Thomas Berwick

1867, 28 January: Tried at the Old Bailey — Case # 244 — CHARLES WILLIAM LEE WEBB (20) was indicted for feloniously casting away the ship Severn, with intent to defraud; and THOMAS BERWICK (42), LIONEL HOLDSWORTH (41), and JOSEPH STANSFIELD DEAN (42) were charged as accessories before and after the fact. Verdict: WEBB — GUILTY. Ten Years’ Penal Servitude. BERWICK and HOLDSWORTH — GUILTY. Twenty Years each in Penal Servitude. DEAN — GUILTY. Strongly recommended to mercy by the Jury, he being much under the influence of Holdsworth — Five Years’ Penal Servitude (see http://www.oldbaileyonline.org). —00—

1867, 11 May: From the Freeman’s Journal, p5: ENGLISH HONESTY. The trial of the men who were charged with scuttling the ship Severn was concluded on Monday. All the prisoners were found guilty. The jury recommended Deane to mercy on the ground that he had been under the influence of Holdsworth. The judge sentenced Holdsworth and Berwick each to twenty years’ penal servitude, Webb to ten years’ penal servitude, and Deane to five years’ penal servitude. The story of the Severn is well worth the telling. It is a striking illustration of the theme which we lately had occasion to comment on — British commercial honesty. The Holdsworth and Berwick mentioned above are men who held a position in which one expects a certain amount of honour; but the story told at the trial by the master of the Severn certainly deprives them of any claim to such a character. It seems that they have for some time been suspected of tricks somewhat similar to that on which they have been charged and found guilty. The Severn was bought by the prisoners Holdsworth and Berwick — Deane, a third prisoner, acting as clerk to the former, and having a guilty knowledge of what was going on — and they, gave a person named Ward £50 to register her in his name. Then Holdsworth got hold of the master, Layland, who must have had a certain reputation, we may presume from that fact; offered him the command of the ship, had him to dinner, told him there was to be an eccentric mate on board — the fourth prisoner, Webb — that he was on no account to be interfered with, whatever form his eccentricity took; and that if the vessel proved as eccentric as the mate, and its eccentricity took the form of never proceeding to Shanghai, it should be £700 in the master’s pocket. Most men would rather have protested against such a scheme at that little dinner party, than have testified against it long after at the Old Bailey. But perhaps Captain Layland is in his way as eccentric as the mate with whom he was not to interfere. They went to sea together in the good ship Severn on the 15th of May, the chief owner having also advised the commander to insure his personal effects for £200. As for himself and partner, they had insured the ship and cargo for £17,000 though the utmost real value was not more than £7,000 or £8,000. They had not been long at sea when Webb’s eccentricity detained him a good deal in his cabin, and soon after this the ship sprang a leak. It was known that Webb had taken augers into the cabin with him, and suspicion was excited. Webb did not check it in the least. Secure of “not being interfered with”, he told the captain that he had bored a hole in the ship’s skin, and that as the plug he was putting in it had broken, events were hastening more quickly than he had expected. The Captain almost interfered with Webb under these circumstances, and Webb went down as if to stop the leak; but he came back saying that the hold was flooded and nothing could be done. The captain, being a man of much self-restraint, told his mate he was mad, and would drown every man in the ship, but confined him self to these observations, keeping the men, however, at the pumps. Next morning the sailors asked to be allowed to take to the boats. The captain could not find it in his heart to refuse them. As one of the boats passed under the stern of the Severn, the men saw the holes Webb had made from within, with fresh splinters sticking out from them. Webb said he could buy over the whole crew; but we have already seen that Captain Layland was a man of delicate susceptibilities. “Rather would he go down with the ship than face the exposure.” But he did not. Yielding reluctantly to the persuasions of the boatswain and the carpenter, this worthy man — this fine example of a tar — got into one of the boats after all, and the Severn was left to go down alone. Source: Trove - https://trove.nla.gov.au

1868, 10 January: On arrival in WA, Thomas Berwick was listed as 43 years old, and a master mariner; married, with seven children (see Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department Registers (128/40 - 43)). This record also contains his physical description.

Additional information from the Fremantle Prison Convict database at https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/history/convict-database/: BERWICK, Thomas Convict #9664 10 Jan 1868 Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1824 Date of Death: 14 Oct 1891 Marital Status: Married 7 children Occupation: Master mariner Literacy: Literate Crime: Scuttling a vessel Sentence Period: 20 years Ticket of Leave Date: 22 Nov 1875 Comments: Conditional Release 30 Jun 1881, Fremantle. General servant, cook, self-employed, 4 Jan 1876, 31 Dec 1877-30 Jun 1878, Perth. Tutor for government, Jarrahdale. --00--

Death: This story was published in the West Australian, 15 October, 1891, p4: "NEWS AND NOTES... A MAN named Thomas Berwick was found dead in his bed at Jarrahdale yesterday morning. The deceased, who was in his 47th year, was a schoolmaster, and resided for some time past at Jarrahdale. Heart disease is supposed to have been the cause of death." His reported age at death does not correspond with the several records from his trial, conviction and transportation to WA.