William Bright

341

Maureen Withey on 1st May 2021

National Archives. Albion 1823. Surgeon’s Medical Journal . ADM 101/1/8B/11823 Folios 5-9: List of 200 convicts embarked on board the ship from HM hulks Leviathan and York, 8 May 1823, (names and details follow), also includes gaoler character references (not recorded below): Folio 5: William Bright, aged 18, convict, trade labourer; born Middlesex, offence, highway robbery; date of conviction 11 September 1822, where convicted, Old Bailey.

221

D Wong on 20th June 2014

11/9/1822: Old Bailey: JAMES GARDNER , WILLIAM BRIGHT , and GEORGE VIGINTON were indicted for feloniously assaulting John Harper , in a field and open place near the King's highway, on the 8th of August , at Edgware, putting him in fear, and taking from his person and against his will, one pair of shoes, value 1 s.; five sovereigns, and eighteen shillings , his property. GARDNER - GUILTY - DEATH . Aged 17. BRIGHT - GUILTY - DEATH . Aged 18. VIGINTON - GUILTY - DEATH . Aged 18. Recommended to Mercy, by the Jury, as they did not appear bad characters. William was 18 years old on arrival, dark grey eyes, light brown hair, 5’7” tall, single. 8/7/1830: CP 3/1/1838: Launceston Quarter Sessions – Colonial sentence – life (2 forged £5 notes) 7/4/1846: TOL 22/5/1847: TOL 26/8/1848: CP 23/8/1856: Launceston Examiner: Returning to Bondage.. – William Bright was charged with misconduct in returning to this colony, having received a pardon in 1848, conditionally upon not being found or, remaining therein: Sentenced to 12 months imprisonment with hard labor. 23/2/1857: Free Pardon 18/9/1858: Committed to trial – Michael O’Brien, alias William Bright for housebreaking at Waterhouse, on the North East Coast, in July last. 12/1/1859: The Courier, Hobart: William Bright, alias O'Brien, was charged with robbing John Yarwood, on the 5th July, at. Cape Portland, of £1 10s., 2 shirts, 2 pairs stockings, 1 handkerchief, a coat, pair of trowsers, and one pair of boots. The robbery was committed under arms. The jury returned a verdict of guilty, but recommended the prisoner to mercy, in consequence of his having used no violence. Upon this recommendation, His Honor, who under other circumstances said he should have passed sentence of death on the prisoner, ordered that to be recorded. 29/2/1872: Launceston Examiner: Last week a man named William Bright was arrested at New Norfolk on a charge of horse-stealing in the Hamilton municipality, and upon him were found several of the articles stolen from the Macquarie Hotel. He managed to escape, however, from the custody of Constable Clemons near Hamilton, and he is now ‘wanted,’ He is a man of about sixty years of age, thin featured, grey, and minus whiskers, a miller by trade. He is supposed to have been recently discharged from Port Arthur. There are other charges against him, we believe. 16/7/1872: Launceston Examiner: William Bright, breaking into the dwelling houses of John Stringer and John Phillips respectively, and stealing therefrom. Eight years imprisonment. 4/12/1874: The Mercury, Hobart: William Bright, who pleaded guilty to breaking into and robbing a house was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. The prisoner was an absconder from Port Arthur, and on hearing his sentence, requested that it be converted into one of death, as the latter would be preferable to life at Port Arthur. 5/8/1876: The Mercury, Hobart: Three more convicts imprisoned in the Campbell street gaol, effected their escape on July 19th. Their names are William Bright, under sentence of nine years imprisonment for housebreaking; Joseph Wamsley, eight years for a similar offence; and James Mullens, three years, also for housebreaking. While at work in the stone-shed Bright evaded the overseer, opened one of the doors with a skeleton key, and ran off, followed by the other two. Several minutes elapsed before their absence was discovered. The district police scoured the bush in the neighbourhood of the city, and a few days afterwards Wamsley was arrested at Sorell Creek, and Bright near New Norfolk. Mullens is still at large, but his ultimate escape is improbable. No date of death found.