Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Henry Birch 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 252. --0-- Edgar, W. (Bill) (2018), “The precarious voyage of her majesty’s convict ship ‘Nile’ to the Swan River colony, late 1857 – and the unexpected aftermath.” The Great Circle, 40(1), 20–43. |
| 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
From his FREMANTLE jail record: BIRCH, Henry; inmate #9667, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1827 Marital Status: Unmarried Literacy: Semiliterate Sentence Place: Birmingham Crime: Felony Sentence Period: 12 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 20 Mar 1872 Comments: Conditional Release 22 Dec 1874, Champion Bay. Quarrier, wood cutter, labourer, general servant, hutkeeper (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --0--
IN WA: 10 January, 1868: On arrival, he was listed as #9667, with no trade, aged 37, single, able to read and write a little, no friends/relatives; he arrived with a "very good" rating for behaviour. This records also details two previous convictions: April 1852 -- stealing 90 shawls (10 years' transportation); and June 1858 -- stealing a leg of mutton (6 years' penal servitude) (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9059-9598 cont., 9599-10128 (R15-R16)). --0--
5 October, 1867: He was sent to board the Hougoumont for transportation to WA (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Henry Birch; Portsmouth Prison; Registers of Prisoners; 1866-1868). --00--
27 September, 1867: Admitted to PORTSMOUTH prison, Cumberland Street, Portsmouth, Hampshire -- inmate 1231. Listed as Henry Birch, also called Henry Beach, also called George Wilson (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Henry Birch; Portsmouth Prison; Registers of Prisoners; 1866-1868). --0--
31 October, 1866: Admitted to WOKING prison, Knaphill, Woking, Surrey -- inmate #2921; a hawker, 35 years old when convicted; minimum period to be served 16 December, 1874 (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Henry Birch; Woking Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1854-1878). Woking was opened in April 1859, "primarily for invalided male convicts, and by March 1860 had taken over entirely from the temporary invalid prison at Lewes. Between 1862 and 1867, Woking was responsible for the working party sent to labour for the construction of Broadmoor Criminal Asylum"(https://www.prisonhistory.org/). His WA Convict record sheds some light on his admission to an invalid prison. It states he suffers from "bronchitis and tubercle", the latter being "a small nodular lesion in the lungs or other tissues, characteristic of tuberculosis"(Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9059-9598 cont., 9599-10128 (R15-R16)). --0--
JAILS: 1865-1866: Held at WAKEFIELD prison, also called West Riding House of Correction, Love Lane, Wakefield. “After a sentence of transportation [or penal servitude] 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). Wakefield, Millbank, Pentonville and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --0--
Newspaper report of his trial: From the Birmingham Daily Post, 12 October, 1865, p7: "Stealing Cigars. — Henry Birch (35), hawker, was charged with breaking into the warehouse of Mr. S. A. Goddard, merchant, Friday Bridge, and stealing 401bs. weight of cigars; and James Spratt (37), retail brewer, and Benjamin Broadfield (44), snuffer maker, were charged with feloniously receiving the same, knowing them to have been stolen..." Benjamin Broadfield was convicted of receiving and sentenced to 18 calendar months' jail, while James Spratt was sentenced to the same jail term for warehousebreaking (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for Henry Birch; England; Warwickshire; 1865). A snuffer maker produced candle snuffers, according to the Dictionary of Old Occupations. "These may have been the small metal cup variety used to smother the flame, or a scissor-like tool which was used to trim candle wicks" (https://www.familyresearcher.co.uk/). --0--
TRIAL: 11 October, 1865: Henry Birch was tried at the Birmingham Quarter Sessions, convicted and sentenced to 12 years' penal servitude for warehousebreaking, with a previous conviction for felony taken into account (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for Henry Birch; England; Warwickshire; 1865). --0--