Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
James Busfield 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 253 (129) |
| 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
DEATH: James Busfield died at the Mount Eliza Invalid Depot, Mounts Bay Road, Perth, according to his Fremantle jail record. The Depot was also known as the Old Men's Depot, the Mt Eliza Depot, the Mt Eliza Poorhouse, and the Aged asylum. For a photograph of the complex, see https://purl.slwa.wa.gov.au/slwa_b2143635_2. According to WABDM records, a James Bushfield, aged 74, died in 1901, reg no. 1710. This certainly tallies with his DoB of 1827 (https://bdm.justice.wa.gov.au/). --00--
OTHER: 1 March, 1882 -- from the Inquirer and Commercial News (Perth), p2: "COMMERCIAL SHIPPING REPORT SAILED...February 25. DOLPHIN, barque, 344 tons, Lewellin, for Port Adelaide. Passengers — James Bushfield [sic], Bedford, and Chapman. T. & H. Carter & Co., agents." The Dolphin arrived in Melbourne on 25 March, 1882, from Fremantle (Inquirer and Commercial News, 5 April, 1882, p2). --0--
From his Fremantle jail record: BUSFIELD, James; inmate #9676, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1827 Place of Death: Mount Eliza Marital Status: Married Occupation: Groom Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Bradford Crime: Larceny Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 3 Jun 1871 Certificate of Freedom Date: 27 Sep 1876 Comments: General servant, labourer, self-employed, 1876. To Victoria, 25 Feb 1882, returned to Western Australia (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
IN WA: 10 January, 1868: On arrival, he was listed as #9676, a groom, aged 39, Protestant, married with no children; next of kin -- his wife, Sarah, 38, c/- George Knowles, "Toll Bar Inn", Manchester (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department; Registers (128/40 - 43); and Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9059-9598 cont., 9599-10128 (R15-R16)). --0--
30 September, 1867: There are no freely available records for his jail time prior to his being sent from Chatham prison, at St Mary's, for embarkation on the Hougoumont. “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 [anchorage in the Thames estuary] 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..." (Sydney Morning Herald, 19 December, 1867, p4, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271). --0--
16 May, 1866: James Busfield, 40, a dyer, able to read and write imperfectly, was admitted to Wakefield jail awaiting trial on a charge of larceny (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for James Busfield; Wakefield Gaol; Calendar of Trials; 1882-1886). --0--
JAILS: 30 March, 1866: While serving time for the 1863 conviction, James Busfield received a Licence for Parole (Ticket of Leave) for early release from Millbank prison, Westminster, London (this notation appears on his Wakefield jail record, below). --0--
Newspaper report of the trial: From the Bradford Observer, 31 May 1866, p7: "Mr. F. Wormald presided in the second court. The following are the results of the trials: Ten years' penal servitude. — James Busfield (40), stealing stuff piece, the property of Messrs. J. Reffit [sic], dyers..." --00--
INDICTMENT: James Busfield, labourer from Wakefield, and James Knowles, also a labourer from Wakefield, were indicted for stealing 56 yards of Orleans cloth belonging to James Reffet at Bradford on 9 May, 1866 (Yorkshire, England, Quarter Session Records, 1637-1914 for James Busfield; Wakefield; Indictment; 1866 - 1867). Both men pleaded guilty. James Busfield was sentenced to seven years' penal servitude with a previous conviction for felony (receiving stolen property -- trousers, a waistcoat and handkerchief), handed down at Leeds in October 1863, taken into account (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for James Busfield; England; Yorkshire - West Riding; 1866). --0--