupt convict traders caused
wretched conditions for convicts on the long, open seas to the American and West
Indies colonies. Restricted and contaminated water rations, poor ventilation, fierce
storms causing seasickness, damp holds and the spread of contagious diseases such as
gaol fever, pneumonia, smallpox, dysentery and venereal infections, resulted in high
convict mortality rates, averaging 10.7% over 38 voyages. Many of those conditions
could have adversely affected white-collar convicts, despite any privileges they may
have attained. By the 1770s, some factors improved conditions for all convicts,
including an acceleration of prisoner processing, which meant that white-collar and
other convicts spent shorter periods in Britain’s disease-ridden gaols. Copper sheathing
around transport hulls created drier conditions below and 70% of the transports were
larger, ranging from 100 to 199 tons by 1775, which increased their efficiency and
speed. Quarantine laws from the 1760s, customs inspections, some transports hiring
medical staff, the provision of improved bedding, ventilation, sanitation, clothing, food
and the use of copper boilers, rather than iron for cooking, lowered the mortality rate
between 1770 and 1775 to 2.3% over 12 voyages.
14
In more modern, larger vessels, the use of iron rather than timber in the ships’
interior structure for bunks, around hatchways and ladders, created more space below.
12 Kercher, op. cit., p. 2. 13 Kercher, op. cit., pp. 3 & 125. 14 Ekirch, op. cit., pp. 97-108.
18
Dakin’s ventilators improved the circulation of fresh air and all British convict
transports carried Surgeon Superintendents to Botany Bay by 1815.
In some historical papers, convicts sentenced for fraud, forgery and embezzlement
were often just referred to as ‘educated prisoners,’ and because their crimes are not
defined, the reader has difficulty deciding whether or not they had actually committed a
‘white-collar’ crime. Ekirch found that educated male convicts who could not afford to
pay for their liberty in America, were sometimes employed as man servants, physicians
or schoolmasters by various plantation owners. John Van De Huville, for instance,
practiced medicine in Maryland County and was allowed to keep a portion of his
patient’s fees. On the other hand, schoolmaster James Borthwick ‘endured the meanest
of Subsistence (sic)’ and had to provide his own ‘Clothes and Linen (sic).’ 15
Transportation to the American colonies was a cheap solution to get rid of criminals.
As the British government paid merchant contractors to transport the convicts, they had
no need to build penitentiaries or barracks to house them, or even to employ staff to
oversee them after their ships berthed, because they were generally sold by the transport
contractors to their masters soon after arrival. Shipping costs paid to contractors for
American bound convicts, averaged only £4 per head during that period, so Kercher
estimated that ‘During the course of the eighteenth century, some 50,000 convicts were
transported to North America,’ which probably cost the British Government as little as
‘£200,000.’
Obviously
the nature of a white-collar convicts’ life there, was fairly dependant upon his conduct,
the character of his employer and his conditions of employment.
16 After America gained her Independence in 1776, merchant contractors
were refused entry into America’s colonial ports. With the passing of British Hulks Act
that year, the Government established temporary gaols in overcrowded old warships,
which were moored in British harbours. For a few years, white-collar convicts and
others who would have been previously transported, provided cheap labour for building
dockyards, excavating basins for ports and building sea walls and jetties.17
Transportation to New South Wales.
The situation for the male and female convicts, who arrived in the first fleet on 26
January 1788, after an eight month voyage to Botany Bay, was vastly different from
15 Ekirch, op. cit., pp. 148, 149. 16 Kercher, op. cit., pp. 1- 3. 17 Ekirch, op. cit., Introduction, pp. 1 & 230.
19
those sent to the already colonized America. The aboriginal inhabitants spoke no
English and some threatened the new arrivals’ lives, crops and herds. Initially there
were no towns, houses, shops, businesses, public buildings, transport facilities or farms
with crops, cattle, sheep or poultry. Sandy soils and high summer temperatures and
living in tents or more basic temporary shelters presented difficulties for convict
officials, their families and prisoners alike.18
Appalling conditions and high death rates from scurvy and typhus on the second fleet
of transports resulted in the employment of properly accredited naval Superintendent
Surgeons on transports from 1815 onwards. As well as the health of convicts and crew
on board, the surgeon’s responsibilities included their prisoners’ cleanliness, ensuring
their quarters were hygienic and well ventilated, control of their food and water rations,
daily issuing of lemon juice with sugar to combat scurvy, their schooling, reading the
divine service on Sundays to encourage their moral reformation and reporting the
convicts and crew’s health in a Sick Book.
19 Consequently death rates declined and
conditions radically improved for all convicts and crew members on transports.
According to Kercher, wealthy white-collar convicts could still pay for a comfortable
cabin, but on arrival they were not allowed to buy their way out of service.20
The New South Wales’ penal system was very different from that in the American
colonies. As the shipping contractors had been fully paid for transporting the convicts to
the eastern colonies of Australia, Britain retained the property rights of their labour and
all prisoners were treated as servants of the Crown.
21
18 Kercher, op. cit., p. 6.
The system was more centralised
and convicts were under closer supervision of the Governors, who had extensive
authority to control them. The greater proportion of convicts worked on free settlers’
farms or in their businesses and the rest were assigned to building government roads,
bridges and public buildings. However Auchmuty found that in New South Wales,
educated prisoners who were transported for forgery were generally appointed as minor
clerks in the government service, schoolmasters in the homes of the wealthier settlers, a
19 Brooke & Brandon, op. cit., pp. 169 & 191. They reported that according to Charles Bateson in The Convict Ships, 1787-1868, A.H.& A. W. Reed, Sydney, 1969, p. 276, for every 8.8 convicts on the General Hewart, one died. According to Brooke and Brandon, The first convict ship to convey an accredited naval surgeon was the Royal Admiral’ in 1792. Of a total of 18 convict ships that left Britain for Australia between 1792 and 1800, the first six all had surgeons on board, where the death rate was 1 to 55 men and 1 to 45 women. There were only two surgeons on the next 6 ships and consequently the death rate increased to 1 in 19 men, but lowered to 1 in 68 for women. On the last 6 transports where there was no proper medical supervision, 1 man in 6 died and 1 woman in 34, pp.191 - 193. 20 Kercher, op. cit., p. 7. 21 Kercher, op. cit., pp. 2 & 7.
20
few were employed by emancipist merchants and surprisingly, some became involved
in the legal system, which had led to their previous downfall.22
Sandra Blair found that educated convicts in New South Wales, or ‘Specials’ as they
were often called by British and Colonial authorities, were classed a distinct group by
the free settlers. They were identified by the white-collar crime they had committed
such as embezzling, forging, writing threatening letters and false pretences or fraud,
their middle-class background and their previous type of professional or semi
professional occupation. Blair saw that some landowning gentry including James
Macarthur, argued that Specials were useless, as they were neither trained nor wanted to
be engaged in rural occupations. She quoted J. D. Lang, a Presbyterian clergyman, who
maintained that educated convicts were the most dangerous type of convict, because
their skills aided their vice and villainy and they should be disqualified from obtaining
responsible positions or influence in the colony. However for other employers,
‘prejudice was not a deciding factor,’ and was modified by ‘the need for skilled workers
in government, legal departments, newspaper offices and educational establishments.’
23
Kercher maintained that in some ways, the convicts had much greater freedom in the
eastern colonies of Australia than in America, prior to 1823. Those assigned to private
masters could choose their own lodgings or dwellings as there were no prison buildings.
Although not paid for their labour, they were allowed to earn money or were paid in
kind after working hours, so some could live relatively independently. Alternatively
others were allowed to work full time for themselves, so long as they shared the profits
with their masters. As they could ‘retain their own property and money,’ the Law of
Attaint was not enforced in Australia at this time. Under Governor Hunter from 1798
and Governor King from 1801, all convicts, including those who had been attainted,
were allowed to earn money, hold property (though not freehold title to their land), sue
for recovery of debts to protect it and give evidence in the Court of Civil Jurisdiction.
In 1801, Governor King invented the idea of a ‘Ticket-of-Leave,’ as an incentive for
compliant behaviour, which relieved white-collar and other convicts from compulsory
labour, after they had achieved that status. This enabled them to marry with permission
from the Governor and live independently, earning their own living.24
22 J. J. Auchmuty, op. cit., p. 59.
According to
John Hirst, stories of ‘bad masters and harsh treatment filled the Editorials of the Sydney
Gazette,’ which eventually triggered an inquiry into the effectiveness of the assignment
23 Sandra Blair, op. cit., pp. 75 & 76. 24 Kercher, op. cit., pp. 7 & 8.
21
system. However Legislative Council members defended the system, as it required a
minimal level of government funding and proved to be effective and reformatory.
Unemployment was not an issue in the new colony as there was plenty of work
available and there was ‘a strong inducement to continue in an honest course of life.’
Hirst found that many proud, free immigrants in Botany Bay society were tempted to
exclude enterprising and major landowning expirees socially. However, they were
careful not to go too far, as ex-convicts were frequently involved with them on business
or on personal levels, and they were sometimes forced to accept monetary loans from
them. He maintained that wealthy expirees who lived respectable lives, were ‘treated
generally as respectable people, and all reference to their past was dropped.’25
By 1827, rather than ‘specials’ or ‘white-collar’ convicts receiving preferential employment which ensured a fairly comfortable lifestyle on reasonable incomes and relative freedom in clerical, accounting, printing, editing and engineering work soon after their arrival, Governor Darling formulated a new policy for them. They were to be:
…banished from the main centres of commerce and influence and made more aware of their status as convicts, by being subjected to a probationary stint of light labour, to enforce a measure of humility and to assess their worthiness for assignment.26
So on a short experimental basis, about forty ‘specials’ were sent to a small, isolated
establishment in the Wellington Valley across the Darling Range, where they were
employed in growing wheat and tending government owned herds of cattle between
1827 and 1830. They only had to undertake light duties, such as using a hoe or pitchfork
to build haystacks during the heat of summer harvesting, so as not to appear idle, while
convict rural workers, labourers, bricklayers and sawyers, performed all the heavy
work. They were expected to cook their own food, collect wood, wash their clothes and
were forced to sleep in the Prisoners’ Barracks in close proximity to lower class
convicts. Superintendent Maxwell did occasionally employ ‘specials’ as personal clerks
and others for keeping store accounts or acting as constables, which released them from
manual labour. However many potential constables were overlooked in favour of
working class convicts, who had developed better leadership or management skills.
27
Despite Frederick Lahrbush’s appeal to the Governor, to be granted a Ticket-of-
Leave and gainful employment in Sydney, the transported forger was exiled to
25 J. B. Hirst, op. cit., pp. 199, 209, 153 & 206. 26 Roberts, op. cit., pp, 11.1, 11.2 & 11.4. 27 Roberts, ibid., pp. 11.11 & 11.12.
22
Wellington Valley by Governor Darling in 1827 for three years. His protest mirrored the
discontent of the majority of frustrated ‘specials’ there. They complained that they ‘had
been left languishing and forgotten on the settlement’ and ‘deliberately withheld’ from
‘the power, wealth and comfort’ attained by other ‘gentlemen’ emancipists, who were
often referred to as ‘Swells’ in Sydney’s environment.28
were placed on a more equal footing with men of lower social standing… not only competing for favour, but being administered and supervised by others whose primary qualification for power was their own ability… (it was) presciently egalitarian.
David Roberts appears to have
found that experiment very interesting, as ‘Specials,’
29
Kercher’s conclusion about the aims of the penal system administrators of
transportation at that stage was obviously well grounded:
Some (British) governments wanted the colony to be a place of deterrence, rather than rehabilitation, while some of the governors they sent, such as Macquarie and Bourke, favoured rehabilitation. So did most of the Judges… (however) convict freedom declined in the 1820s and 1830s under an increasingly centralized empire and the belief that transportation was too easy.30
According to Kercher, there were dramatic changes connected with the law of attaint
and civil rights after Commissioner Bigge had been sent out in 1819 to ‘enquire into the
state of convict discipline’ and to recommend ‘ways to make their discipline more of a
deterrent.’ The first Supreme Court’s Judge, Barron Field, had initially assumed that
‘ticket-of-leave holders and those who received colonial pardons were restored to
complete civil rights,’ when the court commenced operation in New South Wales in
1814. Field changed his mind in 1820 when he put the law of attaint into effect against
Edward Eager, originally an Irish attorney, even though he had been pardoned by
Governor Macquarie. He held that ‘any property acquired during the period of attaint
belonged to the Crown.’ His verdict devastated all the wealthy emancipists at that time,
because it threatened their ownership of fine houses, land, ships and commercial goods.
The right of expiree attorneys such as Eager, to practice law in the colony was
questioned and the validity of the Australian Governor’s pardons operating in Britain,
was of great concern to them. Emancipists who had served their term ‘felt that their
credit, their reputation and their incentives for hard work, had now been destroyed.’
Fortunately for the emancipists, the British Parliament passed an act in 1823 which gave
28 Roberts, ibid., pp. 11.1 & 11.13. 29 Roberts, ibid., pp. 11.15 & 11.16. 30 Kercher, op. cit., p. 21.
23
‘retrospective validation’ to the Australian Governor’s pardons, after they had been
ratified in Britain. However they were only to have effect in the colony and future
pardons had to be approved in Britain before being granted. All convicts in the penal
colony then became subject to the law of attaint, which meant that ticket holders could
not sue, hold property or give evidence. Forbes and his fellow officials continued to
‘require strict proof of conviction and attaint after 1824.’ By 1832 Judges believed they
could not force a convict to reveal their true position on attaint and the second Supreme
Court ruled that attaint only applied to those who had committed a capital felony.
Members of the Supreme Court in the eastern colonies then assumed, that those holding
a Ticket-of-leave could hold property and sue in courts. However, the Imperial
Parliament soon passed an Act which stated that, ‘no transported person was to be
capable of acquiring property or bringing an action in Court to recover property, until a
(Conditional) Pardon was granted.’ Kercher believes that Act would have devastated
white-collar and other convicts who had worked hard to gain property.’ At the same
time, it probably pleased some ‘Exclusives’ who ‘wished the convict stain to be
permanent.’31
Rather than confiscating money brought out illegally by convicts on their transports,
effectively evading the felony of attaint, or spending their earnings before gaining their
Ticket-of-Leave, Governor Gipps decided that their monies should be placed in a
savings bank account opened for them in 1838. They could apply for access to part of it,
if for instance they needed to pay for a lawyer when charged with a crime, but all
convicts’ rights to property were at the Governor’s discretion. The practice of assigning
convicts to private masters before they gained their Tickets was abolished in 1840 and
was replaced by public labour in penal camps and settlements for all convicts. By 1843,
all Ticket-of-Leave holders were legally allowed to hold goods and land leases and
could sue in court to protect them. However if their ticket was revoked for some reason,
all their property was vested in the Crown. It also took twenty-three years of legal
uncertainty before the imperial Parliament finally clarified that convicts had the right to
give evidence in the colony in 1843.
32
The ‘Exclusives,’ a group of would be free settler aristocrats led by John Macarthur,
who was a former army lieutenant and Inspector-General of Public Works, and the
Emancipists (expirees), refused to mix even at the Governor’s table. Officers of the 46
th
31 Kercher, ibid., pp, 8, 9, 20, 11, 10, 13.
32 Kercher, ibid., pp, 14 & 12.
24
Regiment vowed not to mix socially with expirees, even if the Governor commanded
them to, and refused to agree with the terms of a local act passed in 1830, which
allowed expirees to sit in juries during civil cases.33 As far as the government of New
South Wales was concerned, when the Constitutional Act of 1842 initiated a Legislative
Council of thirty-six members, the twenty-four elected councillors had to be reasonably
well off, but the ‘£20 franchise did not discriminate against emancipists being
elected.’34
There appeared to be good opportunities for some white-collar convicts to prove
themselves in the eastern colonies of Australia. After being transported for forgery,
George Howe, the only printer in the colony, soon came under the patronage of
Governor King and was responsible for printing government orders. Using the
government press, he also produced the first newspaper in the colony, the Sydney
Gazette in 1803, the first Australian art book, and the first volume of Australian poetry.
Auchmuty maintained that Howe ‘came out as a convict and re-established himself in
society as a typical eighteenth-century man of reason.’
35 Emancipist Francis Greenway,
transported for the same crime, was appointed as Governor Macquarie’s Civil Architect
and Assistant Engineer by 1816 and was responsible for designing the South Head
Lighthouse, Sydney Harbour, Queen’s Square Courts, the Windsor and Liverpool
Churches and St James, in the centre of Sydney.36
Another forger, Henry Savery, was initially employed as Governor Arthur’s clerk in
Van Diemen’s Land in 1825, before becoming the editor of the Hobart Gazette
newspaper. However he was the subject of an official inquiry from London when his
success story appeared in a paper there. In the first letter from London, British
authorities demanded that he be removed from that position ‘which appears to be
worthier than any convict of education has had.’ Fortunately for Savery the response
from officials at the Hobart end was cautious, so Savery went on to become the author
of Australia’s first novel titled, Quintus Servinton, which means The Bitter Bread of
Banishment in 1830. After gaining his freedom in 1832, Savery committed fraud and
died in the notorious Port Arthur Prison in 1842.
37
33Frank Crowley (ed.), A New History of Australia, 'J. J. Auchmuty /1810-30', pp. 72 & 77.
34 Crowley, ibid.,' Michael Roe, '1830-50', pp. 87 & 90. 35 Auchmuty, ibid, George Howe, p. 22 & Auchmuty, op. cit., pp. 59 & 61. 36 Ibid, Francis Greenway, pp. 59 &64. 37 Brooke and Brandon, op. cit., pp. 114 & 115.
25
No one has attempted the difficult task of calculating how many white-collar
convicts were among the over 152,000 prisoners,38 who were transported to the eastern
colonies, because Kercher found ‘there were problems with convict Indents (records of
their convictions) and sentences of transportation, which were filed in the Colonial
Secretary’s office, as they ‘rarely stated the nature of the crime.’39
Changes in Prison Philosophy.
However the British
convict system had radically changed by the time convicts arrived in Swan River colony
in 1850, with the result that more details were available.
Attitudes to the running of prisons in nineteenth century Britain went through
considerable change. There were significant differences between the prison philosophies
of Major-General Sir Joshua Jebb from 1844 to 1863, Sir Edmund Henderson from
1863 to 1869 and Major-General Du Cane from 1869 to 1895, after they were appointed
as Directors of the Convict Penitentiaries in Britain. Captain Jebb had been seconded
from the Royal Engineers to Britain’s Home Office in 1838, to assist in drawing up new
plans to initiate a first stage of ‘separate confinement,’ under which ‘prisoners would be
subjected to a regime of instruction and employment,’ following current penal
philosophy in America, Germany, Belgium, Prussia, Sweden and Norway at that time.
Consequently, Parkhurst Boy’s Prison was completed that year, Pentonville Penitentiary
opened in 1842 and Public Works penitentiaries such as Portland was opened in 1848,
Portsmouth and Dartmoor in 1850 and Chatham in 1856.
When Jebb was asked to work out the practical details to introduce the new scheme,
after his appointment as Surveyor-General of Prisons in 1844, he rejected setting a fixed
term of separate confinement. He rather proposed that the duration of each convict’s
confinement should be flexible and decided ‘by the character and attainments of the
individual and his ability to bear the confinement.’ Although the initial period of
solitary confinement was set at eighteen months, Jebb believed that the average length
of time at that stage should be twelve months, but as little as six would suffice for those
requiring little moral improvement. In regards to the second stage in a public works
prison, he maintained they should still be separated at times when they were not
working. As a ‘stimulus to industry, good conduct and moral improvement,’ they could
‘earn marks and allowances varying from 3d to 9d per week to spend on luxuries’ such
38 Ibid., pp. 13 & 133. 39 Kercher, op. cit.., p. 10.
26
as ‘tea, coffee, cheese, fruit, or even a small quantity of porter,’ or ‘their money could
be saved and credited to them upon their discharge.’40
Jebb believed that offenders’ characters could be reformed and they would be
received into society after release. If prison officers took a positive approach, led by
good example, performed their duties conscientiously without harshness and tried to
inculcate truth and integrity, they would excite the prisoners’ feelings of respect and
confidence in them. If prisoners were placed in small groups of eight to ten, in which
they worked, ate and received instruction together under their officer’s supervision, he
believed they would cultivate the necessary social virtues. However prison authorities,
politicians and the public demanded that ‘primacy be given to security and deterrence’
after ‘The Report of the Penal Servitude Acts Commission’ in 1863.
41
Alison Brown claimed that the shift from Jebb’s humane and moderate penal ideas
towards a much more deterrent penal policy during the late 1850s and early 1860s, was
influenced by two major prison disturbances. The first was at Portland Penitentiary
where over 300 prisoners went on strike and refused to work in 1858. The second was
the more serious and famous Chatham mutiny in January 1861, when the troops had to
be called in. Apparently thirty-five ringleaders gained possession of the cell keys,
released all the prisoners and encouraged up to 850 convicts to riot and create ‘terrible
havoc’ after taking over the interior of the prison, according to an anonymous article
placed in the Cornhill Magazine in 1863. Both authors of the article, blamed the
disturbances on ‘corrupt prison warders,’ referred to as ‘right screws’ by the prisoners,
as they were ‘trafficking for the prisoners at extortionate rates or keeping the money
received from friends and relatives of the prisoners,’ which made the convicts
‘desperate.’
42
The forty-eight leaders involved in the Chatham riots were each flogged with three
dozen lashes of the harsher military cat-o’-nine-tails and Sir Joshua Jebb was personally
subjected to a hostile press campaign, accusing him of being misguided and too lenient
on Convicts.
43
40 Leon Radzinowicz & Roger Hood, ‘The Emergence of Penal Policy,’ A History of English Criminal Law and Its Administration from 1750, op. cit., pp. 490-493.
41 Ibid., pp. 494 - 497, 42 Anonymous, (James Roe)‘Revelations of Prison life,’ The Cornhill Magazine, 7, (January –June 1863), p. 644. Also in Alyson Brown, English Society and the Prison: Time, Culture and Politics in the Development of the Modern Prison, 1850-1920, Boydell Press, Suffolk, U. K. pp. 46, 51 & 53. 43 Brown, ibid., p. 35.
27
Just over a month later, The Chatham News writers were unsympathetic to prisoners
and labelled the:
…convict prison system (was)lax in discipline and over generous in diet, especially in the provision of meat… (They) asserted that prison conditions compared favourably with the workhouses, the military and with the standard of living of ordinary labourers. Certainly the people in this locality feel indignant that such unworthy objects should be so well treated, and they think that the too good treatment has rendered the convicts rebellious.44
Colonel Edmund Henderson of the Royal Engineers took over as Surveyor-General
of Prisons after Jebb died in 1863. Edmund DuCane was invited by Henderson to
become one of his Directors that year, as ‘they shared a similar outlook and were linked
by strong ties of friendship.’
45 Evidently while Henderson had been Comptroller-
General of Convicts in Western Australia for thirteen years, DuCane had served under
him for five years as Superintendent of the Convict Public Works. Henderson and the
Directors of the Convict Prisons believed ‘that penal servitude will become, as it ought
to do, the last and most dreaded result of heinous offences against life and property,
short of capital punishment,’ by 1865. The year after transportation to Swan River
Colony ceased in 1869, the Chairman of the Directors of Convict Prison, Major General
Sir Edmund DuCane’s priorities and philosophies were extended, due to ‘the prevailing
pessimistic social attitudes towards criminality,’ and ‘public and parliamentary pressure
for a more deterrent prison regime.’46
Prison Experiences in Britain.
Anonymously written articles, including two by the middle-aged sample group
forger, Reverend James Roe and one each by the ‘Ticket-Of-Leave-Man,’ ‘One-Who-
Has-Endured-It and ‘One Who-Has-Tried-It,’ recounted their prison experiences and
their feelings about the penal system in Britain. Roe recalled his discretionary treatment
by police and his feelings upon his arrest, after being led to a room lined with benches at
the Bow Street Police Station:
… as you are a “respectable” man, the policeman in charge of you, belonging as he will probably do, to the upper grades of the service, will no doubt have the good taste to “treat you as a gentleman,” and you will not be thrust in among the roughs.
44 Chatham News, Brown, ibid., p. 49. 45 ‘Radzinowicz and Hood, Vol. 5, op. cit.., p. 527. 46 Alyson Brown, op. cit., p. 85.
28
During the ‘terrible hours’ while awaiting his solicitor’s arrival at Bow Street Police
station, Roe experienced:
…. an indescribable mixture of feelings arising at once from dread of the scene in which you are about to appear… the misery of those that love you… almost complete isolation from your friends… The first few hours of your incarceration are, of course the worst…You fear…. that you may not have the assistance of your solicitor.
During his first examination before a magistrate in a little courtroom there, while the
prosecutor detailed his crime, Roe remembered how, ‘You stand aghast at the picture of
your guilt as they paint it.’ After being taken to the Clerkenwell House of Detention in a
Black Maria’s dark, cramped compartment, he was required to stand with other
prisoners round the walls of the exercise yard, while ‘recognizing officers’ tried to sort
the ‘new chums’ from old offenders. He had his clothes and carpet bag searched, before
being locked up in a cell. While he admitted that his cell was ‘certainly a very different
place to the comfortable rooms’ to which he had been accustomed, the warder made
him ‘as comfortable as he could,’ took his ‘orders for dinner,’ for which he would have
paid, and ‘even found me books for amusement.’ It was evidently a clean and quiet cell,
which had a ‘roomy hammock’ and ‘a good jet of gas,’ so he was able to ‘sleep or read
or write.’47
While ‘One-Who-Has-Tried-Them’ was on remand, he was sent to a county prison
for three weeks prior to his trial, where he paid for a ‘larger room with windows, with a
fireplace and a small washroom nearby.’ It was situated over the prison Governor’s
office, which was ‘outside the prison proper.’ He paid another prisoner to clean his
room for 6d a day, and could order in food supplies such meat, potatoes and vegetables
and two pints of beer or stout each day for 2/3d, through his warder. As he had a kettle
and a saucepan, he cooked three eggs and a cup of tea for breakfast every morning. He
was allowed to exercise alone for ¼ hour and obtained ½ oz of tobacco daily from the
doctor. Though he reported that one ex-marine warder was a ‘bit rough and not well
educated’, he became ‘firm friends with the miller warder’ who was in charge of the
treadmill used to grind the wheat. He found the Chaplain was a ‘kindly, earnest’ old
man, and he was allowed to have ‘books brought in' from his own private library.
48
47 Anonymous ( James Roe), ‘A Letter from a Convict in Australia,' op. cit. pp. 490-491. See Leon Radzinowicz and Roger Hood, A History of English Law, vol. 5, op. cit., p. 535, in footnote No. 26, where they attribute the writing of that article to James Roe.
48 ‘One-Who-Has-Tried-Them, op. cit.. pp. 20, 34- 42, 54, 62, 66, 67.
29
Like other prisoners, Roe could see his solicitor at any time and also communicate
privately with his family and friends through a perforated plate in his cell door from
11.30am to 1pm. However he complained about lack of privacy, after all his ‘in and out
correspondence’ was read by a principal prison officer. Roe advised his white-collar
readers who were committed for trial, to transfer their property while on remand to
evade the Law of Attaint, and also to employ an attorney, so their trial would be brought
on as soon as possible. When the prosecution had all the evidence it required, Roe was
admitted to Newgate prior to his trial. Although the front entrance reminded him of the
unpleasant dungeon days, he appeared to be impressed with its new modern interior, but
he admitted that the deadly silence and lines of closed doors was depressing. After a
night in a dark cell underground, he was placed into a more comfortable lighter cell,
measuring about 10 foot by 6 foot, with a black floor, white walls, a small table, a wash
stand in the corner, a corrugated glass window, a hammock and bedclothes and a plate
and spoon for meals. 49
According to 'One-Who-Has-Endured-It,' who was also in Newgate, the separate
cells had their own lavatory up to the 1870s. The water closet and seat was in one
corner, near a copper wash basin which was fastened to the wall with a tap over it.
However another prisoner found that flushing was a problem, because it went through
‘the same discharge pipe as the hand basin close by,’ probably fouling the air in the
cell.
50
To gain some idea of how white-collar convicts in this thesis viewed their prison
experiences, Roe maintained that he felt suffocated and longed for chapel time where he
‘sat near an open window,’ in comparison with the small window opening in his cell.
He objected to having to polish his floor and brass basin, scrubbing the table, folding up
his hammock and bedclothes and arranging every thing precisely, probably because
those tasks were usually allocated to servants among the middle-classes. He also hated
having to shout to make himself heard while speaking to friends who could visit three
days a week, and found it painful the way visitors were placed in a large iron cage about
two feet away from him. However, he praised the quality of the porridge for breakfast
and soup or meat for tea on alternate days, maintaining that they were well cooked and
he was served a sufficient amount. Roe felt that the exercise, medical attendance and
49 Roe, ‘A Letter from a Convict in Australia,’ op. cit., pp. 492 - 493. 50 One-Who-Has-Endured-It, op. cit., also Philip Priestley, Victorian Prison Lives, op. cit., p. 33.
30
religious advice offered were good and he remembered the warder officers of Newgate
with respect and gratitude.51
Prior to his court appearance, Roe was doubtful about getting a fair trial, due to the
number of prisoners to be tried, time constraints for the Judge who had the Assizes
straight afterwards, and also his Judge’s reputation, as some were very testy, prejudiced,
enjoyed cutting down prisoners, or were unduly severe. During his trial he complained
that some witnesses committed perjury, some counsels exaggerated, there was exclusion
of evidence which should have been admitted and vice versa, misconstruction of
innocent acts and omission of things you wished to hear and admission of things you
dreaded. He recalled suffering terrible suspense while the jury was consulting, prior to
pronouncing him “Guilty.”
52 Doubtless some readers will conclude that Roe deserved
his sentence of ten years, as he over reacted by forging a money order for £6,000,53
You are persons of education, so far indeed, as can apply that term to persons of mere intellectual training, without corresponding development of the moral sense. You, who now ask for mercy, and who are not restrained by respect for law and honesty, must be met with a terrible retribution: and it should be well known that persons, who commit crimes which only persons of education sometimes commit, will be sure to meet with a very heavy punishment. The sentence is that each of you be kept in penal servitude for life.
when he was supposed to inherit only £500 from his uncle’s estate. Some of the legal
fraternity’s attitude against white-collar offenders was certainly apparent in Justice
Archibald’s sarcastic comments while sentencing four notorious forgers, after they
defrauded the Bank of England of £100,405/7/6 in 1873:
54
The thought of being hidden from public scrutiny in a separate confinement, was
probably a blessing for some white-collar offenders, after their trials had been
publicized in The Times or local newspapers. During the journey to Millbank by
omnibus, Roe enjoyed being in broad daylight again and talking freely to other
prisoners.
55 He was probably reluctant to surrender his personal toiletries, such as a
toothbrush, nail brush, handkerchief, purse, pen, watch and chain, to the warder at the
reception desk.56
51 Roe, ‘Letter from a Convict in Australia,’ op. cit., pp. 492- 494.
After the surgeon’s examination, he found his body search by the
52 Roe, ibid., p. 494. 53 James Roe, ‘Extraordinary Case,’ The Times, Thursday 22 August 1861, p. 9, columns a & b & Friday, 23 August 1961, p. 9, col. d. 54 George Dilnot, The Bank of England Forgery, London, Geoffrey Bliss, p. 273 in Philip Priestley, Victorian Prison Lives, op. cit.., p. 17. 55 Roe, 'Letter from a Convict in Australia,' op. cit., p. 494. 56 Priestley, op. cit., p. 18.
31
rough and grumpy warders on stripping for a bath, was ‘disgusting.’ 57 He would then
have donned the uniform of a vest covered by a short, loose jacket and baggy tweed
knickerbockers, which featured the black broad arrow, and he was probably dismayed
when he discovered that his clothing failed to include flannel undergarments.58 Next he
would have been weighed, measured and undergone a full medical examination, the
purpose of which was to determine whether he was fit for hard or light labour, the
hospital or an observation cell.59 Roe would have been hardly recognizable, once his
hair was cut to the scalp and his beard and his whiskers had received the same
treatment. However, even though he would have been referred to by the number on his
uniform by the warders,60
Roe considered that Millbank was a rough type of prison, in the areas of discipline
and prison arrangements, where everyone and their actions were loud, indecent and
rough. Apart from those complaints, he found the cells were the best he had ever seen,
with good sized, clear glass windows, opening wide to let in fresh air and light. The
silent system was not strictly enforced and daily exercise was walking around in large
circles, spaced about five or six yards apart, or taking a turn at a many-handled pump.
There was daily chapel and visits by the chaplain or scripture reader and he would have
been exempt from schooling. Apart from the excellent bread, he reported that the beef
was very tough and the gruel was badly made. He complained that he needed to be an
acrobat to get into his hammock, but reported that the chapel was large, the chaplains
were popular and the singing tolerable.
the criminal reputation of 'toffs' or gentlemen prisoners
apparently spread quickly among other prisoners, making it difficult for them to remain
incognito for long.
61
According to 'One-Who-Has-Endured-It,' Edward Callow, the assistant schoolmaster
at Millbank used a bible, prayer book, hymn book and a volume of Leisure Hour, to test
his educational level. Then he was asked to write out a few verses of a psalm from the
bible on his slate. After concluding that he needed no instruction, he was allowed to
read, or write letters for less literate convicts during school hours. Rules for letter
writing included ‘writing only on ruled lines, not writing across them the other way and
no information regarding other prisoners, prison news or improper language.’ All letters
were examined by the Deputy Governor, who struck out any infringements and were
57 Roe, ibid., p. 495. 58 One-Who-Has-Endured-It, op. cit., p. 68. 59 Priestley, op. cit., p. 22. 60 Priestley, ibid., p. 22, 23. 61 Roe, ‘A Letter from a Convict in Australia,’ ibid., pp. 494-496.
32
then initialled by the Chaplain, which was probably regarded by white-collar prisoners
as an invasion of their privacy. 62
On his next journey to Pentonville for nine months of separate confinement, Roe
received a good report on the place from his companions. However on arrival, he found
that his cell had no windows and it was smaller than those in Millbank. Although he
found that it was ‘a strict prison,’ he approved of ‘the pervading spirit of quietness,
regularity and good sense,’ where ‘all is done kindly, sensibly and well,’ so ‘your
condition is in every respect improved.’ While at Pentonville, there was a longer period
of time ‘for the high grade of officers to make their kindness felt,’ and the food
contractors, being ‘obliged to faithfully fulfil their contracts,’ meant ‘all is well cooked.’
As a ‘model’ prison, Roe argued that it represented the system ‘as faithfully and
favourably as could be desired.’
63
However in Terence and Pauline Morris’s sociological study of Pentonville Prison in
1973, they found that a prisoner of ‘superior intelligence and education … tended to be
a social isolate.’ Significantly, one educated lonely prisoner wrote:
A cultured person on entering prison finds he is quite up against it. For instance he has to mix with people who absolutely go against his own ways and manners, therefore he is being punished quite hard by having to try and adapt himself to other people’s ways, ways that are not very nice, but what is nice in prison? What is culture in here? 64
There appears to have been easy billets for educated prisoners in British Public
Works penitentiaries. After relinquishing his Master Tailor’s job,
65
62 Anonymous (Edward Callow), ‘Five Years Penal Servitude: By One-Who-Has-Endured-It,’ in Crime and Punishment in England 1850-1902, Edited by Martin J. Weiner, op. cit., pp. 97-99.
Edward Callow or
‘One-Who-has-Endured-It,’ was appointed Assistant to the Clerk of Works at Dartmoor
penitentiary in the 1860s, because he was familiar with the tasks of accounting,
bookkeeping, drawing plans and checking calculations by engineers and builders. He
was also in charge of stores and took written orders for supplies in his comfortable
small office, which contained a stove for winter. He maintained that he ‘was not treated
like a prisoner… was treated like a brother official…had access to a newspaper
daily…worked on new building plans’ (and) ‘could roam anywhere alone’ throughout
the prison. As he was responsible for deciding which officers’ quarters were to be
refurbished, and assisted some warders with their record keeping, he relished the fact
63 Roe, 'A Letter from a Convict in Australia,' op. cit., p. 496. 64 Terence Morris and Pauline Morris, Pentonville: A Sociological Study of an English Prison, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1963, p. 225. 65 Edward Callow or ‘One-Who-Has-Endured-It, op. cit., pp. 304 & 305.
33
that he regained some ‘power…(was) very civilly treated,’ and he firmly believed he
held ‘the best (convict) position in the prison.’66
‘Ticket-of-Leave-Man,’ alias George Bidwell, who was sentenced in 1873, detailed
the advantages gained by William Roupell, a former Member of the British Parliament
who was imprisoned for forgery. Instead of hard labour, Roupell became Head Nurse of
the ‘Portland’ Infirmary and was given the same luxurious diet of fish, poultry, game,
fruit and port wine as sick prisoners received. He received ‘a nice little piece of garden,’
in the Infirmary grounds, where ‘he was allowed to build a summer house and grotto
where he tended flowers,’ had access to newspapers and his correspondence was
unlimited. Evidently Bidwell made ‘a great display of piety, stood high in the
Chaplain’s good graces and was ‘hail fellow well met with Governors and patronised
schoolmasters and principal warders.’
67 ‘One-Who-Has-Tried-Them,’ who was
supposed to undergo a sentence of twelve months of ‘hard labour’68 at ‘Millbank
Prison’ in the late 1870s, was also placed ‘in a position of trust’ as ‘a clerk in a fair
sized room opposite the (Prison) Governor and Clerks offices.’ He completed an
alphabetical list of prisoners sent there for the last twenty years, wrote up the daily
labour book, balanced the weekly provisions and extra diet books and arranged all
commitments to new rules and regulations over the previous four years.69
We are able to gain some impressions about life in Public Works penitentiaries from
Roe, and apparently what he had heard via the grapevine proved to be true. At
Portsmouth, he found his tiny, cramped, corrugated iron clad cell was dark, windowless
and only 7 by 4 foot by 6 foot high. It was painted in a drab colour and had a 12 by 4
inch darkened observation pane in the door, which was horrible for the prisoner inside.
After awakening, they had only a few moments rest for reading, thinking or praying,
before rushing off to work. There were limited means of cleaning their cell and they had
to work fast and swallow down their cup of cocoa in sweat and dirt before chapel, after
which they rushed to the closets. While working hard in the dockyards, Roe complained
that they failed to achieve anything, as all they did was to move iron and timber
backwards and forwards, just to give them something to do. They also cleaned the sides
of vessels and cleaned out the docks for coaling, during which many convicts were
maimed. Then they returned to the prison for a dinner of boiled beef or mutton and a
66 One-Who- Has-Endured-It, (Edward Callow), ibid, pp. 336-415. 67 Ticket-of-Leave- Man (George Bidwell), op. cit., pp. 90-94. 68 One-Who-Has-Tried-Them, Her Majesty’s Prisons, op. cit., pp. 201& 202. 69 Ibid., pp. 178 & 179.
34
vegetable which was mixed together in dirty tins. After an hour's rest, parade and their
clothing being searched by prison guards, they filed back to work. They were searched
again after work, prior to changing their work smock and boots for a jacket and shoes
for chapel, where he complained, ‘Men who have been hard at work during the day are
in no condition, mental or physical, for joining in a holy service.’
After chapel they had gruel in their cells and were rostered for cleaning the landings
and presumably the toilets and bathing facilities, working in ‘sweat and noise’ until ten
minutes prior to bedtime. Roe complained that his sleep was broken for many weeks by
the sounds of the warders and loud rows and noises from his next door neighbours,
which resonated through the iron box cells, forcing him to rationalise ‘as morning draws
on, you are in the midst of a great cesspool. I speak strongly, but with truth.’ Though
Roe found that the Governor of Portsmouth and his principal assistants acted fairly and
kindly, he soon realized they had no power to modify the system. He had enjoyed
relaxing out of doors and talking with friends on Sundays, but before he left for the
Swan River colony in early October 1862, they were even deprived of that pleasure. It
was replaced by a service in the chapel and marching round the yard, probably resulting
from the tougher philosophy gradually infiltrating through the penal system. However,
he rationalized the situation for his readers by stating:
Things will become more tolerable every day… you will become almost indifferent … (but) you will deteriorate….if I had stayed there, I would lose all power of abstraction, together with the mental habits of any use to me, and that I would become as completely brutalized as it was possible for an educated, temperate man to be.70
This chapter has covered the origins and escalation of white-collar crime in Britain
and provided an historical overview of the transportation of white-collar convicts to
North America and the West Indies and then to New South Wales. It discussed the
opportunities for educated convicts in New South Wales many of whom were engaged
as government clerks and schoolmasters or became emancipist merchants. It also
included an examination of changes in prison philosophy in Britain and the resulting
changing conditions in British prisons during the early nineteenth century, ranging from
the experience of educated convicts who were placed on short-term sentences in
clerical, nursing or other duties in public works penitentiaries, and those prisons where
the effect of the harsher prison philosophy on white-collar prisoners was apparent by the
early 1860s.
70 Roe, 'A Letter from a Convict in Australia,' ibid., pp. 497-500.
35
CHAPTER 2. Swan River Colony Settlers For and Against Convict Arrivals and Some Experiences of Sample Group Members on their Transports.
After briefly examining the reasons for the introduction of convicts to Western
Australia and the types of skills required in the colony, this chapter then moves on to
discuss the voyages to Western Australia, as experienced by some white-collar
transportees between 1850 and 1868. The age and type of transport, factors reducing
voyage time, structural changes for larger convict numbers, sleeping and eating
arrangements, everyday chores and food rations will be explored. Incentives for good
behaviour, entertainment, schooling, stormy conditions causing sickness, as well as
advice to educated prisoners on how to cope with life on board, will also feature.
The Decision to Introduce Convicts.
After the settlement of the Swan River Colony in 1829, the early settlers soon found
that they had an inadequate labour force and consequently faced severe economic
difficulties. Writers for the Fremantle Observer alluded to the need for convicts as early
as 1831,1 followed by a petition signed by sixteen people from Albany, published in the
Perth Gazette in 1834.2
At a public meeting held several years ago, the question was mooted, whether any application should be made to the government that convicts should be sent here; but the feeling was almost universal, that as it was one of the original conditions upon which this colony was established, “that no convicts should be transported to it,” it would be a breach of faith to introduce them here now.
However in 1839, Ogle noted that:
3
While analysing the colony’s labour needs for the private non- rural sector,
merchants and retailers, as well as agriculturalists and pastoralists from the mid to late
1840s, Pamela Statham concluded that ‘the availability of labour at Swan River in fact
differed considerably between major occupational groups and specific locations.’ In the
private non-rural sector, she found that apart from merchants and retailers, those who
were engaged in urban activities such as labourers, artisans, tradesmen, self-employed
individuals including millers, tanners and those employed in salt works, timber yards,
lime kilns, candle and soap works, in building or boat building enterprises and in the
large tertiary sector including doctors, lawyers, teachers, innkeepers, clerics, boatmen
1 Leonie Poole, ‘Convicts in Western Australia: Some Myths Exploded,’ Social Sciences Forum, Vol. 5, No. 1, July 1978, re quote in the Fremantle Observer, 23 May 1831, p. 20. 2 Poole, Petition from Albany, Perth Gazette, 1834, ibid., p. 20. 3 Nathaniel Ogle, The Colony of Western Australia: A Manual for Emigrants, James Fraser, London, 1839, p. 133.
36
and so on, ‘the demand for labour in this sector…was certainly not sufficiently high
after 1848, for employers to agitate for convict labour.'4
However Statham argued that merchants and retailers were powerful advocates for
transportation. They would benefit from more regular shipping, the ability to import
cheaper supplies for colonists, and the increased market for food and other items needed
by the Commissariat, as well as from the public works undertaken by the convicts, such
as docks, roads and bridge building. Many merchants possessed good trade and family
contacts in London for lobbying purposes, typified by Lionel Samson’s silent partner,
his brother Louis Samson in London, who organised a petition signed by ‘friends of
Western Australia’ in 1849. It was addressed to the Colonial Office and recommended
that the colony be made a penal settlement, so the necessary public works could be
completed.
5
As far as some agriculturalists were concerned, they reasoned they would benefit
from a larger market for their grain produce, and the available assigned convict labour
in the Perth area would increase their output, as well as lower the cost of production. If
the construction of public works also included warehousing, that would aid their export
industry. However other agriculturalists were more concerned that the maintenance of
convicts and the number of guards required to supervise them, would be borne by
colonial revenue. They also reasoned that a substantial amount of money gained from
the sale of Crown land, would have to go towards supporting a large police force.
6
Negative press reports about the New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land’s
depression in the 1840s had proved that a large convict establishment which was
supported financially by the British treasury was no guarantee of financial prosperity, as
price levels could fall below the cost of production, and the British Government could
import grain from elsewhere. There was also a shortage of land close to Perth as ‘almost
all the fertile land in the Perthshire region was under cultivation by 1849,’ which meant
increased transport costs. Many agriculturalists questioned the benefits of assigned
labour, as there had been no real shortage since the sandalwood industry had waned in
1848, causing wages to drop and resulting in some labourers moving to South Australia.
However the agriculturalists from the York area gradually came round to the view, that
convict labour was essential to their prosperity.
4 Pamela Statham, ‘Why Convicts 1: An Economic Analysis of Colonial Attitudes to the Introduction of Convicts,’ Studies in Western Australian History: Convictism in Western Australia, Department of History, U. W. A. Press, 1981, pp. 1-3. 5 Ibid., pp, 3 & 4. 6 Ibid., p 4.
37
The prospect for farming families being brought into contact with convicts on their
properties, led to concern about the ‘positive evils of the convict system experienced in
the eastern states.’ The only benefit the agriculturalists could find was the construction
of public works, however they believed that other means of supplying labour would be
preferable.7
Although the pastoralists provided a major source of export income derived from
sheep’s wool, Statham found that from 1845 their profits had begun to decline due to
higher labour costs, initially caused by labourers moving into the profitable sandalwood
industry. When the latter industry waned in 1848, the labourers’ preference appeared to
be employment in the Perth area, which deprived country pastoralists of their workers.
