Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
John Berry was transported on the Buffalo, departing 28th Sep 1839 and arriving 12th Feb 1840 with 90 passengers.
1833 - Voyage. Transported; 179 Female Convicts and 25 Children 1839 - Voyage. On 28th September 1839, the Ship Buffalo left Quebec, Canada, taking 144 prisoners to Van Diemen’s Land and New South Wales, following the Patriot War in Canada in 1837-38. Some of the prisoners were French Canadians patriots and others were American patriots, captured after the Battle of the Windmill. The Ship went first to Van Diemens Land, arriving at Hobart on 11th February 1840, where most of the American prisoners were landed, and then went on to Sydney, arriving on 26th February 1840, where the 58 French speaking prisoners were landed. They were separated mainly because there was hostility between the Americans from Lower Canada and the Canadians from Upper Canada. The prisoners were in the main, literate, idealistic and honest men.
BuffaloReferences
| Primary Source | Tasmanian onvict Records. Libraries Tasmania's Online collection CON27-1-8 Image 28 |
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Convict Notes
Tasmanian Conduct Record: 3105. John Berry. Buffalo, 12 Feb 1840, Province of Upper Canada, 17 Dec 1838, Life. Transported for Piratical Invasion of Upper Canada. Widower. 16 Nov 1840. Crown. Absence Without leave, Reprimanded. 5 Jan 1841. On probation G. Ponds, Leaving the station without permission and returning with flour in his possession for which he could not account. 3 day Sol. on Bread & W. T.L. 10.2.42. July 5 1842. Exposing his person, Rep. Free pardon, 1 July1845. Tasmanian Appropriation Record: https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON27-1-8$init=CON27-1-8p28 3105. John Berry, 5 ft 10 ¼. Age 42, Ploughman, tried at Upper Canada, life, native of New York State. -------------------------------------------------- GOVERNMENT NOTICE. No. 78. Colonial Secretary's Office, 27th June, 1845. The Queen has been pleased to grant Absolute Pardons to the under-mentioned prisoners, who were convicted at Courts Martial held in Upper Canada, in the years 1838 and 1839, of high treason, and of feloniously invading the Province of Upper Canada, and sentenced to death, but which sentences were commuted to transportation for life: Thomas Baker, Jehiel H. Martin, John Berry, Andrew Moore, Chauncey Bugby, Michael Morin, Michael Fraer, Thomas Stockton, William Gates, Riley M. Stewart, Joseph Leforts, John C. Williams. By His Excellency's Command, J. E. BICHENO. The Courier, 2 July 1845. -------------------------------------------------- Before the Patriot War, John Berry farmed near the present day city of Brockville, Ontario. As he was an ardent reformer, the paranoid Upper Canada government arrested him on the flimsiest changes in the days following the Mackenzie rebellion. Once released, Berry moved to New York State and joined other Canadian refugees in the Hunters Lodge. At age 40, John Berry was older than most men who participated in the Battle of the Windmill. Captured, tried and convicted, he sailed on the Buffalo to Van Diemen’s Land with the other prisoners. After receiving his ticket of leave, Berry worked as a shepherd in a remote district of the island. Pardoned in 1844, Berry remained ignorant of that fact until 1857. Upon hearing of his freedom, Berry arranged working passage on a whaling ship. After several years at sea, he arrived at New York in 1860. Berry travelled across the state to Cape Vincent and took a passage on a steamer headed to Brockville. On board, former Upper Canada Solicitor General William Draper recognised Berry as one of the prisoners he had prosecuted in 1839 after the Battle of the Windmill. Draper apparently shook Berry’s hand and wished him well. Berry arrived at Brockville twenty-two years after he departed at age sixty-one – the last known transportee to come home. Source: The Patriot War Along the Michigan-Canada Border: Raiders and Rebels, By Shaun J. McLaughlin.