Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
James Bradley was transported on the St Vincent, departing 28th Dec 1852 and arriving 26th May 1853 with 214 passengers.
St Vincent (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 92, Class and Piece Number HO11/17, Page Number 632. --0-- Roscoe, Katy (2018), “Convicts and the Sea: the naval influence on Gibraltar Convict Establishment” at https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/ |
| 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
TO VDL: 26 May, 1853: On arrival in VDL, JAMES BRADLEY was listed as convict #27866, a knife grinder, 30 years old, 5’5” tall with dark brown hair, grey eyes and a dark complexion. He was a widower, Protestant, and literate. He said he had been transported for highway robbery – stealing a watch; previous conviction for stealing a watch (1 month) (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p20). Family: Father William; mother Martha; brothers George and William; sisters Alice and Eliza – all at his native place, Sheffield (http://foundersandsurvivors.org/pubsearch/convict/chain/ai06555). Note: George was a transportee by this time. He had arrived in VDL 3 months ahead of James, per the Oriental Queen on 19 February. See his bio at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/bradley/george/10740. George's family details also include other siblings not on James Bradley's record. For further details of James Bradley’s VDL Conduct record, see https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p20, and his Indent record at https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON14-1-47$init=CON14-1-47_00140_L. --00—
On Gibraltar, JAMES BRADLEY was listed as 23 years old when convicted, sentenced to 15 years for “larceny from the person”; once convicted for felony; born in Sheffield; Church of England; brown to grey hair, grey eyes and dark complexion, 5’5½” tall; literate; a cutler; widower; relatives/family – living at Grimesthorpe (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). --0-- 3 February, 1853: Sent aboard the St Vincent for transportation to VDL. --00--
Gibraltar and Bermuda were listed public works stations (and the second stage in the penal process). On Gibraltar, as “convicts worked together with free men on the dockyards, lines between them became blurred. Convicts, like seamen, were ‘easily recognised’ by ‘their swarthy, weather beaten complexions…[and] muscular well-knit frames’. The discipline on the penal settlement was also influenced by the naval department, who superintended part of the works. In the 1840s, for example, convicts were provided ‘a half gill of rum’ at 11am and 5pm, which they drank from a trough. This mirrored the daily allowance of diluted rum, known as grog, to Royal Naval seamen in the Victorian era. Convicts were also allowed to use part of their earnings, to buy goods, usually tobacco, which they were allowed to smoke in the evening in the barracks. Though official correspondence cited health reasons for grog allowance, it seems likely that the convict authorities feared insubordination if they were banned from drinking and smoking, which were provided to the sappers and dockyard workers whom they worked alongside… In 1854, the acting overseer stated that “half of the offences were committed when the men were excited by rum”. For more serious offences, convicts were flogged with a ‘cat o’nine tails’ whip against the ‘flogging mast’, and during an investigation Dr William Baly concluded that the whip which was used was an old naval cat, which was ‘much heavier than any now used in the government prison and hulks at home, or in the army.’” (Roscoe, Katy (2018), “Convicts and the Sea: the naval influence on Gibraltar Convict Establishment” at https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/). --0--
TO GIBRALTAR: 4 March, 1851: BRADLEY, JAMES #1600, arrived on Gibraltar from England per Cornwall. He was held on the Europa hulk (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). --
24 July, 1847: “The Sheffield Murder. James Bradley and George Bradley, who were acquitted on Wednesday, for the murder of Mr. Riley, at Sheffield, were then arraigned for having robbed him of a watch and some silver. — Mr. Serjeant Will stated the facts of the case, as regards the robbery, which we have already given in our report of Wednesday’s proceedings. After the case had been concluded, the jury returned a verdict of Guilty against both the prisoners. The learned judge then passed the extremest sentence that the law allows—transportation for fifteen years. —James Bradley [said]: ‘That’s nowt.’” (Shipping and Mercantile Gazette, p4, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/). —00—
23 July, 1847: “George Bradley, aged 26, and James Bradley, aged 23, two brothers, were indicted for having, on the 12th of January last, at the borough of Sheffield, feloniously and maliciously killed and murdered John Riley [a tobacconist, aged 44]. There was another indictment against the same men for having, on the same occasion, robbed the deceased, John Riley, of a silver watch, eleven shillings, and a fourpenny piece ... “This was a lengthened case, occupying the whole day. The deceased had been a tobacconist, in Waingate, Sheffield, and it appeared that on the night in question, after leaving his shop at about half-past nine, he went to an inn [Cattle Market Inn] with a friend. In the course of the night he became intoxicated, and on his way home [to Broom Lees, on the Grimesthorpe Road] at about midnight had evidently been robbed [at a place called Burger’s Gate]. He also received several severe injuries on the head and other parts of the body. “There was at least good reason to suspect, from the evidence against the prisoners touching the possession of the property, that they had been concerned in the personal violence, from the effects of which deceased had died on the following Saturday. The prisoners were, however, both acquitted; but they are still to be again tried upon the charge of robbing Mr. Riley on the occasion of the supposed murder.” (London Evening Standard, p4, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) —0—
NEWSPAPER REPORTS OF TRIAL CALENDAR & TRIAL: 10 July, 1847: “George Bradley, 26, and James Bradley, 23, charged with having, at Sheffield, feloniously and maliciously murdered and robbed John Riley.” (Yorkshire Gazette, p3, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/). 10 July, 1847: “George Bradley, 26, and James Bradley, 23, charged with having, at Sheffield, feloniously and maliciously robbed John Riley.” (Halifax Guardian, p3, https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) As the newspaper coverage above shows, there were two separate indictments against the men – one for murder and robbery and the other for robbery – and they were tried on both indictments. —0—
TRIAL: 10 July, 1847: James Bradley, 23, and George Bradley, 26, were convicted at York County Assizes and sentenced to 15 years for larceny from the person (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for James Bradley; England; Yorkshire - North Riding; 1847). —0—