8
Seven of the colony's leading civil servants, however, were against the introduction
of convicts. When William Stanhope Stockley, an East India Company merchant,
initially petitioned the colony’s Legislative Council for convicts through the York
Agricultural Society in 1844, it was shelved by Governor Hutt and his Legislative
Councillors. The signatories against convicts included Frederick Irwin, an agriculturalist
in the Swan and Avon districts; Thomas Brown, an agriculturalist and pastoralist on
leased land in York and John Septimus Roe, the colony’s Surveyor General from 1829
to 1870, who was a member of the Legislative Council and the Director of Western
Australian Bank. Also, George Fletcher Moore, a lawyer, Advocate General between
1834 and 1846 and a farmer on 12000 acres in the Avon district, George Leake, a
merchant and F. C. Singleton, an agriculturalist.
Hence many pastoralists, whose land was further away from Perth and Fremantle, were
in agreement with transportation of convicts to the colony.
9
…no dearth of labour can be so extreme as to call for, or warrant, our having recourse to such a hazardous expedient for a supply of labour which accompany the presence of a convict population…of introducing such a moral pestilence amongst them…six out of eight members of the Council…take this opportunity of recording in the strongest terms then, their repugnance to the measure.
Those settlers advised the Home
Office that,
10
Frederick Irwin, who was Western Australia’s Acting Lieutenant Governor from
1832 to 1833 and again between February 1847 and August 1848, was initially opposed
7 Statham, of the colony's ibid., pp. 3, 5 & 6. 8 Ibid., pp. 6 & 7. 9 Pamela Statham, ‘Why Convicts II: The Decision to Introduce Convicts to the Swan River,’ Studies in Western Australian. History: Convictism in Western Australia, Department of History, U. W. A., 1981, p. 11. 10 Poole, op. cit., p. 20.
38
to the introduction of convicts and he used his casting votes in Council for that
purpose.11 However due to labour shortages, he facilitated two schemes whereby York
Agricultural Society members obtained two hundred and thirty four juvenile convicts
from Parkhurst between 1842 and 1849,12 as well as twenty Chinese coolies and
servants in 1847 and sixty-nine Chinese labourers, also from Singapore, in 1848.13
In December 1846, London officials refused another request from members of the
York Agricultural Society, for forty well-behaved first offender convicts from
Pentonville penitentiary for public works. The members maintained they could be
removed from the colony when their sentence expired and ‘funds for their maintenance
and management was to be furnished wholly or in part by the British Treasury.’ Four
months later after numerous meetings, ‘a strongly worded memorial for the introduction
of convicts was presented to Western Australia’s Legislative Council in April 1847, but
was only signed by 22 pastoralists out of 160 current members.
14 The negative attitude
of the Legislative Council changed later in 1847, when incoming pastoralists, Thomas
Yule, who had been granted 29,000 acres in Toodyay, Canning and Swan districts,
Edmund Barrett-Lennard, the manager of his uncle Edward Pomeroy Barrett-Lennard’s
“St Aubyns” property on the Avon River during the 1840s, and Revett Bland who was
granted land in York, argued that employment of convict labour was essential. They
believed it was necessary for the production of wool to be profitable, while they were
facing lower wool prices and rising transport costs.15
A National system of emigration (from Britain) should be established…(and) a gang of convicts to be sent to be employed in Public Works in Western Australia, to be maintained partly by the mother country and partly by a loan secured on the Colonial revenue at low interest. Convicts were to be removed as their sentences expire.
Acting Governor Irwin was then
forced to start negotiating with the London Colonial Office for a supply of labour, prior
to Governor Fitzgerald’s arrival in August 1848. A recommendation by his committee
of Legislative Councillors, which arrived in London in August 1848, suggested an
alternative way of supplying labourers to the colony, was:
16
11 Pamela Statham, ‘Why Convicts 1,’ op. cit., p.11.
12 W. B. Kimberly, History of Western Australia: A Narrative of her Past: Together with Biographies of Her Leading Men, Melbourne, Australia Niven & Co., 1897, p. 153. 13 Poole, op. cit., p.19. 14 Poole, op. cit., Colonial Office, 18/50, London, 15. 12. 1846, p. 21. 15 Statham, ‘Why Convicts 11,’ op. cit., p. 12. 16 Poole, ibid., quoted C. O. 18/47, No. 24, Perth, 27. 2. 1848, p. 23.
39
However at that stage the Colonial Office rejected both suggestions. After his arrival
in August 1848, Governor Fitzgerald sent a circular to all resident magistrates at the
request of Lord Grey in Britain, asking for their views on introducing Pentonville
prisoners into the colony. Although the colonists refused to accept those with life
sentences, they appeared to be willing to accept seventy married and thirty single
convicts. Their preferences were for blacksmiths, wheelwrights, shoemakers, coopers
and labourers from rural districts, with Governor Fitzgerald given the power to assign
them.17
According to Kimberly in January 1849, landowners from the Avon Valley
despatched a letter to the Sheriff Gerald Stone, pleading for convicts and requesting a
meeting of residents of the whole colony. Those land holders included Lionel Samson, a
merchant, a member of the Legislative Council from 1849 to 1856, and owner of 2000
acres in the Murray district; William Burges, an Upper Swan pastoralist with 8053
acres; Robert Mace Habgood from the Public Works Board who owned 5280 acres in
Northam; and George Munro Whitfield, a farmer and pastoralist at Toodyay from 1840
to the 1880s. It was also signed by William Wigmore Hoops, a farmer in partnership
with William and Lockier Burges in York; Robert Stewart, who farmed a small acreage
in Kelmscott; William Horatio Sholl, the Colonial Surgeon at Fremantle and landowner
in Helena Valley; and Anthony O’Grady Lefroy, a pastoralist at “Walebing” on the
Victoria Plains. In addition, the names of several business men such as Julian George
Carr, a merchant and proprietor of the Freemasons Hotel in Perth; Henry Thomas
Devenish, a brewer, baker and innkeeper in Guildford; James Stokes, the proprietor of
the Stanley Brewery in Perth and owner of 210 acres south of Monger’s Lake; and
Patrick Marmion, the ‘Emerald Isle’ innkeeper at Fremantle. All of these free settlers
pleaded:
We…beg you will call at your earliest convenience, a meeting of the whole colony for the purpose of taking into account the general prospects of the colony, its resources and want of labour to develop them; and to request Her Majesty’s Government to adopt the only means which we can conceive calculated to save the Province from abandonment, viz., by making it at once a penal settlement with the requisite Government expenditure.18
According to Poole, the ‘Monster Address,’ as it became known, was later read out
to His Excellency Governor Fitzgerald at the meeting in Perth on 16 February 1849.
17 Poole, ibid., C.O.18/48, No. 20, Perth, 24.10.1848, p. 23. 18 W. B. Kimberly, Free Settlers' Petition for Convicts, 27 January 1849, op. cit., p. 153.
40
Consequently some two hundred settlers at the meeting voted that an:
Application be made at once to Her Majesty’s Government to erect the colony into a regular Penal Settlement, the whole cost of the transmission and supervision of all such convicts as may be transported hither, to be borne by the Home Government.19
Statham’s opinion about the power of the pastoralists appears to be true. They were
an influential lobby group, included the wealthiest men in the colony, had the power to
influence local decision making, due to their leadership in the community, membership
of the Legislative Council and contacts through family and friends in London, who had
access to British Government officials and politicians.
20 Proving Statham’s last point,
Henry Ommaney, a pastoralist who owned several large flocks of sheep on his grant of
2,560 acres and who had previously held the position of Civil Administrator and
Assistant Surveyor in the Bunbury area prior to returning to Britain, wrote a letter to the
Secretary of State for Colonies from Charing village in Kent, on 20 March 1849. He
gave a very pessimistic account of the colony’s prospects, highlighted its lack of public
works and prohibitive internal transport costs, concluding with, ‘All connected with
local government concur, that convicts are absolutely necessary to prevent utter ruin.’21
According to Gertzel, when the British Secretary of State, Earl Grey, wrote to
Governor Fitzgerald from London in October 1849, he advised that:
…it had been decided to send to Western Australia between 100 and 150 convicts to be employed on public works in the colony … (balanced by) an equal number of free emigrants on assisted passage to Australia. It was proposed that each convict transported to Western Australia, would be required to pay part of his passage money… Those transported…were all to be under 45 years of age and in good health. They were all to be long sentence men with at least half their sentence still to be served. Those chosen also had to have a good conduct record for the latter part of their confinement in the English Prisons.22
Discussions with the Colonial Secretary continued for many months, before the
British Government finally agreed to defray the entire expense of the convict
establishment in the colony. A sum would be set aside annually for promoting free
emigration (preferably young, single females) to ensure no imbalance between the
convict and free population, and that only male convicts would be transported.
23
19 W. B. Kimberly, op. cit., pp. 152-153.
What
is interesting is, that at no stage was there any mention of the need for white-collar
20 Pamela Statham, ‘Why Convicts 1,’ op. cit., p. 8. 21 Kimberley, ibid., p. 8. 22 Cherry Gertzel, op. cit., pp. 4 & 5. 23 Statham, ‘Why Convicts II', op. cit., p. 17.
41
convicts’ skills, however a few belonging to that category arrived on each transport to
the Swan River Colony, suggesting that some free settlers in the colony required their
clerical skills.
Ten years after the free settlers’ arrival, in a manual designed to attract settlers,
Nathaniel Ogle enthusiastically promoted the superiority of the Swan River Colony
settlers.
The superior class of colonists, who leave their fatherland to dwell in a new country, are usually persons of energy, activity and decision: those qualities properly directed and under the restraint of religion and laws, constitute the most useful practical characters…In point of society the settlement of Western Australia stands pre-eminent. (the families are) well born and well educated and many of them of rank in the army and navy. The elegancies of life are sedulously cultivated by them, and constitute a distinguished feature in their intercourse. With taste and judgment, they have formed associations corresponding with similar establishments in their native country…24
Leonie Poole’s straight forward assessment of the first free settlers was:
…the greater majority of the early settlers were highly respectable and independent persons, being moneyed gentle folk, practical farmers, professional men, tradesmen and naval and military men.’25
It was these 250 or so investors, according to C. T. Stannage:
… who took out land grants in the first decade of settlement, shaped the physical contours of town and rural development and established the colony’s moral, social, spiritual and legal characteristics…for subsequent generations of Westralians of all classes.26
Despite support for the introduction of convicts to the Swan River Colony from the
merchants of Fremantle and the Avon Valley pastoralists, many other early settlers were
likely to have been anxiously contemplating the convict invasion into their
community.
27
Meanwhile the white-collar convicts now en route to the colony were
probably pondering the future that lay ahead for them. The next section of this chapter
will utilise the first-hand writings of John Wroth, James Roe, John Mortlock and John
Casey, as well as Surgeon Superintendents’ Journal reports, supported by other
information from secondary sources on the convict transports, to ascertain some of the
feelings and experiences of the white-collar convicts on board their transports.
24 Nathaniel Ogle, op. cit., pp. 82 & 83. 25 Leonie Poole, ‘Convicts in Western Australia: Some Myths Exploded,’ op. cit., p. 11. 26 C. T. Stannage, The People of Perth, op. cit., p. 7. 27 Stannage, ibid., p. 81.
42
Alfred Daniel Letch on the Hashemy in 1850.
On 19 July 1850, Alfred Letch, the former manager of the grocery and drapery store,
now aged twenty-six, was among the hundred ‘able bodied,’ healthy convicts from
Portland prison28 who boarded the small 523 ton, 33 year old barque named the
Hashemy, the second convict ship to arrive in the colony.29 It had two masts square
rigged, as well as an after mast, which was rigged fore to aft.30 Four warders and thirty-
two invalided Pensioner Guards, who were accompanied by their families, guarded the
prisoners.31
… enormously heavy wooden fittings about the hatchways constructed of wood, the very massive stanchions supporting the berths and their thick bottoms and side boards, with a light framework constructed of iron materials, which would occupy infinitely less space, afford more light and air, tend materially to the comforts of the prisoners, and to the safety of the ship….
In his Journal of the voyage, Surgeon Superintendent Bowler recommended
that the Admiralty replace certain structures on the prison deck, including the:
He also reported that due to similar ‘clumsy (wooden) construction extending to the
pensioner guard barracks on the one side and to the ships’ crew apartments on the
other,’
I was compelled to pull down and reconstruct (them), otherwise I apprehended sickness must have prevailed to a much greater extent, and within the tropics the mortality (rate) would have been considerable. 32
Bowler’s initiative proved to be very timely, as the general appearance of the
invalided pensioner guards and their families upon boarding was ‘clearly poor,’ as if
they had been ‘indifferently fed,’ and ‘several of the children (were) sickly and squallid
(sic).’ At the beginning of the voyage, measles broke out among the pensioner’s
children and the surgeon treated pensioner guards and their wives for chest congestion,
diarrhoea, gastric dischargements (some probably from seasickness), dyspepsia, eleven
28 Hashemy Shipping List, Battye Library, ACC 128/2, Vol. 18, p. 26., Alfred De Letch, No. 114 and 'Attested List of the Surgeon Superintendent John Bowler, ‘General Remarks,’ Journal of Her Majesty’s Ship, Hashemy, 19 July 1850, p. 3. 29 Charles Bateson, op. cit., pp. 374 & 375. 30 ‘Barque,’ The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, George W. Turner (ed.), Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1987, p. 77. 31 Hashemy Shipping List, A N 358/1, ACC 1156, File 128, No. 32, Microfilm, Battye Library, Perth, Western Australia. 32 Bowler’s Journal, op. cit., pp. 1-3.
43
small wounds, inflammatory sores, a haemorrhoidal disorder accompanied by an
abortion, four deaths and three healthy births.33
However he reported favourably on the health of most of the convicts and on their
conduct during the voyage. Apart from ‘seven cases of psoriasis,’ a red rash among the
convicts who were attending the sheep and goats, ‘one case of chronic rheumatism’ and
‘a long continued case of diarrhoea,’ all the rest were healthy.
34 Alfred’s conduct, which
had been listed as ‘Very Good’ and ‘1st Class’ while in Portland Penitentiary,35 was
recorded as ‘Good’ by the Surgeon Superintendent.36 His voyage lasted 3 months and 3
days, prior to arriving at Fremantle on 25 October 1850.37
John Acton Wroth on the Mermaid during 1851.
The next transport carrying the twenty year old printer, John Wroth towards the
colony, was the same age and type as the Hashemy, but was a smaller 473 ton barque
named Mermaid. She was commanded by Captain Anderson38 and was manned by
thirty-two able seamen.’39 On 20 December 1850, twenty-four Pentonville convicts
wearing black caps and twenty seven from Woolwich in striped caps, carried their
regulation clothing, toiletries and small sewing kits into the crowded prisoner’s quarters
below deck, between the main hatchway and the fore part of the ship. Thirty or more
pensioner guards, their families and four warders arrived four days later, while Wroth,
along with forty-two red capped Parkhurst lads and a hundred and sixteen older
convicts, wearing plain worsted caps from Portland, embarked on 28 December.40
Wroth was placed under the charge of Sergeant McGall, to check ‘articles specified in
the inventory.’41 Surgeon Superintendent Kilroy reported that the twenty children with
measles on board, as well as stormy weather, delayed the Mermaid’s departure from the
Falmouth until 1 February 1851.42
33 Bowler, ibid., pp. 4 & 5.
34 Ibid., p. 3. 35 Alfred D. Letch, ‘Attested List of the Convict Prison at Portland,’ Quarter ending the thirtieth day of June 1850, HO8/104, No. 1207, p. 26. 36 Alfred D. Letch, ‘Character Book,’ AN 358/2, ACC1156, ‘R’ Series, vol. 17, Nos 1-1103, No. 114. 37 Hashemy, Bateson, ibid., p. 374. 38 Charles Bateson, op. cit.., pp. 374 & 375. 39 Rica Erickson, ‘ John Acton Wroth, Diarist, ’The Brand on His Coat, op. cit., p. 19. 40 Erickson, ibid.. 41 John Acton Wroth, ‘Diary,’ Part 1, On the Mermaid, 1851, op. cit., 3 January 1851. 42 Surgeon Superintendent Kilroy, ‘Journal of Her Majesty Convict Ship, ‘ Mermaid’ 16 December 1850 and 21 May 1851', Battye Library, Surgeon’s Journals AJCP, Part 8 – Miscellaneous – Entry No. 75, Reel M708 - M712, Film 711, Reel 4, No. 196, pp. 1 & 2.
44
According to Wroth, who kept a detailed diary of the voyage, convict lads slept on
hammocks slung over fixed tables amid-ship which was a ‘dark gloomy area,’ while the
men slept between two hatchways in units containing four bunks placed at right angles
to the sides of the ship. Each bunk measured 5 feet 6 inches long by 14 inches wide and
had a plank about 10 inches high, which separated the two convicts above and below.
The inside lower bunks of two units next to each other, could be converted into a table
for eight in each mess by joining the inside bed boards and the dividing planks together
and they used the two outer lower bunks to sit on for meals during the day. Ten upper
lights and eight glassed portholes that could be opened, made that area ‘very light and
cheerful.’ There were two water closets and four Dakin’s patent ventilators and two
windsails in the hatchways, let the cool air in below.43 Weather permitting, salt water
baths without soap took place on deck after 4 a.m. The convicts were provided with
shaving utensils and soap twice a week, bedding was taken up on deck at 6.15am in fine
weather and clothes were washed and dried there each Monday.44
When fresh rations dwindled after a few days at sea, daily rations for each convict
included:
10¼ ozs of biscuit, 1 pint of oatmeal gruel, ½ lb salt meat, puddings made with 3 lbs flour, salt, ¼lb suet and ¼lb currants for 8 men, or ½ lb salt pork with 1 pt of pea soup and 1 pint of chocolate or tea. Cape wine, lime juice, vinegar and mustard (were) also issued to the messes three times a week. 45
All convicts were under the charge of Surgeon Superintendent Kilroy, who posted
the rules and regulations for their voyage. Two convict cooks commenced duties at
43 Wroth’s Diary, ibid., pp. 43- 45, 44 Erickson, 'John Acton Wroth, Diarist,’ The Brand on His Coat, op. cit., p. 24. 45 Wroth’s Diary,’ op. cit., ‘Rations while sailing,’ p. 29.
Figure 1: John Wroth’s sketch of the Mermaid. John Acton Wroth’s Diary, p. 28, 2816A, No. 3, 1851-1853, Battye Library, Perth, W. A.
45
5am, while other convicts had to be up, bathed, shaved and dressed by 6am. Mess tables
were made up for breakfast by 7.45am, after which utensils and mess areas were
cleaned. School commenced at 10 am for half the convicts, supervised by two pensioner
guards, while the rest sewed convict suits and duck trousers or knitted worsted
stockings. Dinner was timed at noon for all convicts on board. In the afternoon, those
who had attended school in the morning, sewed or knitted, while the other half went to
classes. Supper was served at 4pm, after which the utensils were cleaned, their beds
were made up by 4.45pm and the prison was locked down by 5.30pm at night.
Boatswains selected by the convicts, were then in charge of their fellow prisoners to
prevent too much noise, singing of indecent songs or using bad language and to check
that all convicts were in bed by 8pm. No more than one convict was allowed into the
water closets at a time and any other irregularities such as smoking below deck were
forbidden.46
Wroth was appointed as one of the school instructors along with other well behaved
convicts who acted as boatswains, hospital orderlies and cooks, for which they were
each rewarded with ¼ lb tea and 4 lbs sugar, each time supplies were drawn.
47
It is very laughable to observe the stratagems practiced by a number of the scholars, who it appears have quite an antipathy to attending school. Frequently when it is time for school, will they scamper away as fast as their legs will carry them to hide from the masters who have quite a chase after them, for when they get on one side, they run to the other and thus evade them.
He was
evidently amused by the antics of some convict students and wrote:
48
After tea, when the mess table were converted to bunks, aired bedding had been
taken below and the prison deck was swept and swabbed:
the fiddler comes up from between decks and sits himself amidst the chattering throng and begins at once, without any further ceremony to strike up a tune… suited to what is about to be introduced viz singing or dancing, the company manifesting their appreciation by clapping and booting. The party are honoured by the presence of females (probably the Pensioner Guards’ wives and daughters). The men are thus diverted until 6pm, when ordered to pass below.49
During January Wroth observed that many of his fellow prisoners were very
inquisitive, troublesome, presumptuous and assuming, while others were very obliging
46 Superintendent Surgeon Kilroy, ‘Regulations and Rules to be observed by the Convicts during the Voyage,’ in Rica Erickson, The Brand On His Coat, ibid., p. 23. 47 Wroth’s ‘Diary,’ op. cit., 10 April 1851. 48 Wroth, ibid., 22 April 1851. 49 Wroth, ibid., ‘Promiscuous Remarks,’ pp. 39 & 40.
46
and friendly.’50 By mid-March he was complaining that he was ‘excessively heated by
the perspiration and breath of the men, who are sitting and lying about in a state
approaching to nudity’ while singing and continuing to chatter between decks during the
night.51 By the end of the voyage on the Mermaid, Wroth noted that eleven convicts had
been ‘boxed,’ referring to their solitary confinement on bread and water in the black
box, which was a dark, narrow cell erected under the forecastle.52 Their crimes included
dishonesty, stealth or theft, disobedience of orders such as no smoking below deck,
insolence to a sentry, threatening to abuse another prisoner, as well as the more serious
crimes of ‘evincing lewd propensity and attempted sodomy.’53
From his entries about other convicts, it is obvious that Wroth felt he was socially
superior to most of them and vowed to keep his distance:
Up to the present I have observed certain feelings existing in the breasts of the majority of the prisoners which are indicative of no good; viz avarice, envy and such like. Stimulated by these sentiments they are led to act in such a manner as will eventually be attended with disgrace and have a lasting stigma. 54
Destitute of moral rectitude and etiquette, they disgust that class where it is found, by their presumptuous and obscene language; taking all into consideration it may be reasonably inferred that it is a good thing for society that they are exiled, and that it is no wonder that such should have happened to them.
55
He resolved that:
From the conduct of those around and connected with me, I do primly resolve to abstain from having any dealings with any person placed in a similar situation to myself: they apparently being ignorant of the meaning of respect. 56
After their arrival in the colony in mid-May, Wroth appears to have been gratified
when the Inspector General and Governor Fitzgerald visited the ship, and ‘spoke very
kindly and favourably to us - the boatswains, instructors and two sick orderlies.’
57
Wroth had earned a First Class recommendation for conduct while at Parkhurst Prison
and his behaviour was noted as ‘Good’ by Surgeon Superintendent Kilroy, after 4
months and 4 days at sea on the Mermaid. 58
50 Wroth, ibid., under ‘Observations for the Month - January', 1851, p. 7.
51 Wroth, ibid., 18 March 1851, p. 41. 52 Charles Bateson, op.cit., ‘boxed,’ p. 307. 53 Wroth’s, ‘Diary,’ op. cit., 17 January 1851 - 9 May 1851. 54 Ibid., p. 35. 55 Ibid., p. 37. 56 Ibid., p, 40. 57 Ibid., Landing in the Swan River Colony, 16 May 1851. 58 John A. Wroth, Character Book, A. N. 358/2, ACC1156, ‘R’ Series, vol. 17, Numbers 1-1103, No 368.
47
Stephen Montague Stout on the Lord Raglan in 1858.
After Superintendent Surgeon Bowler’s second journey to the colony, this time on
board the first class, four year old, 756 ton Lord Raglan which set off from Plymouth on
5 March 1858, he praised Stephen Stout's shipboard activities in his report. Stout was
appointed as an assistant schoolmaster, as he had been well educated ‘at a Sunday and
day school’ in France.' 59 Bowler found that Stout was a ‘good scholar’ and reported
that he ‘had delivered a lecture on the approaching eclipse of the sun’ with ‘illustrated
diagrams,’ which was evidently well received on 27 March. This was followed by a
second popular lecture on ‘Australia’ on 9 April, and a third on ‘Australian
Employments,’ eight days later. As Stout also voluntarily edited the weekly newspaper
named the ‘Lifeboat,’ it was not surprising that the surgeon noted his conduct as ‘Very
Good,’60 when they arrived on 1 June 1858, after eighty eight days at sea. Stout was
rewarded with six months remission of sentence by Sir Arthur Kennedy, the Western
Australian Governor at that time,61
Miall Malachi Meagher on the Sultana in 1859.
which meant that he gained his Ticket- of -Leave
within a year of arriving in Fremantle.
Miall Meagher, a former civil engineer, was placed in the 1st Class category of
convicts during his separate confinement and also while in Portland Public Works
Penitentiary. He was ‘Specially recommended’ by Superintendent Surgeon Richardson,’
for his ‘Very Good’ conduct on board the Sultana. The twenty six year old had
obviously held a ‘billet’ or undertook a special duty during the eighty two day voyage
on the Sultana, because he was awarded four months remission of sentence by Governor
Kennedy upon his arrival in the Swan River colony.62
Superintendent Richardson admitted that he was a ‘griffin’ or a greenhorn, which
may have been the reason why he initially experienced problems on the Sultana in
controlling ‘three bad characters,’ who ‘seemed anxious to see how far they could go,’
Although there is no personal
account from Meagher about his trip to the colony, Richardson’s journal entries about
the voyage provided a very detailed account of life on board.
59 Alan Brooke & David Brandon, Bound For Botany Bay, op. cit., pp. 112 &113, Stephen Stout. Also Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit. p. 280. 60 'Stephen Stout,' Character Book, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, ‘R’ Series, vol. 8, No 4901. 61 Stephen Stout, Alan Brooke & David Brandon, op. cit., p.113. 62 Miall Meagher, Character Book Record AN 358/2, ACC1156, Reel, R Series, Vol. 8, No. 5448, ‘Sultana,’ under ‘Character and special information received with a prisoner,’ who was arriving in the Swan River Colony.
48
among the convict cohort. He soon warned the Captains of Divisions to inform the
convicts under their control that:
…my conduct towards them would to a certain extent be regulated by their own behaviour: if they conducted themselves well, they should be allowed all the privileges I could grant them; if badly, I should keep them close prisoners…chained to each other when on deck, if I could not preserve order otherwise.63
However Richardson proved he could be flexible and fair. During stormy weather
when many convicts and families of the pensioner guard were sick and refused to eat
gruel for breakfast, Richardson conceded that instead, they should be offered half issues
of tea or chocolate at that time, and the other half for supper, which ‘gained unanimous
approval.’
64 On Wednesdays and Saturdays, Richardson ordered an extra glass of wine
as incentives for barbers and washermen. An extra glass of wine was also given every
other night to Captains of Messes and their assistant cleaners, and Captains of Divisions
and Cooks were also provided with extra wine daily.65 On the other hand, Richardson
gave the convicts fair warning after seeing several prisoners smoking pipes, maintaining
that the use of tobacco was strictly forbidden by an Admiralty order and that if he
caught any of them smoking, he would be obliged to punish them. 66
When some convicts grew impatient to go up on deck after supper after heavy rain
one evening, one convict cried out, ‘Open the door, you bloody bugger!’ Richardson
overheard the swearing and because no one would turn the culprit in, he had them all
locked below. However the greater majority of prisoners further rebelled at bedtime.
When they ‘refused to budge and laughed at my threat to call in the guard,’ he ordered
the Pensioner Guards to have their bayonets ready down below, where he personally
took hold of the first prisoner he came across. Nineteen others were handcuffed in pairs
and were placed beneath the forecastle with four sentry guards.
67 After the Religious
instructor complained of classes being deserted on 5 July, several convicts were found
hidden away in the bows of the ship.68
63 ‘A Pleasant Passage; The Journals of Henry Richardson, Surgeon Superintendent aboard the convict ship Sultana, ’ produced from his original diary held in the State Archives, Fremantle Arts Press, Fremantle, W.A. 1990, 30 May 1859, p. 18.
Signs of rebellion later broke out again, after
64 Ibid., Sea sickness in stormy weather, 1 June 1859, p. 19. 65 Ibid., Wine incentives for washermen, barbers, cleaners, cooks and Captains of messes, 5 June 1859, p. 24. 66 Ibid., Smoking prohibited below deck, 6 June 1859, p. 25. 67 Ibid., Rebellion by convicts wanting to go up on deck, 21 June 1859. 68 Ibid., Religious Instructor complained that classes were nearly deserted, 5 July 1859.
49
several prisoners were cautioned for playing dominoes in the fore hatchway after night
rounds at 8pm.69
Thereafter, a spate of mainly minor crimes including insolence, smoking below deck
and the singing of indecent songs past midnight occurred. Slippers, work boots, herring,
lime juice and pieces of pork were stolen. Four blankets that were taken from hospital
stores were later found to have been made into trousers. Waistcoats and other items of
clothing and a bag containing 34½lbs biscuits disappeared during July. However
Richardson noted a more serious crime when on 2 August, ‘John Knott complained that
two convicts had assaulted him.’ On the following day Knott was again assaulted, this
time by four convicts, two of whom were placed in cells, one was boxed and the other
escaped, as he was not identified. Not surprisingly, the next day Knott was struck a third
time with a belaying pin or cleat used to tie ropes around, for which he had to be
hospitalized. Signs of rebellion broke out again, when several prisoners were again
cautioned for playing dominoes in the hatchway after the night rounds.
70
According to a fifty year old convict, John Mortlock, who was on board the same
transport:
The good ship Sultana touched nowhere, and was all but wrecked on St Paul’s, that desolate volcanic rock, from which, right ahead one dark morning, we were not more than a hundred yards, when the chief mate happened to come upon deck, perceived the danger and instantly put the helm up. We just managed to clear the rocks; like pipe-stems, snap went the studding-sail booms, and we breathed more freely. Another half minute, and she would have been shivered (broken into small pieces) like a bandbox.71
Meagher and any other convicts on deck must have felt tremendous relief at the time,
but it is strange that Richardson failed to refer to the dramatic near miss described by
Mortlock in his Journal, instead he just wrote ‘Sighted Island of St Paul’s at 6am - 4
miles distant.’ Maybe he had to go below at that stage or he perhaps he was conscious
of Captain Sharp’s professional reputation.
72
Not a single death took place. I can never forget the kindness of our Surgeon Superintendent, Dr Richardson… There were plenty of books, and we were
However, Mortlock appeared to be
reasonably happy at the conclusion of his eighty two day voyage, reporting:
69 Ibid., Convicts cautioned for congregating round the hatchway, playing dominoes after night rounds at 8pm, 10 July 1859. 70 Ibid., John Knott was assaulted between 2 August and 4 August 1859. 71 John Mortlock, Experiences of a Convict; Transported for Twenty-One Years,. G. A. Wilkes & A. G. Mitchell (eds.), 1965, Sydney University Press, Australia, First edition published 1864-65, p. 219. 72 Richardson’s Journal, op. cit., Monday 8 August.
50
equally fortunate in our Religious Instructor, the Rev. Mr Likely, a good tempered young Irish clergyman.73
After the ship docked in Fremantle, Richardson confessed:
The use of tobacco, I found it impossible entirely to prevent, and so long as they did not smoke in my presence I did not interfere. All smoking below was of course strictly forbidden on the pain of two dozen lashes. I am almost inclined to think that a moderate quantity to be issued at the discretion of the Surgeon Superintendent, would prove a valuable agent in his hands for rewarding the deserving and encouraging others to follow their example. 74
The last page of Richardson’s Journal contained the ‘Education level of the
Convicts’ under his care. Evidently 141 convicts had been educated in Britain’s Sunday
schools, 50 at other schools, 20 partially on board ship and 13 were still considered
uneducated by the journey’s end. Two hundred and one convicts could read and write,
10 could only read, and 13 could do neither,
75
James Elphinstone Roe on York II in 1862.
so it appears that the majority of British
convicts had probably received some basic education in Britain by 1859, even though
compulsory elementary education was not introduced until 1870. As Meagher was a
well educated civil engineer, he and the other few white-collar convicts on board,
probably didn't socialise much with the other prisoners.
After James Roe’s voyage to the Swan River Colony on an eight-year old, A1 Class,
940 ton frigate named York 11 in 1862, the forty-four year old Roe wrote a letter
addressed to white-collar and other educated convicts, which was published
anonymously. It provided practical advice for them to follow before their court cases
and while on their transports. He urged educated prisoners to evade ‘attaint,’ which was
the practice of confiscating a convicted person’s money, goods and property to the
Crown, by transferring their property to family members while they were on remand,
prior to their trial. He also warned them that ‘The time you will have to serve in
England has… been greatly and very injudiciously extended,’ referring to the tougher
penal policies that had then been introduced.76
His character was registered as ‘Good,’ while in the Portland penitentiary,
77
73 Mortlock, op. cit., p. 219.
and he
described the preparations for transportation. He explained that convicts received a new
74 Richardson’s Journal, ‘The use of Tobacco,’, op. cit., p. 63. 75 ‘Education Level of the Convicts,’ ibid., p. 66. 76 James Roe, ‘A Letter from a Convict in Australia, op. cit., pp. 492 , 77 James Roe, General Register, AN 358/2, ACC1156, Reel 22 (6393-6932), No. 6709.
51
set of clothes and two sets of underclothing ready for the voyage ahead. Following a
surgical examination, they listened to a sermon in the chapel, where they were told that
they could look forward to ‘plenty of employment and high wages in the colony’ and
‘special advantages were to accrue for prisoners, if they were well behaved on the
voyage.’78
Roe found the major drawback of transportation was being cooped up between decks
at night which was:
worse, far worse in some ways than you can have any idea of… no officer dare show his face – the atmosphere is for foul conversation a little hell… wholly unrestrained in word or thought … of lewdness and dirt… It was horrible. 79
However during the day on the forepart of the ship, he maintained that they were
practically free to do as they pleased. As the safety of the vessel really depended on the
behaviour of the convicts, the Surgeon and Pensioner Guard left them alone on the
foredeck to avoid irritating them unnecessarily, while they read, talked or smoked. As
prisoners only had to keep their part of the ship clean, wash their clothes and help with
cooking meals, they gave no trouble, as they also wanted a safe and quiet voyage.
Initially everyone was jolly, most of the convicts started singing and when that petered
out, singing and step dancing was confined to performances under the hatchway in the
evenings. Card playing then became popular until the end of the voyage and they
watched a few fights, which were seldom interfered with. During the day, the scripture
reader tried to encourage schooling, which in Roe's opinion, ‘came to nothing’
80
Roe praised the food rations of good pork, pea soup and plum duff. It would appear
that his wife probably provided him with some money for the voyage, as he advised
other white-collar convicts to take some on board, so they could employ a convict as a
man servant and other convicts to cook, do all the rough work and take care of their
clothing, as servants were keen to eat better from their earnings. Roe maintained that,
‘Money and a man will be the greatest comfort to you’ and recommended that they
avoid accepting jobs or a ‘billet’ on board because in his opinion, the bonus of a three to
four week sentence reduction was not worth thinking about. He found that a berth
midship, meant better sleeping and meals, more air, room to move and quiet, and could
be arranged for a few shillings.
81
78 James Roe, ‘A Letter from a Convict in Australia,’ ibid., p. 501.
There was only one convict death while Roe was on
79 Ibid., p. 500. 80 Ibid., pp, 500 & 501. 81 Ibid., p, 502.
52
board for 2 months and 23 days, and he became acquainted with a young, well educated
convict named Herman Joseph Moll, who was convicted for a similar crime and later
became his son-in-law.82
Lionel Holdsworth on the Hougoumont during 1867/8,
The tall,83 forty-two year old shipbroker merchant, Lionel Holdsworth, who had
scuttled the Severn, boarded the sixteen year old Hougoumont at Sheerness after leaving
the Pentonville penitentiary.84 He probably paused to admire the sleek, handsome, four
masted, 875 ton, Blackwall frigate.85 It was classed A1 and had been recently modified
to carry 62 Fenians, who were political prisoners among 280 other convicts on board.
According to Anthony Evans, the Hougoumont’s ‘upper deck had been partitioned into
three areas by means of 9 foot high wooden barriers.’ Each barrier had doors posted by
soldiers with loaded pistols, to prevent convicts passing through. The lower deck was
also divided into three sections with iron reinforced bulkheads, so that the guards could
fire on the prisoners if the need arose. Convicts who were not Fenians including
Holdsworth, were placed with soldier Fenians amidships; civilian Fenians were
positioned in the after section and the crew in the forward section. Surgeon
Superintendent Smith was in charge of their health, rations, conduct and comfort during
the voyage.86
According to Evans, the aim of the Fenians, a group of political Irish rebels, some of
whom were employed in white-collar occupations and had met in 1848,
… was to rise up in arms when the signal was given, to put an end to British rule in Ireland, and to establish a truly independent republic…It would appeal to labourers and craftsmen; farmers and fishermen; shop assistants and commercial travellers and clerks and trade unions…to have a democratic, proletarian character, was to be organized on military principals… and was intended to be highly secret and required an oath of allegiance from members…87
The Hougoumont departed from London on 12 October 1867. However the gun ship
Earnest remained on the alert along side them until they reached Ushant in the English
Channel, because it was rumoured that there would be an attempt by members of the
82 Rica Erickson, ‘James Elphinstone Roe: Schoolmaster and Journalist, ‘The Brand on His Coat, op. cit., p. 301. 83 Lionel Holdsworth, ‘Physical Descriptions of Convicts on the Hougoumont, 1868', No. 9768. <http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/conwad42.htm>, 1868 (accessed 22 November 2008). 84 Lionel Holdsworth, General Register, ACC 1156, Reel 16, No. 9768, Pentonville Penitentiary. 85 Bateson, op. cit., ‘The Convict Ships Index,’ pp. 376 & 377. 86 A. G. Evans, Fanatic Heart: A Life of John Boyle O’Reilly 1844-1890, op. cit.., pp. 55, 56. 87 Ibid., pp. 25 & 26.
53
Irish Republican Brotherhood to rescue the Fenians.88 By 25 October, convicts were
playing chess, dominoes, drafts and dice cards to relieve the monotony.89
Some of the
Fenians organized concerts in the evenings which were popular with the convicts
during the voyage. Their programmes included duets, traditional Irish ballads, recitations
of poetry which were nostalgic, political or comic in nature, and Irish dancing
accompanied by a banjo concluding with their favourite song, ‘Let Erin Remember.’
One of the Fenians even recited all of Shakespeare’s lengthy soliloquy from Hamlet, ‘To
be or not to be.’90
In his journal, a Fenian named Casey referred to a prisoner who had received 48
lashes without wincing from the boatswain, ‘for beating another prisoner most
inhumanly.’ Evidently after braving the punishment well, the convict concerned was
cheered by his comrades. That same night, when a wild storm ‘tossed the ship like a
cork,’ the prisoners’ terror increased below, after hearing that the sailors refused to go
aloft due to their fear. Evidently some officers had to stow the sails, while the terrorised
sailors were placed in irons.
91
88 Ibid, pp. 55 & 59.
89 John Sarsfield Casey (The Gallee Boy – Non de Plume), Journal of a Voyage from Portland to Fremantle on Board the Convict A Ship – “Hougoumont,” Captain Cozens Commander, 8 & 25 October. 90 A. G. Evans, op. cit.., pp. 61 & 62. 91Casey, op. cit., 26 October 1867.
Figure 2. Hougoumont
54
In the first week of November, Father Delaney supplied paper, pens and ink, so that
John Flood as editor, O’Reilly as sub editor and John Kelly as manager, could produce
the first of seven handwritten copy of the ‘Wild Goose,’ an eight page weekly
newspaper, which was both literary and amusing and featured an ornately drawn front
page. It was named in honour of the ‘Wild Geese,’ who were Irish soldiers in earlier
generations, who had served in European armies after their exile from Ireland.92
Contents in the first edition on 9 November varied from a serious editorial titled ‘Home
Thoughts,’ notices about concerts, the first episode of a serial entitled ‘Queen Cliodhna
and the Flower of Erin,' satirical paragraphs on the latest news, humorous answers to
imaginary correspondents and two poems titled ‘Farewell’ and ‘Home Thoughts.’ The
last page featured a ‘satirical piece about Australia.’ The Fenians crowded together
below deck under the dim, yellow glare of the one available light and listened intently
while O’Reilly read it out aloud.’93
Evans wrote of an incident occurring on the Hougoumont on 13 November, which
indicated the Surgeon’s ‘fair but good natured approach to discipline and
punishment…at least in the matter of lighter offences.’ Smith was certainly prepared to
let the convicts have some fun at the expense of those who committed minor, non
violent offences. Evidently after a non-Fenian convict was caught stealing tobacco, as
well as biscuits which were meant to be fed to a pig, Smith allowed him to be tried by
his fellow convicts, much to the amusement of all the spectators. ‘Judge Lynch’ then
read out both his crimes using highly exaggerated judicial language and the witnesses
described how the defendant had stolen the animal’s food in precise but humorous
detail. Evidently, ‘His Lordship’ decreed that the prisoner’s punishment was to be
‘tarred all over by the members of the court,’ followed by being ‘locked in a water
closet for three hours, then scrubbed with a hair broom.’
94
On 22 November, during a violent squall when the ship was tossed about in the
rough ocean, huge waves almost capsized it and two sails were torn to ribbons. After six
to eight prisoners went aloft to haul in the main sail, Casey wrote:
Nothing conduces more to remind man of his utter powerlessness and to raise his mind to the omnipotence of his creator, than a storm at sea. The ship may sometimes obey man, but the winds and waves obey God.95
92 Evans, op. cit., pp, 65 & 66.
93 Evans, ibid, pp. 66-69. 94 Evans, ibid, p. 72. 95 Casey, op. cit., 22 November 1867.
55
Christmas was literally a washout from Christmas Eve through to Boxing Day.
Holdsworth, along with other convicts had to eat their breakfast of sweet loaf, followed
by salt horse and plum duff pudding containing raisins, currents and spices for dinner
and a double ration of wine at 2pm, while they were sitting on their bunks. When storms
broke out again on 28 December, water went streaming over the gunwales, down the
hatchways and flooded the decks.96
While passing Rottnest Island, after an eighty-nine day voyage, the two hundred and
seventy-nine convicts crowded onto the deck to view their new home , in contrast to the
silent Fremantle citizens, who had assembled to watch the last convict ship’s approach
on 9 January 1868:
…were no less inquisitive and anxious than those on board. For most of them, however, the cargo of the Hougoumont was not welcome, and the more belligerent among them, waited nervously for the first sign of trouble.97
Conclusion
During Governor Fitzgerald's meeting with free settlers on 16 February 1849 in
Perth, when two hundred Swan River residents voted in favour of the colony becoming
a penal settlement, it was interesting to note there was no suggestion of a need for
white-collar convicts. However a few arrived on each transport, probably because
British authorities realised that the white-collar convicts' clerical skills would prove
beneficial for the free settlers.
Apart from Letch, Wroth and Horrocks, who sailed to the colony on old AE1 classed
convict ships, the other sample group members arrived on newer, larger, usually faster,
A1 classed vessels. According to both Wroth and Roe, the major drawback for them
and probably most other well educated, middle-class convicts, was being cooped up
below deck at night with lower class prisoners and having to put up with their foul
mouthed sexual innuendo, theft, smoking below deck and insolent comments directed
at them by tougher, lower class prisoners.
There was obviously a need of the services of well behaved sample group members
on their transports, which Moll and Roe chose to ignore. After initially helping with
Mermaid's inventory and assisting the school instructor, Wroth was introduced to
Governor Fitzgerald on his arrival in the colony. For his duties as an assistant school
96 Evans, op. cit., p. 84.
97 Evans, ibid., pp. 88 & 89, the Hougoumont's arrival in the colony on 9 January 1868.
56
instructor, delivering three lectures, as well as editing the Lord Raglan's newspaper,
Stout gained six months remission of sentence. Meagher must also have held a billet or
two on the Sultana, as he received four months remission from Governor Kennedy,
while Holdsworth received a 'special recommendation' from Superintendent Surgeon
Smith on the Hougoumont. Six other sample group members' conduct ranged from 'First
Class, Good,' to 'First Class, Exemplary', while Sampson's character was described as
'respectable.' It appears that some sample group members took the opportunity to prove
their behavioural reform by making themselves very useful whilst on board. Whether
there was a further need for sample group members to work in various convict
departments and depots after their arrival in Fremantle, will be revealed in the following
three chapters.
57
CHAPTER 3. Swan River Colony by 1850 and the Lives of Alfred Daniel Letch, John Acton Wroth, Joseph Lucas Horrocks and Thomas Matthew Palmer, who arrived between 1850 and 1854.
This chapter will initially briefly focus on demographic and economic conditions in
the Swan River Colony and some of the early settlers’ problems such as a lack of
labourers, roads and economic difficulties, prior to the arrival of convicts. It then
discusses the early years of convictism in the colony and the type of work initially
offered to four educated convicts, namely Alfred Daniel Letch, John Acton Wroth,
Joseph Lucas Horrocks and Thomas Matthew Palmer, who were transported to Western
Australia between 1850 and 1854. Their employment by free settlers in the temporary
prison in Fremantle and after they gained their Tickets-of-Leave, would appear to have
been an ideal opportunity for them to regain the trust of their employers. Their various
careers and marital situations, support of and by society in their locality, their children's
careers and marital partners, as well as an assessment of their social acceptance within
the colony, will conclude this chapter.
By the beginning of 1850, the colony’s population was only 5254,1 the colonists’
labour force was inadequate and the colony was suffering from severe economic
difficulties. At that stage, the colony exported lead, copper, tin, timber, wool, whale
products, sandalwood, livestock, potatoes, onions, hides and skins and bark and gum
totalling £21,798.2 As its imports were valued at £62,351, the colony's trade deficit was
£40,533.3
When the first transport arrived in the Swan River colony on 1 June, 1850 containing
seventy-five convicts, they stayed on board the Scindian with their warders until
accommodation was available, while the fifty pensioner guards and their families had to
make do with what shelter could be found on the mainland.
4
1 Pamela Statham, ‘Swan River Colony 1829-1850', A New History of Western Australia, C. T. Stannage (Ed.), U. W. A. Press, Nedlands, W. A, 1983, p. 181.
Under the direction of
young Comptroller General Henderson, the colony’s Clerk of Works, James Manning,
the Superintendent of Convicts, Thomas Dixon, five Royal Sappers and Miners and
fifty Pensioner Guards, Captain Daniel Scott’s warehouse in South Terrace Fremantle
was leased for £250 a year and converted into a temporary prison. Using convict labour,
2 Ibid., ‘Appendix 6.3, Western Australia: External trade 1850-1913 (£s),’ p 235. 3 Pamela Statham, ibid,, Table 5.4, Exports 1844-1850 (£s) p. 204. 4 Cyril Ayris, Fremantle Prison: A Brief History, West Perth, Cyril Ayris Freelance, 1996, p. 9.
