Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Jeremiah Corbett 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 263 (134). --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. "Woking Male Invalid Convict Prison" at https://institutionalhistory.com/. |
| 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
IN WA: From his Fremantle jail record: CORBETT, Jeremiah; inmate #9698, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1834 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Stone cutter, soldier Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: New Zealand Crime: Stabbing with intent Sentence Period: 14 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 20 Mar 1872 Certificate of Freedom Date: 24 Mar 1879 Comments: General servant, labourer, miner, fence maker, shepherd, cook (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
5 October, 1867: He was sent from Portsmouth to board the Hougoumont for WA. --00--
27 September, 1867: He was admitted to Portsmouth prison, Cumberland Street, Portsmouth -- inmate #1238. There are no other entries in this record other than his departure (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Jeremiah Corbett; Portsmouth Prison; Registers of Prisoners; 1866-1868). --0--
23 August, 1867: He was sent to Woking prison (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Jeremiah Corbett; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1867). "Woking Male Invalid Convict Prison for male convicts was opened in 1859. This prison, created to manage the ever-increasing demand for a place to house invalided convicts, took in those considered too weak to follow the expected heavy labour associated with general prisons. Those with epilepsy, blindness, mental incapacitation, physical disability and ailments associated with old age, were all held in this new prison. It was felt at the time that the healthy atmosphere and the slightly less rigorous regime, would prevent the decline and death so common for this subset seen in standard gaols... The 1861 census lists the Governor as John Sandham Warren, the deputy Governor Samuel Finnie, a Chaplain, a Chief medical officer, an Assistant Medical Officer and myriad of other warders, schoolmasters, scripture readers, stewards, clerks, porters, and tailors. There was even master shoe makers to instruct inmates in how to carry out their designated work, as well as to teach them skills to be used on their release. The prison was an absolute hive of industry, as it needed to be, as the cost for retaining inmates in the level of comfort provided at the invalid prison, was over double that of prisons elsewhere. Woking Prison as a result, was often referred to as ‘Woking Palace’." (https://institutionalhistory.com/homepage/prisons/major-prisons/woking-prison/) --0--
JAILS: 2 February, 1867: Called Jeremiah Corbett, he was admitted to Millbank prison, Westminster, London, having arrived from New Zealand per the ship Norwood. By this time he had already served 27 months in jail in NZ and aboard the ship. Listed as a stone cutter and formerly a Private, 40th Regiment of Foot, No 3616; now inmate #2899, 30 years old when convicted, single, Roman Catholic, able to read and write imperfectly. Next of kin—no details provided. Previous convictions—1 time at Regimental Court Martial, six at District CsM. Notation: “Parchment copy of discharge attached to caption” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1867). While at Millbank, he would have been held in separate confinement. “After a sentence of transportation [or penal servitude] 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—
COURT MARTIAL: 11 November, 1864: Called James Corbett, he was convicted and sentenced to 14 years’ penal servitude by court martial at Te Awamutu, NZ, for "attempting murder by stabbing a Private with a knife in the neck" (Judge Advocate General’s Office: general courts martial registers, abroad, 1851-1865 at https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1693325007/view). --0--
CORRECTION: Place of court martial was Te Awamutu, NZ. --00--