Summary
Personal Information
Transportation
James Chambers was transported on the Nile, departing 18th Sep 1857 and arriving 1st Jan 1858 with 271 passengers.
Nile (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 93, Class and Piece Number HO11/18, Page Number 246. --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. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26783779 |
| 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
FOOTNOTE 2: John Taylor was also transported to WA on the Nile. See his bio at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/taylor/john/59246 ==00==
FOOTNOTE: From the ‘News of the World’, March 30, 1856, p.7: “MIDLAND CIRCUIT Burglary in Birmingham. James Chambers, retail brewer, Charles Brown, brass founder, Samuel Stephens, spoon polisher, Samuel Harris, labourer, William Finnemore, alias William Jones, brass founder, and John Taylor, all of Birmingham, were charged with having burglariously entered the house of Mr Henry Burbidge and stolen therein the sum of £140 and an iron chest containing several ledgers. Mr Burbidge is a corn dealer and seedsman in Bradford Street, Birmingham. His premises were entered by one of the first floor windows and a large iron safe, which contained the money and property, was removed from the warehouse. The chest was partly built in the wall and consequently the burglars must have experienced considerable difficulty in its removal. It was ascertained that about five o’clock on the morning of the robbery, a hand cart with some heavy body upon it, was taken into the Bricklayers’ Arms, Adderley Street - the house kept by the prisoner Chambers; that immediately afterwards, a noise was heard as if some iron boiler were hammered up; that on a man named Neale looking into the yard, he saw the prisoner Brown sweeping away the track marks of the hand cart; that on Neale’s wife going into the yard towards seven o’clock, she saw that the hand cart contained an iron chest; that the prisoners Brown, Harris, and Taylor were afterwards seen to leave the yard with this cart; that having gone to the canal near Trinity Chapel, a splash in the water was heard by a boatman; and that in the canal the safe, emptied of the money, but having yet valuable books and papers in it, was afterwards found. The door of the chest looked as though it had been broken open with a sledge-hammer. An attempt was made to damage the evidence for the prosecution, but it failed and all the prisoners were found guilty. Chambers, Brown and Taylor were sentenced to fourteen years’ transportation. Stephens, Finnemore and Harris to eighteen months’ imprisonment.” (Western Australian Convicts at http://www.perthdps.com/convicts/w4528.htm) --00--
IN WA: From his Fremantle jail record: CHAMBERS, James; #4665, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile [His convict number is sometimes given as #4666 in the WA records. It's the number assigned to William Jones who was also transported on the Nile.] Alias: TURNER, MORE, WARE Date of Birth: 1822 Marital Status: Widower Occupation: Labourer [also listed in some records as a farmer; and in pre-transportation records as a brewer.] Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Warwick, Warwick, England Crime: Burglary Sentence Period: 14 years Ticket of Leave Date: 10 May 1859 Conditional Pardon Date: 18 Aug 1861 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/).
Charles Brown and James Chambers were reunited aboard the Nile. See Charles Brown's bio at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/brown/charles/59010.
He was sent from Chatham, convict #34/952, to board the Nile for transportation to WA. His conduct in separate confinement and public works prisons was "good" (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Convicts Transported Per Nile (R32)). --00--
6 May, 1857: James Chambers was admitted to Chatham prison on St Mary’s Island, Chatham, Kent. Listed as inmate #952, 34 [when convicted], a brewer and illiterate; all others details as per his previous records. Chatham, Portland, Portsmouth and Spike Island in Ireland were listed public works stations and the second stage in the penal process. After separate confinement, prisoners were “placed on work parties at various locations, most commonly naval stations, where maintenance of facilities was vital for the effective protection of Britain’s far flung commercial and military influences around the world. While there, attitude and behaviour were monitored closely. In theory, only after consistently positive reports was a prisoner moved on to the third stage of his incarceration—transportation.” (Edgar, p40) --0--
17 June, 1856: He was admitted to Millbank prison; inmate #2828, a widower, Protestant, able to read and write imperfectly. Next of Kin -- his brother, not named, a brewer of Coventry Road, Birmingham. At Millbank, he served 10 months 19 days in separate confinement and his behaviour was listed as "good". Charles Brown was also in Millbank but the pair was separated when Brown was transferred to Portland in March, 1857. --0--
JAILS: Warwick County gaol -- James Chambers served 2 months 6 days that included 16 days in separate confinement. “After a sentence of transportation 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). Millbank, Pentonville, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --0--
TRIAL: 20 March, 1856: James Chambers, 34, and Charles Brown, 44, were convicted for burglary at Warwick Assizes. Both were sentenced to 14 years' transportation (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892; England; Warwickshire 1856). --00--