58
Scott’s large shed was floored and reroofed, windows were inserted and hammock
frameworks for associative wards were installed. Other structures on the same site were
converted into a cookhouse, bakehouse, bathhouse, storehouse, privies, temporary
hospital, warders’ rooms, a blacksmith forge area and four separate cells for unruly
convicts. Two long stone buildings were added to house 360 or more convicts and a 10
foot high wall was erected around the whole site for security reasons, and to prevent
trafficking in alcohol.5
While Superintendent Dixon was conducting a tour through the temporary prison on
26 July that year, observers were ‘surprised and extremely gratified’ to find that, rather
than ‘gangs of sullen, sulky convicts’ being ‘kept at their task by fear of punishment’
under guards and sentries to prevent their escape:
…not a guard was to be seen, save a gate-keeper…not a discontented or sullen countenance was to be observed in the whole body. On the contrary, good humour, alacrity and contentment, was the characteristic of all …these fine, healthy looking men… 6
According to Gertzel:
The most outstanding feature of these early years was the lack of serious crime …Compared with the later years of the penal settlement, these years were not violent.7
By the end of 1851 many Ticket-of-Leavers had been sent to convict hiring depots in
country areas, set up by Edmund Du Cane, where the majority were employed by local
farmers. However country landowners complained that Fremantle and Perth employers
gained the better convicts, leaving few for their areas. After local free labourers found
their wages were dramatically reduced, they were forced to move north or leave the
colony to find work, while the Avon Valley farmers found that a lot of ticketers lacked
the necessary basic farming skills. As numerous convicts were eligible for their Tickets-
of-Leave during the first three years of transportation, either upon disembarking or not
long after their arrival, the completion of necessary public works, such as decent roads
and bridges on the way to and from country areas to ease transport costs, failed to
eventuate.
8
5 Michal Bosworth, ‘The Convicts are Coming', Convict Fremantle: A Place of Promise and Punishment, Crawley, U.W.A. Press, W. A., 2004, pp. 7 - 11.
6 Bosworth, ibid., ‘Report on the Convict Establishment,’ in The Independent Journal, 5 July 1850, p. 10. 7 Cherry Gertzel, ‘The Convict System in Western Australia,’ thesis, op. cit., p. 22. 8 Pamela Statham Drewe, ‘Toodyay Convicts – Why Did They Come and What Legacy Did They Leave?’ Paper at the Toodyay, R W. A. H. S. Conference, August 2004, pp. 9 & 10.
59
Instead the Royal Sapper and Miners continued to instruct the majority of convicts in
building techniques and supervised their building of a jetty and wooden rails which led
to the new Commissariat’s loading bay in Fremantle. Hard labour on quarrying, laying
tramways, road making, tunnelling to South Beach, as well as digging an underground
water reservoir and several wells soon followed. They built a bridge across upper Swan
River, completed a second Courthouse, ‘Government Cottage’ for the Water Police,
Fremantle’s first lighthouse at Arthur Head, six small houses for warders, four
Principal Warders’ duplex styled homes and nine small cottages in close proximity to
the future Convict Establishment, which began construction in 1851.9
By December 1851 there were 505 ticketers in private service, 227 convicts on
public works and many living in the new convict depots at North Fremantle, Freshwater
Bay, Mount Eliza, York, Toodyay and Bunbury.
10 The River Jetty in Fremantle was
completed in 1853 and substantial homes were built for Superintendent Henderson and
his Deputy Steward, Chaplain and the Surgeon. A convict hospital, limestone walls 4.5
metre height and an elaborate gatehouse and guard towers, were built around the new
convict Establishment. Another terrace of warders’ homes was completed by 1855, in
time for the first wing of the four storey high main limestone cell block, to admit its first
convict intake.11 In the Perth area, convicts were involved in the construction of Perth
Boys School in St Georges Terrace in 1852, the three storied Colonial Hospital from
1853 to 1854, a new Perth Goal and a slaughterhouse at Claise Brook. The levelling of
Perth’s central area and the draining of the lakes behind the town centre near Wellington
Street was also initiated in 1854.12
It was easy to recognize the convicts as they wore uniforms of ‘trousers, a waistcoat
and jacket of white duck or canvas material which was stamped with a broad arrow in
summer and a heavier dark grey or a brown thick twilled cotton suit, also with arrows in
the winter.’
13 According to Gertzel, unless reported for misconduct on the voyage out,
all prisoners were put on probation and placed in 1st Class on arrival, but they could be
moved down to 2nd or 3rd
9 Bosworth, op. cit., pp. 14, 15, 18 - 20.
Class for misconduct, then reinstated later for good behaviour.
Within each of those Classes, there were further classifications connected with good
10 Gertzel, op. cit., p. 9. 11 Michal Bosworth, op. cit., pp. 15, 18-21, 32, 33 & 44. Also John Dowson, Old Fremantle: Photographs 1850-1950, , Crawley, W.A., UWA Press, 2003, pp. 24 -27, 34. 12 C. T. Stannage, The People of Perth: A Social History of Western Australia’s Capital City, op. cit., pp. 135-140. 13 I. Elliott, Moondyne Joe, Battye Library, microfiche, p. 27.
60
industry and moral improvement. The highest was ‘Ex’ for Exemplary conduct and
work over the required rate, followed by ‘VG’ for Very Good conduct and an average
day’s work, then ‘G’ stood for Good work and conduct. After 1852, stripes indicated
their Class level, with three for 1st Class, two for 2nd Class, one for 3rd Class, which
were sewn onto their uniforms. As that scheme failed to induce all convicts to work
hard and behave well, gratuities were introduced. First Class convicts with a ‘G’ for a
Good rating earned 1½d a day, those who were rated ‘VG’ for Very Good earned 2¼d
a day, and some with ‘Ex’ for Exemplary conduct received 2¼d each day, as well as a
remission of sentence. All money earned by convicts was kept on account, until they
gained their Ticket-of-Leave.14
By 1853, when the number of convicts arriving was increasing, a similar but better
paid Constable System was augmented to supplement the insufficient number of
Warders in the crowded Fremantle and Country depots. If a 1
st Class convict had
obtained an ‘Exemplary’ rating for six months, he was eligible for selection as a Third
Class Constable to assist in ordinary warders’ duties, initially in the Branch
Establishments in North Fremantle and at Freshwater Bay, then in the country depots,
and by the 1860s, in convict road parties. By good conduct and length of service, Third
Class Constables could progress through to Second Class and later to First Class
Constables. After three months they were paid 1/- a day, between three to six months,
1/6 daily, and after twelve months, 2/6 per day. The ‘most attractive part of being a First
Class Constable’ was the fact that, as well as the higher gratuity for each day he served,
he was also eligible for a remission of thirty days off his sentence. Second Class
Constables could earn twenty days’ remission and Third Class Constables, fifteen
days.15
As ticketers were only paid £12 per annum plus keep in wages, there was a great
incentive for them to earn extra money after gaining their Ticket, so they could
discharge the debt of half the cost of their transportation, prior to gaining their
Conditional Pardon. Their fare, which had to be repaid in proportion to their sentence,
was £7.10s for a seven year term which was payable after 1½ years, £10 for a 10 year
sentence in 2 years, (presumably) £14 for a 14 year sentence in about 2½ years, £20 for
a twenty year sentence in 4 years and £25 payable in 5 years for a ‘life’ sentence.
16
14 Gertzel, op cit, pp. 32 -35.
15 Gertzel, ibid., pp. 36 -39. 16 Sister Mary Albertus Bain, Ancient Landmarks: A Social and Economic History of the Victoria District of W.A., Perth, UWA Press, 1975, p. 113.
61
Fortunately that unpopular imposition ceased for all convicts on 28 February 1857,
when money which earlier convicts had paid, was refunded.17
According to Alexandra Hasluck, the British Government initially thought the free
settlers required labourers for private hire, so they sent convicts who would soon be
available as labourers. They believed that if they sent convicts with longer sentences
who had been employed on public works, the colony would experience similar evils to
the other penal colonies. Hasluck found that during the initial four years, the convicts
received were of good character, but, as the colonists wanted more public works
completed, some were prepared to accept convicts who backgrounds were not so
desirable.
18 After two shiploads of Irish convicts arrived in 1853 on the Robert Small
and the Phoebe Dunbar, the Comptroller General found there had been ‘a remarkable
increase in crime in the Prison since their arrival,’19
This then was the context in which the four white-collar convicts who arrived
between 1850 and 1854, are discussed in this chapter. Their crimes varied from
larceny and embezzlement, forging orders and stealing stationary materials, forging and
uttering two acceptances to bills of exchange and forging and passing a forged order for
payment by a bank. Their ages ranged from nineteen to forty seven years.
and the good reputation of convicts
began to wane.
20
Alfred Daniel Letch.
Alfred Letch was born on 5 July, 1823 and is likely to have been illegitimate.21
17 J. S. Battye, Western Australia: A History from its Discovery to the Inauguration of the Commonwealth, op. cit., 1924, pp. 237, 238.
He
was brought up by Edward and Mary Letch, in the prosperous agricultural village of
Finchingfield in Essex, where there was little serious crime. According to Edward’s
Will, as well as being the village miller, he owned their two storied, thatched and white-
18 Alexandra Hasluck, ‘The Nature of the Convicts Sent to Western Australia between 1850 and 1868,’ Appendix C, in Unwilling Emigrants, op. cit., p. 136. 19 Ibid., p.138. 20 Rica Erickson and Gillian O’Mara, Convicts in Western Australia, 1850-1887, Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. 1X, op. cit., pp. Alfred Letch, p. 335, John Wroth, p. 615, Joseph Horrocks, p. 269 and Thomas Palmer, p. 427. 21 Letch Family Bible, 'The Register of Births.' Alfred was born in Braintree on 5 July 1823. In the Essex Baptism Index 1780-1840, Ref. No. 321/92, the other eight siblings born to his Father, Edward and Mother, Mary, were christened in Finchingfield, but there is no record of Alfred’s baptism there. His younger ‘brother,’ Charles Derby Letch, was born on 1 October 1824, only a year and three months or so after Alfred’s birth on 5 July 1823. As the closeness of those births was highly unusual for breast fed babies in those days, it has been suggested by Mrs Joan Nutt (an Essex Genealogical Researcher), that as his father’s sister - also ‘Mary Letch,’ was registered as living with Alfred’s parents in the 1841 Census, she may have been Alfred’s mother, and her illegitimate son was probably adopted by her brother, Edward and sister- in- law, Mary Letch.
62
washed ‘Mill Cottage’ next door to his mill, two cottages nearby, two other mills and a
farm.22 Edward was a respected Superintendent of the Sunday school, as well as Deacon
of the local Congregational Church, 23 while his wife ‘was involved in charity work for
the poor.’24 Alfred and his seven step-brothers often helped out their father’s three
mills, appear to have been well educated, went to Finchingfield’s Congregational
Church and were ‘musically inclined.’25
Prior to his arrest at twenty five years of age, Alfred had been employed to manage
Mr Bell’s grocery and drapery store in Chelmsford for four years, while his employer
was otherwise engaged in his wool and hop trade.26 During Bell’s lengthy absences
from his shop, Alfred stealthfully acquired pieces of material to have clothing made up
by a tailor or a dressmaker and purchased instruments through a music seller, by
bartering his employer’s tobacco and groceries for payment.27
22 Edward Letch, 'Last Will and Testament,' Essex Records Office, Chelmsford, Essex, CMI, ILX, 391, MR14, p. 392.
After Alfred became ill,
when Mr Bell was forced to take charge of his shop, he discovered his employee’s
crimes and contacted the police. Consequently, Alfred and four of his six suspected
accomplices were arrested and placed on remand in Springfield Prison on 24 November
1848. The following day, Alfred wrote a letter of apology to his parents who were not
23 Plaque erected above the altar in the Finchingfield Congregational Church, Essex, dedicated to Edward Letch, Alfred’s stepfather. 24 Alfred Letch’s obituary for his stepmother, Mary Letch, The Inquirer, 1 March1864. 25 ‘Essex Quarter Sessions: The Baddow Robberies,’ The Chelmsford Chronicle, 12 January 1849, back page under ‘Bond’s Case, ’columns 5 & 6. 26 Ibid., column 1. 27 Ibid., Mrs. Rolph, Alfred’s dressmaker admitted that’ Letch had lately owed her 17/6, which he paid 5s in cash, and the rest in shop goods… Asked if she had any bills of her dealings with Mr Bell, she said she had not- she had always burnt her bills.
Figure 3: Edward and Mary Letch’s ‘Mill Cottage,’ in Finchingfield, where Alfred grew up with his seven stepbrothers. Courtesy of Ron Hawkins.
63
taken into custody, despite the fact that he had clothing made for his mother and he had
stored some items at their home and in the mill next door.
My dearly beloved parents,
…My dear father has so often told me to take care of my money, my c(h)aracter and my soul. I have given you proof that I have not shown it attention. Money lost, c(h)aracter ruined, and soul trifled with. I now know well the value of freedom and a good name which I have now lost. If I ever live to have them returned to me again, I hope and trust to use them right. I hope you will still love me as your son … Your unworthy though affectionate son, Alfred Letch. 28
Alfred’s step parents initially had to stand trial, but after seventeen prominent and
upstanding members of their community ‘spoke in the highest terms’ of their characters,
they were found not guilty of receiving any goods given to them, or stored by them for
Alfred.
29 As Mr Bond, the instrument seller and repairer was found to be ‘a poor
bookkeeper’ and ‘not very learned,’ he was also acquitted. However Alfred's three other
accomplices were found guilty of receiving goods and were gaoled for six months. After
Letch eventually pleaded guilty to ‘larceny and embezzlement’ to the value of £40, he
was sentenced to fourteen years transportation in Chelmsford Court, Essex, on 2
January 1849.30
After his trial Alfred was returned to Springfield Prison, where he wrote a full page
titled ‘Reflection,’ which was found in his prison cell the day after his sentencing:
I thought yesterday was the most depressing day in my life, standing in the dock; hearing the jury pronounce me Guilty and the Judge sentencing me to fourteen years imprisonment and transportation to Australia. But waking up in Springfield Goal this Thursday morning with all the noise and smell of the sweat and urine was beyond words, and when I think I have this for the next fourteen years, God please help me… The shame I have brought upon my family hurts me more than my sentence and should I get the opportunity to rectify my life, I will grasp it with both hands.31
According to a notice still posted nowadays on a cell wall for tourists visiting
Springfield prison, Letch’s diet was likely to have included a breakfast of oatmeal gruel
and bread and a dinner of cooked meat, potatoes and bread on Sundays, Tuesdays,
Thursdays and Saturdays, and supper every night of more gruel and bread. Variations
on the other three days included a breakfast of sweetened cocoa and bread, and dinner
was soup made of cooked meat, potatoes, barley, rice or oatmeal, onions or leeks, salt
28 ‘The Baddow Robberies,’ Column 3, Mr. and Mrs. Letch’s Case, note the relevance of ‘I hope you will still love me as your son.’ 29 Ibid., column 5. 30 Ibid., columns 6 - 8. 31 Alfred Daniel Letch, ‘Reflection,’ written by him at Springfield County Goal on 3 January 1849.
64
and pepper, as well as bread. The diet, although devoid of fresh fruit, salads and only a
few vegetables, was probably quite filling and was the recommended prison diet.32
Alfred was sent to Millbank for solitary confinement on 28 April 1849 and onto
Portland Public Works penitentiary by 6 March 1850.
33 As he had no previous
convictions and his character was assessed as ‘Very Good,’ he was placed in 1st Class
while in Portland. He retained that rating on the Hashemy, which arrived in the Swan
River colony on 25 October 1850.34 Due to his good conduct and literacy level, he
worked and resided in the ‘Dispensary in the Surgery,’ which was located away from
the temporary Convict Establishment. His excellent billet may have been due in part to
a good ‘Character Reference’ given by Colonel J. R. Bride, the owner of the vast Spains
Hall Estate in Finchingfield, Essex.35 According to his new friend, John Wroth, Letch
‘dressed well,’ not in ‘the usual prison garb,’ while working in the Surgery.36
Alfred was granted his Ticket-of-Leave on 26 January 1852, about 15 months after
his arrival. Interestingly, his name on his Ticket-of-Leave record referred to him as
Alfred DeLeech, by which name he was known until 1872.
37 He was employed by
James Porteous, the chief engineer on a coastal steamer, and Lionel Lukin, a pastoralist,
farmer, boat owner and trader on the Swan River from 1 January 1852,38 probably in a
clerical capacity. DeLeech was likely to have been paid the standard rate for Ticketers
of £1 per month, out of which he had to start repaying half his voyage costs.39
Following his father’s death in June 1852, DeLeech inherited £80, which enabled him to
run Livery Stables and a Coffee House at the base of Howard Street near the Swan
River in Perth,’ where he employed Wroth during September that year.40
32 ‘Springfield County Goal, Dietaries,1850, Class 3,’ Recommended and Approved on 16 December 1849, by the Secretary of State, printed on 14 March 1850.
In 1854,
33 Alfred Daniel Letch was moved from Springfield to Millbank, Middlesex, on 28 Apri1 1849, then to Portland on 6 March 1850, Reel 5974, Prison Commission 2, Piece No. 27-30. 34 H.O. 8/104, ‘Attested List of the Convict Prison at Portland,’ Quarter ending the 13 June 1850, Alfred D. Letch, No. 1207, p. 26. Also, Alfred D. Letch, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, Character Book, Reel 17, No. 114. 35 Alfred D. Letch, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, General Register, Reel 21A, 1- 299, No. 114 under, ‘Character Reference.’ 36 Rica Erickson, ‘John Acton Wroth - Diarist,’ The Brand on his Coat: Biographies of Some Western Australian Convicts, op. cit., Chapter 3, p. 30. 37 Alfred DeLeech, ACC 1386, vol.1, Ticket of Leave Register, District of Perth, p. 234, No. 114. 38 Ibid. 39 Erickson (Compiler), The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians pre 1829-1888, op. cit., Vol.III, K-Q, James Porteous, p.2515, & Lionel Lukin, p. 1915. 40 ‘Last Will and Testament of Edward Letch', Essex Record Office, Chelmsford, CMI ILX, 391, MR 14, p. 392, Alfred Letch was left ‘eighty pounds’ by his father. Information about the livery stables and its location was contained in a letter to Susan Tighe (nee Letch) from her great aunt, Rose Dempster. An advertisement in the Inquirer, dated 6 March 1872, incorrectly states that his business was ‘Established 1851.’ The earliest date would probably have been about September 1852, after he gained his inheritance.
65
Alfred realized his latent ambition by leasing a shop from George Shenton and opening
his own grocery and drapery store in St George’s Terrace, Perth. 41 The sign on the shop
indicated that he still called himself DeLeech.42 He received his Conditional Pardon
dated 25 July 1855 on 4 August that year.43
Little is known about the thirty five year old Letch’s first marriage. On 6 September
1858 he married a nineteen year old servant girl named Margaret Legray in the
Congregational Church in Uriah St, Guildford. She was born in England in 1839 and
had arrived on the Emma Eugenia on 25 May that year.44 It is possible that she died,
perhaps in childbirth, for just over five years later, Reverend Innes married the forty
year old DeLeech to another nineteen year old immigrant lass, a machinist named
Amelia French. They were wed at the Congregational Chapel in St George’s Terrace in
Perth on 14 September 1863.45
See John Wroth’s Ticket-of-Leave Record, which states that he worked in Alfred’s 'Livery stables and Coffee House,’ during September 1852.
41 ‘Plan of Perth 1871-72 in C. T. Stannage, The People of Perth, op. cit., See inside back cover where , Letch’s shop was named as ‘Deliches’s Store, ’ between William and Barrack Street on the river side of St Georges Terrace, Perth. After extensive research at DOLA, Midland, on the ‘ Perth Roll Plan,’ it appears that Alfred DeLeech’s Grocers and Drapery shop was previously owned by George Fletcher Moore and according to a Memorial of Indenture, Book IV, p. 261, dated 28 July 1849, Alfred’s store may have been previously served as ‘The Commercial Inn.’ 42 Photograph of DeLeech's Grocery and Drapery shop, Battye Library Photography Collection, No. 26478p. 43 Alfred D. Letch, Ticket-of-Leave Register, op. cit. 44 Alfred DeLeech’s first marriage to Margaret Legray in Guildford, Perth Registry Office, 1252/58. Also Bibliographic Files, Legr(a)y, Margaret, 1839 (born in England) arrived on 'Emma Eugena' on the 25/5/1858, married DeLeech on 6/9/1858 in the Guildford Congregational Church, Uriah, St. Guildford. 45 Alfred DeLeech's second marriage to Amelia French, an immigrant lass aged nineteen who arrived in the colony on the Burlington on 8 April 1863 in the Inquirer, 15 April 1863, p. 2, column b. She married Alfred DeLeech on 14 September 1863. Alfred DeLeech, Battye Library Catalogue Card.
Figure 4: DeLeech’s Grocery and Drapery Store on the left, in St Georges Terrace, Perth, from 1854 to 1883. Courtesy of Battye Library.
66
By the early 1860s, DeLeech was involved in a number of other enterprises and
according to Michael Bourke:
Guildford’s largest stores were now branches of Perth companies. Early in 1860 these consisted of Henry Saw and Alfred DeLeech... In addition to his two general stores, Alfred also ran a daily cart service between Perth and Guildford, carrying mail, parcels and passengers ...(by) 1868, by (which) time Alfred …put his horse-drawn ‘Diligence’ omnibus into daily service...46
However according to Bourke, DeLeech’s general store in Guildford ‘was taken over
by John Yeo in 1866,’
47 an expiree who had arrived on the Clara in 1864 and became a
Guildford broker and general dealer by 1867.48 Between 1859 and 1882, DeLeech held
Government Mail Contracts between Fremantle and Perth, which were worth £220 per
annum by 1879.49
Ladies and Gentlemen’s Saddle Horses, Carriages, Phaetons, Omnibuses, Gigs, Carts and Saddlery. Expresses done to any part of the Colony. Royal Mail Passenger and Parcel Carts run daily between Perth and Guildford. On Sale, General Groceries and Provisions, Drapery etc., Corn and Meal, Saddlery and Saddlers’ Ironmongery etc, Whips of all sorts, Horse, Spoke, Shoe, and other Brushes, Springs and Patent Axles, Cutlery, Jewellery, Perfumery and Stationary in great varieties.
In the late 1860s, a ‘GENERAL NOTICE’ was reproduced in Perth
newspapers up to February 1872, advising that in his Perth store DeLeech had:
50
46 Michael J. Bourke, On the Swan: A History of the Swan District, op. cit., pp. 204, 213 & 222.
47 Ibid., p. 213. 48 Yeo, John, b. 1826, (Expiree) in Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians pre 1829-1888, vol. 1V, R- Z, p. 3409. 49 A. D. Letch, ‘Contracts for Mails,’ The Inquirer and Commercial News, December 1879. 'The Government have accepted the following tenders for the conveyance of mails for three years. A. D. Letch between Perth and Fremantle for £160 per annum and to carry expresses between Perth and Fremantle and Perth and Guildford for £60 per annum.' 50 A. DeLeech's Perth and Guildford General Stores advertisement in the Houghton Herald, a pamphlet which was distributed on River cruises.
Figure 5: Pretty, young Amelia Letch, née French, dressed in middle class attire with fashionable jewelry.
67
His business prowess must have been noticeable as he was invited to speak in the
Fremantle Congregational Church on 2 June 1869 by Reverend Johnston, who wrote in
his diary, ‘Mr DeLeech gave a very good lecture on “Success” in the Chapel this
evening.’51
Letch was also involved in four property transactions, the middle two of which
involved prominent free settlers. According to a Certificate of Satisfaction signed by the
Register of Deeds on 2 July 1877 ‘De Leech’ paid off the £300 and interest due for 2
Acres on Lot 141 in Guildford, originally owned by Dennis Desmond.
52 On 9 July
1866, De Leech and George Shenton, the younger merchant, purchased all Alexander
Halliday’s land and appurtenances (buildings – probably on Perth, Lot Y12) for £100,
after Halliday became bankrupt.53 On 10 November 1871, DeLeech and the merchant
Walter Padbury sold 52 acres in the Avon Location No. 430 to William Locke
Brockman of Herne Hill for £34.54 Alfred paid £60 of a £210 mortgage for 40 acres of
land in Canning Location 59 on 21 October 1875, which was previously owned by John
Peglar. Worth noting is the fact that he signed his correct name of Mr A. D. Letch,55
when he had paid off that Canning property on 30 October1893.56
After receiving his Certificate of Freedom in 1863, DeLetch was paying £12/10/- per
annum in license fees to the Perth City Council to hire out nine four-wheeled carriages,
five two-wheeled phaetons, omnibuses, gigs and carts from his Omnibus and Coaching
House by 1875.
57 He also provided drivers, carriages and horses for John Summer’s
Funerals 58 and during 1879 he started a cab service around Perth, which included an
imported London cab in 1880.59
51 'Diary of Joseph Johnston', 2 June 1869, MN 298565A, Battye Library, Perth..
Letch had employed a free settler named Daniel Hardy
as a driver on his Fremantle to Perth mail run during the 1870s. Hardy recalled that in
52 Dennis Desmond to A DeLeech, Memorial of Conveyance, Book 6, Memorial 349, 1 December 1857, p. 61, re Lot 141 of 2 acres in Guildford Deeds Office, Landgate, Midland, W.A. 53 ‘Alexander Halliday to George Shenton and Alfred DeLeech, Memorial of an Indenture of Conveyance,’ Lot Y12, Perth, from Alexander Halliday to George Shenton the Younger of Perth and Alfred DeLeech of Perth, Book 6, p, 2047, 10 July 1866, Deeds Office, ‘Landgate', Midland, W.A. 54 DeLeech and Walter Padbury to William Locke Brockman , Indenture of Conveyance, Book 7, No. 538, 10 November 1871, DeLeech and Walter Padbury conveyed Avon Lot 430 to William Locke Brockman, Deeds Office, Landgate, Midland, W. A. 55 John Peglar to A. D. Letch, Memorial of an Indenture of Conveyance, from Mr John Peglar, Sadler and Harness Maker, to Mr. A. D. Letch, Book 7, No. 2040, Canning Location 59, 15 November 1875, Deeds Office, Landgate, Midland , W. A. 56 Certificate of Satisfaction, issued by Stephen Henry Parker to A.D. Letch, Book X1, p. 979, Mortgage was paid off by 30 October 1893 by A..D. Letch, Deeds Office, Landgate, Midland , W. A. 57 Perth City Council Meeting Minutes, 22 February,1875, Perth City Council Library. 58 Daniel Hardy, ‘Over Fifty Years Ago: Mail Days in the Eighties’, West Australian, 4 November 1936, p. 8, col. c, microfilm. 59 A. D. Letch's cab service in Perth, Inquirer, Battye Library, Perth, W. A., 4 April, 1880, p. 3, microfilm.
68
Letch’s prime during those years ‘the current topic of the day was that, considered from
a cash point of view, he was reputed to be the most wealthy man in Western
Australia.’60 According to Rica Erickson, ‘Letch employed 46 T/L men from 1852-1876
including 6 shopmen & book-keepers in the 1860s, (and) cooks and a baker at Williams
River (in the) 1870s.’61
Alfred’s younger brother, George Abner, a Manchester schoolmaster, and his
family came out to join him in February 1872, prompting Letch to own up to his convict
past by placing the following advertisement in the local paper above his business
advertisement:
60 Daniel Hardy, op. cit.. 61 Rica Erickson & Volunteers, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians pre 1829-1888, vol. II, D-J, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, W. A., 6009, A. D. Letch, under ‘DeLeech', p. 808.
Figure 6: Letch admits changing his name, to DeLeech, after his stepbrother George arrived in the colony. Inquirer, 6 March 1872, p. 29.
69
George Abner was obviously very proud of his brother’s achievements, as his diary
entry attests:
Rejoice with us !!! our reception at Fremantle and Perth, our Pride, my Brother’s Position, our Prospects everything surpasses our most sanguine expectations.62
Despite his convict background, Letch was able to contribute to the political life of
Perth. He first showed signs of interest in the political life of the colony in 1867, when
he signed a memorial in the form of a petition to be sent to Her Majesty, Queen
Victoria, supporting an extension of Governor Hampton’s administration in the colony,
which the signatories believed ‘has proved so beneficial.’63 He signed ‘General Trader’
against his name on a second petition in 1869, for the establishment of an enlarged and
partially elected Legislative Council, which was addressed to His Excellency, Governor
John Stephen Hampton. That successful petition was signed by more than one third of
the colony’s householders.64
62 G. A. Letch, ‘Diary of a Voyage to W.A., in the Ivy', (1871/2), p. 106, Battye Library in Perth. According to an advertisement in The Inquirer on 24 April, 1872, p.3. George opened a Commercial Boarding School for boys, opposite the Weld Club in St George’s Terrace on l3 May, 1872, which ran very successfully until 1888.
63 The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, ‘Copy of Address on Presentation of Memorial', 19 August 1867, ACC/CONS No. 136, Item No. 97, S.R.O, Perth. Despite the petition, Hampton was not offered a second term of office according to De Garis, because of the intervention of Bishop Hale. (B. De Garis, ‘Political Tutelage 1829-1870,’ in A New History of Western Australia, C. T. Stannage (ed.), UWA Press, Nedlands, 1981, p. 303. 64 ‘Petition to His Excellency John Stephen Hampton and the Legislative Council’, WAS 1363, ACC 137/2, SRO, W.A, re an Ordinance to be passed for a representative Legislative Council.
Figure 7: Alfred, on the left, and George Letch, after George’s arrival in the Swan River Colony in 1872.
70
Letch was voted in as a Perth City Councillor from 1875 to 1880, serving three terms
for Perth’s Central Ward.65 It is worth noting that he was elected to the Perth City
Council, at a time when expirees were generally not allowed to hold to civic positions.
While it is clear that Alfred was trusted by free settlers in land transactions with some
prominent Perth citizens, his suggestions at Perth City Council meetings were not
always accepted, so his manner there was fairly circumspect. For example, during a
debate over the building of Public Baths in Perth in March 1879, he graciously
conceded defeat over his idea that ‘a work of this character should be taken in hand by a
private company,’ concluding that ‘he would support any decision the meeting arrived
at.’ However at the same meeting, his application for a cab stand in front of his shop
was granted, demonstrating that useful contacts could be made while connected with the
Council.66
Letch and other expirees who were trying to achieve a modicum of social acceptance
in the colony had to tolerate the idea that some free settlers would always be prejudiced
against them. An example of how one prominent settler privately thought about
emancipists is typified by a reference to Alfred Letch in one of Alfred Hillman’s diary
entries in 1880.
A. D. Letch was ousted from the Central Ward and a bigger blackguard elected in his place… mobocracy triumphs…if people of wealth and respectability will
65 ‘Alfred D. Letch, City of Perth Councillors’ Honour Board now sited on the top floor of the Perth City Council Offices shows that Alfred was elected for three terms from 1875-1880. According to PCC records, in the Central Ward Municipal Elections, Mr. A. D. Letch gained 76 votes, J. Summers, 63 and H. Birch, 54, were elected on 9/11/1877 while H. Osborne on 22 votes, missed out. 66 Inquirer and Commercial News, 26 March 1879, p. 3.
Figure 8: The City of Perth Councillors, Honour Board - see A. D. Letch was elected for three terms from 1875 to 1880.
71
persist in taking no interest in these municipal elections ... they must not be surprised at the result.67
In early 1880, during Alfred’s last term as a Perth City Councillor, he took his wife
and three of his children back to England, presumably to visit his other brothers and
their families. Sadly their last son, Thomas Augustus, who was born there on 20 June,
1880, died at sea on the Fitzroy on 15 November that year on their return voyage to the
Swan River Colony. After his arrival back in the colony, Letch needed to focus all his
attention on his Perth businesses and make decisions to divert their financial threats.
Seeing that trains would eventually supplant some mail and passenger services, he had
already handed his Perth to Guildford mail contract to T. Horton in 1879,
68 and by
1882 he had also relinquished his Perth to Fremantle mail contract. He sold his coaching
business to John Summers in early 1884.69 However he retained his City Cab service,
which was operating in competition to Harry Osborne’s service, transferring passengers
to and from the new Perth Railway Station.70
With the completion of the station, the retail centre of Perth moved away from St
George’s Terrace to Hay Street, and merchants including Letch, Monger, Shenton and
Padbury were among the first to relocate, so their lengthy, expensive advertisements
dominated the newspapers. In anticipation of the impact of the new train station, Alfred
took out a lease on the brick and shingle/corrugated iron Saw Estate building in Hay
Street, in October 1883. His new shop was ideally situated, being about mid-way
between William and Barrack streets and stretching through from Hay through to
Murray Street. Alfred proudly announced his change of premises in a newspaper
advertisement on boxing Day 1883,
71
67 Alfred Hillman Jnr, The Hillman Diaries: 1877-1884, entry for 15 November, 1880, F. Hillman, Applecross, W.A., 1990, p. 435. 68 A.D. Letch, 'After twenty years uninterrupted Mail Service,' Herald, 19 July, 1879, p. 2, col. h, Battye Library Perth, W. A., microfilm. 69 Inquirer, 20 February, 1884. 70 C.T. Stannage, The People of Perth:, op. cit., p.133, also the Inquirer, 12 March, 1884. 71 Inquirer, 26 December, 1883, p. 2.
72
Letch kept up his musical interests and was the organist at the Trinity Congregational
Church in St George’s Terrace for many years.72 He was later thanked for ‘his musical
contributions’ at a Metropolitan Fire Brigade ‘smoke social’ in May 1890, where he had
favoured the company with ‘some selections on the piano’.73
However, despite his apparent success, Letch had considerable financial worries at
various times during his career. He struggled with insolvency during the recessions of
the 1870s. He had opened an account with the Western Australian Bank in August 1858
with a deposit of £152,
74
72 Alfred’s name is on a plaque in Perth's Trinity Congregational Church, as the church's organist. His brother evidently followed in their father’s footsteps, as a small stained glass window there was dedicated to George Letch for ‘29 years as the Superintendent of Trinity Sunday School’ by his ‘Old Pupils and Friends, 1909.'
but on 28 April 1871 his account was overdrawn by £330 and
Bank officials resolved he could ‘only ever exceed that amount by £400.’ On 28
February 1877, his overdraft was extended to £750. Twelve years and a half later, on 1
October 1889, after a depression in 1888, a ‘Bill of Sale’ of his stock in trade and
household furniture valued at £1400, was obtained by the Bank’s solicitors. He
negotiated a loan to cover his debts, but by 10 February 1890, Letch had still not paid
his interest owing for loans in 1889. He was advised that unless he took immediate steps
to pay it, the bank’s solicitors would proceed with the sale of his business. Board
Minutes regarding Letch on 12 February 1890 read, ‘Keep trying to get all you can from
73 'Metropolitan Fire Brigade Smoke Social,' reported the day after Alfred's fire in West Australian, 27 May 1890, p. 3. 74 Alfred Daniel Letch, Western Australian Bank, Individual Accounts Ledgers WAB-3/609/10 & 11.
READ CAREFULLY!
NOTE ACCURATELY!!
CHANGE OF PREMISES!!!
Mr. A. D. Letch begs to inform
his customers individually, and
the public generally that he has
REMOVED
from St. George’s Terrace to the
most attractive looking and pre-
eminently suitable premises in
Hay Street.
Figure 9: Alfred proudly announced his change of premises in the Inquirer, 26 December 1883, p. 2.
73
him.’75
Coincidently a devastating fire broke out in the early hours of Sunday morning on 25
May 1890, which gutted the whole Saw Estate, including Letch’s shop, his home
upstairs and two other shops. Despite many willing volunteer helpers, most of the
contents of Letch’s store and home were either lost or partially destroyed by water
damage.
It seems that George Shenton Junior, who was the Director of the Western
Australian Bank at that time, and his Board members, were prepared to support Letch,
despite the fact he was an expiree.
76
…the chief loss will fall upon Mr A. D. Letch, who is wholly uninsured, and whose stock and furniture suffered so seriously from the water and the rough, but good natured handling they received, in the course of well meant attempts to remove them to a place of safety.
Dispelling any insinuations that Letch may have purposely started the fire to
collect the insurance, considering that he did have financial problems at that time, The
West Australian reporter stressed that:
77
Letch maintained that he had decided not to insure the contents of shop or his home
above, as he had taken suitable precautions against fire,
78
Sir, I feel moved by gratitude to offer my public thanks to all who rendered truly valuable and substantial help at the recent disastrous fire which has fatally shattered my business position ... seeking to recover as much as we could from so serious a wreck. Yours etc. A.D. Letch.
which was probably a cover
up, as his bank records suggest that he could ill afford the premiums. His letter to the
Editor of The West Australian which was published on 29 May 1890, read in part:
79
On 3 June 1890, the Bank took out a Fire Insurance Policy for security on his
remaining stock and furniture, and on the following day, the terms for an Auction Sale
of them were drawn up. By 23 July 1890, the Auctioneer was requested to wind the
auctions up to stop further expenses. However on 9 September 1891, the Bank finally
agreed to release Letch from the balance of his debt.
80
75 Western Australian Bank, Board Minutes, WAB, 2/101/2, Friday 28 April 1871 to Wednesday 12 February 1890.
Family belief is that after his
bankruptcy, he bred horses on his land in Canning and exported them to India, which
seems feasible as he had paid off his Canning property by 1893. During 1904, Letch and
76 ‘Disastrous Fire in the City: Great Destruction of Property: Two Shops and Their Contents Burned’, The West Australian, Monday, 26 May1890, p. 3a-c. 77 ‘Vigilans Et Audax,’ The West Australian, Perth, Tuesday, 27 May 1890, p. 3. 78 Letch's business was uninsured, The West Australian , 27 May 1890, p. 3. 79 Letch's thanks to those who assisted him during the fire in his shop, The West Australian, 29 May 1890, p. 3. 80 Alfred D Letch, WAB, 2/101/ 2, Board Minutes, 9 September, 1891, Letch was released from debt.
74
his wife, Amelia were living in Forrest Street, Highgate Hill.81 However Letch died
while living in Robinson Street in North Perth in 1907, aged eighty-four.82
Unfortunately his will has not been located, so his financial position at that time cannot
be assessed.83 Amelia died in 1918, aged 79, while she was living with her eldest son
and his family on their farm named ‘Eadine.’ All she left to her children were some
articles of lounge and bedroom furniture.84
Alfred and Amelia had seven children, with only four sons surviving. Three married
and fathered children in the colony.
85 Their first born, Edward Alfred Letch who was
born in 1864, was an organist at St George’s Cathedral, worked in the Post and
Telegraph Department in Perth between 1886 and 1887 and became a clerk and operator
from 1888 to 1889.86 He married Emily Wilding, the daughter of an expiree farmer
named Thomas Wilding in September 1888. Edward then farmed on “Eadine,” near
Clackline, and was elected Chairman of the Northam Road Board from 1929-1940.87
Alfred and Amelia’s only daughter, Ada Mary Letch, who was born in April 1867,
suffered severe back problems and died unwed of pneumonia in 1899.88 Charles
William Essex Letch, who was born in February 1870, worked as a clerk in a
Government Office from 1887 to 1889. He married in 1904, prior to becoming an
orchardist at Coates Siding near Wooroloo.89
Arthur Albert Letch was born on 1 September 1872, and after working in the
Western Australian Government Railways for a number of years, he became their
Principal Records Clerk on a salary of £285, plus special allowances of £22 per annum
in October 1919.
90
81 Legislative Assembly Rolls, 1904, p. 73, Alfred Daniel Letch is listed as a landowner.
Arthur was also a professional musician, playing the piano and the
organ and evidently had a reasonable singing voice. He married Edith Helen Clairs, the
daughter of Rev. Edward Clairs, an Anglican clergyman in Busselton between 1887 and
82 Alfred Daniel Letch died from 'senile decay ' at Robinson St, North Perth on 14 March 1907, recorded at the Office of the Register General, Perth. 83 Office of the Register General, ibid. 84 Rose Dempster, A letter to Suzanne Tighe (née Letch) from her Great Aunt. 85 Alfred Daniel DeLeech, Battye Library Catalogue Card, Perth. 86 Edward Alfred Letch, Battye Library Catalogue Card, & Government Gazette, 1887. 87 Edward Alfred Letch, Rica Erickson (Compiler),The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australian pre 1829-1888, vol. III, K-Q, op. cit., p. 1849. 88 Ada Mary Letch, Inquirer, 13 April, 1867 and ‘Register of Births’ in Letch Family Bible held by the Brockman.. 89 Charles William Essex Letch, Inquirer, 23 February 1870, 1904 Legislative Assembly Rolls, North Perth, p. 73 and also information from Maida Brockman, née Letch, but there is no other information available about his marriage at this stage. 90 W. H. Hope, Letter to the Acting Commissioner of Railways, re Arthur Alfred Letch, 23 December 1919.
75
1890, who became Canon Clairs in 1904.91 Their fifth child, Henry Frederick Letch,
who was born in 1877, was a cabinet maker at Zimpels furniture factory in Perth by
1902,92 then an itinerant handyman, tradesman and farmer living on a small country
property.93 Two other sons, Lionel Cecil Letch, born March 1873, lived less than a year,
and Thomas Augustus Letch, born in June 1880, was the son who died at sea on the way
home from England with his parents.94
Letch’s name still features on a plaque, placed to the right of the alter in Trinity
Church and on the Perth City Councillor Honour Boards in Council House. Another
lasting tribute to Alfred Letch was originally installed in the Capitol Theatre in 1928,
where Alfred's St Georges Terrace shop, featuring his name, could be viewed on one of
Arthur Clarke’s seven leadlight glass panels, depicting Perth in the 1870s. Those panels
have now been relocated to the Fremantle Film and Television Institute. Alfred had
ample opportunities to show his character reformation and gained the friendship and
support of some colonial families as a self made man, through his extensive businesses.
He was well regarded and supported by his brother’s family, who encouraged and
assisted him, and also by the Western Australian Bank Managers for many years.
John Acton Wroth
Seventeen year old John Wroth is the youngest white-collar convict to be discussed
in this thesis. His diaries and letters are held in Battye Library and were used
extensively by Rica Erickson.95 This discussion of his life is based on her work, which
has been supplemented by a re-examination of Wroth's Diaries and letters96
Wroth was employed as a printer and was still residing in his father’s Ipswich home,
when he was arrested, placed in Ipswich Gaol and committed for trial at the Ipswich
Assizes on 31 July 1848. He was charged with forging three orders with the intention to
defraud Richard Coles, of a gold watch and chain, Jonathon and Henry Buckingham of
a pair of Wellington boots, from Robert Burrows, a pair of leather slippers, as well as
as well as
by other primary sources.
91 Clairs, Edward Spittlehouse, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, pre 1829-1888, Vol. 1, A-C, p. 541. 92 Letter and Family Tree from Ron Letch, a descendant of Henry Frederick Letch. 93 Henry Frederick Letch, Battye Library Catalogue Cards, 1904 Legislative Assembly Rolls. 94 Lionel Cecil Letch and Thomas Augustus Letch in the Battye Library Catalogue cards. 95 ‘John Acton Wroth - Diarist', The Brand on his Coat: Biographies of some Western Australian Convicts, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia, 6009, pp. 16-74. 96 Papers of John Acton Wroth', 1830-1876, MN 725, ACC 2816A and 5110A, Battye Library, Perth, Western Australia.
76
attempting to obtain watches. He also stole 10 quires of note paper, 1 packet of paper
tie, 3 fragments of packets of note paper, 13 sticks sealing wax, fifty steel pens, an
Octave Memorandum Book and a bottle of Butler’s Marking Ink from his employer,
Stephen Piper.97
According to the Suffolk Chronicle and the Ipswich Journal, Wroth was initially only
charged with having ‘feloniously defrauded’ Coles, to which he pleaded ‘not guilty.’
However on the advice of his attorney, he changed his plea to ‘Guilty,’ so the other
charges were dropped. At the conclusion of his trial, Justice Baron Parke addressed the
prisoner,
… this is by no means the first act of this kind of which you have been guilty... I am sorry that a young man of your respectable expression and education should have committed such a serious offence…I must make an example of you to prevent other persons being tempted to commit similar crimes. The sentence…is…that you will be transported for the term of ten years.98
Wroth’s Ipswich Gaol Book documented that he had been ‘schooled for nine years.
99
According to Rica Erickson, he was the only son of a ‘respectable brewer,’ though her
source for this is not provided. Erickson surmises that after his mother’s death in 1845,
when Wroth apparently nearly died of typhoid fever, his ‘indulgent and loving father’
and his three married sisters spoiled him. Later he formed a romantic attachment to
Elvina Garlett and wrote loving letters to her, which he sealed with his signet ring.100
He was initially employed as Superintendent Thomas Dixon's clerk in the
temporary convict establishment in Fremantle.
Wroth was detained at Ipswich Gaol for the customary nine months of separate
confinement so family members could visit him. Then he was sent to Parkhurst Boy’s
Prison on the Isle of Wight for about seven months, prior to his transportation on the
Mermaid, which arrived in the Swan River Colony on 7 May 1851.
101
97 Suffolk Records Office, ACC 609/8, Ipswich Gaol Record Book, 2 August 1848.
In a letter to his father soon after his
arrival, Wroth reassured him that he was ‘placed in realy (sic) good circumstances for a
Prisoner,’ was healthy, had sufficient food, good lodgings, many privileges and even
tobacco. He reported that he was treated with ‘great kindness and respect’ by Dixon,
98 Suffolk Chronicle, 5 August 1848 & Ipswich Journal, 5 August 1848. 99 Ipswich Goal Book Record, op. cit.. 100 Rica Erickson, ‘John Acton Wroth - Diarist,’ op. cit., pp. 16 & 17. 101 Ibid., pp. 25 & 28.
