Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
Richard Callan 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. --00-- http://foundersandsurvivors.org/pubsearch/convict/chain/ai10243. --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
Prisoner discharged from H M Gaols, weeks ending 11 & 15 May 1872. Richard Cullen from Launceston, per St Vincent, tried at Longford on 9 Feb 1872 for larceny and served 3 months, native Yorkshire, 45 yrs, 5 feet 3 inches high, sandy hair, R.C. on right arm. Tasmania Police Gazette, 17th May 1872, p83.
WHAT BECAME OF THE OTHER THREE CO-ACCUSED? George Buckley was the first to arrive in VDL, per Maria Somes, in 1850. See his bio at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/buckley/george/13703. Benjamin Haigh was also transported to VDL, on the St Vincent. See his bio at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/haigh/benjamin/4518. David Casey appears to have served his time in prison in England. He was held aboard the Stirling Castle hulk, Portsmouth, listed as prisoner #2468, a weaver aged 27, single, born City of Cork. On 24 January, 1849, he was sent to the notorious Millbank prison in Pimlico, London (Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for David Casey; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1854-1865) After that, the trail goes cold.
BURIAL: 5 August, 1891: At Cornelian Bay Cemetery, Richard Callan, #83265, aged 69 years, Church of Rome, late of the New Town Charitable Institution, a pauper, was buried. The service was performed by Rev Gilleran. He was buried in a pauper’s grave, no. 207A (Register of Burials at https://stors.tas.gov.au/AF35-1-1$init=AF35-1-1P252J2K). --0—
DEATH: 2 August, 1891: Richard Callan, 69, a bricklayer born in Ireland, died from senile decay at the New Town Charitable Institution (https://stors.tas.gov.au/RGD35-1-13p76j2k). --0--
HEALTH & WELFARE: During the last six years of his life, Richard CALLAN/CULLAN was admitted several times to invalid depots and, finally, the New Town Charitable Institute. He appears variously on these registers as Callan, Callen and Callon. 30 Jan 1885 to 31 Aug 1885: Launceston Invalid Depot – discharged at own request, able to work. 5 Jan 1886 to 01 Apr 1887: Campbell Town Invalid Depot – discharged to police. 30 Apr 1887 to 05 May 1887: Sent from Launceston to New Town Invalid Depot. 7 May 1887 to 11 Oct 1887: Hobart, discharged at own request. 6 Feb 1888 to 21 Jan 1889: Hobart, unable to work. 3 Apr 1889 to 15 Oct 1889: Hobart, absent on pass. 17 Oct 1889 to 04 Nov 1890: Hobart, discharged at own request (https://stors.tas.gov.au/POL709-1-23$init=POL709-1-23_1890p199). --00—
28 August, 1855: Richard Cullan received his Conditional Pardon. For further details see his VDL Conduct record at https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p39 and his Indent record at https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON14-1-47$init=CON14-1-47_00148_L. --00--
IN VDL: 26 May, 1853: On arrival in VDL, Richard CULLAN [sic] was listed as convict #27884, a stonemason, 31 years old, 5’3” tall with dark brown hair, light blue eyes and a fair complexion. He was single, Roman Catholic, and literate. Native place – Ireland, brought up in Leeds. He said he had been transported for “highway robbery, nothing taken”; previous conviction for burglary (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p39). Family: Mother Ellen; brothers William and James and sister Dorah at Leeds (http://foundersandsurvivors.org/pubsearch/convict/chain/ai10243). --0--
On Gibraltar, Richard Callan was described as 28 years old when convicted, sentenced to 15 years for “robbery with others and with violence after previous conviction”; once previously convicted for felony, four times charged; born in Carrick on Suir, Ireland; Catholic; brown hair, grey eyes and fair complexion, 5’3” tall; literate; labourer; single; relatives/family – at Leeds (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: 25 January, 1849: CALLAN, RICHARD #1311, arrived on Gibraltar from the Stirling Castle hulk at Portsmouth per Appoline. He was held on the Europa hulk (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). --0--