Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Thomas Crush was transported on the Thomas Arbuthnot, departing 6th Jan 1847 and arriving 4th May 1847 with 289 passengers.
Built 1841 at Aberdeen, Scotland. Wood ship of 621 Tons. Thomas Arbuthnot, 1847. “The Thomas Arbuthnot convict ship, Captain Thomson, sailed from Spithead this morning for Port Phillip, with a superior class of delinquents, officially called “exiles.” These are the first “exiles” sent to the above settlement, which the inhabitants of that respectable place are very wroth at, and have memorialised the Government on the subject. The most ingenious trades and professions are carried on, on board this ship; in fact, we believe, all trades in vogue have their representatives on board. The most ingenious affair, however, is a newspaper in manuscript, published every Saturday, having its foreign and domestic correspondence, advertisements, and, indeed, all the necessary accessories to an apparently well-conducted journal. The articles are well written and the arrangements well made. The name of this paper is the Citadel, and the conductors dub the captain of the ship ” the governor.” The Citadel having no opponents enjoys a large circulation. The editor is a man who has been of considerable note in the legitimate literary world; but all names and circumstances in connexion with their present position is strictly preserved secret with regard to these “exiles,” the greatest majority of whom are juvenile offenders from Millbank, Pentonville, and Parkhurst (Isle of Wight) prisons.”—Times, January 12. Published in the Launceston Examiner, 2 June 1847. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/36252218?searchTerm=Thomas Arbuthnot There was a lot of public criticism of the arrival of these “Exiles” in New South Wales, and of their treatment, by being offered training, etc, to the detriment of honest but poor labourers.
Thomas Arbuthnot (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 92, Class and Piece Number HO11/15, Page Number 144 |
| 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
There are a number of Memorial Notices in The Age, (Melbourne), 25 Sep 1896, to Sarah Ann Crush, who died at Collingwood on 25 September 1895, from her husband, sons and daughters, and grandchildren. Eldest sons, named William and Joseph, also a son C.C. and grandchildren Charlotte and Elizabeth Crush.
CRUSH.—On the 29th February, at corner Budd and Easey streets, Collingwood, Thomas George Crush, aged 89. A colonist of 60 years. Interred privately by request. The Age, (Melbourne) 2 Mar 1908.
ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. CHELMSFORD, March 6. The Game Laws. Thomas Crush, aged 23, and Thomas Bastick, aged 30, were indicted for having, with other persons, some of them armed with guns and other offensive weapons, unlawfully entered a wood the property. a wood the property of Lord Petre, Mountnessing, for the purpose of taking and destroying game. A gentleman named Lescher had the right of shoot' over the wood in question, and employed a keeper, named William Green. On the night of Nov. 23, Green and some other men were out watching, and shortly before two o’clock in the morning they beard the report of fire-arms in a wood called Havering Grove, and after listening for some time, the keeper and bis assistants, accompanied by a large and very fierce dog, who, it appeared, was a complete terror to the poachers, proceeded in the direction from whence the report of fire-arms appeared to proceed. On coming to the wood they saw the prisoners and two other men come out, and the moment they observed the keepers, the prisoner Crush pushed his companions on one side, and swore he would shoot Green, and immediately levelled the gun and fired at him, but fortunately without doing him any injury. He then made a rush another keeper named Gilby, and made blow him with the butt-end of his gun, but he evaded the blow, and Crush then ran away. While this was going on, the dog had been loosed, and be seised Bastick, and held him until he was secured. The other prisoner was subsequently taken into custody, and was identified as having formed one of the party of poachers on the night question. The prisoner Bastick, in his defence, denied that be was in the wood all; and complained bitterly of having been attacked by the keeper’s dog, when he had not done anything wrong. It was urged on behalf of the other prisoner, that did not intend to shoot the keeper, but that his object was to shoot the dog. The Jury returned verdict of Guilty, and the prisoner Crush was sentenced to be transported for 10 years, and the other to nine months’ imprisonment. Globe, 8 Mar 1845.
Convict Exiles Index. Thomas Crush, age 24, per Thomas Arbuthnot. Date of trial, 5/3/1845, at Chelmsford, sentence, 10 years, Charge, Night poaching. Exiles.
Married Sarah Hare or O'Hare in 1853.