77
asked his father for money in note form, sent his love to his sisters and wanted to know
how his sweetheart was getting on.102
Sadly for Wroth, despite having written an ardent letter to his sweetheart, wanting
her to confirm her intentions regarding him, Elvina Garlett never replied. By his second
letter home on 12 July from the temporary establishment, Wroth wrote that he had
formed a friendship with 'Alfred De Letch' who had made him, ‘a neat drab
waistcoat…a cloth cap of a superior quality… (and) has been continually suggesting
things to make me more comfortable.’ Wroth enclosed a letter written by ‘A DeLeech’
that was calculated to set his father’s mind at ease. DeLeech wrote, ‘Should the days of
adversity overtake him…I will cheerfully provide for him,’ and he referred to Wroth
junior as his ‘beloved friend & Brother John.’
103
Prior to receiving his Ticket-of-Leave, Wroth was sent to the York Convict Hiring
Depot to work as a clerk, on probationary prisoner status. He was allowed to sleep in a
small hut in the town, rather than at the road works camp and kept up his
correspondence with DeLeech. In a letter dated 29 September 1851, he assured
DeLeech ‘how much I wish sometimes that you were at my side,’ before signing off as
‘Your affect. Brother.’ Wroth wrote that he found that the new superintendent at the
depot was ‘a very kind man - but when excited, he is very authoritative and even
presuming,’ so Wroth apparently had some ‘short words’ with him.’
104 Wroth was
responsible for all weekly statistics including pay lists, rolls, sick reports, day passes,
requisitions for supplies, monthly accounts, transport and medical comforts, work party
sheets and documenting instances of misconduct in the Occurrence Book, which were
all reported monthly to the Comptroller General.105 When Corporal Hays of the Royal
Sappers and his wife took Wroth under their wing, he accepted their gifts of food,
enjoyed their companionship, went riding out to the road camps with the corporal, and
later on even assisted in their marriage reconciliation.106
102 John Acton Wroth, Letterbook, ACC 2816A, MN 725, Battye Library, Perth, Microfilm. Wroth’s first letter to his father from Fremantle, June 1851.
He kept up his correspondence
with his father who sent him some money, wrote to his two sisters, and one of his
brothers-in-law even arranged for someone to bring money for him to Australia.
Although his father was no longer able to send him any money by mid-1853, Wroth was
103 Ibid., Wroth's second letter to his father, 12 July 1851. 104 Ibid., Wroth’s letter to De Leech from the York Convict Hiring Depot, 29 September 1851. 105 Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit.., pp.38 & 39. 106 Ibid., p. 39.
78
still receiving letters from him and other family members at that time, to which he
enthusiastically replied.107
After Wroth received his Ticket-of-Leave on 28 November 1851, six months or so
after his arrival,
108 he had a surreptitious love affair with Jessey McGall while at the
York depot. She was the stepdaughter of Sergeant McGall, whom he met on the
Mermaid on their way to the colony. However due to Wroth’s convict status, McGall
would not allow them to marry and consequently poor Jessey was sent off into domestic
service at Fremantle, while Wroth was temporarily transferred back to the Fremantle
Depot for a short interval in mid-1852.109 While at Fremantle, Wroth suffered a
recurring fever which incurred a debt of several pounds for medical treatment to a
convict moneylender. As De Leech went his guarantor, Wroth gave him his ring as
security,110 and during September 1852 he worked in De Leech’s 'Livery Stables and
Coffee House’ in Perth, to help pay off his debt to his friend.111
After Wroth returned to the York Depot, he worked as an assistant clerk under a
ticketer named William Basely, who resented Wroth’s presence there. Wroth also had to
share his tent with an uncouth convict, which forced him to draw up a code of conduct
for his ‘uneducated ‘and ‘depraved’ tent mate to follow. His ‘Rules to be observed
within this Tent’ included, taking caps off and washing face and hands before meals,
placing food scraps in the appropriate box, wiping down the table and cleaning used
utensils. Obscenity had to be ‘rigidly suppressed, all vulgarity discountenanced
(and)]...Cleanliness to be observed always, and good manners upheld.’
112 Adding to his
woes, DeLeech sent him a threatening letter, demanding payment for the rest of the debt
for which he been guarantor and warned Wroth that he would have to ‘proceed against'
him, as he had been forced to pay off Wroth’s debt to the moneylender.113
Wroth survived mostly on meat, bread and tea with milk and sugar with occasional
treats of rice, soup, greens, melons and other fruit, dripping, pancakes, damper and
brandy from Mrs Hay.
114
107 Erickson, ibid., Wroth’s letters to his father, pp. 28-31, 34, 35, 50- 52.
He could not afford to pay the last four shillings he owed to
108 John Acton Wroth, Character Book Record, op. cit. 109 Erickson, op. cit., pp. 35 & 36. 110 Erickson, ibid., p. 38. 111 John Wroth, Ticket-of-Leave Registers, ACC 1386, Vol. 1, No. 368, June 1853.Also Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 36. 112 Erickson, Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 38. 113 Ibid., p. 44. 114 Wroth’s Diary, Part II, ‘In the Colony,’ from 16 July 1853 to 27 July 1853.
79
De Leech until 18 July 1853, when he took on a small private position, teaching the
hostelry manager’s children to repay his debt. 115
His third, brief love affair while at York, was with Susannah Smithies, whose father
was the Wesleyan Minister. Wroth composed a poem, wrote a letter to her and courted
her from afar. However after discovering Wroth’s letter, Reverend Smithies accosted
Wroth and warned him that it was ‘utterly impossible for a Ticket-of-Leave man to
aspire to his daughter’s hand,’ so Wroth avoided her and attended the Anglican Church
instead. They later attempted to renew their relationship through a series of surreptitious
letters and were planning an elopement in December 1853, however Reverend Smithies
intercepted another letter and persuaded the Resident Magistrate to charge Wroth with
attempted abduction of an under-age girl. At the last minute, Wroth refused to sign his
sworn evidence form and was consequently sentenced to a year’s punishment in
Fremantle, where he was dealt with leniently by the Comptroller General, and ‘the
year’s sentence was either remitted or greatly reduced.
116
Wroth received his Conditional Pardon on 1 January 1854.
117 By March that year he
moved to Toodyay Convict Hiring Depot, where he was appointed Clerk of Courts and
also acted as Resident Magistrate Harris’s personal clerk on £18 a year, until the end of
1856. In addition to his official clerical duties at the Depot and as the Resident
Magistrate’s clerk, he supplemented his income with clerical work for James
Drummond, a pioneer pastoralist, merchant and owner of “Hawthornden” in Toodyay,
while living in one of his cottages at Mill farm.118 On 7 June 1854, Wroth married a
migrant lass named Brigid Josephine Ellis, who was the daughter of a sea captain,119
and had probably arrived on the Clara on 3 September 1853.120
During 1857 there were fears that transportation would cease, after the Imperial
Government had ordered the closure of all country depots to cut costs, after the new
Fremantle Convict Establishment had opened in 1856. Consequently Wroth lost his
115 Wroth’s Diary, ibid., 18 July 1853. 116 Letter from the Resident Magistrate in York to the Comptroller General, 23 December 1853, CSO 311, cited in Erickson, ‘John Acton Wroth, Diarist,’ pp., 55 & 56. 117 Rica Erickson and Gillian O’Mara, Convicts in Western Australia, 1850-1887, op. cit., Wroth, p. 615. 118 Erickson, The Brand on His Coat, op. cit., pp. 56 & 57. 119 Ibid., p. 57. 120 Erickson, The Bride Ships: Experiences of Immigrants Arriving in Western Australia, 1849-1889 Hesperian press, Victoria Park, W. A., 1992, p. 154. Also Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. 11, D-J, p. 973.
80
position as clerk in the Toodyay Convict depot at the end of that year, although the
Magistrate still employed him as his Clerk of Courts until May 1861.121
Fortunately for Wroth, James Drummond opened a store at Mill farm, which Wroth
rented as storekeeper. He also held the position of postmaster at Toodyay from 1857 to
October 1864. During 1858 he was also employed as the Secretary of the Toodyay
Agricultural Society on £10 a year.122
Many floods occurred in that area and during 1862 the government abandoned the
Toodyay town site in favour of Newcastle nearby. Wroth had the foresight to purchase
two lots in Newcastle in 1861, which were close to the convict depot buildings and the
two wells that held the town’s water supply. In November 1864, he bought a 60 acre
tillage lease freehold and 40 acres adjacent to it. During March 1866 and July 1867, he
successfully negotiated the purchase of two more town lots with river frontages, and in
August 1866 he paid for two larger locations of 40 acres each. By 1867, he had
purchased two more town lots of 14 acres at £7 each, as well as an adjacent town lot.
123
Early in 1865 before the new schoolmaster arrived, Wroth who had taught his own
sons, accepted a short term teaching role from Drummond, in an empty cottage near
Steam Mill, probably to repay some of his £150 debt he owed to him.
124
121 Erickson, The Brand on His Coat, op. cit., p, 58, 59.
He also secured
the contract to supply food to the Government Commissariat at Newcastle which was
worth about £270 a month, commencing in April 1865. He purchased another horse and
commissioned Solomon Cook to build a strong two-horse dray, to carry goods from
Newcastle out to the road parties. On his recent land acquisitions, he grew hay to fatten
122 Erickson, ibid., pp. 56-63. 123 Erickson, ibid., p. 69. 124 Erickson ibid., pp. 63- 67 & 69. Also Rica Erickson, Old Toodyay and Newcastle, Toodyay Shire Council, 1974, p. 212.
Figure 10: The Toodyay Convict
Hiring Depot.
81
stock and set up his own butchering and carting business with the help of his two older
sons.
In January 1865, Wroth ordered supplies such as tea, pepper, vinegar, soap, sago and
sugar from Mr Gull, the leading merchant in Guildford, which were delivered to
Newcastle two or three days later, sometimes by farmers who were in debt to him. From
there he and his sons would later cart them to convict road parties near Bolgart and Tea
Tree Swamp, which were further on down Guildford Road. Wroth traded the skins from
his butchering to a Perth tanner, in exchange for a harness and potatoes, swapped
rendered fat for soap and used local teamsters to cart his tallow, hides and sandalwood.
Being short of capital by March 1865, Wroth was forced to advise his customers that he
would much prefer to no longer accept credit or unsaleable items in his business
transactions, because the merchants he dealt with, had a similar policy. 125
Unfortunately the year 1865 was not a very good year to start provisioning contracts
as rainfall there was light, so some crops partly failed. Wroth had to nearly double the
cost of meat to town customers because the number of healthy stock declined. There
were often delays in his payment for supplies from the government, which meant Wroth
had to negotiate overdrafts or mortgages. He suffered great anxiety over his business
problems, because he had no substantial capital reserves and was forced to extend credit
to his regular customers, during difficult years after fires, floods or drought. There were
also seasonal fluctuations in the value of his goods, which forced him to raise the price
of meat from 3¼d to 5d, then 6d per pound, which was bad for business. At least he had
a crop of hay from the previous year to feed his horses.
126
Although Wroth offered Alfred DeLeech some of his hay reserve for his livery
stables, the sale fell through. Months later when DeLeech tried to renegotiate the sale,
Wroth replied that he now required the hay for his own horses, but he did place a large
order for note paper, envelopes, foolscap paper, mustard, plums, currents and ground
coffee supplies from DeLeech. In other letters he enquired after DeLeech’s wife and
‘the younger branch’ and signed himself, ‘I am still the old fashioned… 'quobba'
(cobber).’
127
125 Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., pp. 65.
He successfully tendered again for the Commissariat contract in 1866, but
the very dry winter season caused farmers in the area to sell off their stock and many
were on the brink of bankruptcy, including Wroth and other major traders. That year,
the long winter delayed shearing and haymaking, and due to an excess of grain the price
126 Erickson, ibid., p. 68. 127 Erickson, ibid.
82
of flour fell, affecting all the wheat farmers in the area and forced Wroth to lower his
tenders for flour and meat. As small storekeepers were denied credit, Wroth and others
had no other option but to place orders from South Australia.
Business worsened after droughts in 1868 and government contracts were reduced
after transportation ceased that year. A trade recession had started to develop from
1868, continued through most of the 1870s, and worse still for those living in Toodyay,
some of their wells began to dry up. Lack of finishing rains in 1870 meant smaller grain
yields, forced farmers to cut for hay, and the prices of sandalwood and horses fell,
causing even wealthy pastoralists to file for bankruptcy, yet Wroth and his sons hung in
there. He had employed sixteen ticketers between 1858 and 1871, including a butcher
and a road worker, and his sons helped him with stock, butchering and his mail
contract.128
Wroth had been experiencing health problems in his early thirties and by November
1865 his legs were starting to feel weak. In March 1866 he complained of heaviness in
his left foot, loss of power in his left leg and acute pain in both legs. He couldn’t feel the
iron in the stirrup and at night both feet swelled slightly. He wrote in his Diary, ‘I have
had no appetite for food, or energy for work.’ By July 1866 the thirty-four years old,
Wroth found that he was, ‘hardly able to sit up, having had a severe attack of
rheumatism and influenza.’129
From 1867 to 1876 Wroth advertised himself as a general dealer, storekeeper and
farmer and he still held the government mail contract in 1876. In 1868, members of the
Toodyay Agricultural Society allowed Wroth and some other expirees to join them.
Their acceptance into the Society was probably due to a financial climate where all
128 Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., pp. 68-73. 129 Erickson, ibid., p. 71.
Figure 11: John Wroth, while a dealer, shopkeeper, farmer and mail contractor, 1867-1877, Courtesy of Battye Library.
83
farmers were suffering, everyone was supporting each other in times of need, and
obviously Wroth and other expirees had reformed and proved to be law abiding citizens.
During their Annual General Meeting, members declared they were:
…glad that the time had arrived to receive in their Society the expirees of this district, especially those whose conduct entitled them to join this or any other Society.130
Erickson argued that this was a sign that ‘some of the prejudices against expirees
were fading.’
131 After the Road Board Act of 1871, Wroth was appointed the first
Secretary of the Toodyay Road Board on £10 a year, which was increased to £30 per
annum in 1874 until he died in 1876.132 His eldest son, Arthur John Wroth, who was a
competent butcher at nineteen, was handling Wroth’s business in that area by 1874.133
He became a grazier in Toodyay and took over his father’s role of Secretary of the Road
Board at £25 per annum, after his father’s death of typhoid in Toodyay on 30 July,
1876.134
In his will, Wroth asked for all ‘his property to be sold with the exception of his
conveyances and horses etc, which were required to carry out the mail contracts.’ After
130 Toodyay Agricultural Society Minute Books, Meeting 1868, ACC 627A, Battye Library. 131 Erickson, The Brand on His Coat, op. cit.. p. 73. 132 Erickson, ibid. 133 Erickson, ibid., p. 73. 134 Erickson, ibid., p. 74.
Figure 12: The Toodyay Honour Board which contains John Wroth’s name as well as those of two of his sons, who were also Secretaries of the Toodyay Road Board.
84
paying off his debts, the remainder was to ‘be divided into seven equal parts for his wife
and children.’ His mourning ring stick and gold watch were bequeathed to Arthur, a
gold locket and white ring to William and a family bible, his musical box and
Shakespeare’s Works to Joseph. He left his double barrel gun to James, his desk tea
caddy and work box to Bessie and his pistol to Acton. He ‘desired that the amounts
accruing to James, Acton and Bessie be held in trust until they come of age.’135
John and Bridget’s Wroth’s eldest son, Arthur John Wroth, married Elizabeth
Matilda Sinclair, the daughter of the free settler and farmer, William Joseph Sinclair, in
1877, then Elinor Hill Ridley in 1888 or 1889, the daughter of Joseph Ridley, also a free
settler, who was a farmer at Irwin.
136 Their second son, William Augustus Wroth
became a farrier, jockey and horse trainer and was in charge of his father’ mail contract
between Newcastle to Guildford and Newcastle to York until 1880. He was later the
lessee of the Newcastle, then the Clackline hotels. William married Jane (nicknamed
Jessie) Lloyd in 1884.137 She was the daughter of Charles Lloyd, a free settler and
Toodyay farmer and grazier.138
Joseph Ablett Wroth, their third son first worked at expiree Dan Connor’s store and
mill, and was then was apprenticed to a carpenter at York. He was only seventeen years
old when his father died in 1876, so he returned home to run the family store and a few
months later, added a butcher’s shop.
139 From 1880 to 1884 he worked as a carpenter at
York, then as a blacksmith and carpenter in Toodyay from 1886-1889. He was also
Town clerk for 41 years, taking over from his brother Arthur, and became a
Freemason.140 Evidently, he later made a modest fortune after gaining building
contracts for railway cottages between Northam and Merredin and a new hospital in
Newcastle, which he invested in land or mining ventures.141
135 Last Will and Testament of John Acton Wroth, S.R.O, WAS 34, CON 3403, Item 1876/505, 22 February, 1876.
He married Emily Hannah
Sinclair in 1882. She was the daughter of a prominent free settler, James Sinclair, who
was a farmer, pastoralist and innkeeper. Sinclair was President and Secretary of the
136 Arthur John Wroth, Rica Erickson (Compiler), The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians pre 1829-1888, op. cit., vol. IV, R-Z, pp. 3402. He married Eliner Ridley, p. 2624, daughter of Joseph Ridley, p. 2625. 137 William Augustus Wroth, Vol. 1V, ibid., p. 3402, 138 William married Jane (nicknamed Jessie) Lloyd in 1884, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol III, K-Q, p. 1876. 139 Joseph Ablett Wroth, Rica Erickson, Old Toodyay and Newcastle, op. cit., p. 259. 140 Joseph Ablett Wroth, Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. IV, R-Z, op. cit., p. 3402. 141 Joseph Ablett Wroth, Erickson, Old Toodyay and Newcastle, op. cit., p. 316.
85
Toodyay Agricultural Society in 1857, on the Board of Education in 1874 and a
member of the Toodyay Road Board between 1872 and 1893.142
James Lyons Wroth, their fourth son was initially a blacksmith at “Dumbarton”
Toodyay in 1883 before retiring to a small farming property in Toodyay. He married
Lizzie Grogan, possibly the daughter of expiree, Michael Grogan, who worked for
Robert De Burgh, a farmer and grazier at Moore River.
143 John and Bridget’s fifth son,
Adam Ellis Wroth died when aged only 22 years old and his occupation, although not
stated, was probably assisting his father’s business. Elizabeth Caroline Wroth, their only
daughter, married John Ferguson in 1890. He was the son of Alexander Ferguson, a
farmer and grazier in the Gingin-Chittering district and the grandson of free settler,
Robert Lewis Ferguson. They lived in a stone cottage at James Drummond’s Mill
Farm.144
As well as John Acton Wroth and two of his son’s names featuring on the new
‘Toodyay Road Board,’ honour board, the Royal Western Australian Historical Society
recently installed a plaque, ‘Commemorating Services to Toodyay by Members of the
Wroth Family Since 1852,’ which has been attached to a garden seat in the town.
Members of that family are still serving that community today.
142 James Sinclair, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. IV, R-Z, p, 2824. 143 Michael Grogan, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australia, vol. II, D-J, p. 1286. 144 Elizabeth Caroline Wroth, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australia, vol. IV, op.cit., p, 3402 & John Ferguson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australia, vol. II, op. cit., p. 1034.
Figure 13: The commemorative plaque to honour the Wroth family is on the side of the public bench seat, situated in the town, near the old Courthouse.
86
Joseph Lucas Horrocks.
The third white-collar convict under review is Joseph Horrocks, who was born in
1805.145 According to Martin Gibbs, Horrocks came from a respected Cornish family,
was well educated, married and had owned a merchandising business. In his early life
he had served in the Royal Navy as a sick berth attendant146 and had gained some
medical knowledge which proved very useful later on in the colony, for treating
illnesses and those who suffered from accidents.147 On 9 April 1851, the forty-nine year
old Horrocks, who was described by the Times reporter as ‘a person of gentlemanly
appearance,’ pleaded guilty to ‘feloniously forging and uttering’ one acceptance to a bill
of exchange for ‘£430. 9s. 6d’ and another of ‘£602. 3s. 6d,’ for which he was
sentenced to transportation for 14 years.148
After being categorised as a ‘Class 1’ prisoner while in Pentonville penitentiary, he
arrived at Fremantle on the Marian on 31 January 1852. According to Wendy Birman,
Horrocks worked in the medical area of the temporary convict establishment in
Fremantle,
149 where his conduct was also assessed as ‘Exemplary’ and he was placed in
Class 1 for two months, prior to gaining his Ticket-of-Leave on 8 June 1853.150 His
religion was noted as Protestant on his Character Book Record.151 Evidently there was a
shortage of medical officers, so he applied for the post of medical attendant at the newly
opened convict hiring depot in Port Gregory on a reduced salary of £20 a year, because
his qualifications were limited. Horrocks arrived there on the brig named ‘Hero’ in
September 1853,152 where according to Gibbs, he ‘soon gained a reputation for freely
dispensing aid to convicts and settlers alike, earning the epithet ‘Doc,’ before leaving in
early 1856.153
His financial situation was frequently precarious in his early years in the colony. On
5 January 1855, Horrocks opened an account at the Western Australian Bank with a
cash deposit of £241/-/8, but his account was overdrawn by 21 August that year, when
145 Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. 11, D-J, op. cit., p. 1535. 146 Martin Gibbs, ‘Landscapes of Meaning: Joseph Lucas Horrocks and the Gwalla Estate, Northampton,’ Historical Traces: Studies in Western Australian History, Jenny Gregory (ed.), vol. 17, 1997, p. 39. 147 Rica Erickson, ‘Men of Enterprise, Joseph Lucas Horrocks,’ The Brand on His Coat, ,op. cit., p. 224. 148 Joseph Lucas Horrocks, Central Criminal Courts, London, April 9, The Times, 10 April, 1851, p. 7c. 149 Wendy Birman, ‘Horrocks, Joseph Lucas, (1865),’ Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 4, Melbourne University Press, 1972, pp. 425-426, 150 Joseph Horrocks, Rica Erickson & Gillian O’Mara, Convicts in Western Australia 1850-1887, op. cit., p. 269. 151 Joseph Horrocks, ‘Character Book’ Record, ACC 1156, R 17, No. 1014. 152 Birman, ibid. 153 Gibbs, op. cit., p. 39.
87
he owed £10/8/1. Fortunately George Shenton loaned him £100 to clear his debt, so his
credit balance stood at £89/11/11. On 24 November 1855, when Horrocks was in
financial trouble again, owing the bank £16/12/11, Shenton rescued him again with a
loan of £29/11/3. On 26 January 1856, while he was in debit for £6/11/5, Shenton
loaned him £13/-/10, to clear that debt.154
Horrock’s monetary situation improved dramatically after he became involved in
copper mining, initially helping to manage James Drummond’s White-Peak mine in
March 1856.
155 He received his Conditional Pardon on 19 April 1856,156 by which time,
Drummond, a pioneer pastoralist, agriculturalist and merchant (who had also employed
Wroth), formed the Wanerenooka Mining Company backed by Shenton. He employed
forty-six ticketers on his mine site, north of Northampton, and his farm at Toodyay,
between 1856 and 1873.157 Horrocks set up at Wanerenooka as the village storekeeper
and postmaster and also assisted in the management of the mine. While there, Horrocks
experimented with various crops including tobacco, hops, sugar cane, fruit and wheat 158 and according to Erickson, ' he ‘continued to minister to the sick.'159
After more copper ore was discovered about 3kms south of Wanerenooka in 1858,
Horrocks purchased 100 acres of land in that area to set up his Gwalla Mine, financed
by George Shenton, who was by now the Director of the Western Australian Bank. His
financial situation radically improved after his mine became operational in April 1859.
No overdrawn debits were recorded between February 1855 to December 1859 and his
highest credit rating during that period was £283/9/9, recorded on 25 June 1858.
160
Horrocks then set to work to establish a ‘model village,’ for his workers.
161
154 Joseph Lucas Horrock’s, Western Australian Bank Records from Historical Services, 6-8 Parramatta Road, Homebush, N.S.W, 2140, via Lucy Rantzen, 31 May 2004.
According to the Perth Gazette, in December 1860, when Governor Kennedy visited the
mine, there were, ‘but three or four comfortable brick cottages … (surrounded by)
crops, and a large garden enclosed by walls.’ It was located on the southern edge of
where Northampton’s town boundary is today and according to a Geological Survey
Plan of the Gwalla Estate in 1907, twenty or more stonewalled cottages, which were
155 Perth Gazette, 14 March 1856. Mention of Horrocks, managing White Peak Mine. 156 Joseph Horrocks, Rica Erickson and Gillian O’Mara, Convicts in Western Australia, op. cit., p. 269. 157 James Drummond , Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, pre 1829 – 1888, vol. 11, D - J, op. cit., p. 899. 158 Gibbs, op. cit., p. 44. 159 Erickson, The Brand on His Coat, op. cit., p. 225. 160 J. L. Horrocks ‘Customer of Western Australian Bank, 1856-1859 Account Information,’ via Lucy Rantzen, op. cit. 161 Gibbs, op. cit., p. 40.
88
leased at low rentals to married men, and a ‘U’ shaped structure for twenty single men’s
quarters were built in the northern section along a surveyed road.162
In a lengthy letter to the British Colonial Secretary, Horrocks stressed the need to
continue transportation to the colony and pleaded that, despite their 'blemished
character,' he had found that most convicts proved to be:
…equal in honour and probity to the settlers themselves, in every respect on a par with the most respectable immigrants… (and were willing) to become good and useful members of society, if provided with opportunity…163
162 Perth Gazette, 7 December, 1860, cited in Gibbs, p. 40. 163 Gibbs, ibid., Horrock’s letter received by the Colonial Secretaries Office, Vol. 494, p, 185.
Figure 14: Horrock’s Model Village at the Gwalla Estate, Northampton, in Martin Gibbs, ‘Landscapes of Meaning,’ p. 38.
89
Horrocks believed that his remote mining frontier was an ideal place for the former
felons to transform themselves into valued settlers. On the highest hill in the middle of
his village, he had an interdenominational church with a tall spire built, next to a
graveyard. He was its lay preacher after it opened in October 1864 and it overlooked the
entire village, including fields to the eastern boundary. The mine shaft and associated
buildings ran from the mid west side towards the mid and lower south, and the farm
house, dairy, barn, orchard and vineyard were drawn down the western and southern
edges of the map.164 Wheat was ground into flour by a steam powered mill and
Horrocks continued experimenting with various crops on his 165 acres and also
encouraged his tenants to grow vegetables and flowers in their gardens.165
Horrocks had become a man of considerable status. Governor Hampton, Bishop Hale
and other officials toured his mine and ‘model village’ in 1862, and after the tour, ‘the
official party and leading settlers in the district, sat down to dine with Mr Horrocks.’
166
From 1862 to 1865, he employed sixty ticketers. Half of them were miners, and there
were also several building tradesmen, 3 cooks, an engineer, a blacksmith and a
bookmaker. He also provided sustenance to the jobless, while they built stone walls
leading into the village and fronting the cottages.167
164 Ibid., Gibbs, ‘Central portion of the Gwalla Estate (Victoria Location 315), based on a c.1907 plan,’ p. 46.
By 1865, a convict expiree teacher,
William Brooks, was teaching in the new schoolhouse financed by Shenton. in return
165 Erickson, ‘Men of Enterprise,’ op. cit., p. 227. 166 Ibid., p. 226. 167 Ibid., pp. 225, 226.
Figure 15: Horrock’s Church, built in 1864 in his model village at Gwalla, where he was the Lay Preacher.
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for £15 a year rental.168 According to Erickson, Horrocks asked his wife to join him at
Gwalla, but for some reason she remained in England.169 Gibbs assessed that the
‘Gwalla Mine was ‘quite successful’ as it produced ‘282 tons of copper ore with a net
return of £2920 in 1860 and 900 tons worth over £14,700 between 1863 and its closure
in 1869.’170
Horrocks died of a ‘general disability’
171 at about sixty years of age in his home,
‘Bridge Farm,’172 at Wanerenooka on 7 October 1866, and was buried in his own
Gwalla Village Cemetery.173 His obituary in the Perth Gazette stated, ‘the poor have
lost a friend.’174
In the event of William’s decease, 'Bridge Farm was to be legally transferred to his
mother, Mrs Julia Bradbury, now free from the control of her husband, expiree John
Bradbury, who had left Champion Bay for Callao on 10 March 1863. 'Bridge Farm' was
to be properly furnished, tiled and newly roofed for Mrs Bradbury and William, if they
wished to occupy it. The rest of his properties and monies were bequeathed to his wife,
Mrs Joseph Lucas Horrocks, at 17 St James Street, Westbourne Terrace, London. He
left his Illustrated Family Bible to William Mercer Parker, who was a farmer and
grazier of horses, his surgical instruments and medicines to Rev. Laurance at Gwalla
Mines, and his German books to Mr Waldeck, who was probably William Frederick
The two Executors of Horrock’s will, written three days prior to his
death, were Charles Crowther, a Geraldton merchant and Shenton’s business manager
by 1857, and Rev. Thomas Clarke Laurence, formerly a solicitor, then a Methodist
minister in Ireland from 1856 to 1864, prior to his appointment in Champion Bay at
Horrock’s church from 1865 to 1869. His executors were requested to purchase
Horrock's home named ‘Bridge Farm’, which was on a village lease at that time and to
hold it in trust for William Bradbury. That property was to be let or managed by those
trustees for his benefit and they were also asked to maintain William’s clothing and
education until he reached 21 years of age, after which Bridge Farm would be conveyed
to him.
168 Gibbs, op. cit., p. 42. 169 Erickson, ‘Men of Enterprise,’ op. cit., p. 227. 170 Gibbs, op. cit., p. 44. 171 Gibbs, op. cit., p. 44. 172 Joseph Lucas Horrocks, ‘Last Will and Testament, WAS 56, CONS 3436, 1/1832-433/1873, Book 1, No. 143,p. 146. 173 Erickson, ‘Men of Enterprise, op. cit., p. 227. 174 Perth Gazette, 27 October 1865, quoted in Gibbs, p. 45.
91
Waldeck the owner of 'Bridge Farm' and a member of the local Board of Education in
1863.175
William was about five years old when his father left Western Australia in 1863 and
aged about seven
176
With great foresight, Horrocks had led a movement to petition for a railway linking
the Gwalla and Wanerenooka mines with the port of Geraldton.
when Horrocks died in October 1865. Perhaps Horrocks and Julia
Bradbury were in a relationship, maybe she was his housekeeper, or they could have
developed a strong friendship and supported each other in the absence of their partners,
with Horrocks providing a father image for her son.
177
…it would be foolish to deny that Horrocks had a vision for the development of his (Gwalla) site, which encompassed the physical and spiritual well-being of his community. Convict, ‘doctor,’ miner and philanthropist, he attempted to create a landscape which had a sense of order and purpose… the evidence that we do have, shows that Horrocks had a deep personal commitment to social reform.
Gibbs saw that,
178
Others obviously agreed. There is a town named Horrocks on Western Australia’s
coastline, just south of Port Gregory, Horrocks Beach in that vicinity bears his name and
Horrocks Road connects Horrocks town to Northampton, just north of Gwalla, in
recognition of his services to the people who lived in that area, over a hundred and forty
years ago.
175 William Mercer Parker, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. III, op. cit., p. 2417, Reverend Thomas Laurence, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians , vol. III, ibid, p. 1805 & William Frederick Waldeck, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. IV, op. cit., p. 3167. 176 John Bradbury, an expiree engine attendant at Champion Bay, who had been convicted of rape in 1848, was sentenced for 20 years. He arrived on the Scindian in 1850, married Julia and their child William was born in 1858. John left for Callao, South America on 10/3/1863, according to The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. 1, op. cit., p. 285. 177 Erickson, ‘Men of Enterprise,’ op. cit., p. 227. 178 Gibbs, op. cit., p. 59.
92
Thomas Matthew Palmer.
Little is known of Thomas Palmer's background, except that he was an unmarried
clerk at the time of his conviction. At the age of twenty-six he was initially indicted for
‘six counts of defrauding sundry persons’ at Stafford Crown Court on 12 March 1850,
however he was only tried on one count. He was found guilty of 'forging and passing a
forged order for the payment of £35/7s’ on 13 June 1849,' purporting to be drawn and
signed by his employer Harvey Wyatt, the Earl of Lichfield's agent at the Acton Bank
near Stafford. Palmer was sentenced to transportation for ten years.179
He arrived in the Swan River Colony in the Sea Park on 5 April 1854.
180 Both
Palmer’s General Register and Character Book records are missing. However according
to his Ticket-of-Leave Register details, he received his ticket on the day of his arrival
and was employed as a servant by A. Thomson, Assistant Superintendent of the Convict
Road Parties on £2 a month, which was twice the rate usually offered to ticketers.181
179 Thomas Matthew Palmer’s Trial, The Times, 19 March 1850, p. 7d.
180 Erickson and O’Mara’s, Convicts in Western Australia, 1850-1887, op. cit., p. 427. 181 Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., pp. 290, 291, & Thomas Palmer, Ticket-of -Leave Register, ACC 1386, Vol. 2, Perth, No. 2897, p. 1025.
Figure 16: Horrocks Road, 'Western Australia' R.A.C.W.A.
Figure 17: Horrocks Town, 'Traveller's Guide,' Western Australia, W.A. Tourism Commission
Figure 18: Horrocks Beach, Courtesy of Battye Library.
93
After gaining his Conditional Pardon on 24 November 1855, he moved to Albany where
he was employed as a government schoolteacher. There had been little education organized for the colony's children until the Sisters of
Mercy and then the colonial government established elementary schools in 1846 and
1847. According to Shirley Leahy, in order to cope with the increasing cost of providing
an education for the growing number of children in the colony, the decision was made
to appoint educated convicts of good character as schoolmasters, especially in rural
districts.182 But convict and expiree teachers experienced serious problems. There was
no teacher training, a relatively new educational system, badly equipped schoolhouses,
poor salaries and they suffered from social discrimination.183
By 1853, when settlers had spread out to live in country areas such as York,
Toodyay, Bunbury, Vasse and Albany, as fifty per cent of the colony’s population was
living away from Perth and Fremantle, those problems intensified. Leahy argued that,
despite compulsory school attendance for children aged between 6 and 14 years after
1871, payment of teachers’ salaries by results, a rise in incentives, improved standards
and the establishment of local Boards of Education to supervise schools, those problems
persisted. The moral and intellectual concerns among the children, failure to improve
conditions for teachers, deteriorating standards due to irregular attendance and low
enrolments of children during the 1870s and 1880s, were also issues of concern. She
found that the continual transferring of ticketers or expiree teachers from one school to
another, gave convict schoolmasters little opportunity to create stable teaching
environments, or allowed them to prove themselves as good teachers.
184
Palmer began teaching in the Albany Government School in December 1857. He had
received good testimonials from the Albany Board of Education and the Comptroller
General, but within a month Governor Kennedy stated,
I am informed that 'Palmer' is, or has been a convict – are the Board aware of this, and if so, do they think the appt. (appointment) expedient, when men of untainted character may be obtained? 185
Nevertheless Palmer had been accepted into the family of free settlers in January
1858, when he married Elizabeth Thomas, around the time he began teaching in Albany.
Her father, William Thomas, appeared in the 1836 Census as a servant and brick layer
182 Shirley Leahy, ‘Convict Teachers and the Children of Western Australia, 1850-1890,’ Honors Thesis, Edith Cowan University, W. A., submitted 4/6/1993, pp. 1-3. 183 Ibid., p. 2 & 3. 184 Ibid., pp. 3 & 88. 185 Ibid., pp. 36 & 37.
94
and had become a Police Constable by 1841, prior to reverting to stonemasonry again
and working on sites such as St John’s Church of England rectory in Albany in 1848. In
1850 Thomas had purchased a Town Lot in Albany, by which time he and his sons were
recognized as master builders and masons there.186
Palmer and his wife Elizabeth had ten children in sixteen years between 1861 and
1877, eight of whom survived.
187 To support so many children, Palmer also worked as
the country agent for the Inquirer newspaper in Perth, from 1861 to 1877. 188
Their second daughter, Mary Eliza Palmer, married the son of Reverend James Mark
Innes, Edward Hume Innes, who worked as a Post and Telegraph messenger in 1873 at
Toodyay, then at Bunbury in 1874. Edward was appointed a Telegraph operator in
Albany in 1875, prior to being employed as the Chief Operator in 1887.
189 Their first
son, Edwin G. Palmer, a storeman in Albany by 1885 did not marry.190 Their second
son, Thomas G. Palmer married Mary Ann Cornwall, the daughter of William Walter
Cornwall who was illiterate, but Mary had been taught at home by private tutors. Her
father was a free settler and pastoralist, who had leased about a million acres in
Narrogin, Williams, Beaufort and Kojonup in the 1860s, prior to opening the Bridge
Hotel at Williams in 1871, the Royal Hotel at Kojonup in 1883 and purchasing Alfred
Krakouer’s store in Albany in the same year.191
Helena Palmer married Charles Alfred Bond in 1898, but no information is currently
available about his parentage or career.
There is no employment record for
Thomas, but it is likely that he worked for his enterprising father-in-law.
192 Emma married Edwin Charles Doust Keyser,
who was employed as a clerk in the Customs Department by 1886.193 Edwin was the
son of a free settler, an American named Charles Doust Keyser, who had jumped ship at
Vasse in Western Australia in about 1852. Her father-in-law, Charles, was a
schoolmaster from 1857-1858, purchased Busselton Town lots in 1862, built the
Busselton Lighthouse and employed 42 Ticket-of-Leave men between 1864 and 1871,
prior to settling in Albany in 1873.194
186 Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. IV, R-Z, William Thomas, p. 3043.
There is little or no information about Palmer and
his wife Elizabeth’s other children.
187 Thomas Matthew Palmer, Battye Library Catalogue Card, Perth. 188 Ibid. 189 Edward Hume Innes, The Bicentennial Dictionary, op. cit., vol. 11, D-J, p. 1598. 190 Edwin G. Palmer, The Bicentennial Dictionary, op. cit., vol.111, K-Q, p. 2405. 191 William Walter Cornwall, Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. 1, A-C, p. 670. 192 Helena Palmer, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, op. cit., K-Q, p. 2406. 193 Edwin Charles Doust Keyser, ibid., p. 1739. 194 Charles Doust Keyser, ibid., p. 1738.
95
After indicating his preference for ‘untainted’ schoolmasters, Kennedy may have
been surprised to learn, that Palmer taught successfully for 33 years in the Albany
Government School where he had been originally appointed, before his retirement in
December 1890. When Palmer died in Albany on 16 January 1893, he had already
arranged that his two son-in-laws, ‘Edward Hume Innes, Postmaster at Geraldton’ and
‘Edward Charles Doust Keyser of the Colonial Treasury at Albany,’ would be the
executors of his will. His estate, which did not amount 'in value to the sum of two
hundred pounds,’ was ‘bequeathed to his wife Elizabeth for her own use and benefit
absolutely.’195
195 The Last Will and Testament of Thomas Matthew Palmer, S.R.O, Cons 3436, 1008/1891, Book 5, No. 34, 1896, pp. 898-900.
Figure 19: In his Will, Thomas Matthew Palmer bequeathed all his estate his wife, Elizabeth.
96
In 1868, five years after transportation to the Swan River Colony had terminated,
Reverend Millett’s wife had an optimistic view of social relations between the bond and
free children in class rooms:
…class distinction between the penal and free classes did not exist, where children of convicts and colonists were treated alike from 1873 onwards in the classroom.’196
This is debatable. However Leahy has argued that:
These teachers brought stability to the children in their care, a sense of stability and unity to the whole community in which they lived, well deserving of respect from the pupils and parents alike.197
Erickson’s view of Palmer may have been true:
It has been said that Palmer was the only expiree in the district to attain a position of respectability in the town. He had the distinction of training one of his daughters as a teacher, as well as a niece, before he retired in 1891. He was very
196 Mrs E. Millett in Leahy's thesis, op. cit., p. 59. 197 Leahy, op. cit., p. 88.
Figure 20: See the Probate Duty payable on the ‘whole of Thomas Palmer’s Estate and Effects, which did not ‘amount in value to the sum of £200,’ State records Office WAS 56, CONS 3436, 1008/1891, Book 5, No. 34, 1896, pp. 898-900.
97
active in public affairs and was included among the guests at a banquet in honour of Governor Weld in January 1875.198
Conclusion
Records of the employment of these four white-collar convicts indicate that there
was certainly a need for educated convicts in the Swan River Colony. Letch initially
worked in the Convict Dispensary and was then employed by two free settlers,
including the well regarded Lionel Lukin. He reached the peak of his career wise in the
mid 1870's, while running his General Store in St George's Terrace, Perth. He was voted
in as a Perth City Councillor for six years, held the Government Mail Contract between
Perth and Fremantle which was driven by a free settler, and was hiring out nine four
wheeled carriages and five two wheeled carriages, as well as gigs and carts, from his
coaching house. He also provided drivers, carriages and horses for funerals, initiated a
cab service around Perth and employed forty six ticketers between 1852 and 1876.
Letch was involved in four land transactions in the Avon, Canning and Guildford areas,
two of which included George Shenton, Walter Padbury and William Locke Brockman,
who were prominent free settlers and property owners. As Letch was a well known a
shop owner and business man about Perth, was voted in as a Perth Councillor for three
terms, became involved in land and transactions with prominent free settlers, played the
organ in Perth's Trinity Church and one of his sons married Canon Clair's daughter, the
Letch family members would have been considered to be socially acceptable by many
free settlers.
Wroth was initially Superintendent Dixon's clerk, then a clerk at the York Convict
Depot, prior to being demoted to assistant clerk after his love affair with a free settler's
daughter caused problems. After moving to Newcastle in 1861, Wroth reached the peak
of his career when he purchased six town lots, two lots of 14 acres, three 40 acre blocks
and one of 60 acres between 1861 and 1867, on which he held stock, grew hay to feed
them and also for settlers in the town, as well as for provisioning convict road parties
nearby. He was appointed as Toodyay Road Board's first Secretary from 1871 to 1876.
Three of Wroth's sons and his only daughter married the progeny of free settlers, so the
Wroth family also appeared to have been socially acceptable.
Horrocks worked in the medical department of the temporary Convict Establishment
prior to gaining his Ticket, then as the Medical Attendant at the Port Gregory Convict
Hiring Depot. After gaining some mining experience while helping James Drummond 198 Erickson, ‘Schoolmasters,’ The Brand on His Coat, op. cit., p. 291.
98
run his copper mine, he became the owner of a very successful copper mine, model
village and church in Gwalla, where he employed sixty ticketers. As Governor Hampton
and Bishop Hale were prepared to dine at Horrock's table and he left his family bible,
surgical instruments and medicines and German books to William Parker, Reverend
Laurance and William Waldeck, Horrocks was obviously socially accepted by those
officials and some of Gwalla's free settlers.
Palmer taught successfully for thirty five years, owned his home, was active in
public affairs and was employed as the country agent for the Inquirer newspaper in
Albany, where he was a guest at a banquet in honour of Governor Weld in 1875. At
least three of Thomas and Elizabeth Palmer's eight children, married the progeny of free
settlers, so it appears that Palmer and his family members were considered to be socially
acceptable.
Alfred Letch's name still features on a small plaque in Perth's Congregational Church,
as a Councillor on a Perth City Council Honour Board and on one of seven leadlight
windows in Fremantle's Film and Television Institute. John Wroth's name and two of
his son's names are inscribed on a new Toodyay Council Honour Board and also on a
plaque attached to a garden seat in that town. Horrocks had a beach, a town and a road
named after him in northern Western Australia, while Thomas Palmer was considered to
be socially acceptable, as he was invited to dine in the presence of Governor Hampton
and Bishop Hale.
99
CHAPTER 4. The State of the Colony from 1855 to 1859 and the Lives of Dr John Sampson, Stephen Montague Stout and Miall Reidy Meagher.
Conditions rapidly changed in the Swan River colony between 1855 and 1859, as a
result of demographic increases and economic improvements. This chapter will briefly
recount these changes before examining the lives of Dr John Sampson, Stephen
Montague Stout, a land agent and surveyor and Miall Reidy Meagher, a civil engineer,
who arrived as white collar convicts during that period.
With the rising number of convicts, free settlers became concerned when the
colony’s population increased from 12605 at the end of 1855 to 14837 at the close of
1859, when the male to female ratio was approximately 100 to 56.1 There were 990
convicts in the colony as well as ticket-of-leave holders, who were distributed
throughout the settled areas of Western Australia.2 Free settlers became wary that public
security was at risk, so a curfew was set up for convicts in the Fremantle area which had
the largest proportion of prisoners in 1859. A soldier was employed there to confront
male persons in the streets, to inquire whether they were bond or free.3
During this period exports from the colony radically increased, which must have
been reassuring for the free settlers and some white-collar convicts who had received
their tickets-of-leave and begun their new careers. In addition to minerals including
copper, zinc, coal and lead which had already been discovered, more copper was found
south of Northampton in 1856 and 1858, so the value of mineral exports more than
quadrupled from £2951 in 1855 to £14,752 by 1859. Other exports included
sandalwood, which drastically reduced in value from £12076 in 1855, but gradually
started to rise again to £6,051 by 1859, while wool exports steadily increased from
£24,723 to £44,599 by 1859. In 1855, the colony's exports had totalled £46,314, while
imports were worth at £105,320. By 1859 exports had more than doubled to £93,037
while imports rose to £125,315 which lifted the balance of trade to a 0.74% level,
though still favouring imports at that stage.
4
According to Stannage, the problem was that ‘the economic benefits of convictism
were spread unevenly and could not prevent recessions in the mid to late 1850s, (when)
1 R. T. Appleyard, Appendix 6.1, ‘Western Australia: demographic trends 1850-1915,’ A New History of Western Australia, C. T. Stannage, op. cit., p. 233. 2 Appleyard, ibid., ‘Table 6.1, Western Australia: distribution of convicts 1859 and 1865,’ in C. T. Stannage, ibid., p. 214. 3 Appleyard, ibid., p. 213. 4 Appleyard, op. cit., Appendix 6.3, ‘Western Australia: external trade 1850-1913, op. cit., p. 235.
100
… unemployment was high and wages were extremely low.’5
Dr John Sampson
However, during
Kennedy’s term as Governor, the next three white-collar convicts under discussion in
this thesis, got off to a good start for their life ahead in the Swan River Colony, perhaps
due to the shortage of qualified doctors, teachers and engineers at that time.
