Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
Daniel Mccarthy 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 245 (125). --00-- https://fremantleprison.com.au/ --0-- UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison, Register of Prisoners, 1866-1867. |
| 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
FOOTNOTE: FENIAN OR NOT? Despite newspaper reports of the alleged conversation between McCarthy and his victim, there appears to be no official recognition that Daniel McCarthy was a Fenian. Also, he is absent from Keith Amos’s (1987) definitive list of Fenians who were transported aboard the Hougoumont to WA in 1868. Nor does his WA Convict Record make any mention of a Fenian affiliation. Similarly, Fremantle jail records for Fenian transportees per the Hougoumont referred to them as “One of 62 Fenians transported on the Hougoumont, the last convict ship sent to Australia”. No such notation appears on Daniel McCarthy’s Fremantle jail record. --00--
DEATH RECORD: McCarthy, Daniel, male, aged 32, died in Fremantle Prison Hospital; died 1871; registration number 4884; registered 1871 (Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, https://www.wa.gov.au/). --00--
NEWSPAPER REPORTS OF HIS ESCAPE ATTEMPT: “ABSCONDERS;- On Wednesday morning, about nine o'clock, two convicts made a rush to escape from the convict prison Fremantle; one got clear away - but the other was brought down by a ball in the abdomen from the Warder's revolver; shortly after a prisoner absconded from the North Fremantle road party; and last evening two escaped from the Perth Prison.” (The Perth Gazette and West Australian Times, Fri 10 Feb 1871, p3: Local and General News, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3753695) -- “On Wednesday morning two convicts attempted to escape from the convict prison by scaling the wall. Alarm was immediately given, and the gatekeeper rushed out with a revolver, with which he succeeded in wounding one of the absconders in the abdomen. The man, we understand, was instantly removed to the infirmary, and, we hear, continues in a precarious state. The other prisoner succeeded in making good his escape, and has not subsequently been heard of. On the same day another convict absconded from the North Fremantle Road Party, and on Thursday night two more escaped from Perth Prison.” (The Herald (Fremantle), Sat 11 Feb 1871, p3, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/111525166) --00--
IN WA: From his Fremantle jail record: McCARTHY, Daniel; inmate #9813, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1838 Date of Death: 11 Feb 1871 Place of Death: Fremantle Prison Hospital, from gunshot wound while attempting to escape over prison wall Marital Status: Married, 1 child Occupation: Coachman, groom Literacy: Illiterate Sentence Place: Liverpool Crime: Murder Sentence Period: Life (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
30 September, 1867: He was sent from Millbank to board the Hougoumont for transportation to WA (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Daniel McCarthy; Millbank Prison, Register of Prisoners, 1866-1867). --00—
7 June, 1867: Daniel McCarthy was admitted to Millbank Prison, Pimlico, London – inmate #3397. Listed as 30, coachman, married with one child; illiterate; Roman Catholic. Convicted of murder and sentenced to death, commuted to penal servitude for life on 23 March, 1867. Family – wife Julia at 49 Bedford Street, south Liverpool. His separate confinement continued at Millbank; behaviour “tolerable” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Daniel McCarthy; Millbank Prison, Register of Prisoners, 1866-1867; and Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16)). Note: His WA Convict Record lists his wife as Bridget Buckley, c/- Mr Moss Esq, 49 Bedford St., Liverpool. --0--
JAILS: 23 March-7 June, 1867: Daniel McCarthy was held at Kirkdale Prison, north Liverpool. He served 2 months 14 days in separate confinement; behaviour “good” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Daniel McCarthy; Millbank Prison, Register of Prisoners, 1866-1867). “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). Some local jails were “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were Pentonville, Millbank, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland. --0--
TRIAL: 23 March, 1867: Daniel MacCarthy [sic] was convicted and sentenced to death for murder by the Liverpool Assizes. Further, he was sentenced to be hanged and “his body to be buried within the precincts of the [Kirkland] prison”. The sentence was later commuted to penal servitude for life (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for Daniel MacCarthy; England, Lancashire, 1867). --0--
THE COMMITTAL… “The Charge of Murder by a Fenian — On Tuesday, at Salford, the Irishman, named Daniel McCarthy, who stands charged with the murder of Henry Willis, under circumstances already reported, was brought up for examination. In reply to Mr. Trafford, the stipendiary magistrate, the prisoner said, “I am innocent. I must have been drunk, and am sorry to hear it.” Mr. Trafford committed him for trial at the Liverpool assizes." (Saturday 23 March 1867, Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser, p3 at https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/). --00--
NEWSPAPER REPORTS: THE ATTACK… “FENIAN OUTRAGE NEAR MANCHESTER… At a late hour last night one of our reporters received information at the detective office that a murderous assault had been committed upon a cartman by a man who was supposed to be a Fenian. No names had been ascertained, but it was said that the assailant was in the custody of the county police somewhere. On making later inquiries at the Manchester Royal Infirmary, it was ascertained from one of the resident surgeons that the name of the wounded man was Henry Willis, who is a carter in the employ of Mr. Knibbs. Whilst proceeding along the road to Levenshulme [an area of Manchester], he was accosted by a man who asked him if he was a Fenian. He answered ‘No.' Then, said the man, ‘Would you like to join the Fenians?’ The honest fellow again emphatically replied that he would not. The dastardly ruffian then, without any further provocation, as we hear, plunged a knife or some other pointed weapon into the neck of Willis, and injured him so severely that the infirmary surgeons, to which place he was conveyed, found it necessary to order constant watchfulness during the night for fear of fatal results from the haemorrhage likely to ensue.” (Saturday 16 March 1867, Liverpool Weekly Courier, p4). --00--