Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
Horace Cooley was transported on the Buffalo, departing 28th Sep 1839 and arriving 12th Feb 1840 with 90 passengers.
1833 - Voyage. Transported; 179 Female Convicts and 25 Children 1839 - Voyage. On 28th September 1839, the Ship Buffalo left Quebec, Canada, taking 144 prisoners to Van Diemen’s Land and New South Wales, following the Patriot War in Canada in 1837-38. Some of the prisoners were French Canadians patriots and others were American patriots, captured after the Battle of the Windmill. The Ship went first to Van Diemens Land, arriving at Hobart on 11th February 1840, where most of the American prisoners were landed, and then went on to Sydney, arriving on 26th February 1840, where the 58 French speaking prisoners were landed. They were separated mainly because there was hostility between the Americans from Lower Canada and the Canadians from Upper Canada. The prisoners were in the main, literate, idealistic and honest men.
BuffaloReferences
| Primary Source | Tasmanian Convict Records. Libraries Tasmania's Online collection CON27-1-8 Image 28 |
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Convict Notes
Tasmanian Conduct Record, https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON31-1-8$init=CON31-1-8p83 2575. Horace Cooley. Buffalo, 12 Feb 1840, Province of Upper Canada, 26 Sept 1838, Life. Transported for Burglary. No gaol or hulk report received. Stated this offence, Burglary. Married, Wife Siptha at Michigan. June 9 1840. (S. Bay Party /Absconding) To be removed to Port Arthur and there held to hard labor for 2 years and recommd to be worked by himself. Approved Port Arthur under this sentence and conduct to be specially reported. Vide Lt. gov’s decision, 5 June 1800. T. of L. 24/5/44. Recommended for a Cond. Pardon 6/6/48. Approved, 4/12/49. -------------------------------------------------- Tasmanian Convict Appropriation record. https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON27-1-8$init=CON27-1-8p28 Horace Cooley, 5 ft 6. age 25, Ploughman, tried at Upper Canada, life, native of Pennsylvania. -------------------------------------------------- From “The Patriot War along the Michigan-Canada Border: Raiders and Rebels”, by Shaun J. McLaughlin. Horace Cooley and three other exiled Patriots, Michael Morin, William Reynolds and Jacob Paddock – escaped from Sandy Bay Probation Station after being on the island for just four months. Search parties found them three weeks later suffering from severe hunger. As punishment, the convict superintendent sent them to Port Arthur for two years. -------------------------------------------------- Although listed as transported for Burglary, Horace Cooley was transported for his role in a raid near the St Clair river. Source: The Patriot War Along the Michigan-Canada Border: Raiders and Rebels, By Shaun J. McLaughlin. -------------------------------------------------- From an article in The Windsor Star, March 16, 2014. By John C. Carter. Headlines in the July 10, 1838 edition of the Sandwich Western Herald proclaimed the following: “Piratical Doings on the River St. Clair.” In his paper, editor Henry Grant vividly portrayed an attack made upon Sombra on June 28, by what he called “Pirates-Rebels.” This was one of at least 13 invasions into Canada from the United States made between December 1837 and December 1838 by members of the Patriot Army. Four of these incursions constituted the often overlooked St. Clair Raids. …The Moore Militia marched to Nugent’s Inn and arrested 6 men. Those incarcerated included Canadian citizen Horace Cooley. He had previously been in prison on a charge of carrying messages between the Patriots in Michigan and discontented residents in Upper Canada. ...In the aftermath of the St. Clair Raids, 11 captured Patriots were eventually tried before the Court of the King’s Bench in Sandwich, U.C. Charles Bowerman and Horace Cooley were found guilty of burglary and sentenced to hang. Their executions were later commuted. Only Cooley was transported to the penal colony of Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania). He was accompanied by 92 Patriot colleagues, sent there as political prisoners for their involvement in the 1838 Upper Canadian rebellion. After an escape attempt, Cooley was delivered as a second offender to the notorious penal settlement at Port Arthur. On receiving his pardon Cooley remained in Tasmania, never to return to his home in London, U.C. The Windsor Star, March 16, 2014.