Thirty-nine year old John Sampson was married and his home and medical practice
were in the County of Gloucester, where he was sentenced for forging and uttering a
£10 and seven £5 notes in December 1855, for which he was sentenced to transportation
for fifteen years to the Swan River Colony.6 As his conduct was 'Exemplary' on the
Clara,7 he was appointed as a Constable in the Fremantle Establishment. After
receiving a Provisional Ticket-of-Leave in October, 1857, he was soon employed by T.
Hicks, the medical officer in Bunbury, due to a shortage of qualified doctors in country
areas. Sampson was then appointed as the Bunbury District Medical Officer, as there
was a dire need for well qualified medical staff to treat convicts who were sent out to
road parties, as well as providing medical treatment for settlers and their families who
had moved beyond the Fremantle, Perth, Guildford and Bunbury areas. So he was
placed in a fortunate position as far as his future employment in the colony was
concerned. He opened a savings account at the Western Australian Bank in April, 1859,
which gradually began to accumulate funds.8
Appleyard found that, ‘Though about a quarter of the convicts were married on
arrival, few arranged for their families to join them at Swan River and many of those
who tried, found their families unwilling to come, which is understandable in view of
the social stigma associated with a convict status.’
9 Dr Sampson was one of the more
fortunate convicts, as his wife Maria arrived on 8 August 1859, but sadly for him she
died just over eight years later in August 1867 at the age of forty-seven. However he
soon married again, wedding Sophie Wilhelm in April the following year in the Wesley
Church, Perth.10
5 C. T. Stannage, The People of Pert, op. cit., pp. 93 & 114.
6 John Sampson’s Court Case, Times, 13 December 1855, p.11, column c. 7 John Sampson, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, Character Book Record, Reel 19, No. 4305. 8 Western Australian Bank, WAB-3/609/11, Ledger Individual Accounts, Dec. 1858-Dec. 1859, Folio 851, John Sampson, Bunbury. 9 Appleyard, op. cit., p. 213. 10 ‘Dr John Sampson,’ Battye Library Catalogue Card and The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, Vol. 1, op. cit., p. 2724.
101
Sophie had arrived in the colony as an immigrant lass and had married an expiree
doctor named Auguste Wilhelm in the Champion Bay area in October 1864. On
Christmas day that year, while on his way home from his professional duties near the
Wheel Fortune Mine at Waneranooka, his horse bolted and he was fatally injured. After
his death, twenty-two year old Sophie started corresponding with his family and their
financial support enabled her to purchase a property in Murray Street, Perth, which
yielded useful rents in the years to come.11
The Sampson's credit account at the Western Australian Bank reached its highest
point of £257.1s. 8d on 6 March 1879,
12 by which time John and Sophie were living in a
fine, two-storey house in Bunbury, probably located half way along Clifton Street,
between Victoria and Wittenoom Street in Bunbury.13 Sampson kept a carriage and
horses on their forty acre block, which was cultivated by twenty ticketers. His
employees also looked after his stable and horses which he used to visit distant patients,
while his carriage was reserved for pleasure excursions with his wife, visiting their
friends and while travelling to the Bunbury Congregational Church on Sundays, where
he played the organ. He was evidently an accomplished musician, donated the
instruments for Bunbury’s first Brass Band in 1879 and was their conductor for many
years.14
On his retirement as Bunbury’s Medical Officer in 1880, he continued in private
practice and he and his wife began purchasing many properties in the Bunbury area.
After spending the winter of 1886 in South Australia, they led a quieter life, however
they continued to be active Church members and were also involved in local electoral
campaigns.
15 On 4 September 1889, Sampson’s application for an overdraft of £200
was approved after he delivered some of his land deeds to the bank. By 10 August 1892,
while he was still practicing in Bunbury, he was able to raise an £800 bank loan,
secured by deeds on his Bunbury properties, which were valued at £6000.16 His
repayments on his loans were recorded from 10
11 Erickson, The Bride Ships, op. cit., pp. 180, 181. Also Auguste Wilhelm, Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. 1V, R-Z, p.3309.
October 1879 and were paid off by 2
12 John Sampson, Western Australian Bank, op. cit., 6/3/1879, Credit £257/1/8. 13 K. Steere, ‘Plan referred to in Valuation of the Sampson Estate,’ Bunbury, for Probate Jurisdiction in the Will and Codicil of Sophia Sampson, 16 February, 1912. 14 Dr John Sampson, Battye Library Catalogue Card and Erickson, The Bride Ships, ibid., p. 181 & 183. 15 Erickson, op. cit., pp. 183. 16 Western Australian Bank, WAB-2/101/3, Board Minute Book – 21.8.1889 – 30.8.1893, Folios 5,377,428,438, Dr John Sampson, Wednesday 4 September 1889 & Wednesday 10 August 1892.
102
November 1891.17 Dr Sampson died in Bunbury aged eighty four years on 19
November 1904, a wealthy and apparently a contented man and left all his estates to his
wife.18
Those estates were listed in Sophie’s will after she died of Bright’s or kidney disease
on 23 October 1911, nearly seven years later. It was well known that she was a wealthy
woman and her funeral was not only attended by her relatives, but also by many
members of the Bunbury community.
19
All the Bunbury blocks of land, together known as ‘Sampson Town’ which contained
15 cottages or houses and one villa, 2 shops and 2 offices, were left to a married niece
named Mary Ann Baldock. Bunbury Building Lot 49 and the buildings on it were
inherited by her nephew William Allen, a butcher in Wellington Street in Perth. The
Bunbury Wesley Church was left portions of Lot 53 and Lot 54, which included a
cottage and shop buildings. Twenty pounds were left to the Salvation Army, as well as
portions of Lot 52 and Lot 53, and the Trustees of the Congregational Church in
Bunbury were given the other portions of Bunbury Lots 53 and 54.
As John and Sophia were childless, she
bequeathed her horse, carriage and harness to her Executor and her furniture, jewellery
and personal effects to her sister-in-law Jane Carnaghan. Her personal estate (other than
her properties) and also money from rented real estate, was divided equally between her
sister-in-laws Jane and Mary Carnaghan. Her land in Murray Street, Perth, on Town
Lot 41, and all the buildings on it were left to her niece, Emily Davis.
20
John and Sophia would have been considered a very wealthy couple in those days, as
according to the Reserve Bank of Australia’s ‘Inflation Calendar’ for the year 1912, just
after her demise in 1911, their estate was worth £8,945 0s 7d, or the equivalent of
$904,677.68 in June 2009.
21
17 Western Australian Bank, WAB, 6/4/1, John Sampson, Discount Progressive Ledger, Bunbury Folios 588 & 594. 18 Erickson, Convicts in Western Australia, op. cit., p. 483. 19 Erickson, The Bride Ships, op. cit., p. 185, based on an article in the Bunbury Herald, 26 October, 1911. 20 The Last Will and Testament of Sophia Sampson, ibid.. 21 Affidavit verifying the Statement of Assets and Liabilities in the Estate of Sophia Sampson, WAS 34, CONS 3403, Item No. 1912/033. Also the Reserve Bank of Australia, ‘Pre-Decimal Inflation Calculator,’ Reserve Bank of Australia, Commonwealth Government, Canberra, Australia, 11 June 2009, http://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/annualPreDecimal.html.
103
Figure 21. Sophia Sampson’s Personal Estate was worth £8945/0/7 on 16 January 1912 ,which according to the Reserve Bank of Australia's, Pre-Decimal Inflation Calculator , would be valued at
$904,677.68 in 2009.
104
It appears that Erickson’s opinion that Sophia ‘brought to their union a flair for
business which matched his own,’22
22 Erickson, The Bride Ships, op. cit., p. 181.
is validated. Prior to their marriage, Sampson was
already trusted and well known in the Bunbury district, as the local medical practitioner.
Having no children from his first or second marriage, they could concentrate their
efforts on building their fine home and an impressive portfolio of land and estates
together. During their membership of the local Congregational Church, where Sampson
was the organist, members had time to get to know them, learn to trust Sampson and
welcome them both. With his donation of brass instruments, conducting of the local
brass band and their involvement in Bunbury’s elections, members outside the church
also had an opportunity to see his character reformation at first hand. His career as a
doctor, persona as a big land owner, socializing with a wide range of local citizens and
Figure 22: Sophia Sampson’s Assets were valued at £9395/7s., and her Liabilities at £450/6/5 on 16 January 1912.
105
being married to an intelligent business woman who was also socially inclined, surely
facilitated his social acceptance among free settlers in the area, and 'Sampson Road' in
Bunbury, was likely to have been named after him.23
Stephen Montague Stout
The second of the white-collar convicts under discussion in this chapter was Stephen
Stout, who arrived in the late 1850s. Evidently prior to his conviction at the Central
Criminal Courts on 11 April 1856 for forging and uttering an acceptance to a bill of
exchange for £25 for a sewing machine, the twenty- seven year old former Land Agent
and Surveyor, had been previously suspected of dishonesty on several occasions and
had been imprisoned for twelve months in Coventry Gaol for embezzlement in 1851. He
had even obtained his situation with Mr Judkin with a forged character reference.
Consequently the Judge concluded that ‘the prisoner was a most dangerous man to be
allowed to remain in this country,’ so Stout was sentenced to 14 years transportation.24
Stout’s initial Character Book report during separate confinement in Britain, was ‘Good,
but Indifferent – requires to be watched,’ which improved to ‘Very Good,’ while he was
in the Dartmoor Public Works penitentiary.25
Stout left behind a wife and child in England,
26 when he boarded his transport at
Plymouth Port and after the Lord Raglan sailed on 5 March 1858,27 he was appointed as
a schoolmaster on board, having been well educated in England and France.28 Surgeon
Superintendent Bower reported that Stout was a good scholar after he heard him deliver
three lectures on the ‘Eclipse of the Sun’ using diagrams, on ‘Australia’ and another on
‘Australian Employments.’ As Stout also edited a weekly paper named the ‘Life Boat'
during his voyage,29 he received a ‘Very Good’ character report from the ship’s
Surgeon.30
23'Sampson Road', Bunbury, Map B3,co-ordinates E,16, 'StreetSmart,' Perth Street Directory, The West Australian, 2006, Perth, W. A.
Consequently, when he arrived in Western Australia on 1 June 1858, he was
rewarded with six months remission of sentence from Governor Kennedy. That meant
24 Stephen Stout, Court Case, The Times, Central Criminal Court, 11 April 1856, p. 11 d. 25 Stephen Stout, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, R Series, Character Book Record, Reel. 8, No. 4901. 26 Rica Erickson, ‘S. M. Stout & Alfred Chopin Photographers,’ Chapter 9, ‘Men Of Enterprise,’ The Brand on His Coat, op. cit., p. 280. 27 Lord Raglan, Charles Bateson, The Convict Ships, 1787-1868, op. cit.., p. 375 28 Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 280. 29 Erickson, ibid., p. 280. 30 Stephen Stout, Character Book Record, op. cit.
106
that he gained his Ticket-of-Leave just over fourteen months early, on 30 April 1859 in
Bunbury, rather than on 7 July 1860 when it had been due.31
After Stout gained his Ticket, he was employed as a teacher in a government school
at Australind, just north of Bunbury.
32 The Colonial Treasurer opened an account for
him with £2. 3s, at the Western Australian Bank on 5 June 1859, and his salary appears
to have been £4. 3s. 4d a month, as that amount was regularly paid into that account. By
30 December that year, his bank balance was £15/-/8, the highest amount of credit he
ever attained, but on the other hand, his account had already been overdrawn twice that
year.33
By 1861 Stout had left the school at Australind to set up his own boarding school
named the Fremantle Academy in High Street, Fremantle. Twenty-five boys who
were
enrolled there between 1861 and 1863, were taught French, English Grammar,
Geography, History, Mathematics, Book Keeping and rudimentary Latin,34 according to
an advertisement in the Perth Gazette in July 1861.35 To publicize his Fremantle
Academy, Stout offered a reference from Henry James Duval of Bunbury, for whom he
had previously worked for seven months as a writer or clerk.36 Duval would also have
known him previously, when he was Deputy Superintendent at the Fremantle
Establishment from November 1853 until the end of 1861, during the time Stout was
there.37 Lionel Samson and John Bateman, free settlers and business men in the
Fremantle area, also knew Stout and both commended his enterprise.38 He was
encouraged to give more public lectures on topics such as the ‘The discovery of Gold,’
after Arthur Shenton’s find in Northam, which was published in the Perth Gazette on 15
November 1861.39
31 Ibid.
32 Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 280. 33 Western Australian Bank, WAB-3/609/11, ‘Ledger Individual Accounts, Dec.1858- Dec.1859, Folio 883, Stephen Stout. Information gained on 17/8/2004, from Lucy Rantzen, Historical Services, 6-8 Parramatta Road, Homebush, N.S.W, 2140. 34 John Dowson, ‘Stephen Montague Stout, Fremantle’s Pioneering Photographer,’ Old Fremantle Photographs 1850-1950, University of Western Australia Press, Crawley, W. A., 2003, p. 84. 35 Perth Gazette, 26 July 1861, Stouts advertisement for his 'Perth Academy for Young Gentlemen, ' which was actually located in High St, Fremantle. 36 Inquirer, 2/2/1859, Stout’s advertisement with a testimonial by Henry James Duval, which he used to advertise his Fremantle Academy. 37 Henry Duval, Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, pre 1829-1888, vol. 11, D - J, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, Western Australia, p. 927. 38 John Dowson, 'Stephen Stout,' op. cit., p. 12. 39 Ibid., p. 84 and also Perth Gazette, 15 November 1861.
107
By the time Stout had received his Conditional Pardon on 11 September 1862, 40 he
was beginning to make a name for himself as a photographer. In 1864 he rented a studio
room in the old Duffield family home in Pakenham Street, Fremantle,41 where he
developed many excellent photographs, including the first panoramic view of Fremantle
and the Convict Establishment.42 Mrs Gull, the wife of Thomas Courthope Gull, who
was a free settler and prominent merchant at Guildford, commented that Stout also took
good likenesses on cards, six of which cost ten shillings, while enthusing about his
views, which she described as ‘first rate’.43
Due to competition from other photographers, Stout visited some country centres to
gain new clients and while in Bunbury, took the first known photographs of three New
Norcia aborigines who were dressed in kangaroo skin cloaks.44
On a later business trip to Bunbury he met Ellinor Brown who was the stepdaughter
of a free settler, Nathanial Howell, who was a well known barrister and solicitor in
Perth. Stout married Ellinor in Australind in July 1868.
45
40 Stout Stephen, (4901), Rica Erickson and Gillian O’Mara, Convicts in Western Australia, 1850-1887, vol. 1X, op. cit., p. 530.
This may have been a
bigamous union which was not uncommon in the colony, as there is no evidence of the
death of his wife in England. Their first of their seven children, Ernest Augustus Stout,
41 Marcia Watson, Notes on Stephen Stout about his studio which she gained from the Western Mail, 7 July 1921, p. 38. 42 Dowson, op. cit., pp. 85- 94. 43 Stephen Stout, Rica Erickson, ‘Men Of Enterprise,’ The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 280. 44 Dowson, op. cit., p. 84. 45 ‘Ellinor Brown,’ in Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australian, pre- 1829-1888, vol. 1, A-C, p. 343.
Figure 23: Stout’s photograph of the Convict Establishment at Fremantle, after its completion in 1859, in John Dowson, Old Fremantle, Photographs 1850-1950, U. W. A. Press, Crawley, Western Australia, 2009, p. 89.
108
was baptised in Bunbury on 4 July 1869, the following year.46 While they were living
there, it appears that Stout opened another school named the Wellington Academy,
which ran from 1868 to 1869.47 Although there is no record of when Stout received his
Certificate of Freedom, he should have gained it while there by 14 October 1869, due to
his six months remission of sentence for good conduct on the transport.48
Stout and his wife and son must have moved back to Perth during the following year,
as their first daughter, Frances Mary, was born there on 10
October 1870.49
Competition between photographers was escalating by November 1870, as Stout was
advertising ‘Shilling Portraits,’ at a ‘City restaurant opposite Padbury and Company in
Perth, for one more week.’50 As the competition continued to grow, Stout opened a
second studio in Perth in 1872, where he offered large portraits at a reduced rate of 3s.,
‘cartes-de-visite’ or single small copies which were used as visiting cards, sold for
1s.6d., and extra copies were a shilling each. His likenesses on glass, which were
advertised as ‘not fading,’ were only 6d. each and he advised country clients that if they
sent postage stamps, they would receive extra copies by return post.51 While he was
earning a living for his family as a photographer, their second son William Laurence
Stout was born on 21 July 1872 in Perth. 52
Stout was probably relieved to be able to move out of the competitive photography
business, when he became the first and only expiree schoolmaster ever to be employed
at the Pensioner Barracks in Perth in 1873. As the Pensioners’ Commandant lent him a
magic-lantern for charitable functions, he was able to show historical slides in the Perth
Town Hall on the Crimean War, the Victoria Cross, Eddystone Lighthouse, polar
regions, natural history and astronomy, as well as many comical slides, which evidently
‘produced roars of laughter,’ and were very successful.
53 On 6 September 1874 their
second daughter, Rose Templar Stout, was born in Perth.54
46 Ernest Augustus John Stout’s baptism, Marcia Watson, ‘Stephen Montague Stout (4901),’ Convict Links, Quarterly Newsletter, of the Convict Historical & Research Group, WAGS, Vol. 17, No. 2, June 2003, p.10.
47 Marcia Watson, 'Stephen Montague Stout(4901), ibid.. Stout ran his Wellington Academy in Bunbury from 1868 to 1869, p. 10. Also Inquirer, 15 February, 1871. 48 Unfortunately there is no record of when Stout gained his Certificate of Freedom, on his General Register details. 49 ‘Francis Mary Stout, ' Stephen Montague Stout,’ Battye Library Catalogue Card, Perth, op. cit. 50 Inquirer, 23/11/1870, Stout's advertisement. 51 Ibid., Stout’s advertisement in the Inquirer, 23 October, 1872, p. 281. 52 'William Laurence Stout', Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, pre-1829-1888, vol. 1V R-Z, William Laurence Stout, p. 2965. 53 Rica Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, ibid., p. 283. 54 Rose Templar, ‘Stephen Montague Stout (4901)', Battye Library Card, op. cit.
109
The first indication the general public had that Stout was experiencing serious
monetary problems occurred when his attorney, Stephen Henry Parker, placed a notice
in the Western Australian Government Gazette on 13 April 1875, summoning Stout’s
creditors to the first General Meeting at the Supreme Court House in Perth on 21
April.55 It coincided with economic recessions in the colony, which occurred from 1867
through most of the 1870s.56 Stout was described by his lawyer as a ‘Perth Storekeeper,
Schoolmaster, Commission Agent and Boarding House Keeper,’57 He and Ellinor may
have taken in boarders, his wife probably ran his store when he was teaching, and his
agency work was probably done whenever he had a spare moment. In Parker’s
‘Statement of Debtors Affairs’, Stout’s creditors were owed £313 17s, which far
exceeded Stout’s assets of furniture, fixtures and fittings from their boarding house in St
Georges Terrace, Perth,’ worth only £30.58
Of interest is the social standing of some of his creditors, who ranged from those in
interstate and local companies, high profile settlers, other settlers and two expirees. He
owed the most money, £143, to Feldheim Jacobs & Company which manufactured
tobacco in Melbourne.
59
55 ‘In the matter of proceedings for liquidation by arrangement or composition with creditors, instituted by Stephen Montague Stout', The Western Australian Government Gazette, 13 April 1875, p.1.
Mary Higham and her sons, Edward and John were owed £33,
George Shenton junior, £22 10s, William Lawrence Senior, £18. 10s and George
Throssell, £16 10s. Edmund John Stirling, the owner of the Inquirer and his son were
56 Stannage, The People of Perth, op. cit., p. 124. 57 Stephen Montague Stout, ‘Statement of Debtor’s Affairs’ & ‘List of Creditors', State Records Office of Western Australia, Alexander Library, WAS 54, Bankruptcy Files, Consignment No. 3622, Item No. 14. 58 Stout’s ‘List of Creditors,’ ibid. 59 ‘Fieldheim Jacobs Company', Michael Cannon, Life in the Cities: Australia in the Victorian Age: 3, Australia, Thomas Nelson, 1975, p. 271.
Figure 24: Middle-aged Stout, appropriately dressed, probably while he was teaching at the Pensioner Barracks between 1873 and 1877. Courtesy of Battye Library.
110
owed £15. 10s, Mrs Charlotte Parker, £15, Samuel Titus Mitchell and his son John, £11
and Joseph Dyson, £10. 8s. The expirees Henry Albert and Alexander Wilson, were
owed £12 and £10. 3s. respectively. Stout’s liquidation was not completed until 1875,60
when he was declared bankrupt.61 His third daughter, Alice Maud was born in Perth on
22 June 1876 after his financial trauma,62
Stout then moved his family to Geraldton, where he taught at the local government
school. He was also appointed editor and manager of the new Victoria Express
newspaper on 11 September that year, in partnership with Isaac Walker, who was an
accountant, merchant, a member of the Geraldton Board of Education and the paper’s
bookkeeper.
but fortunately he was able to continue
working to support his family as the schoolmaster at the Pensioner Barracks up to the
start of 1878.
63 Stout’s salary was £3 per week and under the partnership terms, Stout
gained a five per cent commission on the gross earnings of the paper, a rent free house
until January 1880, and was paid to collect debts owing to the company on the same
commission, which he handed over to Walker.64 At that stage of his life, Stout’s future
was looking brighter, but sadly his daughter, Alice Stout, was buried on 12 July 1879,
just three years after her birth in Geraldton.65 Their fourth daughter, Ellinor Victoria
Stout, was born there two months later in September 1879 and Isaac Walker was asked
to be her godfather.66
Just when life was looking up for Stout’s family, he had a falling out with Walker
who dismissed him on 5 May 1880, then sued Stout for embezzlement of three sums of
money totalling £1/11/6. Stout was remanded in custody until the following week and
then released on bail of £500 with two sureties of £250. He was ordered to stand trial in
the Geraldton Court on 1 December 1880.
67
60 Stout’s ‘List of Creditors,’ op. cit.
It must have been a very traumatic
experience for Stout and his wife, especially when his trial was extended again until late
May the following year. During this anxious period, Stout started his own paper to
support his family. It was called the Observer, was published weekly on Tuesdays and
61 Stephen Montague Stout, ‘Statement of Debtor’s Affairs', by his Attorney, Stephen Henry Parker, in the Supreme Court was Registered on 22 April 1875. 62 'Alice Maud Stout born, ‘Stephen Stout,’ Battye Library Catalogue Card , op. cit.. 63 Stout, Editor and Manager of the Victoria Express,11 September 1871, Marcia Watson, 'Stephen Montague Stout (4901) ', Convict Links, Western Australian Genealogical Society, Vol. 17, No.2, June 2003, p. 10. 64 Ibid., p. 11, cited in Victoria Express, 1 September 1880. 65 Alice died 12 July 1879, ‘Stephen Montague Stout,’ Battye Library Catalogue Card. 66 Ellinor Victoria Stout born, Battye Library Cards, ibid. & Convict Links,’ op. cit., p. 10. 67 Watson, op. cit., p. 10 & 11. Also cited in the Victoria Express, 1 September 1880.
111
ran from 31 August 1880 to 25 October 1881. His newspaper was backed financially by
another friend, Henry Gray,68 who was a prominent free settler, storekeeper and
landowner in Swan and Geraldton areas and the employer of forty three ticketers
between 1864 and 1876.69
While Stout was under cross examination during his third and final court case at the
end of May 1880, Walker accused him of embezzling the three sums of money.
However Walker admitted that, ‘he sometimes made mistakes in his book keeping,’ and
as it had been proved that he had already countersigned all Stout’s receipts, ‘the judge
ruled there was no case to answer,’ so the jury returned a verdict of not guilty.
70
Stout was arrested 3 times and conveyed to the lock-up. 3 times bail has been demanded at an amount so extravagant, as to be the joke of the place. 3 times he was placed in the dock on charges … Stout earned about £250 per year and would not risk his job for three amounts of 10/-, 11/- and 16/-.
After
Stout’s trial, a sympathetic editorial, probably written by Gray, appeared in the
Observer.
71
As Stout was unemployed after his trial,, he and his family returned to Perth, where
he wrote articles for the Daily News and the Morning Herald and was also employed as
the Secretary of the Working Man’s Society.
72 In September 1880, their fifth daughter
Annie Grace was born73 and during the latter part of 1881, Stout also worked for the
Inquirer in Perth as well as writing for other papers.74
Stout’s alert spare figure, long frock coat and white bell-topper hat and cane being familiar features of the Terrace, as his cane each morning aided his quick city walk from the courts and other news haunts to the old “ Inquirer” chambers, which, from the year 1840 stood upon that site that is now occupied by St George’s House.
According to a reminiscence in
the Western Mail in 1921,
75
68 Watson, op. cit., p. 11.
69 ‘Henry Gray,’ The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. 11, op. cit., p. 1252. 70 Erickson, p. 284. Also cited the Herald, 29 May, 1880. 71 Probably Stout's friend, Henry Gray, defending him in the Observer, 29 May, 1880. 72 Watson, op. cit., p. 13 & Stout Battye Library Cards, op. cit. 73 Annie Grace Stout, Battye Library Catalogue Card. 74 Watson, op. cit., pp. 10 & 11, and Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 283. 75 Western Mail, 7/7/1921, p. 38.
112
Annie Grace died on 27 March 1882, aged about eighteen months, prior to the birth
of Elsie May Stout, their last child born while they lived in Fremantle during 1884.76
Sadly Stout's wife Ellinor died in 1885, aged only 34 years.77 The following year Stout
collapsed and died in front of the Colonial Hospital on Sunday afternoon on 11 April
1886, aged about fifty seven. A post mortem examination revealed that his death was
caused by a ‘general break-up of his system…and the weak state of his heart was
sufficient to account for his sudden death.’78
They left six orphaned children, four daughters and two sons, aged from 2 to 17
years.
79 Ernest Augustus Stout married Elizzie Stansfield at Northampton in 1897. She
was probably the daughter of one of two expiree brothers, either John Stansfield, a
labourer, woodcutter and quarryman sawyer in Wellington or Moses Stansfield, a
general servant and labourer, also living there.80 Francis Mary Stout married William
Sheplley in Guildford, during 1896. There is some confusion over his name, as he had
arrived as ‘Alfred’ on the Chollerton in 1887, however he was evidently a free settler.81
William Laurence Stout married in Western Australia, prior to moving to Victoria.82
76 Elsie May Stout, Stephen Montague Stout's Battye Library Catalogue Card, op. cit..
Rose Templar Stout’s first marriage during 1895 in Guildford, was to a free settler
named Edwin Edward Williams. He had arrived on the Charlotte Padbury from London
77 Ellinor, Stout's wife died in 1885, Marcia Watson, ‘Stephen Stout,’ op. cit., p. 12. 78Stout's death, Western Mail, Saturday, 17/10.1886, p. 18, the Inquirer and Commercial News, 14/4/1886, and in Watson, Convict Links, ibid., p. 12. 79 Marcia Watson, Convict Links, op. cit., pp, 12 & 13. 80 Earnest Augustus Stout married Elizzie Stansfield, Battye Library Catalogue Card. Also 'John and Moses Stansfield', Convicts in Western Australia, op. cit.. p. 523. 81 Francis Mary Stout married William Sheppley, Battye Library Convict Catalogue Card, ibid., The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. IV, R-Z, pp. 2965 re Stout, & 2796 re Sheplley. 82 William Stout, Battye Library Catalogue Card, op. cit., unfortunately there is no reference to William Stout's wife's name.
Figure 25: The Inquirer’s office in Perth, Courtesy of Battye Library on the left. Figure 26: On the right, Stout impeccably dressed with his white bell-topper hat and cane.
113
in 1882. When Edwin died, Rose married another free settler, Frederick George Chaney
in Midland in 1904.83 Eleanor Victoria Stout married a James M. Hunter at
Northampton in 1897, who could have been the son of an expiree. 84 and Elsie May
Stout married a free settler named Otto Bernhard Martin Eggert in 1905.85
As Frances,
Rose, Eleanor and Elsie married free settlers’ sons, the family must have been
considered respectable and socially acceptable by at least four free settlers’ families by
that time.
Miall/Malachi Reidy Meagher
Miall Meagher was born on 19 November, 1836 in Limerick, Ireland, the son of the
Superintendent of an Irish Infirmary. He was well educated and became a civil
engineer.86 At twenty one years old, he pleaded guilty to forging and uttering an order
for the delivery of goods worth £94 at the Central Criminal Courts in London. He was
sentenced to transportation for eight years penal servitude on 2 March 1857.87 Over the
next two years he was imprisoned in England and finally left Portland Penitentiary with
a 1st Class rating, for transportation to the Swan River Colony on the Sultana on 29 May
1859. As he was ‘Specially recommended’ for his very good conduct by Superintendent
Surgeon Richardson after his arrival in the Swan River Colony on 19 August 1859, he
earned four months remission of sentence from Governor Kennedy.88
Meagher was initially employed with a road works gang on the Fremantle to Perth
road, probably in a supervisory or planning capacity considering his engineering
qualifications. He was based at Freshwater Bay, where a number of Pensioner guards
and their families had formed a village settlement.
89
83 Rose Templar Stout, Battye Library Convict Catalogue Card & The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. IV R-Z, pp. 2965 married first, Edwin Edward Williams a free settler, then Frederick George Chaney, Battye Library Catalogue Cards & The Bicentennial Dictionary, A-C, p. 508 .
As that area was very sandy, blue
metal and limestone were used to make solid foundations at the Fremantle end of the
road, and round blocks of sawn jarrah, known as Hampton’s cheeses, were used to form
84 Eleanor Victoria married James Hunter, Battye Library Catalogue Card. 85 Otto Eggert, Battye Library Catalogue Card, op. cit.. Otto Eggert’s name does not appear in The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. 2, or the Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. 5, or Convicts in Western Australia, so he must have been a free settler. 86 ‘Miall Malachi Reidy Meagher,’ Battye Library Catalogue Card. 87 Miall Meagher, Court Case, Times, 5/3/1857, p. 10, col. f & p. 11, col. A. Also Alan Campbell, ‘Miall Malachi Meagher,’ in Chapter 9, ‘Men of Enterprise, The Brand on His Coat, op. cit.., p. 266. 88 Miall Meagher, No. 5448, Character Book, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, ‘R’ Series, Vol. 8, Sultana, 19/8/1859. 89 Jennie Carter, Bassendean: A Social History: 1829-1979, op. cit.., p. 58.
114
the surface on the section towards Perth.90 Geoffrey Bolton found that colony officials
were bemused by the good conduct of road gangs at depots such as Freshwater Bay,
where settlers could sleep safely with their doors unlocked during the night.91
After gaining his Ticket-of-Leave on 19 October 1860, Meagher worked privately as
a clerk for the Swan Districts Surgeon and Resident Magistrate, Samuel Waterman
Viveash, until the end of May 1861. He was then employed as a tutor for Viveash’s
family at £30 per annum until 30 June 1862.
92 While he was self-employed in the
Guildford area, he may have done some bookkeeping for George Stubberfield, who was
a hotel licensee and victualler. That situation would have given him the opportunity of
meeting Caroline, his employer’s very capable daughter, who assisted in the running of
her father’s business.93 By then Meagher was using the anglicized version of his
Christian name, so he signed ‘Malachi Reidy Meagher’ on their marriage certificate on
16 October 1862, in the Trinity Congregational Church in St George’s Terrace, Perth.94
Alan Campbell firmly believes from then onwards, Malachi Meagher prospered.95
After gaining his Conditional Pardon in the Swan area on 14 April 1863,96
90 Alan Campbell, 'Malachi Reidy Meagher,' The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., pp. 266 & 268.
Meagher
leased Sandalford vineyard from the Colony’s Surveyor General, John Septimus Roe,
91 Geoffrey Bolton, Land of Vision and Mirage: Western Australia Since 1826, U. W. A. Press, Crawley, Western Australia, 2003, p. 28. 92 Myall (Miall) Meagher, Ticket-of Leave Register, No. 5448, ACC 1171, Swan District, p. 162. 93 Alan Campbell, ‘Malachi Reidy Meagher,’ in Rica Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 268. 94 ‘John George Stubberfield', The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. IV, R-Z, p. 2975 & Campbell, op. cit., p. 268. 95 Campbell, ibid., p. 268. 96 Myall (Miall) Meagher, Ticket-of-Leave Register, op. cit.
Figure 27: A portrait of Miall Meagher’s wife, Caroline, dressed in the fashion of the day. Erickson, The Brand on his Coat,’ p. 267.
115
from 1864 to 1869, while living at the “Bassendean Estate.97 As he had received four
months remission of sentence, he gained his Certificate of Freedom and expiree status
by 2 November 1864. While at Sandalford he employed many ticketers as shingle
splitters and for building stockyards and repairing fences. On 30 August 1865 he
applied to the Resident Magistrate at Swan for seventy gallons of spirits to fortify his
wine after his bumper crop of grapes yielded two thousand one hundred and sixty
gallons of wine in the summer of 1864/65, which was probably sold to Guildford
hoteliers. During 1866 and 1867 he employed labourers to reap his harvests, and in
March 1869 he purchased all Edward Barrett-Lennard’s horses from his Avon property,
to ease the latter settler’s financial difficulties.98
By 1870, Meagher was the proprietor of the Guildford Hotel,
99 which was the
commercial centre for settlers living in the Avon Valley and the Victoria Plains areas.
As many settlers carted their wool or sandalwood to Guildford in heavy wagons and
transferred their goods there before proceeding to Perth, Meagher seized the opportunity
to advise his hotel customers and travellers that his ‘Twice Weekly and return
Conveyance would Operate from the Guildford Hotel to Perth.’100 He employed a
Ticket-of-Leave ostler, cooks, a carpenter, woodcutter, ferryman and servants, while the
day to day management of the hotel was probably left to his wife, Caroline, who was
well experienced in that area, having managed her own ticketers in 1871 and 1873.101
97 Malachi Reidy Meagher, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, 1988, vol. III, K-Q, p. 2135.
98 Campbell, op. cit., pp. 268 & 269. 99 Jennie Carter, Bassendean: A Social History, op. cit.., p.58 & Malachi Ready Meagher, The Bicentennial Dictionary, op. cit. p.2135. Also Michael J. Bourke: On the Swan: A History of the Swan District, Western Australia, University of Western Australia Press, for the Swan Shire Council, Middle Swan, Western Australia, pp. 202, 203, 231 & 232, B. J. Gordon, Hotels of Guildford and Midland, 1832-2002, p. 29 and also ‘Miall Meagher,’ Battye Library Catalogue Cards . 100 Campbell, Meagher's advertisement for transport from Guildford Hotel to Perth, op. cit., p. 270 101 Campbell, ibid.
116
Their business must have been going well, because on 12 May 1872 Meagher took
out a five year lease with the option to purchase over the next five years, on fourteen
acres of land in West Guildford for £150. It was known as 'The Retreat 'and was owned
by Alexander Taylor, a schoolmaster.102 Five years later, on 23 May 1877, Meagher
transferred the lease and the right to purchase 'The Retreat' to Thomas Courthope
Gull.103
102 Meagher leased 'The Retreat, Guildford Lots 134 to 138 from Alexander Taylor, Memorial Book VII, No. 2465, 12 May 1872, Landgate, Western Australian, Land Information Authority, Midland.
Between 1872 and 1876, Meagher employed more ticketers for quarrying stone,
103 Meagher transferred the lease of The Retreat to Thomas Courthope Gull, Memorial Book VII, No. 2473, 23 May 1877, Landgate, op., cit.
Figure 29: Guildford Hotel, where Meagher was the proprietor and also operated a twice weekly transport to and from Perth. B. J. Gordon, Hotels of Guildford and Midland, 1832-2002, Courtesy Ruth Andrews, Midland Public Library.
Figure 28; A portrait of Malachi Reidy Meagher circa the 1870s. Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, p. 267.
117
stone-breaking, road making and fencing.104 He had been elected onto the newly
gazetted Swan Road Board in March 1871, holding that office until 1877, during which
time he was also employed as its Honorary Secretary. He received an honorarium of £8
for his secretarial duties in his first year, which gradually increased to £20 over time.105
He was also a member of the Swan Board of Education from 1874 to 1876,106 and was
elected onto the Guildford Municipal Council from 1873 to 1876, but resigned after
being its Chairman during the latter year.107
Proving that he was never one to stay settled in one place for long, Meagher and
Caroline and their nine children, whose ages ranged from about sixteen down to one
year, moved to Fremantle in 1878, where he became the licensee of the ‘Crown and
Thistle,’ later known as ‘Meagher’s Hotel.’ In 1880, he introduced a passenger service
between Fremantle and Perth, however, that business proved to be unprofitable.108 The
economic recessions during most the 1870s may have adversely affected his business
profits, as well as initiating his next career move.109
By late 1880, the Meagher family had moved back to Guildford, where he leased the
old Sandalwood Estate again and took over the management of the Bassendean
104 Campbell, op. cit., p. 271. 105 Rev. Canon A. Burton, ‘The Personnel of the Board,’ The Story of the Swan District, 1843-1938, pp. 29, 34 & 75. 106‘Miall Meagher,’ Battye Library Catalogue Card.. 107 Malachi Ready Meagher, The Bicentennial Dictionary, op. cit., p. 2135 & Campbell, op. cit., pp. 270 & 271. 108 Campbell, ibid., p. 271. 109 Stannage, The People of Perth, op. cit., p. 124.
Figure 30: Honour Board with Meagher, as Chairman of the Guildford Municipal Council in 1876.
118
Brickyard in West Guildford.110 On 12 January 1885, when a builder named David
Auliffe Gray found that he was not able to meet his debts, he filed a petition for
liquidation. The majority of Gray's creditors were forced to agree to an arrangement
where they received only two shillings and six pence in the pound. After Meagher
agreed to pay all Gray's debts, legal costs, the expenses of Gray's liquidation plus £30,
Gray granted Malachi Reidy Meagher and his heirs, a lease on 1000 acres known as
Stone's Green, which he had owned.111
Meagher was re-elected to the Swan Road Board again in 1885 and was also
employed as its Secretary from 1885 to 1890, during which time he was voted its
Chairman from 1888 to at least 1890, after which the records are missing until 1895.
112
His oldest son, Gerald, joined him as a member of the Swan Road Board in 1887.
Meagher evidently lobbied the Council fruitlessly for improvements and services for his
area in West Guildford and collected money to build a bridge linking West Guildford
with the town of Guildford. Carter has argued that not many residents were prepared to
take up the cause for West Guildford, so they could receive equal treatment by the
Guildford Council, because the few old Pensioner Guards, widows and tenants who
resided there, were just not able to fight for their rights.113
Following the economic downturn in the colony in the late 1880s,
Understandably the
improvements Meagher fought for, would also have been very beneficial for his own
interests. 114 Meagher went
bankrupt. The first sign of Meagher’s monetary problems was an ‘Indenture of
Conveyance’ or a transfer of a lease from Meagher, who was described as a ‘farmer and
grazier,’ to John Bateman, a Fremantle merchant, which was registered on a Memorial
dated 12 July 1888. To clear his debt of £228, Meagher conveyed to Bateman and his
heirs, ‘that parcel of land (which he had leased on 12 April 1886 for seven years),
‘situated on the Swan River… containing one thousand acres or thereabouts and being
in the Swan location,’ for the residue of the unexpired lease which was by then,
approximately four years and nine months.115
110 Jennie Carter, Bassendean, op. cit., p. 131.
By 14 March 1891, when Meagher was
undergoing bankruptcy proceedings with his creditors,’ his ‘Statement of Affairs’
111 David Gray transferred his lease of Stone's Green to Meagher, Memorial Book, IX, No. 733, 22 January 1885. 112 Rev. Burton, op. cit., p. 39. 113 Carter, op. cit., p. 59. 114 Stannage , The People of Perth, op. cit., p. 203. 115 Meagher conveyed his lease of Stone's Green to John Bateman, Memorial Book 10, No. 428, 24 July 1888.
119
named his twenty creditors and his total debt of £1184 to them. By then he owed his
first son, Gerald, £475 and his second son, Francis John Meagher, £197, which together
equalled £672, over half of what he owed to his other creditors. Everything he owned
went through the process of liquidation, including his ‘stock in trade, debts, cash in
hand, bills of exchange, furniture, fixtures or fittings, property, or other securities.’116
Fortunately for Meagher, by 1 September 1892, his lawyer Richard Haynes,
informed the Register of the Supreme Court, that Meagher’s creditors had closed the
bankruptcy and Meagher had been relieved of his debt liability.
117 As well as his two
sons already mentioned, there were twenty other names on Meagher’s ‘List of Creditors,
eleven of whom were owed £10 or more.118 Isaac and William Wood were owed £115,
an expiree named Henry Seeligson, £100,119 William Byers Wood, £35, Richard
Septimus Haynes, £30, and G. Roby Woods, £30. Mrs Mary Higham and her two sons
were owed £25, Arthur William Glover was also owed £25, Hann and J. Fiddes, £23,
and Arthur Shirley Kelly who later married Meagher’s daughter Nora, was owed £23.
Henry Monger Junior was owed £20 and William Lovegrove, £20. Jeremiah and John
Clune £14 and another expiree, George Smeddles, was owed £10.120
Malachi and Caroline had nine children. Their first born daughter, Mary Ellen
Meagher, married Charles Henry Henderson in December 1894. Charles was a free
settler and a merchant and ironmonger in Perth, then a farmer in north east Boyup
Brook.
121 Gerald Shenstone, Miall and Caroline’s first son, born in 1864, was mainly a
farmer and cattle drover. He was elected onto the Swan Road Board between 1887 and
1890 and the Upper Blackwood Road Board from 1904 to 1907, prior to becoming a
Justice of the Peace. Gerald married Florence Ensie Hicks in June 1906. Florence was
the daughter of Duance and Clarence Spenser Hicks, a free settler from Melbourne..122
116 Malachi Meagher, 'Statement of Affairs,' Bankruptcy Records. Liquidation by arrangement or composition with creditors instituted by Malachi Reidy Meagher of Perth,’ in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, 14 March 1891, WAS 54, CONS 3602, Item No. 05.
Their second son Francis John Meagher, born at ‘Sandalford’ in February 1866, was
initially a businessman in Perth and Cossack, then a farmer and station owner, living at
“Winning Pool” at Ferguson. He married Madeleine Martin in October 1897. She was
117 Meagher's Bankruptcy closed, WAS 54, CONS 3602, Item No. 161. 118 Malachi Meaghers' Creditors,’ presented to the Register of the Supreme Court by Richard Haynes, State Records office, WAS 54, CONS 3431, Item No. 161, Item Title, Malachi Reidy Meagher. 119 Ibid., Henry Seeligson, an expiree was owed £100. 120 Ibid., Meagher's creditors included three other expirees. 121 Mary Ellen Meagher, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australian, vol. III, K-Q, op. cit., p. 2135 & The Bicentennial Dictionary, Vol.11, D-J, op. cit., ‘Henderson, Charles Henry, p. 1439. 122 Gerald Shenstone Meagher, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. III, ibid., p. 2134 & Clarence Spencer Cope Hicks, Vol. 11, ibid., p. 1466.
120
the daughter of Jane and Ebenezer Martin, a free settler. Ebenezer was a policeman, the
licensee of Baylup Inn and Newcastle Hotels, a builder, then a butcher and a Justice of
the Peace by 1903. 123
Nora Meagher, their second daughter was born in June 1867. She married a civil
servant named Arthur Shirley Kelly in 1894. Arthur was the son of Marie and Samuel
Kelly, a free settler who became a mine owner.
124 Kate Anna (Hannah) Meagher, their
third daughter was born in September 1868 in Guildford. She married Albert Rupert
Kelly, the brother of Arthur Shirley above. Kelly was initially an Engineering
Surveyor, then an Assistant Engineer with the Government Department of Works and
Railways between 1908 and 1910.125 Their fourth daughter, Lillian Caroline Meagher
was born in April 1871 and married Stephen Gibbs in July 1909. Stephen farmed in
Dinninup from 1907 to c.1938,126 and was the son of Sarah Ann and William Gibbs, a
free settler, farmer and grazier in Darkin, then a pastoralist on the Blackwood River and
was elected as a West Arthur Road Board member.127
Caroline and Malachi’s fifth daughter, Frances Julia Meagher, who was born in
February 1873, married a widower named Alfred Charles Thompson in February, 1914.
He was the son of a free settler named Alfred Thompson, and a landowner in the Avon
area in 1858, then a farmer and grazier at Gingin.
128 Martin Malachi Meagher, their
third and youngest son, was born in August 1875, but died in a horse riding accident in
June 1897, aged only twenty-one.129 Malachi and Caroline’s last daughter, Hilda
Margaret Meagher, born in March, 1877, married Alfred Edward Parry in August 1908.
Alfred was the son of Henry Hutton Parry, who was appointed Bishop of Perth in 1870
and initiated the building of St George’s Cathedral.130
123 Francis John Meagher, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. III, ibid., p. 2134 & Madeleine Martin, the daughter of Ebenezer Martin p. 2098 & Ebenezer Martin, vol. III, p. 2090.
124 Nora Meagher, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. III, ibid., p. 2135 & Arthur Shirley Kelly, vol. III, p. 483. 125 Kate Hannah Meagher, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. III, ibid., p. 2134 & Albert Rupert Kelly, vol. III, p. 482. 126 Lillian Caroline Meagher, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. III, ibid., p. 2134 & Steven ( Stephen), Gibbs, Erickson, Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. V, 'The Golden years 1889-1914, p. 328. 127 Steven Gibbs, son of Sarah & William Gibbs, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. II, D-J, op. cit.,. p. 1182. 128 Francis Julia Meagher, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. III, op. cit.., p. 2134, married a widower, Alfred Thompson, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. IV, R-Z, op. cit.., p. 3044. 129 Martin Malachi Meagher,’ Battye Library Catalogue Card. 130 ‘Hilda Margaret Meagher,’ in The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. III, K-Q, op. cit., p. 2134/5, married Alfred Edward Parry, the son of the Bishop Parry, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. III, K-Q, p. 2420.
