Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
William Bannister was transported on the Calcutta, departing 31st Jan 1803 and arriving 4th Oct 1803 with 305 passengers.
HMS Calcutta was the East Indiaman Warley (1795), converted to a Royal Navy ship. This ship of the line served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia. The French Magnanime captured Calcutta in 1805. In 1809, after she ran aground during the Battle of the Basque Roads and her crew had abandoned her, a British boarding party burned her. In 1803 the Calcutta sailed into Port Phillip bay where at least 4 convicts escaped , in Sydney in April 1804 it was reported that 8 had died on the trip. Of the four known escapees one was shot on escape, 2 turned back after 2 days to reattach to the group at the camp in bay before the boat left , one continued on ...into Australia's history books. At least 13 convicts were transferred on to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), Australia.The ship also carried officers, wives and free settlers.
Calcutta (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 87, Class and Piece Number HO11/1, Page Number 334 |
| 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 |
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Convict Notes
Derby Mercury Derbyshire, England 6 May 1802: DERBY, Wednesday May 5 At the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace held for this Borough on Saturday last, William Bannister, convicted of stealing a piece of bacon the property of Charles King, was ordered to be transported, for 7 years. William Bannister was gaoled at Derby and transported in HMS Calcutta in 1802 for stealing bacon, his name does not appear on the Commissariat return of prisoners of 1803-4’, suggesting that he died on the voyage out without it being recorded. Could he have changed his identity in Sydney and stowed away to Norfolk Island in the Pacific, where one William Russell (convicted in Derby on the same date) was at large as a bushranger? 24/11/1805 Sydney Gazette: Among the prisoners brought from Port Dalrymple was William Russell, sent thither a respite. Some hours after the vessel's arrival he contrived his escape, accompanied by two others ; who being diligently pursued by the Police, were re-taken the same evening, he himself eluding search until the morning after. 22/12/1805 Sydney Gazette: NOTICE. THE undermentioned Convicts having absconded from Public Labour at Newcastle and this place, the Inhabitants throughout the Colony are hereby cautioned and forbid from harbouring them: & are also required to give them up to the nearest Magistrate, on pain of being proceeded against with the utmost severity. Joseph Samuels Thomas Graham viz. John M'Carthy alias Hughes Thomas Desmond John Hooper Patrick O'Brian William Page John Murphy William Russell Matthew Lee. By Command of His Excellency, J. Harris, Superintendant of Police. December 1820, William Russell and William Atkins escaped from the Barracks, and left the colony in a boat.
Tasmanian Record : https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON22-1-1p55 Calcutta 1804, Ocean to VDL. William Bannister, tried at Derby (borough) S.P., 3 May 1802, 7 yrs.