Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
Henry Allen was transported on the Hougoumont, departing 10th Oct 1867 and arriving 9th Jan 1868 with 281 passengers.
875 ton ship was built at Moulmein in 1852. http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/on-this-day-in-history-australias-last-convict-ship-docks.htm ---------------------------- Incorrect Image ....This is a four masted steel hulled Barque in the drawing , im surprised Australian Geo didn't do a bit more research on this .......The Hougoumont was a works ship on the Forth Bridge Project in 1885 ....the one potrayed as a drawing in Aust Geo is the later version of this ship.....the photograph i have attached is the correct and original convict vessel. --00-- 1867 "The hired convict ship Hougoumont, which has been taken up by the Government for the conveyance of a numerous party of convicts to Freemantle, Western Australia, left the Nore on October 1, and proceeded down Channel, after receiving on board 150 convicts from the establishments at Chatham and Millbank. The convicts from the Chatham establishment, at St. Mary's, embarked from the dockyard on board the paddle-wheel steamer Adder, Mr. W. J. Blakely, and were in charge of a numerous party of convict guards and wardens, all heavily armed. Among the convicts shipped were a party of fifteen Fenians, who were engaged in the late conspiracy in Ireland, together with the officers and crew convicted of scuttling the ship Severn, and some others who have achieved notoriety from their crimes. The Fenian convicts, like the remainder of the prisoners, were chained together in gangs, but it was observed that they were kept apart from the other convicts in a portion of the vessel by themselves. The steamer Petrel also took down a number of convicts from the establishment at Millbank for shipment on board the Hougoumont, in charge of a strong escort and convict guard. On Tuesday, October 8th, the Hougoumont arrived in Portland roads. Shortly before midday ninety convicts were marched down to the Government pier at Portland under a strong escort of the 12th Light Infantry. The party included twenty-three Fenian convicts, among whom it was said, was Moriarty. The Government steamer employed in the breakwater service was used for conveying the convicts on board the Hougoumont transport ship. The convicts were chained together on embarking, and on board the steamer a strong guard of marines from her Majesty's ship St. George was formed, and saw the convicts safely placed on board the Hougoumont. The Governor of the penal settlement at Freemantle, Captain Young, is on board the Hougoumont, and returns in that ship to his sphere of duty after paying a visit to his native land." Source: Sydney Morning Herald, Thu 19 Dec 1867, p4, English Shipping, available on Trove at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271?searchTerm=hougoumont.
HougoumontReferences
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 93, Class and Piece Number HO11/19, Page Number 238 |
| Source Description | This record is one of the entries in the British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database compiled by State Library of Queensland from British Home Office (HO) records which are available on microfilm as part of the Australian Joint Copying Pro |
| Original Source | Great Britain. Home Office |
| Compiled By | State Library of Queensland |
| Database Source | British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database |
Claims
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Photos
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Convict Notes
FOOTNOTE: Next of kin on his record in the General register is his mother Mary, 84, at Liskeard, Cornwall (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9059-9598 cont., 9599-10128 (R15-R16)).
From "Convicts associated with Toodyay" database: Allen, Henry (1830-1892) 9646 1868-01-09 Hougoumont CWA: Unm; lab; semi lit Prot; robbery prev conv 10 yrs; Toodyay, Vic Plains; gen svt, farm lab. Trove: A Henry Allen (aged 60) died at the Old Mens Home, Perth, on 1 December 1892. Ancestry: WA convict records: General Register for Nos 9059 - 9598 cont., 9599 - 10128 (R15 - R16): P499: 9646 Allen, Henry; Hougoumont. After TOL issued, he was sent to Newcastle, where was based for two days in the Newcastle Depot in late June 1871, then worked for various employers in the Victoria Plains district 1871 to 1873. Received his Certificate of Freedom from RM Newcastle 13 June 1876 (https://www.toodyay.wa.gov.au/). --00--
IN WA: January, 1868: On arrival in WA, some details change for Henry. For example, his age is altered to 38 (older by 4 years than age given in his jail records) and he is pronounced single. From his Fremantle jail record: ALLEN, Henry; inmate #9646, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1830 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Labourer Literacy: Semiliterate Sentence Date: 1866 Sentence Place: Bodmin Crime: Robbery Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 23 Jun 1871 Certificate of Freedom Date: 13 Jun 1876 Comments: Conditional Release 1873. General servant, farm labourer (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --0--
8 October, 1867: Sent from Portland to board the Hougoumont for transportation to WA (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department; Registers (128/40 - 43)) --00--
27 December, 1866: Admitted to Portland prison, Grove Road, Portland, Dorset; behaviour “good”. Portland, Portsmouth, Chatham and Spike Island in Ireland were listed public works stations and the second stage in the penal process. After separate confinement, prisoners were “placed on work parties at various locations, most commonly naval stations, where maintenance of facilities was vital for the effective protection of Britain’s far flung commercial and military influences around the world. While there, attitude and behaviour were monitored closely. In theory, only after consistently positive reports was a prisoner moved on to the third stage of his incarceration—transportation.” (Edgar, p40) --0--
3 May, 1866: Admitted to Millbank prison, Westminster, London -- served 7 months 21 days in separate confinement. Listed as inmate #1938; labourer, aged 34 when convicted, able to read only, married with 2 children to Mary Allen; Church of England (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Henry Allen; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1865-1866). --0--
JAILS: March, 1866: Admitted to Bodmin County Gaol and House of Correction, Berrycoombe Road, Bodmin, Cornwall -- served 1 month 16 days in separate confinement. “After a sentence of transportation was handed down, the prisoner entered into a separate stage where he was placed into an individual cell, isolated from others, apart from brief periods of exercise and attendance at chapel. However, no communication of any kind with other prisoners was permitted at any time. The philosophy behind this penal methodology had its provenances in the religious, monastic traditions; i.e., that in the isolation of his cell the malefactor would be able to contemplate the errors of his way, unadulterated by the negative influences of former contemporaries, and be reformed.” (Edgar, 2018, pp39-40) When first put into practice, the mandated period of separate confinement was 18 months. By the late 1840s, authorities had conceded that such conditions of imprisonment were “injurious to many prisoners’ mental health” and the stint was reduced to 12 months. Periods of separate confinement were reduced further “as a prisoner displayed good behaviour tendencies” (Edgar, p40). Millbank, Pentonville, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. —0—
NEWSPAPER report of his trial: 22 March: Royal Cornwall Gazette, p8: "Wednesday... Highway Robbery at St. Ives. HENRY ALLEN, 34, labourer, was charged with feloniously assaulting John Smitherson, at the parish of St. Ives, October 18th, and putting him in bodily fear and danger of his life, and stealing from his person a purse containing two sovereigns, two half-sovereigns, and some silver. Mr Clarke prosecuted, and the prisoner was undefended. The prosecutor was pulled off his horse and most barbarously treated by the prisoner. The prisoner said he was not the man who committed the robbery but the case was clearly proved to the satisfaction of the jury, who found the prisoner guilty. Previous convictions were also proved against him, and he was sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude" (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/). --0--
TRIAL: 17 March, 1866: Convicted at the Bodmin Assizes, Cornwall, and sentenced to 10 years' penal servitude for robbery and assault, with previous convictions. Note: Those previous convictions include: 1855 deserting his wife and family (prison 1 month); 1858 housebreaking (4 years' penal servitude); and 1862 larceny (4 years' penal servitude) (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9059-9598 cont., 9599-10128 (R15-R16)). --00--