121
According to Carter, Malachi’s wife Caroline, died when aged sixty in 1898, after
they had retired to Perth.131 Until his death at seventy years of age on 26 November
1906 at Dinninup, Meagher resided alternatively with his nine surviving children and
their partners, 132
For an expiree to have won such positions (on the Swan Road Board, the Guildford Municipal Council and the local Board of Education) in so short a time was a notable achievement.
probably as a result of his monetary problems in 1891 and 1892.
However as Alan Campbell pointed out:
133
After her research on Meagher, Carter assessed that Meagher:
…made a reputation for himself as a shrewd businessman … was an energetic Councillor possessed of a good deal of personal magnetism and Gaelic charm which he deployed at times in defence of the underdog… (and) Meagher’s career, both publicly and privately, was an outstanding achievement for a member of the group that the historian J. S. Battye labelled as, ‘the scourings of English jails.’ 134
Conclusion
There were both positive and negative aspects facing Governor Kennedy and the free
settlers between 1855 and 1859. On one hand mineral exports quadrupled, wool exports
rose significantly and the colony's exports more than doubled in those five years, to the
extent that its balance of trade improved to 74%, although still in favour of imports. On
the other hand, as unemployment was high, wages tended to be low and many free
settlers were concerned about public security in the Fremantle area.
After gaining his Certificate of Freedom in 1869, Sampson and his second wife
Sophie were living in their two storied home built on a forty acre block in Bunbury by
1879. In their heyday over the next decade or so, they became proprietors of fifteen
houses, a villa, two shops and two offices, in an area known as 'Sampson Town, which
were all paid off by the end of 1891. Sampson bequeathed all his Bunbury estates to
Sophie after his demise in 1904, with the exception of two lots which he left to the
Wesley Church and two portions of lots to the Congregational Church. Sophie's
relatives inherited all their assets valued at £8945 after her death in 1912 and Sampson
Road in Bunbury was obviously named after him.
131 Campbell, op. cit., p. 271. 132 Carter, op. cit., p. 59. 133 Campbell, op. cit., p. 271. 134 Carter, op. cit., pp. 58 & 59.
122
Stout’s reconviction, imprisonment and transportation appears to have jolted his
conscience, resulting in his character reformation in the colony. He was obviously
intelligent and was prepared to work hard to support his second wife and children, while
often juggling multiple careers as a photographer, schoolmaster, boarding house keeper
and journalist. He became well known as a public lecturer, earned the respect of many
free settlers and gave something back to society. There are no records of property being
owned by Stout or his wife, probably due to his bankruptcy and liquidation problems in
1875. As three of Stout's daughters, Francis, Rose and Elsie, married the sons of free
settlers, his family appears to have been considered socially acceptable by those free
settler families. Marcia Watson, the Editor of ‘Convict Links’ and a member of the
Western Australian Genealogical Society for many years, firmly believes that Stout
made a significant contribution to early Western Australian journalism and created a
lasting legacy of photographs for the R. W Passey collection in Battye Library, which
contributed to Western Australia’s history.135
Meagher received his Conditional Pardon in 1863 while leasing Surveyor General
Roe's vineyard 'Sandaflord,' and probably gained his Certificate of Freedom in
November 1864 while there.' During 1885, while at the height of his career in the
colony, he paid all David Gray's debts and took over his lease of 1000 acres known as
'Stone's Green.' Ironically, after facing bankruptcy himself in 1891, that lease was
transferred to John Bateman, while Meagher was forced into liquidation, from which he
never recovered.
These expirees were very public spirited. Dr Sampson played the organ at Bunbury's
Congregational Church and donated instruments for Bunbury's first Brass Band, which
he conducted for many years. After giving lectures and editing the weekly newspaper
on the Lord Raglan, Stout delivered many more entertaining public lectures in the
colony and was employed as Secretary of the Working Men's Society. Meagher was
elected onto the Swan Road Board from 1871 to 1877 and was voted its Chairman in
1876, while acting as its Honorary Secretary. He sat on the Swan Board of Education
between 1874 and 1876, was re-elected to the Swan Council in 1885, acted as their
Secretary for another for five years, and was then voted in as Chairman from 1888 to
1890. He was also elected onto the Guildford Council from 1873 to 1876 and became its
Chairman in the latter year.
135 Watson, ‘Stephen Montague Stout (4901),’ op. cit., p. 13.
123
The main problem for Stout, Meagher and other hard working white-collar convicts,
was that they usually had little or no monetary reserves to fall back on in hard times
during depressions and recessions and consequently often lost most or all of their
properties and businesses, bearing in mind that many free settlers suffered in the same
way. Considering that eight of Meagher's nine children married free settlers’ offspring,
it appears that he and his family appear to have been considered socially acceptable by
many Swan River free settlers. Hilda Meagher’s marriage to Bishop Parry’s son, like
Alfred Letch’s son's marriage to Canon Clair's daughter, says a great deal about the
degree of social acceptance that could be achieved by family members of white-collar
convicts by the 1890s.
124
CHAPTER 5. Swan River Colony between 1861 and 1868 and the Lives of Herman
Joseph Moll, James Elphinstone Roe, James Coates Fleming, James Murgatroyde
Hubbard and Lionel Holdsworth.
This chapter examines the lives of five white-collar convicts who arrived between
1861 and 1868, after which transportation to the Swan River Colony ceased. During
this period, the crimes for which convicts were transported to Western Australia
generally worsened, which was reflected in the tightening of governmental policies
regarding them in the colony. While the convicts' general reputation was deteriorating
and tougher new policies regarding their employment and wages were being set in
place, the lives of Herman Joseph Moll, James Elphinstone Roe, James Coates Fleming,
James Murgatroyde Hubbard and Lionel Holdsworth will be explored.
During this period, Governor Kennedy introduced a new policy, that no ticketers in
government employment would be paid a labourer’s wage, which had the effect of
encouraging them to find alternative employment in the Swan River Colony. Under
Governor Hampton, Conditional Pardons were no longer granted and after January
1864, ticketers were not allowed to leave the colony until they had served the full term
of their sentences.1 Also the frequency and severity of convict floggings increased,
peaking in 1868.2 According to Mrs Millett, the wife of Reverend Edward Millett, who
both arrived in 1863, the best behaved prisoners in British gaols were on the first
shiploads to arrive, but as time went by ‘a much worse class of criminals composed the
cargoes,’3
Between 1861 and 1868, the colony’s population rose from 15,936 to 24,292.
which was why stricter convict policies were introduced during the 1860s.
Also the male to female ratio increased to 100 to 56 females in the colony, which
concerned many free settlers. 4 By
1865, the ratio of its exports exceeded that of imports for the first time by £10,000,
prior to falling below that of imports again the following year.5
1 Rica Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., pp, 5 & 6.
Despite economic
2 P. R. Millett, ‘Convict discipline and punishment,’ Historical Encyclopedia of Western Australia, edited by Jenny Gregory and Jan Gothard, U. W. A. Press, Crawley, Western Australia, 2009, p. 235. 3 Mrs Edward Millett, An Australian Parsonage , op. cit., 1872, p. 329. 4 R. T .Appleyard, Appendix 6.1, ‘Western Australia: Demographic Trends', A New History of Western Australia, op. cit, p. 233. 5 Ibid., Appendix 6.3, ‘Western Australia: External Trade 1850-1913 (£s)', p. 235.
125
recessions in 1863 and 1867 and through most of the 1870s,6 and seasonal crop failures
from severe drought in 1869 and 1870 in the colony,7 wool exports rose from £15,482
in 1850 to £94,021 by 1869, timber exports rose from an average of £707 per year
between 1850-52 to £6,484 annually between 1867-69, and minerals exports increased
from £55 in 1850, to a yearly average of £14,952, between 1862 and 1869.8
During 1861, Francis Gregory and his party explored the land around the Ashburton,
Fortescue, Oakover and De Grey river systems north of Geraldton and discovered good
grazing lands and soils for agriculture, plenty of fish in the rivers and pearl shell in
Nickel Bay. This resulted in sales or leases of land for pastoral and mining ventures in
the north and east regions, where settlers began farming corn and wheat crops and
breeding sheep, cattle and horses. However the Secretary of State, responding to free
settlers’ requests in 1865, directed that no convicts, ticketers, or those whose sentences
had not expired, would be allowed to move to the northern portion of Western Australia
or to remain living there.
9
Western Australia’s economic situation gradually improved, mainly due to
population growth, the supply of cheap convict labour for settlers, more land being
cleared and fenced, as well as increased export activity. However, as the total value of
all exports in 1868 was £192,636, in comparison with imports worth £225,614,
Consequently white-collar and other convicts were barred
from settling or mining up north until they had received their Certificate of Freedom.
That was probably not only due to the poor reputation of recent convict arrivals, but also
the lack of policing facilities throughout the northern region.
10
After the cessation of convict arrivals in January 1868, the total population in the
colony rapidly increased from 25135 in 1870, to 29561 in 1880, and up to 45660 by
1889.
the
colony’s trade deficiency, must still have been a cause of concern for Governor
Hampton and his colonial administrators.
11
6 Stannage, C. T., The People of Perth, op. cit., p. 124.
The colony’s trade deficiency in 1870 resulted from a drought caused
depression, which occurred again in 1872 and 1873. From 1874 to 1882, the total value
of exports exceeded those of imports for a record of eight years in a row, however the
7 R. T. Appleyard, ‘Western Australia: Economic and Demographic Growth, 1850-1914', op. cit., p. 216. 8 Ibid., Appleyard, pp. 216 & 235. 9 J. S. Battye, Western Australia: A History from its Discovery to the Inauguration of the Commonwealth, op. cit.., p 261. 10 Appleyard, op. cit., p. 235. 11 Appleyard, ibid., Appendix 6.1 Western Australia: demographic trends 1850-1915, pp. 233 &234.
126
colony’s deficient economy resumed again for the following fifteen years, from 1883 to
1898.12
Many educated convicts would have welcomed the news that the Swan River
Colony’s government changed to a partially representative government in November
1867, when six non official members from six districts were elected for a period of three
years, balanced by an equal number of official members. White-collar expirees probably
felt they were more likely to gain support and assistance from local district
parliamentarians who had observed their character reformation, strong work ethos and
their positive contributions to the society in which they lived. For the same reason, they
would have welcomed the innovation of a two-thirds representative government of
eighteen members, which included twelve free settlers for the first Legislative Council
in Western Australia under Governor Weld in 1870.
13
Herman Joseph Moll
By this time many white-collar
convicts or ‘specials’ as they were often referred to, were expirees and they had been in
the colony long enough to prove their worth and character reformation. It is against this
backdrop that Moll, Roe, Fleming, Hubbbard, and Holdsworth, who arrived during the
last seven years of transportation, sought to make a new life in the Swan River Colony.
On 8 July 1861, Herman Joseph Moll, a twenty-three year old, well educated
German born clerk, who also spoke French and English fluently,14 pleaded ‘guilty’ of
using a false passbook belonging to his employer, when he faced the jury at the Central
Criminal Courts in London. He had been employed by Mr Vich, a West Indian
merchant and the Belgian Consul for four years. During this time Moll had evidently
given Vich a fake passbook to prevent him knowing the true amount in his account at
the Bankers Association, while he illegally used his employer’s real passbook to obtain
Vich's money. He was tried on only one count of ‘forging and uttering an order for the
payment of £107. 9s,’ but according to the Consul, Moll’s misappropriation of money
‘amounted to several thousand pounds.’ Consequently Moll was fortunate to be only
sentenced to ten years penal servitude.15
12 Ibid., p. 236.
13 J. S. Battye op. cit., pp. 284 & 285. 14 ‘Joseph Van Eyck Herman Moll,’ Battye Library Catalogue Cards. 15 Herman Joseph Moll, Central Criminal Court, Times, 10 July 1861, p. 11e.
127
Moll’s General Register notes recorded his character as ‘Very Good,’ while he was
transported on the York II with James Roe to the Swan River Colony, arriving on 31
December 1862. He received his Ticket-of-Leave on 16 July 1864, just over eighteen
and a half months after his arrival.16 As Moll’s religion was Catholic, he was soon
engaged by Father Bertram as his servant on a salary of £12 a year. Initially they lived
in Perth until the priest was transferred to Guildford.17 By 8 November 1864, Moll was
employed in the same occupation for the same wage by Father Coll, another Catholic
priest.18 However his salary doubled to £24 a year in January 1865, when he was
employed as a teacher by Father Bourke in the Catholic school in York until the end of
1865.19
By May 1866, Moll was earning £18 a year in York, as a clerk and accountant for
young John Henry Monger, a merchant in Fremantle and York, who was also a farmer
and pastoralist with extensive land to the east of York, Williams and Blackwood areas
by 1859. Monger employed over fifty ticketers between 1858 and 1882.
20
16 Herman Joseph Moll, General Register, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, Reel 22, No. 6659.
Considering
that Moll’s court case had featured in the London Times on 19 September 1862, that this
paper would have been available in Perth’s Weld Club about three months later, and
that his former employer in London had openly stated in court that his clerk Moll had
misappropriated ‘several thousand pounds,’ his appointment as Monger’s accountant
would certainly have raised eyebrows. There must still have been either a critical
17 Herman Joseph Moll, Ticket-of-Leave Register for the District of Perth, ACC, 1386, Vol. 4, No. 6659, p. 570. 18 Herman Joseph Moll, Occurrence Book, ACC 1386, vol. 8, 8 November,1864, p. 202. Moll was discharged from Bertram and employed by Reverend Coll, Guildford. 19 Herman Joseph Moll, General Register, op. cit.., 7 January 1865. 20 ‘ John Henry Monger', Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, pre 1829-1888, vol. III, K-Q, op. cit., p. 2202.
Figure 31: Herman Moll’s Court Case, Times 10 July 1861. Note the incorrect spelling of his surname and his enormous frauds, which ‘amounted to several thousand pounds according to his employer.
128
shortage of clerical staff in the colony, or Moll may have been recommended to Monger
by the three Catholic priests in the colony, after he had gained their trust. However his
work appears to have been appreciated by his new employer, because on the last day of
December 1866, his salary was raised to £25/4/- a year.21
It is not known why Moll returned to work as Bourke’s servant on 31 January, 1867
on his former low wage, maybe he felt he needed the priest’s guidance. However two
weeks later, that move appeared not to have harmed his career, as he returned to
Monger on his previous salary. On 31 December 1867, his pay at Mongers was reduced
to £9/8/- a year, as it included his board and lodging, although it increased to £12 per
annum in December the following year.
22
Moll gained his Conditional Pardon on 12 February 1869 and his Certificate of
Freedom on 19 August 1871. By then he had decided there was a future for him in the
Swan River Colony and maybe he was already smitten by his good friend, Roe’s
twenty-one year old daughter. He remained in Monger’s employment until 1874 in
York, where he received a boost to his morale by being asked to sit on their Board of
Education that year. At the age of thirty-five, he married the twenty-four year old,
Catherine Agnes Roe and the following year Moll was transferred to Monger’s business
in Perth, where he still continued to work as Monger's accountant until 1882.
23
Herman and Catherine then moved to Cossack where he was employed as a Manager by
Alexander McRae, who owned a shipping agency and pearling company. Sadly for his
wife and their four young children, the forty-four year old Moll died there on 18
December 1882, due to complications of a broken leg from a riding accident.24
Catherine went to live in Northam and supported their four fatherless children by
running a boarding house, where her father, James Roe later joined her in his mid
sixties. 25
Herman and Catherine's oldest child, Cecilia Mary Agnes Moll, who was born in
1875, married John White in 1904.
26 He was the son of a free settler farmer who owned
two farms in the Northam district and was the Trustee of the Jennacubbine Catholic
Church.27
21 Herman Moll, Ticket-of-Leave Register, op. cit.
Their second daughter, Sophia Maria Josephine Moll was born in 1877 and
22 Herman Moll, General Register, op. cit. 23 Herman Joseph Van Eyck Moll, Battye Library Catalogue Card. 24 Herman Moll, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary, op. cit., vol. III, K-Q, p. 2195. 25 Herman Moll, Battye Library Catalogue Card & Erickson, The Brand on His Coat, op. cit. p. 320. 26 Cecilia Mary Agnes Moll, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. III, op. cit., p. 2195. 27 John White, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary , vol. 1V, op. cit., p. 3284.
129
when she was old enough, she moved to South Australia to become a Dominican nun.28
Their first son, Wilfred Joseph Moll who was born in 1879, was the Head Prefect at the
Perth High School in 1893, then Dux of the school in the following year. He was
employed as a Customs Officer from 1895 to 1934, then as an Examining Officer in
Albany then Geraldton, and eventually worked as the Chief Tariff Officer in Fremantle.
He married Laura Ann Somers, the daughter of a free settler named Samuel Henry
Somers in 1904.29 Their youngest son Arminius Phillip Moll, born in 1881 and became
a member of the Catholic Church in Perth, but that is the extent of available information
about him at this time.30
J. T. Reilly, the Catholic author of Reminiscences of Fifty Years in Western
Australia, published in 1903, saw Moll as gentleman of exceptional ability. He
enthusiastically reported that as well as being an excellent English scholar, Moll was a
proficient linguist in German, French and Flemish languages. His community
involvement included supporting the orphanage committee, becoming an active member
of the Board of Education, was a proficient musician, a good story teller and he was
devoted to the Catholic cause. For those reasons, Reilly perceived that Moll’s death was
deeply lamented by his widow, his family and Catholic Church members.
31
Moll’s character reformation may have been expedited by his connections with the
Catholic priests. Due to his membership of the orphanage committee, musical ability
and storytelling talents, he became well known and respected and his popularity appears
to have abounded among the free settlers, especially those who were members of the
Catholic Church. His intellectual ability was in line with that of James Roe and both
those expirees and their families benefited from their friendship.
James Elphinstone Roe
As readers will discover, James Roe’s rash temperament tended to lead him into
trouble in England as well as in his life ahead in the Swan River Colony, but first, his
family background and court case. His father, Reverend Thomas Roe, as the eldest son
in his family, inherited the Lincolnshire livings of Kirkby-on-Bain where the family 28 Sophia Maria Josephine Moll, Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. III, op. cit., p. 2195. 29 William Joseph van Eyck Moll, Erickson, The Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. 5, op. cit.., p. 629. 30 ‘Arminius Philip Moll,’ Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary , vol. III, op. cit., p. 2195 & Herman Joseph Moll, Battye Library Catalogue Card. 31 J. T. Reilly, Reminiscences of Fifty Years in Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Sands & McDougall, 1903, p. 61.
130
home was built, as well as that of Sotby, which was administered by a curate. Both were
gifts from the royal family and like most of the other white-collar convicts in this
research, Roe had been brought up as a gentleman. His father died when James was ten
years old, and as all the males in the family line had been clergymen and schoolmasters
for generations, he was encouraged to follow in his father’s footsteps. He matriculated
at seventeen and took Holy orders within the Church of England. A few years after his
ordination, Roe married Catherine Elphinstone, the youngest daughter of Captain John
Elphinstone, who had distinguished himself in the battle against the Turks, while in the
British Royal Navy. 32
At the conclusion of his two day trial in the Central Criminal Courts in London on 22
August 1861, Reverend Roe, the now forty-two year old Anglican Vicar of Macclesfield
in Cheshire, was sentenced for ten years for forging a cheque for £6000, purportedly
made out to him by his wealthy uncle, prior to his decease. He claimed in self- defence
that the reason why he took that course of action, was because his cousins had
fraudulently tricked him out of inheriting £500 from that uncle, but he made no attempt
to deny his over reaction to his two cousins' deceit. Unfortunately for Roe and his
family, the jury failed to believe his version of events, probably due to the fact that he
had forged a cheque worth eleven times more than his original inheritance was
supposed to have been worth. Reverend Roe and his wife had nine children by then and
they were probably in need of financial assistance, as a vicar’s yearly earnings were not
high, however he was sentenced to ten years penal servitude.
33
After his incarceration in Newgate, Millbank, Pentonville, then Portsmouth
penitentiaries for just over fourteen and a half months, he arrived in the Swan River
colony in the York II on New Year's Eve, 1862. During the voyage he became friends
with Herman Moll and although Roe was forty-four years old and Moll was half his age,
they had found they had much in common while on board. Moll was Catholic and Roe
had belonged to the Oxford movement while at university, during which time he had
acquired some sympathy with the Catholic ideology of its founder.
34 Roe received a
‘Good’ character record on the transport, to restart his life in the colony.35
32 Hilary Thomas, 'Our First Newspaper Man in (Western) Australia: A Family History,' unpublished. Hilary is the great grand-daughter of James Roe.
33 James Roe, Central Criminal Court, London, ‘Extraordinary Case,’ Times, 22 August, p. 9a, 9b & 23 August, p. 9d, 1861. Also in, ‘Painful Case of Forgery - James Roe,’ from the Annual Register, History and Politics of the Year 1861, J & F. H. Rivington, 1862, London, pp. 158 & 159. 34 Erickson, 'James Elphinstone Roe, Schoolmaster and Journalist,' Brand on his Coat, op. cit.. pp. 301 & 302. 35 James Roe, General Register, A.N. 358/2, ACC 1156, Reel 22 (6393-6932), No 6709 .
131
In Roe’s anonymously written article, ‘A Letter from Convict in Australia, to a
Brother in England,’ which was later published in the Cornhill Magazine, he described
Fremantle as ‘pretty’ and ‘cheerful’ and ‘not unlike small seaside places at home, ’ as
well as the process that he had gone through on arrival. The prisoners were escorted in a
quiet, orderly fashion via the gates through a large, quiet courtyard, into the
conspicuously new Convict Establishment which overlooked the town to the coast. This
was followed by a bath and presumably he was given either a new or clean uniform,
after which his hair and whiskers were shaven so closely that:
Every particle of whisker, every hair of your head which can be made to pass through a flat comb, is taken off unsparingly.36
Roe advised potential white-collar prisoners to secure their money with a warder, a
friend, a ship servant, or any professional person he felt he could trust.
37 He tried to
reassure educated prisoners or ‘specials’ about conditions in the convict establishment.
He maintained that during the day the doors were left open, so they could walk outside.
There was only one officer at the door to the exercise yard, they were free to walk
around and talk to friends, and they were only shut in their cells at night and as long as
there were no disturbances, the officers tended to leave them alone. He observed that
good order was not obtained by a continuous display of force there, but by appealing to
the prisoners’ good sense. Roe praised the convict Constables for successfully
preserving prison order in areas where there were no prison officers and explained that
the Constables were rewarded by gaining their Tickets-of-Leave earlier, being paid for
their duties and they also obtained some sentence remission.38
However he appears to have been trying to make the best of his situation for his
family’s sake and stretched the truth somewhat, when he reported that the tiny cells
were ‘really cheerful, airy little dens.’ Contrary to Roe’s claim that, ‘the cells here are a
little larger than the iron cages at Portsmouth,’
39
What is different from its Australian and English contemporaries was the extraordinarily small cell size: 7ft x 4. It came about because Henderson had based his cell size on the dimensions …at Portland. The catch was that, while the
they were actually smaller than those
in new Public Works prisons such as in Portland in England. When James Kerr wrote a
policy for the conservation of Fremantle Prison in 1998, he explained:
36 Anon (James Roe), ‘A Letter from a Convict in Australia, to a Brother in England', The Cornhill Magazine, ,vol. XIII, January - June, 1866, London, p. 503. 37 Roe, ibid., pp. 502 & 503. 38 Roe, ibid., p. 503. 39 Roe, ibid., p. 504
132
Portland cells were fabricated of corrugated iron…Henderson erected the Fremantle cells in the local limestone, but retained the dimensions specified by Jebb for iron.40
The thickness of the limestone in the ground floor walls measures between 3 ft to 4 ft
wide, while on the top floor landing, the walls are only 1 ft wide for strength of
construction reasons.
41
As Roe was led through the prison, he observed that the cell windows were made
from thick grey glass and were semi-transparent, which as he pointed out, was
‘necessary for the strong light of the climate.’
Consequently on hot summer days, although the lower cells
were narrower, they probably would have been much cooler, airier and pleasanter to be
in, than those on the top third landing, which had thinner walls and the prisoners were
directly under the slate roofing, therefore closer to the sun’s rays.
42 According to Kerr, the windows are
approximately 6 ft wide by 2 ft high and were ‘heavy iron framed with mullioned
hopper windows, fitted with rough glass and hinged at the base to open inwards.’ They
were covered on the outside by vertical one inch square iron bars about 6 inches apart,
and each set of windows was shared by adjacent cells. The floors were covered with
thick jarrah planking and the walls and ceilings were plastered and whitewashed by
1859. Until later in the century, fresh air passed from the opened cell window out
through the base of the jarrah cell door, to ventilate the cells. On the wall opposite the
hammock, which was rolled up during the day, there was a stool, a small hinged table
and an oil lamp for light after nightfall.43
Although Roe enthused about some aspects of living in huts while on convict road-
parties in open country areas, he maintained that it was better to be in the establishment,
because ‘the cells there were cooler and closer to Freemantle (sic) or Perth.’ He
predicted that ‘you will probably be made a clerk in the chief establishment … (or) at
the country depots,’ however he warned that by 1866, no extra remission was given for
clerical positions in the main Establishment.
Most visitors viewing separate cells on the
lower floors nowadays would hardly find them ‘cheery,’ but rather describe them as
dimly lit, pantry sized cupboards.
44
40 James Semple Kerr, ‘The cell block’s place in the penal design,’ Fremantle Prison: A Policy for its Conservation, Department of Contract & Management for the Fremantle prison Trust Advisory Committee, 1998, p. 49.
41 The only remaining separate cell at Fremantle Prison was measured on 10 November, 2008 by Tourist staff there, and also the difference between cell wall sizes on the ground floor to the top floor. 42 Anon. (James Roe), ‘Letter from a Convict in Australia', op. cit., p. 504. 43 Kerr, op. cit., pp, 51 & 49. 44 Anon, (James Roe), ‘A Letter from a Convict in Australia,’ ibid., pp. 504 & 505.
133
According to his General Register record, there is no mention of Roe taking on a
clerical or constable role, but as his conduct continued to be ‘Good,’ he gained his
Ticket-of-Leave early on 8 August 1864. By 31 December that year, he was working by
‘Private Means’ in York.’45 Bob Reece maintains that while Roe lived in that area, he
was said, ‘to have tutored the young Sam Burges in 1864.’46 Meanwhile, his wife,
Susannah, who had been living in Highgate, London, was also teaching to support their
children.47 Although she would have been well aware that life in the Swan River
Colony would be socially difficult for all her family members, she and their nine
surviving children, aged from three to about nineteen,48 arrived on the Hastings in
December 1864.49 Hopefully Roe had taken his own advice to convicts and transferred
his property to his wife, while he was on remand,50
Roe obtained an extended pass from York to Fremantle to meet them.
as the voyage out to the colony
would have been expensive for such a large family. If not, they may have been assisted
financially by family and friends in Britain. 51 After
Susannah politely refused an invitation from Bishop Hale’s wife for them to stay at their
home because Roe was not included, the family travelled to York, sleeping under the
stars on the way.52 From 31 December 1864 to 31 December 1866,53 Erickson’s
research suggests that he was still teaching privately at Seven Mile Springs, where he
had leased a farmstead known as ‘Six Mile Brook.’54 Roe and his wife were forced to
live separately when Susannah started teaching in York in 1865, during which time, she
and her children may have lived in a Wesleyan Mission house in town.55 According to
Roe’s descendent, Hilary Thomas, ‘Susannah and several of her daughters had become
Catholic since their arrival in the colony, a fact that did not disturb Roe in the
slightest.’56 Roe employed six ticketers in York between 1864 and 1866, while his wife
employed eight.57
45 James Elphinstone Roe, General Register, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, Reel 22, No. 6707.
46 Bob Reece, ‘Fremantle’s First Voice: The Herald Newspaper 1867-1886,’ unpublished, in Local Studies Collection, Fremantle Library, 2008, p. 5. 47 Hilary Thomas, op. cit., p. 3. 48 James Elphinstone Roe, Battye Library Catalogue Card, includes Thomas, Dymoke and Louisa, who died in infancy and Mary who died when seven. 49 Rica Erickson, The Brand on his Coat,’ op. cit., p. 302. 50 Roe, ‘A Letter from a Convict to a Brother in England,' op. cit., p. 492. 51 James Roe, Acc 1386, Occurrence Book, Vol. 8, p. 167. 52 Erickson, The Brand on His Coat, op. cit. p. 302. 53 James, Elphinstone Roe, General Register, op. cit., 31/12/64, Roe's private occupations in York. 54 Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 302. 55 Ibid.. 56 Hilary Thomas, op. cit., p. 3. 57 James Roe, 'Employers of Ticket-of-Leave Men,' Western Australian Biographical Indexes.
134
As Bishop Hale was Chairman of the General Board of Education at the start of
1866, he was able to ensure Roe and his wife were teaching not far apart at this stage.58
Roe was placed at Central Greenough in the Champion Bay district, after the Bishop
sensibly gained the school children’s parents’ approval regarding Roe’s penal status and
his unusually high qualifications earned him a large salary of £100 per annum, whereas
the usual wage was about £40 a year. It also included extras such as housing, but
unfortunately at that stage there were no dwellings available for such a large family, so
Susannah was allocated a private teaching post in Geraldton for £50 annually, teaching
only five children.59 However they all moved to Greenough at the end of 1866 ,where
Roe taught and hired another thirteen ticketers between 1868 and 1872. In April 1867,
Susannah accepted a government teaching post at Central Greenough where they both
taught until the end of the year. With increased enrolments in that area, a new school
was built at South Greenough, where Susannah was employed during 1868. Meanwhile
Roe stayed on at Central Greenough with a larger class, and received his Conditional
Pardon on 11 May 1869 while there.60
58 Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 303. 59 Ibid., Letter to Mrs Roe, Colonial Secretary’s Office, Board of Education, CSO 573, 7 June 1866. 60 James Roe, General Register, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, Reel 22, No. 6709.
Figure 32: Inside a classroom at Central Greenough were they both taught in 1867.
Figure 33: The Central Greenough Schoolhouse.
Figure 34: Roe James Roe, Teacher and Journalist, and his wife, Susannah Roe, a School Mistress in Greenough.
135
Susannah and James’ eighteen year old second son, Edward Roe, was evidently a
sensitive youth and was having problems adjusting to his family’s reduced standard of
living, combined with the social stigma of his father’s conviction. By 1868, he had
started working for Dr Judah Hora as a trainee chemist in Perth. In January 1870, while
he was still working for and living with Dr Hora’s family, Edward committed suicide by
taking prussic acid, after becoming jealous when his sweetheart went walking with
someone else, while ‘he was smarting from a convict taunt.’61
Soon after that family tragedy, Roe had a clash with the young and inexperienced Mr
Lawrence, who was the newly-appointed local Resident Magistrate, as well as the
Chairman of the Greenough Education Committee. Laurence had already earned a
reputation for ‘unfair treatment of certain groups and individuals’ and the ‘Irish Catholic
minority was one such group,’ he had singled out.
62 Roe’s firm belief that the cessation
of the Education Grant to Catholic schools was wrong and his strong views on school
management, led to his dismissal on what was thought to have been a prefabricated
charge by Lawrence for ‘being late to school one day’ in September 1870.63
…the master (Roe) had their full confidence, not only as efficient, painstaking and impartial, but as exercising a good influence on the children’s minds far beyond that of the ordinary Colonial masters, and that the (local) School Committee, represented neither their feelings nor opinions.
Leahy
argued that Roe’s sacking ‘was an example of what could be termed exploitation of
teachers… (and) his qualifications and complete support of the parents of his pupils
meant nothing.’ Apparently the parents of one student, who vehemently disagreed with
Roe’s dismissal, sent a letter of protest which was published in the Fremantle Herald on
14 January 1871, and a memorial signed by the parents of forty-two of his forty-six
students and sent to the Central Education Board, complained that:
64
Being able to speak his mind publicly after his dismissal, Roe published his own
ideas on educational reform in a letter published in the Herald, two weeks later on 28
January 1871. He advocated that the overall aim of a Government education should be
to:
…afford children of the working classes such an education as is most likely to be useful to them, reading, writing, ciphering, book-keeping, mensuration and a fair knowledge of physical, social and political history of the world they live in, and
61Inquirer, 12 January, 1870, in Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 305. 62 Hilary Thomas, op. cit., p. 3. 63 Erickson, op. cit., p. 306. 64 Shirley Leahy, ‘Convict Teachers and the Children of W.A, op. cit., p. 40.
136
above all such habits of close and accurate thought as will alone enable them to make their knowledge of value.65
Roe believed that aim was achievable; if the Central Government School Board
made schooling compulsory; if it began later when learning was easier and faster; if
students were provided with better books; if teaching aids were procured and if
qualified and experienced inspectors were employed. He argued that local school
committees should only be responsible for school buildings and furniture and better
school prizes should be obtained. Better schoolmasters should be selected, even if their
salaries had to be trebled and School Boards should dismiss intemperate, drunken
teachers permanently. Teaching should be strictly secular, as not one teacher in twenty
was suited as a religious leader. Control of the education system should not include
clergymen, but should be by a Board of laymen or a Minister of Education.
Many of his outspoken views were included in the Education Act in 1871. His
proposals on compulsory education for those living within three miles from a school
and that the starting age for schooling should be lifted to six were heeded, as were his
ideas about children’s education being extended to fourteen years, teachers sitting
examinations for competence and pupils being examined by inspectors. The payment of
teachers by results and Catholic schools receiving the same grant as sectarian schools,
were also accepted.66
Roe experienced more problems in connection with Magistrate Lawrence at the end
of 1870, when he leased a small farm. After obtaining two sandalwood licences and
employing two sandalwood cutters and a teamster to work there, he was fined ten
shillings and costs for allowing his teamster to walk beside his horses while not holding
their reins. Roe unsuccessfully attempted to quash his conviction and his fine, by
petitioning higher authorities in Perth and his case was reported in the Fremantle
Herald.
67 Later that year he was employed as Henry Gray’s agent, auctioneer and clerk
in Geraldton.68 Roe received his Certificate of Freedom on 29 August 1871 and he
began working as the local correspondent in Geraldton for the Fremantle Herald
newspaper. He was sent to Champion Bay on 29 August 1871 and started working as
the local correspondent in Geraldton for the Fremantle Herald newspaper.69
65 Erickson, ‘James Elphinstone Roe, Schoolmaster and Journalist', op. cit., p. 307.
Meanwhile
66 Roe's letter to the Fremantle Herald, 28 January, 1871, p. 3. 67 Roe's court case reported in the Fremantle Herald, January 1872. 68 Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, ibid., p. 310. 69 Inquirer, 12 January, 1870, cited in Erickson, Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 305.
137
Susannah continued teaching five males and eight female students on the same salary at
Central Greenough until 1872.70
Roe’s feud with Laurence continued, however. Six months later Roe petitioned again
and even sent a copy to the Fremantle Herald, to no avail. He was then fined £4/8/-
after Lawrence accused him of employing three sandalwood cutters, while only holding
licences for two. Roe’s story that he had asked his Aboriginal houseboy to help him
reload his cart, set him further offside with Lawrence and the Magistrate appeared to be
fed up with his petitions.
71
As Roe’s radical ideas and forthright views on education and responsible government
were shared by the other expiree editors of the Fremantle Herald newspaper, he was
invited to become their co-editor, after which his family’s monetary situation appears to
have stabilized. According to his Western Australian Bank records, Roe’s account held
£5.16s.11½d on 1 January, 1872, increasing to £35.8s on 31 December that year. By 30
June, 1876 he had deposited £42/18/10, and there were several payments of interest
with no overdrafts.
When the area around Greenough started showing signs of
an economic recession in 1872 due to floods, fires and rust in the wet season, Roe
resigned his job with Gray, and he and his children moved to Perth.
72 Susannah moved to Perth after resigning from teaching at the end
of 1873 and in 1874, their daughter Catherine Agnes married Joseph Moll in the
Catholic Cathedral.73
Given their education, political and social interests and the type of logic they used, it
seems highly likely that Roe and William Beresford, another white-collar expiree, were
at least partially responsible for a petition addressed to Queen Victoria in 1877. It
contained six hundred and twenty four signatures, including those of many ticket-of-
leave holders and expirees. The main thrust of the petitioners’ argument was that, as
expirees were now free subjects of the English crown, they deserved the same political
and civil rights that were enjoyed by the free settlers. They pointed out that expiree
landowners, merchants and tradesmen who were now living peaceably and honestly,
were interested in the preservation of order, and argued that ‘the conservative character
70 Blue Book 1872, Susannah Roe's teaching appointment to Central Greenough School. 71 James Roe, General Register, op. cit., and Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., pp. 310 & 11. 72 James Roe, Western Australian Bank, ‘B’ Ledger, WAB-3/610/2, Country Customers, 1 January, 1872.According to Lucy Rantzen, the Bank's Historical Researcher, Roe had no overdrafts after 30 June 1876,when his Bank balance was £42/18/10, 73 Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, ibid., p. 311 & Catherine Agnes Roe, under James Roe, Batty Library Catalogue Cards .
138
of election franchise is a sufficient guarantee for no improper person being elected to
the Legislative Council or any other public office.’74
The petitioners believed it was also a danger to society and ‘one of the greatest
obstacles to its progress,’ to have two distinct classes i.e. ‘expirees’ and a privileged
class of free settlers. They saw that the situation had the potential to cause jealousy, ill
feeling, useful men to leave and some to withdraw from public affairs. It also stood in
the way of united social, political and commercial action, restricted marriages and
retarded settlement. To push their point home, they further claimed that ‘as expirees
constituted the bulk of the male population, took a leading part in literature, education,
trade and commerce, and as it was eight years since transportation had ceased, it was
time for the distinction to be removed.’ They fully realised that the removal of civil and
political disabilities, ‘would not immediately dispel social distinctions which they had
fostered,’ but they believed ‘such a removal was the first step…’
The petitioners pointed out that expirees should also have the right, ‘to sit on juries,
to be elected as Chairmen of Municipalities and for the Legislative Council,’ and argued
that the separation of these classes ‘stood in the way of united action, social, political or
commercial ... restricts marriages and retards settlement.’
... contrary to the spirit of the British Constitution, that Englishmen (bond class emancipists) should in any part of the British dominions be deprived of rights which they enjoy in the mother country, unless there is good reason to apprehend that the possession of such rights would endanger the peace of the realm ... The influence of property and the conservative character of every kind of electoral franchise is a sufficient guarantee for no improper person being elected to the Legislative Council or any other public office... The recognition by the state of two distinct classes of subjects - a proscribed class and a privileged class - is constantly giving occasion to jealousy and ill feeling, has caused a great number of useful men to leave the colony and others to withdraw from public affairs.
More specifically, the petition
focused on the fact that it was:
75
According to Isla Macphail, Governor Ord had serious reservations about the Swan
River colony adopting self government, as he believed that they would soon:
… have to grant, as all the others on the continent had done, manhood suffrage without any property qualifications for members, and eventually the restoration of
74 ‘A Petition addressed to The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty,’ Governor’s Correspondence, 1876-1878, ACC 392, Box 62, ACC. 392, Item 278, SROWA, referred to by Andrew Gill, ‘Petitions, Memorials and Politics in Western Australia, 1829-1849: A Note,’ Studies in Western Australian History, vol. 1V, December 1981, p. 49. 75 Ibid., Andrew Gill, ‘Petitions Memorials and Politics in Western Australia.’
139
civil rights to the Criminal Class, which forms something like one half the population. 76
Although Roe's monetary situation had improved after he became co-editor of the
Fremantle Herald, his situation again deteriorated after Pearce sold the Herald to the
Inquirer, due to the newspaper’s monetary problems in 1886. After Susannah passed
away in 1887, Roe found it financially difficult to support himself and his widowed
daughter Catherine and her family, but he continued working for the Inquirer’s new
proprietors and was very concerned about his children’s futures.
Only nine of their thirteen children migrated with their mother to the colony, as
Thomas Elphinstone, Dymoke and Louisa died as infants and Mary had died at seven
years of age. Georgiana Alice Roe was born in 1844 in England and married an expiree
brigantine owner named Joseph Walton in the colony during 1873, which turned out to
be his second bigamous relationship. She and Joseph moved to Singapore in August
1874, but he left for Hong Kong in early 1876, leaving a note and £1707 to support
Georgiana and their son. Her second marriage was to a druggist named Paul Martina
and her third to Mr De Silva, both while in Singapore. She became a Matron of the
Singapore Hospital, before retiring on half pay and travelling to London when her
eyesight was failing.77
Their eldest son, James Elphinstone Roe, who was born in 1846, remained unmarried
and after working for his father from 1864 into the 1870s, became a linesman on
Fleming’s Esperance to Eucla telegraph connection, before moving to South Australia
where he continued working on the telegraph line, prior to moving overseas.
78 Catherine
Agnes Roe’s marriage to the expiree Herman Moll, and their four children, Cecilia,
Sophie, Wilfred and Arminius's marital positions, have already been mentioned in the
previous chapter. Edward Henry Lionel Roe, born in 1851, was the son who suicided
when aged nineteen.79 Laura Francis Roe was born in 1852 and married Henry Edward
Thomas, the son of a free settler who was a pastoralist at Moore River.80
76 Isla MacPhail, Highest Privilege and Bounden Duty: A Study of Western Australian Parliamentary Elections 1829-1901, Western Australian Electoral Commission, Perth, 2008, p. 140.
Helen Emily
Roe was born in 1856 and married Patrick Stone, the son of a Pensioner Guard, in 1877.
77 Georgiana Alice Roe under James Roe, Battye Library Catalogue Card and Erickson The Brand on His Coat, op. cit., p. 311, 317, 319, 320. 78 James Elphinstone Roe, (Junior) Battye Library Catalogue Card, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. R-Z, p. 2664, and Erickson, ibid., p. 317. 79 Edward Henry Lionel Roe, Battye Library Catalogue Card, ibid., The Bicentennial Dictionary, ibid., p. 2662, and Erickson, ibid., p. 305. 80 Laura Francis Roe, Battye Library Catalogue Card , ibid., and Erickson, ibid., p. 319.
140
Patrick was a farmer until he was twenty five years of age, then a storekeeper in
Geraldton, prior to owning the Commonwealth Hotel. He was elected as Municipal
Councillor for fourteen years, became a member of the Agricultural Society and was
elected onto the Greenough Road Board, prior to becoming the Liberal member for that
district from 1901 to 1908..81
Una Felicia Grace Roe, born in 1857, entered the Sister’s of Joseph convent as a
Dominican nun and died in South Australia.
82 Louisa Roe, who was born in 1858,
joined her brother James in Esperance hoping to get work as a telephonist, but accepted
a teaching post at Wandearah and soon returned home. She married Francis Kirk White
who was the son of a free settler from South Australia in 1889. When she was about
forty, she realised her latent ambition by becoming the post mistress and telegraph
operator at Kojonup.83 Annie Susan Ethelreda Roe was born in 1862 and married John
Gallop, a market gardener, in 1883. He was the son of the free settler, Richard Gallop,
who was also a market gardener in North Perth in 1862, then a Fremantle Fruiterer by
1873.84
While Roe was living with Catherine in her boarding house at 57 Fitzgerald Street,
Perth, he was still contributing to newspapers and helping in her garden,
85 until he died
at seventy-nine years of age in May 1897. According to J. T. Reilly, ‘Although family
members gathered at his graveside, few other mourners turned up to pay their
respects.’86
Mr Roe always maintained his personal dignity and self respect… Journalists may never hope for fame. Their only reward is in the conscientious discharge of duty.
While reminiscing about the last fifty years in the Swan River Colony in the
early twentieth century, Reilly wrote:
87
One of his colleagues, J.M. Drew, who had been a reporter for the Geraldton
Express, wrote a eulogy on the editors of the Herald:
No pen can describe…the true extent of the good work done by that journal in the days when courage to speak one’s mind, almost meant the courage to speak treason.88
81 Helen Emily Roe, Battye Library Catalogue Card, ibid., The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol.4, R-Z, p. 2961 and Erickson, ibid., p. 317.
82 Una Felicia Grace Roe, Battye Library Catalogue Card, ibid., and Erickson, ibid., pp. 311, 317. 83 Louisa Roe, Battye Library Catalogue Card, ibid., and Erickson, ibid., pp. 311, 317, 319. 84 Annie Susan Ethelreda Roe, Battye Library Catalogue Card , ibid., married Richard Gallop, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. 11, D-J, op. cit., p. 1145. 85 Erickson, The Brand on His Coat, op. cit., Roe’s last letter to Georgina in March 1897, p. 320 & 321. 86J. T. Reilly, Reminiscences of Fifty Years Residence in Western Australia, Perth, W.A, Sands & McDougall, 1903, p. 276. 87 J. T. Reilly, ibid.
141
Historian Brian De Garis, writing eighty-four years after Roe’s death, praised the
efforts of all three ‘remarkable’ expiree editors who launched the Herald, because they
maintained ‘a high standard of journalism, encouraged local writers and consistently
championed a working class point of view.’89
Bob Reece thought it was ironic that:
The convict system, which had been used for so many years by the British and colonial authorities to justify the withholding of representative and responsible government, produced the very men who most effectively upheld that ideal and fought for its introduction.90
Right from the start, Roe always stood up for what he thought were his and other’s
rights, including responsible government, for which he and sometimes his family
suffered. When his cousins thwarted his plans of inheritance, he tried to get around that
problem by forging a cheque for a very large amount, and ended up being transported,
which meant his wife and children had to pack up and follow him. When his opinion
clashed with the local magistrate over the cessation of the education grant to Catholic
schools, and then for not holding enough sandalwood licences, he was fined, then later
dismissed on a minor charge of being late to work once while a teacher. He was not
afraid to publish his derogatory views on education in the local newspaper and was
involved in drawing up a petition on expiree’s rights, which eventually earned him the
position as one of the editors of the Herald. Roe’s forthright views on education
benefited the colony’s children, and it seems that with his intelligence and dogged
temperament, he was born to be both a teacher and a journalist.
James Coates Fleming
Although James Fleming appears to have been a seasoned swindler in England, he
subsequently gained and deserved the praise of all the free settlers and expirees in the
Swan River Colony. Fleming was born in 1834 and by 1862 he was living in the town
of Wickford in Essex County with his wife Emma, and their eighteen month old son
named John.91 Prior to his court case on 18 September 1862,92
88 Rica Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 320.
he was a shipbroker
89 B. K. De Garis, ‘Political Tutelage 1829-1870,’ in A New History of Western Australia,. C. T. Stannage (ed.), UWA Press, Nedlands, Western Australia, 1981, p. 312. 90 Bob Reece, ‘Fremantle’s First Voice: The Herald, 1867-1886,’ p. Unpublished, Fremantle Library, Local Studies Collection, p. 24. 91 Fleming, James Coates, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians pre 1829-1888, vol. II, op. cit., p. 1073.
