Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Transportation
William Commey 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 245 (124). --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. --0-- Roscoe, Katy (2018), "Convicts and the sea: the naval influence on Gibraltar Convict Establishment" at https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/carchipelago/2018/07/25/convicts-and-the-sea-the-naval-influen |
| 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
No one has claimed William Commey yet.
Photos
No photos have been added for William Commey.
Convict Notes
From his Fremantle jail record: COMMEY, William; inmate #4777, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Date of Birth: 1833 Date of Death: 16 Jun 1863 Place of Death: Consumption [Died in Fremantle jail hospital.] Occupation: Stonemason Literacy: Illiterate Sentence Place: Newington, Surrey, England Crime: Larceny Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket Leave Date: 31 Jul 1858 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
IN WA: January, 1858: On arrival in WA, William Commey was listed as convict #4777 and all details are as per previous records, with two exceptions: now listed as a stonemason and there is no mention in his physical description of a missing arm or parts of fingers (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department; Estimates and Convict Lists (128/1 - 32)). --0--
September, 1857: Sent from Chatham, #6/1165, to board the Nile for transportation to WA; behaviour on voyage "good" (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). --00--
15 July, 1857: Admitted to Chatham prison in Kent; inmate #1165. --0--
25 March, 1857: Licence revoked (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10373521); returned to Millbank. No details given of the grounds for revocation. --0--
15 December, 1856: William Commey was granted a Licence for Parole (Ticket of Leave) #6717 "for early release from Millbank prison" (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10373521). He was discharged on 19 December. --0--
12 November, 1856: Admitted to Millbank prison, Westminster, London. Listed as inmate #3898, single, illiterate, Protestant; "once transported and sent to Parkhurst Prison from whence he escaped". Behaviour -- Gibraltar "latterly Very Good". Twice convicted, 17 times summarily. This record lists six aliases: James Bulpit, John Bulpit, William Hill, William Reynolds, William Cowney and William Kirney. Total time served to date: 5 years 1 month (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for William Commey, Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; to 1885). --0--
23 October, 1856: He was sent aboard the Golconda, sailing from Gibraltar for England. According to the Peninsular Mail, the "Golconda of London" departed Gibraltar on 24 October carrying "invalids" (Source: Shipping notes for Gibraltar republished in the London Morning Herald, 3 November, 1856, p5). --0--
1853: He was transported to the large Gibraltar work station, most likely in early 1853 (this date is based on his inmate number there and the known arrival dates of other inmates; see below). Gibraltar and Bermuda, along with Portsmouth, Portland and Chatham in England 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). 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 11 AM and 5PM, which they drank from a trough. [vii] 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, 2018). William Commey was listed as inmate #2147, 18 years old when convicted, convicted for larceny with 17 previous convictions (this being his 18th!); born Southward, London; Church of England; brown hair, grey eyes, fair complexion, slight build, 5'5¾"; reads and writes imperfectly; labourer; crucifix inside right arm; missing his left arm, and first joint of third and fourth fingers on his right hand. No indication of when this major injury occurred but presumably it's one, if not the, reason for his return to England, as below (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc. Register of Prisoners). --0--.
JAILS: September, 1851: Held at Hants County Gaol (probably Winchester County Gaol and House of Correction, Romsey Road, at West Hill, Winchester, Hampshire). A subsequent jail record indicates he served 11 months in separate confinement, possibly at Winchester. “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). Wakefield, Millbank, Pentonville and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --0--