Joseph Curtis

221

D Wong on 9th September 2019

Old Bailey: JOSEPH CURTIS. Theft: burglary. 15th February 1815 Verdict Guilty Sentence Death JOSEPH CURTIS was indicted for that he, about the hour of five in the night of the 19th of January, being in the dwelling-house of William Burghes, did steal a watch, value 10 l. two seals, value 10 s. a key, value 3 s. and one spy-glass value 1 s. the property of Jose Bonifacio de Arrarte ; and a great coat, value 10 s. the property of William Burn, and that he afterwards burglariously broke the said dwelling-house to get out of it. WILLIAM BURN. I am a master mariner. I left my great coat in William Burghes's house three weeks before this happened. I can only speak to my coat when it is produced. THOMAS BURGHES. My father's name is William Burghes ; my father is a publican, and the captain of a ship . Q. Did the prisoner lodge in his house - A. No, he had been a servant ; he had been discharged, I believe a month. Q. Do you know of any property being lost - A. Yes they were missed after he was out of the house, on Thursday I believe; I had seen them in the house on the Saturday, the same day that the prisoner went away. JOSEPH POWIS. I am a Thames Police officer. I only know I found a gold watch on the prisoner, a metal chain, two metal seals, a gold key, and a great coat. JOSE BONAFACIO DE ARRARTE. I lodged in the house. Q. Did you lodge in the house of William Burghes - A. Yes; I lost my watch out of the bedroom. Q. When had you last seen it before you lost it - A. At three o'clock in the afternoon I last saw it. Joseph Powis. I found this watch upon the prisoner. Arrarte. It is my watch; I have had it four years; it is a repeater; I know it is mine from its general appearance. Q. Are these seals yours, look - A. Yes, they were on it when I lost it, and the key. On the 16th of January I missed it when I went to bed. Powis. I asked the prisoner how he came by the watch; he said, he took it out of the bed-room where he lodged. MARY ANN BURGHES. I am the daughter of William Burghes. The prisoner was in my father's service he had been discharged; it was on Thursday the 19th of January that this robbery took place. On the 19th at half past ten o'clock at night, I fastened my fathers door, the door has two bolts to it, and chain to it; I was not up first the next morning, the servant was up first. Q. You do not know that the prisoner was in the house then - A. No. REBECCA HARRIS I am servant of the house, to Mr. Burghes; I was there that night, I was the first up the next morning, I went down stairs, I saw a light in the tap room, I went in. Q. to Mary Ann Burghes. Was there a light in the tap-room when you went to bed - A. No sir, there was a fire. Q. to Rebecca Harris. How did you find the door - A, I did not go to look, I saw a light in the taproom, I went and it my kitchen fire, I knew the man that was in the house his name is Peter Samerier. PETER SAMERIER. I had no where to sleep I passed the night at Mr. Burghes's, I saw the door a little way open, I went in the prisoner was in the tap room; he said he lived in the house; in the morning about six o'clock he went out of the door, the door was a little way open. Q. to Mary Ann Burghes. Was the door fastened the over night - A, Yes with two bolts, and a chain. Q. Is there any body here to prove that the prisoner was in the house before you went to bed - A, No. Q. to Mr. Arrate. What did you give for the watch - A. One hundred and forty dollars, I know it is my watch. Powis. I asked the prisoner how he entered the house; he said, he had entered it for several nights when they were busy, and secreted himself away; he said he entered the house that night, and took the watch two nights before that, and the great coat he took out of the house that morning; he said he went into the house on the over night, and went out of the house before the servants was up; the gold watch he took two nights before, but he left the house that morning; I apprehended him with the coat on his back, I found the great coat on the prisoner's back, this is the coat. Captain Burn. That is my great coat, I have had it three years. COURT. The watch is out of question now, that was taken at another time; you will consider gentlemen of the jury the great coat now. GUILTY - DEATH aged 19. Ancestry Convict Indents - NSW: Joseph Curtis was listed as 20 years old on arrival in NSW. Native Place: Lima. Joseph was 5'9¼" tall, copper complexion, black hair and eyes. Colonial Secretary Papers: CURTIS, Joseph. Per "Atlas", 1816 1816 Jul 29: On list of convicts disembarked from the "Atlas" to be forwarded to Windsor for distribution (Reel 6005; 4/3495 p.76) 1824 Sep 19: Servant of T Huxley of Lower Portland; attestation as to his character for a ticket of leave (Reel 6027; 4/1716.1 pp.225-6) Joseph arrived in VDL on 1/8/1816 - however there is only a sheet of paper with the names of the convicts who arrived on the Kangaroo, but no conduct record or any other information of his time in VDL. Obviously by 1824, according to the Colonial Secretary Index, he was back in NSW at Lower Portland Head, Hawkesbury. 10/1/1828 The Monitor, Sydney: William Shortell, and Joseph Curtis appeared before the Court complaining, that their master, Richard Kelly, of Portland Head, had not supplied them with common necessaries in the article of clothing. The men were obliged to borrow apparel from the inmates of the gaol, to enable them to appear in Court with decency. One of the men, a poor diminutive fellow, complained that his master was in the constant habit of horsewhipping him; that he had come to Windsor on a former occasion to make a complaint, when his master made him kind promises, and said he would clothe him, whereupon he was induced to return to the farm, and endeavour to live in peace, but to his disappoiptment, in lieu of apparel, or the fulfilment of his promises, his master only horse whipped him the more. The defendant had caused this examination to be delayed on a former day, and now brought forward persons to prove he had done his duty to his government servants; but alas, although the master keeps an overseer, and other persons about him, the poor men's statement was rather confirmed by the evidence brought forward. Whatever Mr. Peel's Act may have to do with the Act of the Bench, they came to a determination to send the two men to Sydney Barracks for protection; as it is an invariable rule of practice in this Court, to defend the masters against the insubordination, neglect, &c. of the servant; and the poor devil of a government man must in like manner be defended. C1824: TOL in NSW

342

Maureen Withey on 8th September 2019

Sent to Hobart on the Brig Kangaroo. https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON13-1-1$init=CON13-1-1p62