142
merchant.93 He faced twenty-one charges of ‘falsehood, fraud and wilful imposition,’
also ‘forgery’ and ‘feloniously using and uttering as genuine a forged bill of exchange,
promissory note, or other writing.’ He pleaded guilty to seven charges, which was
excepted by the crown. An example of one of his frauds was described in The Glasgow
Herald. Fleming had evidently ‘deposited several chests of tea with a party on which he
got money advanced.’ However, it turned out that he had sprinkled tea leaves on the top
of saw dust and other worthless substances, in those chests. His defence lawyer tried to
excuse Fleming’s action, by stating that ‘the object of the prisoner in his frauds and
forgeries had been to gain time, not eventually to defraud anyone.’ However Lord
Ardmillan found no grounds for mitigation, as ‘the object of the prisoner seemed to
present a complete series of rogueries from beginning to end,’ and sentenced Fleming to
seven years of penal servitude.94
Fleming’s character was noted as ‘Very Good’ while on the Clara, and the thirty
year old convict arrived in the colony on 18 April 1864. Three days after gaining his
Ticket-of-Leave on 19 May 1865, he was employed as a servant by a free settler in
Fremantle, then in Perth up to the beginning of August that year, on thirty shillings a
month. By 2 August 1865, he was still working as a servant in Perth, and on 31
December that year, he was employed as the schoolmaster for his employer’s children.
95
By June 1866, he was Headmaster of his own William Street Academy in Perth and
was earning £50 per annum by which time his wife Emma and their son had joined him
and his income increased to £60 a year, after 30 December 1866.
96 Half way through
1867, he was working in Perth as a clerk on £6 a month until the last day in December
that year on an excellent salary of £7 a month, or £84 a year. He gained his Conditional
Release the following year on 29 February 1868. 97
It was probably while he was a shipbroker merchant in Britain, that he developed a
keen interest and understanding of the elementary principles involved in the Morse dot-
dash code of telegraphing, which had linked America to Britain in 1861.
98
92 Fleming, James Coats, General Register, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, Reel 28, Reg. No. 7688.
For this
reason, Edmund Stirling and Alexander Cumming selected him to run their Electro-
Magnetic Telegraph Company and to supervise the laying of the line and installation of
93 Fleming, James Coats, Convicts in Western Australia, op. cit., p. 190. 94 The Court Case of James Coat[e]s Fleming, The Glasgow Herald, 19 September 1862, p. 7. 95 James Coat(e)s Fleming's General Register, op. cit. 96 Ibid., & Rica Erickson, ‘James Coates Fleming,’ The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., p. 248. 97 James Coates Fleming, General Register, op. cit. 98 ‘The Morse Telegraph', The World Book Encyclopedia International, vol. 19, T, World Book Inc. Sydney, 1992, pp. 102 & 103.
143
equipment for their telegraph link between Perth and Fremantle, which was completed
in 1869.99
In February 1870, Fleming submitted his plan for connecting all the small
settlements in Western Australia, west and south of Perth through to Albany by
telegraph. The Perth to Albany line had good commercial prospects, because news
could be conveyed rapidly by mail steamers, which made Albany their first port of call,
and from there it could be immediately telegraphed to Perth. Governor Weld endorsed
his plan and Fleming formed his Electro-Magnetic Telegraph Company in 1870 and
took over the Western Australian Telegraph Company. Under its agreement with the
government, his company owned and erected the lines and supplied the equipment,
while the Post Office operated the service and provided both the staff and buildings.
100
It must have been a tremendous relief for Fleming and his wife, when he gained his
Certificate of Freedom on 9 October 1871,101 prior to the line being completed by
December 1872 with the assistance of nine ticketers.102
99 'James Coates Fleming,' Erickson, ibid., p. 248.
However as the British Colonial
Office disapproved of joint private and public systems, the West Australian Government
bought out EMT and Fleming was appointed as the first Western Australian
Government Superintendent of Telegraphs in 1873. He was then employed to supervise
the placement of telegraph lines between Albany and Eucla.
100 Richard G. Hartley, ‘Industry and Infrastructure in Western Australia: 1829-1940', Institution of Engineers, Australia, Western Australian Division, 1995, p. 20. 101 Fleming’s General Register, op. cit. 102 James Coates Fleming, Battye Library Catalogue Cards.
Figure 35: The first heliograph was tried successfully, between Rottnest Island and Fremantle by Fleming, while he was the Superintendent of Telegraphs, in December, 1879. John Moynihan, All the News in a Flash, Rottnest Communications 1829-1979, p. 25.
144
His wife, Emma, sometimes accompanied him on his voyages to King George’s
Sound. 103 There were dangerous moments in rough seas, such as when he ‘only
narrowly escaped drowning when trying to land ashore to inspect a possible telegraph
station site.’104 The estimated total cost of constructing the Eucla Telegraph Line was
£33652/10/-,105
and by 8 December 1877, telegraph communications between Perth and
Adelaide, which had already been linked up to Darwin, Britain and Europe, was
achieved.
103 Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. II, op. cit., under ‘Fleming, James Coates', p. 1073. 104 The Institution of Engineers, Australia, East-West Telegraph', 1877, Nomination of the East-West Telegraph for an Engineering Landmark, 2 June 2001, p. 16. 105 ‘Eucla Telegraph Line,’ Report by the Postmaster General, A. Helmich, Postmaster General, General Post Office, Perth, 13 July 1876, p. 1.
Figure 36: As there were no roads connecting Albany to Eucla, ships conveyed the linesmen, their food supplies and equipment along the coastline to the nearest bay. This photograph shows Fleming on a camel, which were used for pulling wagons with equipment and food supplies while they connected the telegraph lines. Photo courtesy of Battye Library, BA508/3.
Figure 37: Fleming’s East West Telegraph line from Perth through Albany to Eucla
145
The highlight of his career was when Fleming became an Associate Member of the
London Society of Engineers, followed by full membership in 1878, an honour won for
his work on the telegraph line which he highly prized and justly deserved.’106 John, their
first born son, who became a miner at “Wheal Fortune” in Northampton between 1880
and 1889, married Adelia Frohlich, the daughter of Stephen Frohlich who was a free
settler, in the Catholic Church in Fremantle on 22 August 1892.107 Sadly for James and
Emma, their two other babies, Arthur Colvie, who was born in October 1879, died on
11 April 1880, and Oswald who was born on 16 October 1880, died on 2 May 1881.108
Fleming and his wife were both active members of the Presbyterian Church.
109 When
Emma died in early 1885, her funeral was attended by ‘many leading citizens who paid
homage to her charitable work among the poor and sick.’ On 21 May 1885, only four
months after his wife’s death, James ‘died at the home of the Presbyterian minister,
Reverend Shearer, who had cared for him in his final illness.’110 While Erickson
concluded that, ‘Fleming was remarkable among expirees, for he was the only one of
the bond class to achieve eminence in the civil service,’111
most Western Australians
would agree that he well and truly deserves a place in our history, as he was responsible
for setting up a telegraph system which connected us to the rest of the world.
James Murgatroyde Hubbard.
The question facing Sergeant Lappin, after Hubbard’s decease from Strychnine
poisoning on the day following his land sales, was whether Hubbard committed suicide
or whether his death was accidental. After reading his life story and the events leading
up to his death, readers will have to make up their own minds.
On 21 December 1863, the twenty-six year old, single clerk named James
Murgatroyde Hubbard, who had been working in his father’s small brewery in Norwich,
faced ‘five indictments for separate and distinct acts of forgery and uttering bills of
exchange,’ in the Guildhall at Norwich. He was prosecuted by a customer named
Edward Mills, for an amount ‘upwards of £160,’ but he was only charged with ‘forging
106 James Coates Fleming, Battye Library Catalogue Cards & Rica Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op, cit., p. 248. 107 ‘John Fleming,’ Rica Erickson, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. II, op cit., p. 1073. 108 James Coates Fleming, Battye Library Catalogue Cards, op. cit.. 109 Rica Erickson, ibid., p. 248, from the Inquirer, 13 March 1878. 110 Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., pp. 248 & 249. 111 Erickson, ibid., p. 249.
146
and uttering the acceptance for the sum of £45,’ at his trial. Mills employed two lawyers
and the accused only one. Evidently Mills had owed Hubbard’s Brewery £4/18/- for
which he gave James a £5 bill of exchange, and he obtained a receipt signed by the
prisoner for the same amount. However, prior to depositing the £5 bill in the bank,
James altered the amount on it, by carefully inserting the word ‘forty’ before the word
‘five,’ so he received credit for £45 instead of £5. When the jury found him guilty, he
was sentenced to twenty years of penal servitude, as Judge Martin pointed out that
Hubbard’s charge was part of ‘a wholesale forgery of bills,’ of which we have no
details.112
Hubbard left England from Chatham Public Works penitentiary on 26 May 1865,
along with 142 other convicts on the Racehorse, which was described by a crew
member as a ‘beautiful, long, yacht like craft’.
113 Although his character had been
judged as only ‘moderately good’ on his General Register record in Britain, Hubbard
was ‘Specially recommended’ by Superintendent Surgeon Watson ‘for good conduct on
the voyage’ after its arrival on 10 August 1865. This facilitated his appointment as an
Acting Constable on 1 January 1866, in the Fremantle Convict Establishment. After
gaining one months ‘special remission of sentence’ on 2 April 1868 and receiving a
further two months remission on 19 February 1869, he was made a Constable on 1
March 1869. Over the next two years he received more than ten months remission for
his good behaviour which led to his discharge on a Ticket-of-Leave on 24 July 1872. He
would have earned approximately £224/17s over 6 years 11 months and two weeks, for
his constabulary duties while at the Fremantle Establishment.114
Within three days after his discharge on a Ticket-of-Leave, Hubbard was engaged as
a tutor on £2 a month for six months, teaching the children of a well known, very
successful expiree named Daniel Connor at Wicklow Hills. By then, Connor was a
storekeeper and had been invited to become a member of the Newcastle Board of
Education. A home was found for Hubbard in the township at the beginning of the 1873
school year, which contained a suitable room for teaching, where Hubbard initially
instructed twenty-six pupils, a relatively small class size for that time. With Connor’s
influence and the support of the other members of the Newcastle Board of Eduction,
112 James Hubbard’s trial, Norfolk Circuit, Norwich, 21 December 1863, The Times, 22 December 1863, p. 10d. 113 Michael Dumbleton, ‘With Convicts to Australia in 1865', Western Ancestor, Western Australian Genealogical Society Inc., vol. 5, No. 11, September 1993, p. 396. 114 James M. Hubbard, General Register, ACC 1156, Reel 30, No. 8291 & Alexander Hasluck, Unwilling Emigrants, op.cit., pp. 75 & 76.
147
Hubbard was soon able to remedy an absenteeism problem, when action was taken
against parents who kept their children home to work. Not surprisingly, student
enrolments grew to forty-eight within the year.115
During 1873 and again in 1877, Hubbard supplemented his income from teaching by
employing two ticketers for ‘grubbing sandalwood,’
116 which was much sought after
during that era, for its aromatic oil used in incense, perfumes, soaps and candles.117 By
the end of 1874, he was still being paid only £2 monthly as a teacher. He now taught a
much larger class, but was on the same wage as he had been paid as Connor’s private
tutor, so he probably felt that he was being exploited. He resigned and began working as
an accountant in Guildford during 1875. On 29 March 1875, he married Amelia, the
thirty-two year old daughter of James Cockman. His father-in-law, one of the first free
settlers to arrive in 1829, was a farmer and a dairyman in Wanneroo.118 By 1878,
Hubbard and Amelia had moved to the Swan district, where he was initially employed
as the Master of the Boys Orphanage on 30 June 1879, then as the School Director a
year later. One of his duties was to order food supplies, evidence of which can be seen
from meat orders in his note book during 1879 and 1880.119 He received his
Conditional Release on 9 December 1880.120 In 1887, Hubbard now aged forty-nine,
resigned from the orphanage and was employed as the Town Clerk at the Guildford
Municipal Council, remaining in that position until 1896.121
115 James Hubbard, General Register, ibid. & Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, op. cit., pp. 298 & 299.
116 ‘James Murgatroyde Hubbard,’ Battye Library Catalogue Card. 117 ‘Sandalwood,’ The World Book Encyclopedia, World Book Inc, Sydney, Australia, 1992, Vol. 17, S- Sn, p. 75. 118 James Hubbard, Battye Library Catalogue Card, ibid, & The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians, vol. I, A - C, op. cit., pp. 586 & 587. 119 James Hubbard’s Order Book Notes, Boys Orphanage, WAS 165, CON 5, 3560, Items, Meat Orders, Friday 13 December 1879 & Friday 14 December, 1880. 120 James Hubbard, General Register, op. cit. 121 James M. Hubbard, The Bicentennial Dictionary, vol. 11, op. cit., p. 1557 and Erickson, The Brand on his Coat, pp. 298 & 299.
148
While Hubbard was working at the Guildford Town Council, he realized that monetary
gains could be made through the sale of land and housing around that area, so over the
next ten years he purchased eleven valuable properties, two of which contained
residences. However, it appears, that Hubbard may have overreached himself. His
entrepreneurial ventures into land and real estate were at risk of failure during the
recession of 1897 to 1898, when their value decreased. On 24 June 1898 George Parker,
a solicitor who was acting for Dalgety Company Ltd, reported that Hubbard was in debt
to that company for £87/2/2 and requested that a Bankruptcy Notice be issued by the
Supreme Court against him. This appears to have been postponed. On 23 July 1898,
Parker again requested that the Bankruptcy Notice be lodged against Hubbard and
warned him that ‘the consequences of not complying with the requisition of this notice
are, that you have committed an Act of Bankruptcy, on which proceedings may be taken
against you.’122
I, James Murgatroyde Hubbard lately carrying on business and residing at Guildford in the Colony of Western Australia Agent…. being unable to pay my debts, hereby petition the Court that a Receiving Order be made in respect of my Estate and that I may be adjudged Bankrupt – Dated the thirteenth day of October 1898.
By October, Parker encouraged Hubbard to sign a document headed
‘In Bankruptcy:’
123
In his ‘Statement of Affairs,’ presented to the Supreme Court on 2 December 1898,
prior to the auction of his properties, his liabilities were £2156/17/6 against his assets
valued at £1217, leaving a discrepancy of £839/17/6. His unsecured creditors, their
occupations and the amount owed to them by Hubbard can be gleaned from Hubbard’s
122 James Murgatroyde Hubbard, Supreme Court of Western Australia, ‘In Bankruptcy, James Murgatroyde Hubbard Exparte Dalgety and Company Limited,’ ACC 3560, Item No. 149, 23 July 1898. 123 James Murgatroyde Hubbard, 'Statement of Affairs,’ in Bankruptcy in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, WAS 165, CONS 3560, Item No. 1898/209, 14 October 1898.
Figure 38: Hubbard served as a Guildford Town Clerk from 1887 until that position was taken over by G. Broome ten years later, in 1897. The Honour Board was recently located behind book shelves in Guildford Town Library
149
‘List A, Unsecured Creditors’ below. The total amount of £2156/17/6 that was owed by
Hubbard, would have been considered a huge debt at that time124
Consequently over ten months later on Saturday 28 October 1899, there was a notice
in the West Australian advertising the public auction of Hubbard’s eleven ‘valuable
properties’ at 8pm that evening in the Lodge Room at the Mechanics Institute in Hay
Street, Perth. It had taken Hubbard ten years to build up a large portfolio of land and
housing in Guildford, Northam, Avon, Swan and Moora areas, while working as a clerk.
Two contained residences and many were fenced, as the list of his properties attests.
124 James Murgatroyde Hubbard, ‘Bankruptcy, Liabilities and Assets', WAS 165, CONS 3560, Item No. 209, 2 December 1898.
Figure 39: Hubbard had considerable debts totaling £2156/17/6, which were the equivalent of $268,941.41 cents in 2008, according to the ’Inflation Calculator from 1901,’ Reserve Bank of Australia.
150
The following day on 29 October 1899, Hubbard died suddenly in the evening at the
Perth Hospital. During the court case that followed, there was some doubt about the
cause of his death. On 3 November 1899 a number of statements relating to Hubbard’s
death were recorded at the District Police Office in Perth. His wife Amelia explained
that because Hubbard ‘suffered a great deal of pain in his back from Bright’s disease’
(which is one of various forms of degeneration of the kidneys), ‘he used to take large
quantities of Laudanum.’ She remembered that on 24 October 1899, James had told her
that he was going to the chemist to get some poison to destroy the cats, which had
become a nuisance about their home, keeping them awake at night. Amelia maintained
that she had since searched for the ‘small paper packet’ it came in, ‘still couldn’t find it,
but would continue the search.’ She stated in Court:
I do not think he contemplated suicide. I saw him in Perth in the morning, Saturday the 28th he seemed very cheerful. I returned to Guildford with the
Figure 40: Hubbard owned eleven properties including four Lots in Guildford, three in Swan two in Avon, one in Northam and another in Moora which were due to be auctioned in the Mechanics’ Lodge room in Hay St, Perth at 8pm. West Australian 28/10/1889, CONS, 430, File 4510/99.
151
intention of going back at 7pm. My husband has been troubled a lot financially… 125
Evidently Edward Robbins, a Newcastle hotel keeper who had known Hubbard for
eight years, met him in Perth on business matters on 28 October 1899 at 10.35am. At
5pm, after lunch and a few drinks together, Robbins saw Hubbard take some tobacco
out of his left hand coat pocket and put it in his mouth, then they returned to the Globe
Hotel where Hubbard had another small brandy at 6.30 pm. Hubbard then complained
of feeling queer, said he felt very sick and started having fits of retching without
vomiting. When Robbins returned from the chemist after buying an emetic, he found
Hubbard was having convulsions, so he was taken up to a bed, where he took the
medicine according to the instructions, to no avail.
Robbins then went to meet Mrs Hubbard at the Perth Railway Station and Dr Kenny
arrived a few minutes later to examine her husband and prescribed medicine. However
Hubbard’s convulsions were now so severe, he was unable to take it. After Mrs
Hubbard entered the room Hubbard remarked, ‘I am afraid that in taking a chew of
tobacco, I may have got a few grams of strychnine with the tobacco I had in my coat
pocket.’ As Hubbard was still unable to take the medicine, the doctor ordered his speedy
removal to Perth Public Hospital, and said he would communicate with the police. 126
Sergeant Lappin visited the chemist in Guildford and also corroborated Hubbard’s
story with another of Hubbard’s friends, a baker named Mr Fred Billett, who had
accompanied him to the chemist.
127 Lappin visited another witness named Joseph
Burgess, a yardman at the Globe Hotel, who had seen Hubbard sitting downstairs in the
parlour ‘looking bad and was singing out,’ for help. Burgess had ‘asked Hubbard if he
was sick’ and he replied that he was ‘very bad’ and ‘he would like to lie down.’
Burgess informed the landlord and he and another man took him upstairs and laid him
on the bed fully clothed, ‘during which time he was twitching.’128
On 30 October, the day after Hubbard’s death, Sergeant Lappin reported Hubbard’s
view that the tobacco in his pocket may have been contaminated by the strychnine and
respectfully suggested to Mr Mann, the Government Analyst, ‘that they examine all the
pockets in Hubbard’s coat and vest for traces of tobacco and strychnine’. On 4
125 Statement by Mrs. Hubbard, District Police Office in Perth, J. M. Hubbard, WAS 76, General Files, CONS 430, Item 1899/4510, No. 2090, 3 November 1899. 126Edward Francis Robbin's statement on the Death of J. M. Hubbard,, Perth District Police, WAS 2126, General Files, CONS 430, Item No. 32, p. 763. 127 Sergeant Lappin's statement in the Guildford District Police Office, No 2090, 2 November 1899. 128 ‘Statement of Joseph Burgess', witnessed by Sergeant Lappin, 30 November 1899.
152
November 1899, Mann’s report to Lappin read, ‘I have found slight traces of strychnine
in the left waistcoat pocket. Strychnine has also been found in the deceased’s stomach.’
Consequently the verdict reported by Lappin on 7 November, 1899, at the Coroner’s
Court after the inquest was:
…cause of death was asphyxia caused by strychnine poison administered by the deceased to himself, but whether accidentally or otherwise, there is not sufficient evidence to prove.129
However Sergeant Lappin appears to have believed that:
No traces of any evidence to throw any light on Hubbard’s illness could be found in the bedroom. Hubbard’s demeanour or conversation did not indicate in any way, that he had attempted to commit suicide.130
Hubbard’s ‘Last Will and testament,’ written and signed by him on 23 December
1897, was witnessed by Ernest Monger, a farmer in Northam, and William Rose, who
was his labourer and a carpenter at Guildford. He had appointed William Byers Wood
of Guildford as his Trustee and Executor and requested that Wood either to sell or
whatever appeared to him to be the best option, what was left of his property, after
paying all his debts. Then to collect all debts due to him and invest them for his wife
Amelia, his stepson, Joel Hubbard, who may have been Amelia’s son from a first
marriage and their adopted daughter, Sarah Jane Pollitt. Upon his wife’s death, Joel and
Sarah were to divide their inheritance equally. Hubbard blamed his poor health for not
efficiently looking after his affairs, and asked his Trustee to carefully examine any
claims against his estate.
131
In the Supreme Court after Hubbard’s death, Wood renounced his right to be a
trustee and to execute Hubbard's Will, and the estate of the deceased was granted by
the Court to his lawful widow, Amelia Hubbard of Guildford. Wood was probably tired
of Hubbard’s insolvency problems and left Amelia to manage his difficult financial
situation herself.
There is no information available about either of those
children, however Sarah may have come from the orphanage where Hubbard and his
wife had both worked.
132
129 Sergeant William Lappin, 1st Class Constable', Fremantle, ‘Report into the Death of James Hubbard at Perth’, to Inspector Hogan, 7 November 1899, No. 4510 .
On 23 June 1902, Morris Melville Ross, the Official Receiver stated
130 ‘Statements of Sergeant William Lappin, 1st Class Constable, Perth District Police Office, W.A. CONS, 430, File 4510, 1899, No. 2090. 131 ‘The Last Will and Testament of James Murgatroyde Hubbard', 23 December 1897, WAS 34, CONS 3403, Item No. 1902, p. 86. 132 Ibid., Hubbard’s Will.
153
that, although Hubbard was legally bankrupt on 19 October 1898, he believed that his
estate would not be wound up for at least twelve months.133
Stannage provided a logical reason why Hubbard and others in his occupation had
severe liquidity problems in 1890s:
The pattern of economic life which emerges from the study of individual entrepreneurs and workers is fairly clear. Those well or comfortably off before the gold rushes, profited greatly from the increased tempo of economic activity… (however) This population, at least as indicated by property development, did not share significantly in the general prosperity of the boom years, and suffered greatly in the years of economic recession, such as 1892-93 (and) 1897-98…. they had too little to fall back on in times of economic distress.134
Up to 1897, Hubbard had acted as Guildford’s Town Clerk for ten years, during
which time he worked diligently to acquire all his properties. With the combination of
his illness and the recession, his property investments were threatened and consequently
his wife and family would have suffered not only from his death, but also from his
resulting bankruptcy. It is difficult to determine whether his death was accidental or
planned.
Lionel Holdsworth
On 30 January 1867, in London’s Central Criminal Court, Lionel Holdsworth, a ship
and insurance broker, his clerk, Joseph Dean, Captain Thomas Berwick and Charles
Webb, a ship’s carpenter, were charged for their part in sinking the ship Severn with the
intention of defrauding several insurance company owners and underwriters.
Holdsworth and Berwick were charged with inciting Webb to sink the ship and Berwick
and Dean for harbouring Webb after he had committed the offence, as well as various
other counts. All the prisoners were considered to be principle offenders in the
felony.135
Evidently Holdsworth and Berwick had originally paid £5000 for the ship which was
considered to be a sound and seaworthy vessel in 1866. Then they fraudulently insured
the Severn and the consignment of expensive firearms and swords which she was
supposedly carrying for £17000, with Lloyds and several other insurance companies. In
133 ‘Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in the Estate of James Murgatroyde Hubbard,’ Supreme Court of Western Australia, before Registrar Francis Arnold Mosely, 23 June 1902, WAS 165, CONS 3560, Item No. 86. 134 C. T. Stannage, ‘Social mobility in goldrush Perth,’ The People of Perth 1979, op. cit., p. 268. 135 Holdsworth, Berwick, Webb and Dean’s Court Case, Central Criminal Court, 30 January 1867, Times, p. 11, col. b.
154
reality the ship and her cargo should have been valued at about £7654, as she only
carried coal and twelve large cases of practically worthless salt, and Holdsworth and
Berwick stood to gain over £3100 each from their fraud.136
It became clear during the court case that Lionel Holdsworth wished to make money
illegitimately and, with the aid of his three conspirators, had been prepared to use a
devious and dangerous scheme to achieve this. After a sensational five day trial, both
Holdsworth and Berwick were sentenced for twenty years for scuttling the Severn on 5
February 1867
After Charles Webb bored a
hole in the ship’s hull, the crew abandoned the ship as she sank. When Holdsworth and
Berwick tried to recover the money from each insurance company, Lloyd’s Salvage
Association successfully led a group of underwriters, who faced being victims of their
enormous fraud.
137 and both arrived from Pentonville to Western Australia in the
Hougoumont on 10 January 1868.138
Reform, or at least the ability to make the best of a bad situation was immediately
evident. The forty-two year old Holdsworth was specially recommended by Surgeon
Superintendent Saunders for his good conduct during his voyage, and he was further
recommended by the Superintendent of Perth Prison for his ‘assiduous conduct’ while
occupied as a writer there. He even joined the Anglican choir on two occasions in
December 1868 and twice again during January 1869. Holdsworth probably earned
about £86. 8s in gratuities, while acting as a school monitor for one day a month from 2
April 1871 until 2 April 1872, and after his appointment as a Constable on 1 April 1872,
until he received his Ticket-of-Leave on 7 November 1874. He gained his Ticket two
years and seven months earlier than he was originally entitled to it. His wife Margaretta
was the most likely recipient of the twenty-three letters, which he regularly mailed to
England, while connected with the Fremantle Establishment.
139
By 13 November 1874, Holdsworth was being paid £1 a week while he was
employed as a mercantile clerk by an expiree named George Thompson, who had
founded a firm of merchants and importers in Fremantle. At the end of December that
year, his wage more than doubled to £120 a year, and on 30 June 1876, he was
appointed Thompson’s accountant, employing a ticketer as his assistant. His work must
136 Arthur Griffiths, ‘The Severn: A Barefaced Fraud', Mysteries of Police and Crime, C19th Microfiche, Reid and Law Libraries, University of Western Australia, vol. 11, pp. 250, 251, 137 ‘Holdsworth, Berwick, Webb and Dean’s Court Case, op. cit.., Times, 5 February, p. 11, col. C. 138 Rica Erickson & Gillian O’Mara, Convicts in Western Australia, op. cit.., Holdsworth, p. 265 & Berwick, pp. 38 &39. 139 Lionel Holdsworth, General Register, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, Reel 16, No. 9768.
155
have been really appreciated by his employer, as he was earning £144 a year by 30 June
1877, and was employed by Thompson on that high wage until June 1880.140
Holdsworth’s wife, Margaretta, who had lived in a villa in London while he was in
British prisons,
141 arrived as a free immigrant on the Helena Mena on 16 September
1879.142 She successfully applied for a 50 acre immigrant grant of land in the Cockburn
District the following year,143 which some historians believe was ‘the turning point for
their family fortune.’144 Holdsworth received his Conditional Release on 17 December
1880, four months after her arrival, followed by his Certificate of Freedom on 21
January 1887.145
They appear to have sold her land grant to purchase eight Fremantle Town Lots, on
which they proceeded to build houses with double frontages of 200 feet onto Bateman
and Ord Streets. The valuation of Holdsworth’s estate in 1901, shows three were semi-
detached, built of stone and brick with iron roofs and had five rooms, including a
drawing room, 2 bedrooms, kitchen and pantry, bathroom and a wash house, and each
was valued at £1,800. Another two-storied, iron roofed residence of stone and brick
with a verandah, balcony, two bathrooms and all the usual rooms, was considered to be
worth £1,200. A larger two storied wooden residence, containing twelve rooms with a
bathroom, pantry and a verandah and balcony round two sides, was estimated at £900.
Three stone and brick homes, each containing five rooms including a kitchen, laundry,
pantry and bathroom, with a verandah back and front, were together valued at £1580
and in the same area, there was a wooden stable man’s house, chaff room and fowl
house valued at £60. Two other blocks of land, one with a 200 foot frontage to Ord
Street and another with a 200 foot frontage onto Bateman Street were together worth
£1600. On Lot 4, Barnett Street in Fremantle Town, there was an iron roofed, four
roomed brick villa with a kitchen and bathroom with verandahs on two sides, which was
valued at £410. Their land holdings also contained a two storied, iron roofed residence
with stone and brick walls, five rooms, a small servant’s room, a kitchen and bathroom,
all enclosed by a stone wall, as well as two, iron roofed, five roomed, semi-detached
140 Lionel Holdsworth, General Register, ibid. 141 Lionel Holdsworth, Battye Library Catalogue Cards and General Register ibid.. 142Ibid. 143 ‘Lionel Holdsworth', Battye Library Catalogue Cards, ibid. 144 George Seddon and Barbara Haddy, Looking at an Old Suburb: A Walking Guide to Four Blocks of Fremantle, Nedlands, UWA Press, 2000, p. 85. 145 Lionel Holdsworth, General Register, op. cit.
156
stone and brick homes with a kitchen, bathroom, pantry and lean-to wash-houses, with a
total value of £2120.146
The Holdsworths also purchased Fremantle Town Lot 929, which was less than 'five
minute's walk from the Convict Establishment and fronted Stirling and Ord Street, upon
which they started building what was to be their new home, Braeside. It was a large,
single storey house on a nearly one acre block. It had two feet thick limestone walls, a
verandah on all four sides and an extensive garden containing fig, apricot, mulberry and
almond trees, as well as grapes on trellises dividing the two lawns. There were four
bedrooms, a drawing room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom, storeroom, maid’s
quarters, a seventy foot deep well, a windmill that pumped water up to above ground
tanks and a big underground rainwater tank with an old fashioned hand pump.
147
146 Valuation of Freehold Property at Fremantle in the Estate of the Late Lionel Holdsworth, under instructions from Messrs Moss & Barsden, Solicitors, Fremantle, November 4, 1901, pp. 1 & 2. 147 George Seddon and Barbara Haddy, Looking at an Old Suburb, ibid.. Holdsworth’s home, ‘Braeside,’ described by Flora Anderson, who lived there in the early twentieth century, pp. 87.
Figure 41: ‘Braeside,’ Holdsworth’s home, fronting Stirling and Ord Streets in Fremantle, unfortunately not completed until 1889, after Margaretta’s death in 1886.
157
Unfortunately Margaretta died on 15 May 1886, prior to their new home being
completed and Braeside was not ready for Holdsworth to occupy until 1889. In 1897
Holdsworth was invited to become a member of the new, exclusive Scotch College
Council,148 and he loaned the boys’ school £50 on two occasions that year, both of
which were recorded in minutes of meetings.149 He was a Councillor from Scotch
College's founding year in 1897 through to 1901.150
148 Founding Meeting of Scotch College Council Members, 29 April 1897, see ‘L. Holdsworth Esq. Fremantle', along with sixteen other ‘Gentlemen Councilors of the College'.
149 Jenny Gregory, Building a Tradition: A History of Scotch College, Perth, 1897-1996, UWA Press, Nedlands, W.A. pp.17 & 24. His loans were offered on 29 April, 1897 and 30 July 1897. 150 Peta Madalena, Scotch College Archivist confirmed his membership of Scotch College Council from Jenny Gregory, A History of Scotch College, ibid.
Figure 42: The location of ‘Braeside’ in StreetSmart: Perth Street Directory, Ed. 49, Landgate, Government of Western Australia, 2008, p. 430, at the point of the black arrow on the right hand side of the map.
158
In forging a new life after his wife's death, Holdsworth may have decided to pursue
business opportunities in South Australia, as he sailed there in 1890 and again in 1900,
each time returning to the colony.151 He died in Fremantle on 19 October 1901, aged
seventy-five.152
As they were childless, the beneficiaries of his Will were his nephew, Edward
Hamilton Oliver who lived in Burma, and his Sister-in-Law, Mary Jane Green by then a
spinster, who had reverted to her maiden name of Mary Jane Oliver and had resided in
Fremantle from 1886 after her sister died.
153
151 Battye Library, Perth, Convict Catalogue Cards under Lionel Holdsworth.
Holdsworth’s ‘Real Estate’ including his
152 Rica Erickson (Compiler), The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australian pre 1829-1888, vol. II, D-J, UWA Press, Nedlands, W.A., 1988, p. 1507. 153 Lionel Holdsworth, Last Will and Testament, Alexander Library, Perth, WAS 34, CONS 3403, Item No. 1901/135-023. Mary Jane Oliver married Alfred John Green in 1880, The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians pre-1829-1888, vol. III, K-Q, op. cit., p. 2373.
Figure 43: Minutes of Scotch College’s first Councilors’ Meeting. Note. L. Holdsworth Esq, Fremantle, was among the first Scotch College ‘Gentlemen’ Councillors,’ appointed on 29 April 1897. Courtesy of Peta Madalena, Archivist, Scotch College, Swanbourne, W. A.
159
own home and thirteen rental properties, were calculated to be worth £9,950 at that
time, or approximately $1,263,250.12 in Australian currency in 2009.154 The potential
value of his rental properties was £778 a year in 1901 or $98,838 in 2009.155 These
figures do not take into account the increasingly desirability of the location of his
properties in Fremantle, and thus the 2009 value is likely to have been significantly
higher than the Reserve Bank calculation which is based on inflation alone indicates.
Holdsworth's ‘Personal Estate’ of livestock, harness and saddlery, furniture, money in
the bank, life policies and bonuses, totalled £7349.3.5d and as his liabilities of loans,
mortgages and money to contractors, amounted to £5649, his probate duty was
calculated at £220.9s.6d.156
By today’s monetary value, Holdsworth would have been considered a very wealthy
man - a millionaire. But he ended his life with neither a wife nor children to enjoy his
fortune, though his sister-in-law, Mary Jane Oliver is likely to have provided some
companionship. It is intriguing too that all his properties were situated very close to
Fremantle Prison. The Prison dominated the area and the high limestone walls of the
prison would have been visible from the garden of his house in Stirling Street. But the
proximity of the Prison, or indeed the imposing stone Lunatic Asylum just down the
road, did not seem to be a deterrent to the wealthy of Fremantle, for Holdsworth’s
neighbours in 1899 included wealthy merchant Henry Rischbieth and a member of the
Western Australian Legislative Council, the Honourable Donald MacKay.
157
In later
years, Hill Street, which led up to his home was renamed Holdsworth Street and as a
marker of his standing in the community, he had clearly overcome the stigma of
convictism.
Conclusion
Proof of Moll's social acceptance was discernable when he was invited to sit on
York's Board of Education and the Orphanage Committee, and he was praised as a good
154 Valuation of Lionel Holdsworth's properties, Reserve Bank of Australia, Pre-Decimal Inflation for the year 2009, Calculator, http://www.rba.gov.au/calculator/annualPreDecimal.html,12/06/2010. 155 The annual income which gained from Holdsworth's rental properties in , is now calculated to be Last Will and Testament of Lionel Holdsworth, ibid. 156 Lionel Holdsworth, 'Inventory for Probate Jurisdiction', Moss & Barsden, Solicitors, Fremantle, 6 March, 1902. 157 Wise’s Post Office Directory, 1899, <http://www.slwa.wa.gov.au/find/guides/wa _history /post_office_directories/1899>, 2009, (accessed 10 December 2009), p. 122.
160
musician, storyteller and supporter of the Catholic Church, by its members. Other signs
were two of his children's marriages to free settlers' children in 1904. His daughter
Cecilia, married John White, the son of a free settler who owned two farms, was a
member of the Jennapullen and the Northam Agricultural Society and Trustee of the
Jennacubbine Roman Catholic Church. While Moll's first son Wilfred, married Laura
Annie Somers, the daughter of a free settler named Samuel Henry Somers.
Although Roe's temperament sometimes caused him to be offside with the local
authorities, he was prepared to fight for what he thought was right and his ideas about
educational reform, expirees' rights and responsible government were heeded by free
settlers. Roe's family must have been perceived as socially acceptable as four of his
daughters married the sons of free settlers. Laura Francis Roe married Henry Edmund
Thomas, the son of a pastoralist at Moore River. Helen Emily Roe married Patrick
Stone, the son of a pensioner guard who was a farmer, then a storekeeper in Geraldton,
owner of the Commonwealth Hotel and a member of the Greenough Road Board, prior
to being elected as the M.LA there for seven years. Louisa Roe was a teacher prior to
marrying Francis White, who was also the son of a free settler. Annie Roe married John
Gallop, a market gardener, who was the son of a free settler named Richard Gallop, a
market gardener then a fruiterer in Fremantle.
Fleming and his wife were active members of the Presbyterian Church and his setting
up of the telegraph system, which eventually connected citizens in the Swan River
Colony to people in the rest of the world, was rewarded by his full membership of the
London Society of Engineers in 1878. Reverend Shearer took Fleming into his home
and cared for him during Fleming's illness prior to his death. Fleming's son, John,
married Adelia Frohlich, the daughter of a free settler. Hubbard was allowed to marry
Amelia Cockman, the daughter of James Cockman, who was one of the first free settlers
in the colony. At the peak of his career as a landowner, Hubbard owned eleven valuable
properties in Avon, Guildford, Swan and Moora, prior to his bankruptcy. Holdsworth
was invited to become a member of the elite Scotch College School Council, serving on
it for five consecutive years until his death in 1901. His thirteen homes and Braeside in
the Fremantle area, which were valued at £9,670 after his death in 1901, would have
been be worth $1,263,250 in Australian Currency in 2009. 'Holdsworth Street', which
ran down the side of his property, near the old Fremantle Prison, which was named after
him, is still there.
161
J. T. Reilly, who wrote Reminiscences of Fifty Years in Western Australia, which
was published in 1903, argued that Moll was 'a gentleman of exceptional ability.' An old
classroom furnished with old desks, a bookcase and old photographs of James Roe and
his wife Susannah, is still a tourist attraction in Greenough. Fleming's East-West
Telegraph line from Perth to Eucla, was nominated by the Institution of Engineers as an
'Engineering Landmark in Western Australia's history,' on 2 June, 2001. Hubbard's
name still features on a Town Clerks Honour Board in the Guildford Library and
Holdsworth Street, which ran down the side of his property near the old Fremantle
Prison, was named after him. Scotch College Council Minutes for 29 April 1897
includes his name, as 'one of 'the following gentlemen Councillors of the College.' All
these expirees were obviously considered to be gentlemen and were socially acceptable
by many free settlers.
FINAL CONCLUSION
This thesis has reviewed the lives of twelve white-collar convicts who were transported
to Western Australia between 1850 and 1868. While this is a small number, information
about the vast majority of about four hundred white-collar convicts sent to the colony is
scant or non-existent. For these twelve convicts, however, it has been possible to build
up a picture of their lives through fragmentary and diverse sources such as court
records, official records of the Convict Establishment, memoirs, bank records, honour
boards, street names and photographs.
The thesis has discussed the origins and escalation of white-collar crime in Britain,
as well as provided an overview of the transportation of white-collar convicts to North
America, the West Indies and then New South Wales. Changing prison philosophy and
the impact on British prisons has also been mentioned, as those convicts who were
transported in the 1860s bore the brunt of harsher conditions. The reasons for the
introduction of transportation to the Swan River Colony, after it had ceased in New
South Wales, has also been reviewed, as has the limited historiography on white-collar
convicts in each of those colonies. After introducing the twelve white-collar convicts
who have been the subject of this thesis, their experiences during some of their voyages
to the colony on the convict transports, have been outlined.
The aim of this thesis has been to assess whether white-collar convicts were able to
regain their respectability and become socially acceptable in the colony. Hence a series
162
of questions have been asked about these twelve white-collar convicts. How many were
first offenders and why did they commit their crimes? Did changes in penal philosophy
have any effect on their lives? What skills did they have to offer prison authorities and
the free settlers after their arrival in the colony? What career changes did they make?
How did they cope with monetary problems during economic downturns? How many of
them or their children married into the families of free settlers, and did those marriages
assist their family’s social acceptance in the colony? In what other ways could they gain
social acceptance? What evidence is there that free settlers in the Swan River Colony
appreciated their service to the community?
There were other white-collar convicts transported to the colony, who had been
convicted of more serious crimes. Many of these left the colony and moved to the
eastern colonies. This may have been due to the monetary extent of their crimes, or
reconvictions or character defects that had a negative effect on their social acceptance.
William Robson, for example, was sentenced to transportation for twenty years for
transferring £10,000 worth of forged share scripts while he was principal clerk in the
share department of the Crystal Palace Company in 1856.158 He was reconvicted in the
colony for embezzlement and false pretences in 1860, lived intemperately, and moved
to the eastern colonies in 1867.159 With his poor reputation, he would have sensed that
he would never be considered to be respectable or socially acceptable, so he left the
colony. Leopold Redpath, who had issued himself £220,000 worth of shares while
working for the Great Northern Railways in England, was given a life sentence in
1857.160 On gaining his Ticket in the colony, he founded and became the honorary
Secretary of the Working Men’s Association. However as he was shunned by free
settlers, due to his rather arrogant nature, he moved to Adelaide in 1871.161 William
Pullinger, who was Chief Cashier at the Union Bank of London, withheld a real
passbook and substituted a false one, to record a much lower pay into the Bank of
England, robbing it of £263,000, for which he was sentenced to twenty years.162
158 William James Robson, ‘The Frauds on the Crystal Palace', Times, 11 October, p. 1, 13 October, p. 9b, 1 November, p. 9a and 3 November 1856, p. 9a.
He died
159 Howard Willoughby, ‘Social Life, Celebrated Convicts,’ The British Convict in Western Australia: A Visit to the Swan River Settlements by the Special Correspondent of the Melbourne Argus, London, Harrison & Sons, 1865, Chapter VI, p. 30. 160 W. B. Kimberly, History of Western Australia: A Narrative of Her Past: Together with Biographies of Her Leading Men, Niven and Company, Melbourne, 1897, p. 201. Also in Illustrated London News, 22 November, p. 528, 2 columns, 29 November, column A., top, and 6 December 1856, p. 568, column B. 161 Ibid., Kimberley, p. 201. 162 Arthur Griffiths, ‘Pullinger', Mysteries of Police and Crime, vol. 11, p. 369.
163
on the Lincelles on his way out to the Swan River Colony.163
It is difficult to determine why these twelve white-convicts committed their crimes.
However evidence available from newspaper records of their trials indicates various
themes including, trying to impress family members or their sweethearts,
unemployment, financial problems, alcohol addiction, living beyond their means, a
previous conviction, as well as greed. While trying to prove to members of his adopted
family, that he was engaged in a successful career while managing a grocery and
drapery shop, Letch dressed fashionably and illegally obtained over £300 worth of
goods for himself and his family members, but pleaded guilty to only £40's worth of his
employer's goods. Wroth’s mother died while he was very young, so he was brought up
by his father and married sisters, who appear to have spoiled him. He was able to hide
his stolen possessions in his bedroom and may have been trying to impress his
sweetheart with the stolen clothing and gold watch and chain.
It is likely that had he
survived, he would not have been able to gain the respect of free settlers, as English
newspapers were available in the colony and knowledge of his enormous fraud would
have ruined his reputation for ever.
Horrocks may have had financial problems connected with his merchandising
business and as he had a wife and child to support, he took what appeared to him to be
the only way out, and forged and uttered a bill of exchange. Palmer was a young,
unemployed clerk at the time he defrauded several people, probably because he needed
money to cover his living expenses. When Dr Sampson’s patients observed that he was
suffering from delirium tremens, many probably lost confidence in him and sought
other family doctors, which led to his financial difficulties, then to his forgery of bank
notes. As Stout had a previous criminal record, he would have experienced problems
gaining good references for job interviews and consequently faced financial difficulties
while supporting his wife and child
As a young and relatively inexperienced engineer whose parents lived in Ireland,
Meagher would have had to pay for his board and lodging in England. Perhaps there
were few well-paid jobs available, so he began forging orders for goods to resell, in
order to support himself, as his salary did not cover his needs. Moll had misappropriated
several thousands of pounds according to his employer, so greed and the satisfaction of
getting away with his forgeries may have been the reasons for his crimes. Reverend
Roe’s anger when he was deprived of what he believed was his rightful inheritance of
163 ‘William Pullinger’, Convicts in Western Australia, op. cit., p. 450.
164
£500 from his uncle, caused him to forge a cheque for £6,000. He may also have been
experiencing financial difficulties, as his fourteenth child had just been born, and his
family probably had problems existing on his low minister’s income.
Fleming may also have had serious monetary problems, while supporting his wife
and son, to commit twenty-one acts of fraud and forgery. As the twenty-four year old
Hubbard was found guilty of committing five acts of forgery and uttering worth over
£160 while working in his father’s brewery, he may have been living well beyond his
means and required more money to sustain his lifestyle. Holdsworth stood to gain
£3,100 from several insurance company policies after sinking the Severn, so his motive
was clearly greed. However in all cases only fragmentary evidence exists, so this has
been pieced together to draw conclusions, though these can only be speculation.
Some patterns began to emerge after research was under way. All of these white-
collar convicts, apart from Stout, were first offenders. The monetary range of their
crimes of fraud, forgery or embezzlement was between £25 and £6,000. Wroth,
Horrocks, Meagher and Moll, all pleaded guilty at the start, or early during their trials.
Fleming pleaded guilty to seven of twenty-one charges and Hubbard, who had five
indictments, was tried on only one count worth £45. However, Letch, Palmer, Sampson,
Stout, Roe and Holdsworth, according to newspaper reports, underwent lengthy trials.
In most cases, with the exception of Holdsworth’s attempt to gain £3100 personally in
insurance money, after arranging for his and Berwick's ship to be scuttled, the others
were not sentenced for major crimes.
The conduct of eleven sample group members while in British prisons, on the
transports and prior to receiving their Tickets-of-Leave in the Swan River Colony was
considered to be First Class, 'Good' or 'Very Good,' or in some cases 'Excellent.'
Palmer’s Character Book and General Register records appear to have been mislaid, but
as he received his Ticket-of-Leave on arrival in the colony, his conduct was probably, at
the very least, ‘Good.’ Wroth was introduced to Governor Fitzgerald on his arrival, as
he had proved useful checking the Mermaid’s inventory prior to sailing and acting as a
schoolmaster during the voyage. Stout, who had been a schoolmaster and had delivered
three lectures while on board, gained six months remission of sentence and Meagher
was rewarded with four months remission by Governor Kennedy, probably for teaching
or other duties while on Sea Park.
Seven of the twelve white-collar convicts were placed in responsible positions in
connection with the Convict Establishment. Letch was allowed to wear normal clothing
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while he lived and worked offsite at the Medical Dispensary, of the temporary convict
prison in Fremantle. His new friend, John Wroth, was initially employed as
Superintendent Thomas Dixon’s clerk in the temporary prison, then in a similar position
at the York Convict Hiring Depot. Horrocks had previously treated patients in the Royal
Navy and, as there was a shortage of doctors in the colony, he worked as the unofficial
Medical Superintendent at Port Gregory. Sampson was initially appointed as a
Constable at the new Fremantle Convict establishment, then as the District Medical
officer in Bunbury, after gaining a Provisional Ticket-of-Leave. Meagher’s engineering
skills were probably required in a supervisory or planning capacity, while he worked
with a road gang which was employed on the new roadway at Freshwater Bay. Hubbard
was selected as an Acting Constable, then Constable at the Fremantle Establishment,
while Holdsworth was initially a writer at Perth Prison and then a school monitor, prior
to also being selected for Constabulary duties in the Fremantle Establishment. There is
no information available about the initial employment of the other five white-collar
convicts in the colony.
Although there were some changes in penal philosophy between 1850 and 1868
which generally impacted on conditions for convicts in the Swan River Colony, they do
not appear to have been detrimental for these convicts. Letch, Wroth, Horrocks, and
Palmer, may have found it difficult to pay half the cost of their transportation to the
colony between 1850 and 1856, but would have welcomed their refunds in 1857. When
the curfew was set up for convicts in the Fremantle area during 1859, all but Wroth who
would have already received his Certificate of Freedom, would have had to be indoors
by then, if they lived in that area. There were certain constraints in the employment of
convicts in the colony. Stout, for instance, was the only expiree schoolmaster ever
employed as a schoolmaster at the Pensioner Barracks, and under Governor Kennedy, to
encourage them to find alternative employment in the colony, no Ticketer employed by
the government was allowed to be paid a labourer’s wage. However, as many of these
convicts worked as clerks at convict hiring depots, two were employed as medical
officers or they were servants, tutors or teachers for free settlers, his new policy did not
apply to them.
After gaining their Tickets-of-Leave, most of these men accepted work in white-
collar occupations, fulfilling areas of need within the colony. Most were employed in
clerical, teaching, medical positions or as servants, which were all required in the
colony at this stage. Letch was employed in clerical work for James Porteus, Lionel
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Lukin and two other free settlers. Wroth worked as a clerk at the Toodyay Convict
Depot, also as Clerk of Courts, as well as the Resident Magistrate’s secretary. Horrocks
was Port Gregory’s Medical Officer and Palmer was employed as a servant by the
Assistant Superintendent of Convict Parties. Dr Sampson worked as the Bunbury
District’s Medical Officer and Stout may have been tutoring or teaching there. Meagher
worked as Magistrate Viveash’s clerk in Guildford, then as a tutor for his children. Moll
worked as a servant for Father Bertram, then Father Coll, followed by teaching at the
York Catholic School, while Roe was privately employed, tutoring in York. Fleming
was a servant in Fremantle, then in Perth, after which he too was employed as a teacher
for his employee’s children. Hubbard tutored the children of an expiree named Daniel
Conner and Holdsworth was employed as a clerk by George Thompson, who owned a
merchant and importers firm in Fremantle. Their salaries ranged between £12 and £52 a
year, depending on the level of responsibility required. This had an impact on whether
they were single, married or were able to bring their wives and children out to the
colony.
Marriage was the preferred state in the eyes of free and respectable colonists. Hence
the arrival of a ‘respectable’ wife with well-educated children, marriage to a free
settler’s daughter, migrant lass or a respectable spinster, or their children’s marriage to
free settlers’ children, was a step in the right direction towards respectability and social
acceptance.164
164 Leonore Davidoff and Catherine Hall, Family Fortunes: Men and Women of the English Middle Class 1780 – 1850, London, Hutchinson, 1987, p. 24.
Of course it should be acknowledged that, as there were no female
convicts transported to the colony, if marriage occurred, the intermingling of bond and
free could not be avoided and this reduced the chances of the development of a separate
‘bond class’ within the colony. Letch’s second marriage was to an immigrant lass who
produced four sons, one of whom wed the daughter of Reverend Edward Clairs, who
became Canon Clairs in 1904. Wroth also married an immigrant lass, and they had five
sons and a daughter. Three of their sons married free settlers’ daughters and their
daughter married the grandson of a free settler. Palmer married the daughter of a free
settler and master builder in Albany, and at least four of their children married the
progeny of free settlers in the colony. Stout, who left a wife and two children in
England, married the stepdaughter of a free settler and at least three of their six children
married children of free settlers. Meagher also married a free settler’s daughter and
eight of their nine children married free settler’s offspring, including the son of the
167
Anglican Bishop of Perth. Moll married Roe’s daughter and two of their four offspring
married children of free settlers. Of their nine children who migrated to the Swan River
Colony with Susannah Roe, four married free settlers’ children. James Fleming’s first
born son married a girl who was either the daughter of a free settler or an immigrant
lass.
One of the main aims of these white-collar convicts and their families appears to
have been to regain the trust, respectability and become socially acceptable in the eyes
of the free settlers, as soon as possible. To achieve those ambitions, they had to dress
well, demonstrate that they were able to support themselves and adhere to middle-class
values, ethics and lifestyle, which included marriage to a respectable wife. They had to
develop good business acumen, be able to predict financial problems ahead and readjust
their financial situations during natural or manmade disasters, as there was no social
welfare available. Gaining some financial support from family in Britain, either before
or just after they gained their tickets, was a bonus for Letch and Wroth. However like
other members of this group, later on, they too had to rely on the Directors of the Bank
of Western Australia, George Shenton Senior up to 1867 and George Shenton Junior
until 1909, for overdrafts during financial downturns in the second half of the nineteenth
century. Banking records and wills of some sample group members have been
invaluable in assessing their business careers and financial positions within the colony.
The economic situation in the colony was patchy prior to the discovery of gold and
the introduction of full self-government in 1890, and there were numerous recessions
that lasted for varying lengths of time. Even after the massive gold boom of the 1890s,
there were periods of economic downturn and they often had a knock-on effect, during
which those in business had to demonstrate considerable resourcefulness to find
alternative sources of income and recover. In the 1860s and 1870s, 1888, 1892–93 and
1897–98, six of these expirees suffered severe financial difficulties. Letch had to sell
three of his properties including his shop in Guildford by the end of 1870. He had to let
go his two mail contracts in 1879 and 1882 and his coaching business in 1883, as well
as relocating to another leased shop in Hay Street that year. The fire in his second store
in May 1890 shattered his business position and the Western Australian Bank did not
release him from debt until July 1891, by which time he was relying on breeding horses
in Canning to support himself and his wife.
Wroth had to allot his nine blocks of land to his sons, then mortgage them, when he
was experiencing monetary problems with delays in payment from his government
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provisioning contract in 1866, as well as coping with dry seasons in 1866 and 1867 and
dry wells and stock losses during 1868 and 1869. Practical support from his sons, who
helped out with cropping, butchering and his government provisioning contracts,
enabled him to keep his properties going. During the recessions of the 1870s, Stout was
teaching at the Pensioner Barracks from 1873 to 1878, but that did not prevent him
declaring his bankruptcy in 1875.
During the severe recession in 1888, Meagher had to convey his lease of 1000 acres
on the Swan River to John Bateman. By 1891, everything he owned had been liquidated
and he was not discharged from bankruptcy until September 1892. There are no records
of Moll experiencing monetary problems from recessions, but after his death in
December 1882, his widow was forced to run a boarding house in Northam to support
their children. After Roe's wife died in 1887, he had monetary problems and found it
difficult to support himself during the severe economic downturn in 1888, so he went to
live with his daughter. Hubbard’s entrepreneurial ventures into land and real estate were
threatened during the 1897 to 1898 recession and he went into bankruptcy, causing his
eleven properties to be auctioned in 1899, the day before his death.
However a few of these convicts did not appear to have been adversely affected by
economic downturns. Horrocks’ copper mine, with its model village, proved to be very
successful and his financial situation was sound. Dr Sampson and his wife purchased
many blocks of land and appeared to have had no monetary problems during
recessions. Palmer had a steady job and was regularly paid by the government as a
teacher for thirty-three years, though he also worked for the Inquirer supplementing his
government salary, to support his wife and ten children in Albany. The long economic
recession of the 1870s did not seem to affect Fleming’s income or his completion of the
telegraph lines, linking the colony to the rest of the world in 1877. Holdsworth’s good
fortune after the sale of his wife’s immigrant land grant and their purchase of many
blocks of land in the Fremantle area, allowed them to build twelve rental properties and
own two blocks of land, as well as building ‘Braeside,’ his future home. In 1897 at the
beginning of a short recession, he was able to offer two donations to Scotch College,
while a member of their Council.
Many of these white-collar workers had radically changed their careers and interests
by the time they received their Certificates of Freedom, and this allowed them to
become well known, respected and socially acceptable in the areas where they lived.
Letch, who had managed a food and drapery shop in Chelmsford, ran two general stores
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in Perth and Guildford by the 1860s. He also provided essential public transport, funeral
carriages and mail services between Fremantle, Perth and Guildford, played the organ at
the Congregational Church in Perth and the piano for social occasions and was a Perth
City Councillor for six years.
Wroth started his career in England as a printer. By 1858 he was storekeeper and
postmaster near Toodyay until 1864. He won the government Commissariat contract for
provisioning convict road parties from 1865 and farmed eleven properties in Newcastle,
some of which he used to grow crops and fatten stock. Horrocks, who had owned a
merchandising business in England, was responsible for building and owning the
colony’s second major copper mine and establishing a model village including a church
south of Northampton, for his sixty workers in the colony. Palmer started off as a clerk
in England and became a respected teacher over thirty three years in Albany, as well as
writing articles for the Inquirer newspaper.
Dr Sampson, who had delirium tremens in England, overcame his addiction to
alcohol, administered to the sick for about twenty nine years in Bunbury and eventually
owned fifteen properties in ‘Sampson Town.’ He was well known around the district as
a major landowner, the Congregational Church’s organist, for supplying the instruments
and conducting his brass band, as well as supporting local elections.
Stout was a land agent and surveyor in England. In the colony he was initially
employed as a government schoolmaster at Australind, prior to setting up a boys’
boarding school in Fremantle. He then became a photographer in Bunbury, where he
opened another school prior to moving back to Perth to set up two photographic studios,
then taught at the Pensioner Barracks. He then moved to Geraldton where he taught,
prior to managing and editing two newspapers, then back to Perth, where he wrote
articles for the Daily News and the Morning Herald newspapers, as well as being
employed as the Secretary of the Perth Working Man’s Society.
Although Miall Meagher’s first vocation was civil engineering in England, he leased
Sandalford vineyard twice, was licensee of two hotels for short periods, managed the
Bassendean brickyard, leased the 'Retreat' on fourteen acres, then leased a 1000 acre
farm, prior to his bankruptcy in the early 1890s. Moll was employed as a clerk in
England, but after gaining his Ticket he was employed as a servant by Father Bertram
and Father Coll, then as a teacher by Father Bourke. He was then employed as John
Henry’s clerk and accountant until in York, then in Perth. Prior to his accidental death
in the colony, he was managing Alexander McRae’s merchant business, shipping
170
agency and pearling company at Cossack. Roe, an Anglican minister in England,
initially leased a small property and taught in country areas in the colony for many
years, prior to becoming a journalist and co-editor of the Fremantle Herald, then
working for the Inquirer newspaper in Perth.
Fleming, a shipbroker and merchant in England, succeeded in connecting Western
Australia by telegraph to the rest of the world, for which he was duly recognized,
becoming a member of the London Society of Engineers. Hubbard, initially a clerk at
his father’s brewery in England, prior to working in an orphanage in the colony, was
then employed as a clerk in the Guildford Council, during which time he purchased
eleven valuable properties in the Avon, Northam, Swan, Midland Junction and Moora
areas. Holdsworth was a ship and insurance broker in England, then the sale of his
wife’s emigrant grant of fifty acres in the colony, provided them with the initial capital
to make a considerable fortune. Holdsworth built thirteen rental properties and owned
two blocks of land in Fremantle, besides building his own large home in Fremantle.
Many of these convicts made a significant contribution to the life of their
communities. They took on voluntary positions in their churches, local government,
Boards of Education, Agricultural Societies, School Councils or the Orphanage. Or they
were teachers, doctors, hoteliers, newspaper reporters, gave public lectures, made
suggestions for improving the colony’s education system. In doing so, they became well
known in their communities and they were in an excellent position to demonstrate their
public spirit, regain trust and earn the respect and social acceptance by free settlers. The
marriages of Letch’ son to a canon’s daughter and Meagher’s daughter to a bishop’s
son, is clearly evidence that their families were considered to be respectable and socially
acceptable. Indeed most of these white-collar convicts probably achieved more in the
Swan River Colony, than they would have in England.
Nevertheless all white-collar convicts had to be constantly aware of their reputation,
their families’ conduct and their appearance. They had to battle to regain their
respectability, which could be very easily lost, and was more than likely to have been
earned gradually over time. They had to accept the fact that some settlers would never
trust them enough to employ them or ever consider them to be socially acceptable.
However, as many settlers often had to work with them on a business level, if they were
found to be reliable and law abiding, their convict origins seem to have been
overlooked. All white-collar expirees had to rebuild their own self confidence, try not to
over react to the convict stigma and be able to deal with likely social and financial
171
setbacks, especially during economic downturns, all the while striving to keep up
middle-class appearances. Those aspects must have been really difficult while they were
adjusting to new lives and careers in the colony on low salaries. However as they
previously came from middle class families, they knew what was expected of them and
appear to have strived to conform to those parameters.
There are still many visible signs that free settlers valued their efforts in the colony.
As you walk towards the altar in the Trinity Congregational Church in St Georges
Terrace in Perth and glance to the right, there is a plaque with Letch’s name on it,
indicating that he was their organist for many years.165 He is also listed on the Perth
City Council Honour Boards for serving three terms as a Perth City Councillor.166
Another lasting tribute to Letch is the depiction of his shop, which features his name, on
one of a large set of seven leadlight glass panels depicting Perth in the 1870s, now in
Fremantle’s Film and Television Institute. The Honour Boards of the Toodyay
Agricultural Society record Wroth’s community services,167 and there is also a garden
seat in Toodyay with a plaque commemorating the services of the Wroth family, which
was installed by the Royal Western Australian Historical Society. Wroth’s name was
also inscribed on a brass footpath plaque on St George’s Terrace, the city of Perth’s
main thoroughfare, during the sesquicentenary celebrations of the colony’s foundation
in 1979. Honour Boards in the Guildford Library reveal Meagher and Hubbard’s
services to the Guildford Municipal Council. The town of Horrocks, on Western
Australia’s coastline north of Geraldton, Horrocks Beach and Horrocks Road,
commemorate Horrock’s contribution to copper mining in Western Australia. Sampson
Road in Bunbury and Holdsworth Street in Fremantle, records their contributions to
society and is proof of theirs respectability and social acceptance in the colony.168
The photographic records that Stout left, many of which are now housed in Battye
Library’s Photographic collection, are a priceless depiction today of colonial society and
many have been published in histories of Western Australia. Meagher's name can still
be viewed on a Guildford Honour Board, as Chairman of the Guildford Municipal
Council and J.T. Reilly's reminiscences in 1903, record Moll’s actions on behalf of the
165 Trinity Congregational Church, St Georges Tce, Perth, 166 Honour Boards in Perth Council House, 27 St Georges Terrace, Perth, W.A. 167 Information gained from the current Toodyay Agricultural Society Secretary. 168 Sampson Road, Bunbury, Map B3, coordinates N34, & Holdsworth Street, Fremantle, Map S10,ordinates C5, StreetSmart, Perth Street Directory, 2008.
172
Catholic Church and his community service.169 Parents backed Roe, who was an
excellent teacher and many of the causes he promoted, including responsible
Government, the development of railways, more liberal land laws and improvements in
education, came to fruition. Fleming’s memorial is the Intercolonial Telegraph Line that
connected the Swan River Colony to other parts of Australia in 1877. As a result of his
work he was made a member of the London Society of Engineers in 1878. The visible
reminder of Holdsworth’s respectability and his contribution to society, is Holdsworth
Street in Fremantle, which originally led to his home.170
The Swan River Colony provided a second chance for these twelve white-collar
expirees who worked hard to support their families, win the confidence of free settlers
and were able to turn their lives around. While those discussed in this thesis are only a
small number of the white-collar convicts who were transported to Western Australia,
and it is accepted that this sample may be skewed, their lives indicate that opportunities
existed in the colony, which made it possible for them to regain their respectability and
gain social acceptance.
While this thesis supports Erickson’s general conclusion that, 'convicts in Western
Australia played an important part in the development of the colony during the latter
half of the nineteenth century’171, there is some evidence that has been presented in this
thesis that suggests that her view, that all convicts remained forever conscious of
‘having worn the shameful coat of a convict’ and that some middle-class educated
convicts suffered socially172
Erickson concluded that,
is not entirely true. The white-collar convicts discussed in
this thesis all showed competency, regained their respectability and were socially
accepted by many free settlers. Whether their success or failure was determined by
character rather than circumstance, as she has suggested, is not so clear. Though it is
clear that the shortage of white-collar skills in the colony did provide white-collar
convicts with considerable opportunities in the colony.
… the convict taint need no longer be a social embarrassment to their descendents, the historian may begin to assess more truly, whether those who wore the government brand on their coats, made for good or bad in colonial
169 J. T. Reilly, Reminiscences of Fifty Years Residence in Western Australia, Perth, WA, Sands & McDougall, 1903, p. 61. 170 Ibid., Map 430, coordinates C,5. 171 Rica Erickson, ‘Acknowledgements', The Brand On His Coat, op. cit., p. xi. 172 Rica Erickson, ‘What it was to be an Ex-Convict in Western Australia', Westerly, 30, No. 3, September 1985,p p. 45 and 49.
173
history, or whether they merely faded away without leaving their print on the sands of time.173
The names of the white-collar convicts discussed in this thesis are still on public view
because they contributed to the well being of free settlers in colonial society and thus
gained respectability and social acceptance. Despite the government brand that they had
once worn, they made good in colonial society. Although past generations hid their
convict ancestry, the lives of these white-collar convicts show that they made a
significant contribution to society and those descended from these white-collar convicts
should be proud of their ancestry, as indeed I am of my ancestor - Alfred Daniel Letch.
173 Rica Erickson, ‘James Elphinstone Nelken, David (ed.), White-Collar Crime, Aldershot, England, Dartmouth, 1994. Roe, Schoolmaster and Journalist,’ The Brand On His Coat, op. cit., p. 321.
174
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Primary Sources - Official
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Fitzgerald, Charles, Prison Orders from Governor Fitzgerald to the Comptroller General of Convicts, Edmund Henderson, 1850-1852, SRO, Alexander Library, Perth, WA, AN 356, ACC 1156, Index p. 4, microfilm. Fleming , James Coates, Battye Library Catalogue Card, Perth, Western Australia. Fleming, James Coates, General Register, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, Reel 28, Reg. No. 7688. Fleming, James Coates, Occurrence Book, ACC 1386, vol. 9, pp. 20, 71, 164. Fleming, James Coates, Ticket-of-Leave Register, ACC, 1386, vol. 4, p. 829, No. 7688. French, Amelia, Nominal List of Emigrants on Board the Burlington, WA, ACC 115, 75 & 76, microfilm, Battye Library, Perth. General Rules and Daily Routines for Prisoners, Prison Orders from Governor Fitzgerald to Comptroller General Henderson, 1850-1852, and Clothing Allowance for Ticket-of-Leavers, AN 358, ACC 1156. Hall, Nick Vine, Directory of Essex, British Isles Census Directories Project, English Series, Melbourne, Australia,1848, Alexander Library, Genealogy Floor 1, Perth, WA., Cabinet 138, vol. 139, Box No. 138a, 685-688, microfiche 4. Halliday, Alexander, ‘Memorial of an Indenture of Conveyance,’ Lot Y12, Perth, from Alexander Halliday to George Shenton the Younger of Perth and Alfred DeLeech of Perth, Book 6, p, 2047, 10 July 1866, Deeds Office, ‘Landgate,’ Midland, W.A. Hashemy Shipping List, 25 October 1850, S.R.O, Alexander Library, Perth, WA, AN 358/1, ACC 1156, File 128, No. 32, Reg. No. 1-10371, microfilm. Helmich, A., Postmaster General ‘Eucla Telegraph Line’, Report by the Postmaster General, A. Helmich, Postmaster General, General Post Office, Perth, 13th July, 1876, p. 1. Henderson, E. Y. W., Personal and other Descriptions of Convicts belonging to the Convict Establishment, Western Australia, per Ship Hashemy, List of Convicts, 25 October 1850, SRO Alexander Library, Perth, WA, AN, 358/1, ACC 1156, File 128, No. 41, Reg. No. 1-334, microfilm. Holdsworth , Lionel, Battye Library Catalogue Card, under Lionel Holdsworth and the General Register for his family details. Holdsworth, Lionel, General Register Record, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, Reel 16, No. 9768. Holdsworth, Lionel, Inventory for Probate in the Estate of Lionel Holdsworth, In the Supreme Court of Western Australia, No. 23, 3 March 1902, Moss & Barsden, Solicitors, Fremantle, 135/1901. Holdsworth, Lionel, Last Will and Testament of Lionel Holdsworth, WAS 34, CONS 3403, Item No. 1901/135-023, Alexander Library, Perth.
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Holdsworth, Lionel, Minutes of Scotch College Founding Councilors meeting, 29 April 1897. Holdsworth, Lionel, ‘Physical Descriptions of Convicts on the Hougoumont, 1868', No. 9768. <http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/conwad42.htm>, 1868 (accessed 22 November 2008). Holdsworth, Lionel, Statement of Assets and Liabilities in the Estate of Lionel Holdsworth, In the Supreme Court of Western Australia, 23 October 1901, Moss & Barsden, Solicitors, Fremantle, Item No. 135/1901, Consignment No. 3403. Holdsworth, Lionel, Valuation of Freehold Property at Fremantle in the Estate of the late Lionel Holdsworth, Messrs Moss & Barsden, Solicitors, Fremantle, 4 November 1901. Hope, W. H., Letter to the Acting Commissioner of Railways, 23 December 1919. ‘Horrocks’, in R.A.C.W. A. Road Map ‘South Western Section, Western Australia, 228 Adelaide Terrace, Perth, W. A., co-ordinates B 2. Horrocks, Joseph Lucas, ‘Character Book’, ACC 1156, R Series 17, 358/2, No. 1014. Horrocks, Joseph Lucas, Last Will and Testament, WAS 56, CONS 3436, 1/1832-433/1873, Book 1, No. 143. Hubbard, James Murgatroyde, (8291), General Register, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, Reel No.30, 8191-8475, No. 8291 Hubbard, James Murgatroyde, ‘Bankruptcy, Liabilities and Assets’, WAS 165, CONS 3560, Item No. 1898/209, 2 December 1898. Hubbard , James Murgatroyde, Battye Library Catalogue Card. Hubbard, James Murgatroyde, Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in the Estate of James Murgatroyde Hubbard, Supreme Court of Western Australia, before Registrar Francis Arnold Mosely, 23 June 1902, WAS 165, CONS 3560, Item No. 86. Hubbard, James Murgatroyde, In Bankruptcy, Exparte Dalgety and Company Limited, Supreme Court of Western Australia, ACC 3560, Item No. 149, 23 July, 1898. Hubbard, James Murgatroyde, The Last Will and Testament, 23 December 1897, WAS 34, CONS 3403, Item No. 1902/086. Hubbard, James Murgatroyde, Statement of Affairs, In Bankruptcy, Supreme Court of Western Australia, WAS 165, CONS 3560, Item No. 1898/209, 14 October 1898. Hubbard, James Murgatroyde, Statement of Constable Anderson, re Hubbard’s Death, District Police Office, WAS 2126, General Files, CONS 430, Item No. 32/763, 1899, Perth, W. A.
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Hubbard, James Murgatroyde, Unsecured Creditors, WAS 165, CONS 3560, Item No. 1898/209. Hubbard, Mrs Amelia, Statement to Police re death of RM Hubbard, 3 November 1899. Jebb, Lieutenant Colonel Joshua, Plans of elevations and buildings of Portland Prison site, held at Weymouth Library, Dorset, photocopy, 1847. Jebb, Lieutenant Colonel, 1st
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Jebb, Lieutenant Colonel, Report on The Discipline and Construction of Portland Prison, Presented to both Houses of Parliament, London, William Clowes & Son for HMS, 1850, pp.1-115. Kilroy, Surgeon Superintendent, Journal of Her Majesty Convict Ship, Mermaid, 16 December 1850 to 21 May 1851, Battye Library, Surgeon’s Journals AJCP, Part 8, Miscellaneous, Entry No. 75, Reel M708 - M712, Film 711- Reel 4, No. 196, pp.1 & 2. Knight, William, Memorial of Conveyance of Guildford Lot 114 ( 2 acres) by mortgage to Alfred D. Letch, Memorial Book 6, No. 1707, 10 September 1864, p. 464, Landgate, Midland, W. A. Lapin, Sergeant William, 1st Class Constable, Fremantle, Report into the Death of James Hubbard at Perth to Inspector Hogan, 7
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Letch, Alfred Daniel, Deaths in the State of Western Australia, Office of the Register General, Perth, W.A., 1907. Letch, Alfred Daniel, Essex Baptism Index 1780-1840, Ref. No. 321/92, Alfred Letch, born in Braintree, 5 July, 1823. Letch, Alfred Daniel, Ticket of Leave Employees, Battye Library Catalogue Card, Perth, 1852-1876 Letch Family, Finchingfield Chapel Baptism Records 1815-1877, Finchingfield Heritage Records, held at Finchingfield, Essex, UK, microfilm. Letch, Alfred, D., General Register, AN 352/2, ACC 1156, Reel 21A, 1 - 299, No. 114, Battye Library, Perth, microfilm. Letch, Alfred D., Hashemy Shipping List, 1850, Battye Library, Perth, ACC 128/2, vol. 18, No. 114, 26, microfilm. Letch, Alfred Daniel, Honour Board, ‘Councillors City of Perth’, 1858-1928’, Council House, 27 St Georges Terrace, Perth, W. A. Letch, Alfred Daniel, Legislative Assembly Rolls, 1904, Battye Library, Letch a landowner, p. 73. Letch, A. D., Licence Fees for the Year, Perth City Council Meeting Notes, 1875, Perth City Council, WA. Letch, A. D., Memorial of an Indenture of Conveyance, John Peglar, Sadler and Harness Maker to Mr. A. D. Letch, Book 7, No. 2040, Canning Location 59, 15 November 1875, Deeds Office, Landgate, Midland, Western Australia. Letch Alfred D., Moved from Springfield to Millbank, Middlesex, on 28 April 1849,, then to Portland on 6 March, 1850, Battye Library, Perth, WA, AJCP, Prison Commission 2, Reel 5974, Piece No. 27-30, microfilm. Letch, Alfred, Plaque in Trinity Congregational Church, St Georges Terrace, Perth, W. A. Letch, Alfred Daniel, Was not mentioned in the Essex, Births, Baptisms and Marriage Register, Essex Records Office, County Hall, Chelmsford, Essex, 8145-52, microfilm. Letch, Edward and Mary, Finchingfield Census, Home Office, 107, Reel 331, vol. 17, f10, 14-15, 184, Battye Library, Perth, WA, microfilm. Letch, Edward, The Last Will and Testament of Edward Letch, Essex Record Office, Chelmsford, CMI ILX,391, MR14, p. 392. Letch, Edward, Thomas and Harriot, Finchingfield T/R Baptisms 1817-1830, County Hall, Chelmsford, Essex, UK, Essex Baptisms Index, 1780-1840. Letch, George, Stained glass window in Trinity Congregational Church, St George’s Terrace, Perth, 1909.
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Letch, Henry Frederick, Battye Library Catalogue Card & 1904 Legislative Assembly Rolls. Letch, Lionel, Cecil and Thomas Augustus, Battye Library Catalogue Card, Perth, W. A. Meagher, Miall, (Malachi Reidy), Battye Library Catalogue Card, Perth, W.A. Meagher, Miall, 5448, Character Book Record, AN 358/2, ACC1156, R Series, vol. 8, ‘Sultana’. Meagher, Malachi Reidy, Diagram of Guildford Town Lots 134 to 138, produced in 1952, Landgate, Midland, W. A. Meagher, Malachi Reidy, List of Creditors, State Records Office, WAS 54, CONS 3431, Item No. 161. Meagher, Malachi Reidy, Memorial Book VII, No. 2465, 1872, An agreement was registered between Alexander Taylor of West Guildford and Malachi Reidy Meagher, 29 May 1872. Taylor agreed to let the Retreat on fourteen acres in West Guildford to Meagher for five years, with right to purchase, for £150. Meagher, Malachi Reidy, Memorial Book VII, No. 2473, 23 May 1877, An agreement was made between Malachi Reidy Meagher of Guildford and Thomas Courthope Gull, to transfer the lease of the Retreat in West Guildford to Gull. Meagher, M. R., Memorial Book, IX, No. 733, 22 January 1885. After Malachi Reidy Meagher paid all David Grays’ debts, Gray granted lease of his 1000 acres, known as ‘Stone’s Green’, on the Swan River to Meagher. Meagher, Malachi Reidy, Memorial Book 10, No. 428, dated 24 July 1888. Malachi Reidy Meagher conveyed lease of Stone’s Green to John Bateman of Fremantle. Meagher, Malachi Reidy, Statement of Affairs, Bankruptcy Records, Supreme Court of Western Australia, 14 March, 1891, WAS 54, CONS 3602, Item No. 5. Meagher, Myall (Miall), Ticket-of Leave Register, No. 5448, ACC 1171, Swan District, W. A, p. 162. Moll, Joseph Van Eyck Herman, Battye Library Catalogue Card, Perth, W. A. Moll, Joseph Herman, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, General Register, Reel 22, No. 6659. Moll, Joseph Herman, Occurrence Book, ACC 1386, vol. 8, No. 6659, pp. 158, 159, 177, 196, 202. Moll, Joseph Herman, Ticket-of-Leave Register for District of Perth, ACC, 1386, vol. 4, No. 6659, p. 570. Palmer, Thomas Matthew, Battye Library Catalogue Card, Perth, W. A.
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Palmer, Thomas Matthew, The Last Will and Testament, State Records Office, WAS 56, Cons 3436, Item No. 1008/1891, Book 5, No. 39/1896. Palmer, Thomas Matthew, Ticket-of-Leave Register, ACC 1386, vol. 2, p. 1025, No. 2897. Petition to His Excellency John Stephen Hampton and the Legislative Council, WAS 1363, ACC 137/2, S.R.O, W.A. Perth City Council Meeting Minutes, 22 February 1875, Perth City Council Library., Petition to The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, Copy of Address on Presentation of Memorial, 19 August 1867, ACC/CONS No. 136, Item No. 97, S.R.O, Perth., W.A. Petition to The Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, Governor’s Correspondence, 1876-1878, ACC 392, Box 62, ACC. 392, Item 278, S.R.O, WA. Robbins, Edward Francis, Statement to Police re death of RM Hubbard, 4 November 1899, WAS 2126, General Files, CONS 430, Item No. 32, p. 763. Roe, James Elphinstone, Battye Library Catalogue Card, Perth, W.A. Roe, James, General Register, A. N. 358/2, ACC1156, Reel 22 (6393-6932), No. 6709. Roe, James, Acc 1386, Occurrence Book, vol., 8, No. 6709, p. 167, Roe’s family’s arrival in the colony. Sampson, Dr John, Battye Library Catalogue Card, Perth, W.A. Sampson, John, Character Book Record, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, Reel 19, No. 4305. Sampson, Sophia, Affidavit verifying Statement of Assets and Liabilities in the Estate of Sophia Sampson, WAS 34, CONS 3403, Item No. 1912/033. Sampson, Sophia, Last Will and Testament of Sophia Sampson of Bunbury in the State of Western Australia, 17 February 1910. Shenton, George and Alfred DeLeech, Memorial of an Indenture of Conveyance, Lot Y12, Perth, Alexander Halliday to George Shenton, Perth and Alfred DeLeech of Perth, Book 6, p, 2047, 10 July 1866, Deeds Office, Landgate. Smith, Police Superintendent, Report to the Colonial Secretary, 31 July 1884, Convict Census 1884, A.N. 24, Perth 2, ACC 1172, File 10/1884, SROWA. ‘Springfield County Goal Dietaries - 1850, Class 3', Recommended and approved on 16 December 1849 by the Secretary of State, 14 March 1850. Stout, Stephen Montague, Battye Library Catalogue Card, Perth, Western Australia. Stout, Stephen, Character Book, AN 358/2, ACC 1156, ‘R’ Series, vol. 8, No 4901.
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Stout, Stephen Montague, Statement of Debtor’s Affairs & List of Creditors, State Records Office of Western Australia, Alexander Library, WAS 54, Bankruptcy Files, Consignment No. 3622, Item No. 14. Toodyay Agricultural Society Minute Books, Meeting 1868, ACC, 627A, Battye Library, Perth, Western Australia. Western Australian Biographical Indexes, Employers of Ticket-of-Leave Men, Battye Library, Perth, Western Australia.. Williams, Rev. John, Education Summary for the Superintendent Surgeon by the Religious Instructor on the Merchantman, 1863, A.J.C.P. R.3181, MT 32, Lighthouse & General Historian, transcribed by John Kelly. Wroth, John A., Character Book, A. N. 358/2, ACC1156, ‘R’ Series, vol. 17, Numbers 1-1103, No 368. Wroth, John Acton, Ipswich Gaol Book, 1848, ACC 609/8, Suffolk Record Office, 2 August 1848. Wroth, John Acton, Last Will and Testament of John Acton Wroth, S.R.O, WAS 34, CON 3403, Item 1876/505, 22 February 1876. Wroth, John Acton, Resident Magistrate in York, Letter to the Comptroller General, 23 December, 1853, CSO 311, re John Acton Wroth's relationship with Susannah Smithies. Primary Sources - Books
Bidwell, George, Forging his Chains: The Autobiography of George Bidwell, The Famous Ticket-of-Leave Man, New York, Bidwell Publishing Company, 1889. Burns, Richard, The Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer, vol. 1, London, A. Strahan & W., Woodfall, 1788. Campbell, John, Thirty Years Experience of a Medical Officer in the English Convict Service, London, T. Nelson and Sons, 1884. Casey, John S., The Gallee Boy: Journal of a Voyage from Portland to Fremantle on Board the Convict Ship "Hougoumont, Ireland, Michelstown, 1867. Chitty, J & T., The Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer by Richard Burn, vols. 1, 2 & 3, London, Steven & Sons, 1837. Du Cane, Sir Edmund, An Account of the Manner in which Sentences of Penal Servitude are Carried out in England, 2nd edn, Durham, U.S.A., School of Law, Duke University, 1882. Du Cane, Major J., Modern Prisons: Their Construction and Ventilation, London, John Weale, 1844.
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Evans, D. Marier, Facts, Failures and Frauds: Revelations Financial, Mercantile, Criminal, London, Guildhall, 1859. Field, Rev. John, Prison Discipline: and the Advantages of the Separate System of Imprisonment, vol. 1, R 2447, No. 35853, 1848. Griffiths, Arthur, Mysteries of Crime and Police: A General Survey of Wrongdoing and its Pursuit, Vols., 1 & 2, London, Cassell, 1898, Reid Library, Scholars' Centre, UWA, microfilm. Griffiths, Major Arthur, Fifty Years of Public Service, London, Cassell and Company, 1904. Henderson, Frank, (ed.), Six Years in the Prisons of England: By a Merchant, 1869, Reid Library, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA, Scholars Centre, Nineteenth Century, General Collection, Jurisprudence, No. 1. 1. 999, microfiche. Hopkins, Tighe, Wards of the State: an Unofficial View of Prison and the Prisoners, London, Herbert and Daniel, 1913. Kimberly, W. B., ‘A Penal Settlement’, History of Western Australia: A Narrative of her Past: Together with Biographies of Her Leading Men,. Melbourne, Australia, Niven & Co, 1897. Landor, Edward Wilson, The Bushman: Life in a New Country, London, Richard Bentley, 1847. Measor, Charles Pennell, The Convict Service, London, Robert Hardwicke, 1861. Millett, Mrs Edward, An Australian Parsonage: or The Settler and the Savage in Western Australia, London, E., Standford, 1872. Moore, George Fletcher, Diary of Ten Years of an Early Settler in Western Australia, C. T. Stannage (ed.), Nedlands, W.A, University of Western Australia Press, 1884. Mortlock, J. F., Experiences of a Convict: Transported for Twenty-one Years, G. A. Wilkes & A. G. Mitchell (eds), Sydney, Sydney University Press, 1965. Ogle, Nathaniel, The Colony of Western Australia: A Manual for Emigrants, London, James Fraser, 1839. One-Who- Has- Endured- It (Edward Callow), Five years of Penal Servitude, Crime and Punishment in England, 1850-1902, J. Martin Wiener (ed.), First published 1877, London, Garland Publishing Inc., 1984. One-Who-Has-Tried-Them, Her Majesty's Prisons: Their Effects and Defects, vol. 1 & 2, London, Sampson Low, 1881. Quintin, Dr. R. F., Crime and Criminals, 1876-1910, London, Longman, 1910. Reilly, J. T., Reminiscences of Fifty Years Residence in Western Australia, Sands & McDougall, Perth, WA, 1903.
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Richards, Rev. Clifford, A Prison Chaplain on Dartmoor, London, Edward Arnold, 1920. Richardson, Dr Henry, A Pleasant Passage, Transcript of the Journals of Henry Richardson, Surgeon Superintendent on the Transport Sultana,1859, Fremantle, Western Australia, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1990. Scott, Stanley, The Human Side of Crook and Convict Life, London, Hurst & Blacket, no date. Six Years in the Prisons of England: By a Merchant, Frank Henderson (ed.), Fiche, N, 1.1.999, Scholars Centre, University of Western Australia, W.A., Nedlands, 19th Century Collection, Jurisprudence, 1869. Stroud, F., The Judicial Dictionary of Words and Phrases Judicially Interpreted, London, Sweet & Maxwell, 1890. Suffolk, Owen, Owen Suffolk's: Days of Crime and Years of Suffering, David Dunstan (ed.), Victoria, Australia, Australian Scholarly, 2000. Thomson, Basil, The Story of Dartmoor Prison: Past and Present, London, Heinemann, 1907. Ticket-of-Leave-Man, [George Bidwell], Convict Life: or Revelations Concerning Convicts and Convict Prisons, London, Wyman and Sons, 1879. Wollaston, Rev. John R., Wollaston's Albany Journals (1841-1856), Cannon Percy Henn (ed.), vol. 2, Murray St, Perth, W.A., Paterson Brokensha Pty Ltd, 1954.
Primary Sources – Newspaper Articles/ Journals /Pamphlets
Agnostos, 'The Cost of Convicts', London, The Times, 3 January 1857, p. 7. Anonymous (James Roe), ‘Revelations of Prison Life’, The Cornhill Magazine, 7, January - June 1863, p. 644. Bowler, D. R., Portland Convict Prison & Borstal, Pamphlet, Held at Weymouth Library, Dorset, L365, 32 BO1. 'Change of Premises, Mr. A. D, Letch', Inquirer, 26 December, 1883, p. 2, Battye Library, Perth, W. A, .microfilm. DeLeech', A., A. DeLeech's Perth and Guildford General Store advertisement in the Houghton Herald, a pamphlet which was distributed on River cruises. DeLeech, A., Alfred DeLeech's second marriage to Amelia French, an immigrant lass aged nineteen, arrived in the colony on the Burlington on 8 April 1863, Inquirer, 15 April 1863, p. 2, column b. She married Alfred DeLeech on 14 September 1863, Alfred DeLeech, Battye Library Card.
184
'Disastrous Fire in the City: Great Destruction of Property: Two Shops and their Contents Burned', The West Australian, Monday 26
May 1890, 3a-c, microfilm.
Fleming, James Coat(e)s, Court Case, The Glasgow Herald, 9 September 1862, p. 7. Forsyth, William, 'A Visit to Portland Prison', Good Words, Norman Macleod (ed.), England, 1873, pp. 684-688. ‘General Notice’, A. DeLeech, Perth and Guildford General Store advertisement in Perth newspapers. Greenward, James, 'Convict Life at Portland', Southern Times, 24 March 1866, Weymouth Library, Dorset. Hardy, Daniel, 'Over fifty years ago: Mail days in the eighties', The West Australian, Battye Library, Perth, 4 November 1936, p. 8, col. c, microfilm. Hislop, D. J., 'Finding the Truth of a Convict Past', The West Australian, 21 March 1987, p. 37. Holdsworth, Lionel, Court Case, Central Criminal Courts, Old Court, London, The Times, 29 January, p. 9b, 31 January, p. 11b, 1 February, p. 9c, 2 February, p. 11c, 4 February, p. 9b and 5 February, p. 11b, 1867. Hopkins, Tighe, Wards of the State: An Unofficial View of Prisons & the Prisoner, Weymouth Library, Dorset, W24-7512, Herbert & Daniel, 1913, Local Pamphlet file L 365.32 HO1. Horrocks, Joseph Lucas, Central Criminal Courts, London, April 9, The Times, 10 April 1851, p. 7c. Horrocks, Joseph Lucas, Perth Gazette, 14 March 1856, was helping helping to manage James Drummond’s White-Peak mine in March 1856. Horrocks, Joseph Lucas, Perth Gazette, 7 December, 1860, Governor Kennnedy was visiting Gwalla mine. Hubbard, James, Norfolk Circuit, Norwich, The Times, 22 December 1863, p. 10d. Irvine, Peter, 'The Convict M.P: Jabez Balfour’, Portland Souvenir Magazine vol. 94, London, Collins Harvill, Weymouth Library, Dorset, England, pp. 4-8, photocopy. Irwin, Rev. William, 'Notes by the Way, Weekly Record, Western Australia: Its History and Prospects’, Norwoodiana or Sayings and Doings on Route to Western Australia, Nos. 1-11, April to July 1867. Kemp, John, The Book of Weymouth and Portland, Clarke Publications, Dorset, England, 2000. Letch, A. D., 'Advertisement, Day and Night Street Cab Service in Perth', Inquirer, 14 April 1880, Battye Library, Perth, WA, p. 3, microfilm.
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Letch, A. D., 'After twenty years uninterrupted mail service’, Herald, 19 July 1879, Battye Library, Perth, p. 2, col. h, microfilm. Letch, Ada Mary, Inquirer, 13 April 1867 and ‘Register of Births’ in Letch Family Bible held by Maida Brockman, née Letch. Letch, A. D. ‘Contracts for Mails’, The Inquirer and Commercial News, December, 1879. 'The Government have accepted the following tenders for the conveyance of mails for three years. A. D. Letch between Perth and Fremantle for £160 per annum and to carry expresses between Perth and Fremantle and Perth and Guildford for £60 per annum’. Letch, Alfred Daniel, Inquirer, 23 February, 1870, 1904 Legislative Assembly Rolls, North Perth, W. A., p. 73. Letch, Alfred Daniel, Inquirer, 14 April 1880, p. 3. Letch started a cab service around Perth. Letch, Alfred Daniel, Inquirer and Commercial News, 26 March 1879, p. 3. Letch's application for a cab stand in St George’s Terrace was granted. Letch, Alfred Daniel, Inquirer, 26 December 1883, p. 2. Letch's change of Premises to Hay Street. Letch, Alfred Daniel, 'Essex Quarter Sessions: The Baddow Robberies', The Chelmsford Chronicle, Chelmsford Library, Essex, 12 January 1849, back page, columns 1 – 8, microfilm. Letch, Alfred Daniel, His thanks to those who assisted him during the fire in his shop, The West Australian, 29 May 1890, p. 3. Letch, Alfred Daniel, Inquirer, 20. February 1884, Letch sold his coaching business to John Summers. Letch, Alfred Daniel, Inquirer and Commercial News, Battye Library, Perth, 6 March 1872, p. 2a, microfilm. Letch reverting to correct name from DeLeech. Letch, Alfred Daniel, 'Metropolitan Fire Brigade Smoke Social', West Australian, Battye Library, Perth, 27 May 1890, p. 3, microfilm. Letch, Alfred Daniel, 'Obituary', The Inquirer, 1 March 1864, For his stepmother, Mary Letch, who died in Finchingfield, Essex. Letch, A. D., ‘Thanks for twenty three years of support: oldest house of business conducted by the same proprietor', The Inquirer and Commercial News, Battye Library, Perth, W. A., 11 March 1874, p. 11, microfilm. Letch, Alfred, 'Vigilans Et Audax', The Inquirer, 24 April, 1872, p. 3. The fire in Alfred Letch’s Hay Street Shop.
186
Letch, Charles William Essex Letch, Inquirer, 23 February 1870, 1904 Legislative Assembly Rolls, North Perth, p. 73 and also information from Maida Brockman, née Letch, but there is no other information available about his marriage at this stage. Letch, George Abner, 'Commercial Boarding School for Boys’, Inquirer, 24
April, 1872, Advertisement.
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