Thomas Delaney

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Dianne Jones on 27th September 2021

1878, 3 July: Thomas Delaney appeared before the Supreme Court in Perth on a charge of obtaining clothing under false pretences. The Western Australian Times (5 July 1878, p3) reported on his case: “Obtaining goods under false pretences. Thomas Delaney, a discharged Fenian, was charged with having, on the 3rd April last, obtained from Mr. D. [Dan] Connor, storekeeper, Newcastle, a suit of clothes, under false pretences. The facts of the case were these: The defendant on the day in question went to the prosecutor's store and requested to be served with some clothing, in payment for which he presented an "order" on the Very Rev. M. Gibney, V.G. The clothing was served, and a liberal discount allowed on what the prosecutor regarded as a bona fide cash transaction. When the "order" was forwarded to Father Gibney, that gentleman returned it, saying he had given the defendant no authority to draw upon him for any amount. In his defence, Delaney said that, from a letter he had seen, he had every reason to believe, when he gave the "order" on Father Gibney, that there was a sum of money in the reverend gentleman's hands - part of funds collected for the defendant and other discharged Fenians. His Honor the Chief Justice, in charging the jury, said the question for their consideration was whether the defendant when he gave the order had any bona fide expectancy of its being honored: if not, the case was, within the meaning of the statute, one of false pretences. If it was a cheque on a bank, their course would be clear; the defendant never having had an account at the bank, it would be impossible for him to have been under an impression that the cheque would be paid. But here the defence was - whether the supposition was a reasonable one or unreasonable, was for the jury to consider - that the defendant had reason to suppose that Father Gibney had money belonging to him in his possession. If the jury were of opinion that the defendant had some reasonable grounds for expecting that the order would be honored - however highly immoral it was to draw upon mere speculation - still the act did not, in point of law, amount to a false pretence. A juror asked Father Gibney if he had ever honored any orders given by any of the other discharged Fenians, or ever had any money belonging to them in his possession. Father Gibney said he had not. The jury, after an hour's deliberation, acquitted the accused.” --00-- 1882, 1 July: He sailed for Melbourne on the “SS Rob Roy” along with two other former military Fenians, James McCoy and John Shine. Soon after, Thomas Delaney left for America where he settled permanently (KW Amos, 1987, p362). --00—

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Dianne Jones on 27th September 2021

1869, 5 February: Thirty-five Fenians who had been transported to Western Australia (as well as others imprisoned in Great Britain) were given Free Pardons / “unconditionally discharged” by the House of Commons. As a so-called “military Fenian”, Thomas Delaney was not among them. For a full list, see the Melbourne Advocate, 22 May 1869, p4, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/169267360?. --0-- 1876: After the escape of the “Catalpa six” [to America in April, 1876], according to Peter FitzSimons four Fenians, including Thomas Delaney, who had been out on Tickets of Leave “were thrown back in prison on principle”, but they were released from Fremantle in March, 1878 “after ongoing agitation from Ireland had seen them given a conditional pardon” (p342). --0-- 1878, February: Thomas Delaney was working in Newcastle as an ostler, employed by Thomas Donegan (toodyay.wa.gov.au). --0-- 1878, 28 March: Thomas Delaney was granted a Conditional Pardon and received his piece of paper two days later from the RM at Newcastle (Western Australia Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers, General Register for Nos 9059-9598 cont., 9599-10128 (R15-R16)). --00--

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Dianne Jones on 27th September 2021

Thomas Delaney’s Ticket of Leave work: (1) Not stated for J. Noonan, Perth, 20/7/71 [Joseph Noonan, a civilian Fenian, also transported on the Hougoumont, had been sentenced to seven years for treason felony but received a Free Pardon in May 1869. He was a builder and architect and lived in Howick Street, Perth.] (2) General servant for H.P. Lyons, Guildford, 25/- p.w., 31/1/72. (3) General servant for W.L. Brockman, Swan, 3/6 p.d., 29/4/72. (4) Sundry assignments as labourer, teamster, servant and ostler (KW Amos, p375). --00-- From his Fremantle jail record: DELANEY, Thomas, convict #9710, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1842 Place of Birth: Maryborough Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Soldier Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Dublin Crime: Mutinous conduct Sentence Period: 10 years Ticket Leave Date: 17 July 1871 Conditional Pardon Date: 28 March 1878 Comments: One of 62 Fenians transported on the Hougoumont, the last convict ship sent to Australia. Its arrival at Fremantle on 9 Jan 1868 signalled the end of transportation to this country. General servant, labourer, teamster, ostler. Ex 5th Dragoon Guards. To Victoria, 1 Jul 1882 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 27th September 2021

Thomas Delaney actually received his Ticket of Leave a bit earlier, on 17 July 1871, due most likely to the “ups” in his up and down Conduct record, as below: (1) Specially recommended for good conduct on voyage to colony [by the Hougoumont’s Surgeon Superintendent], 15/1/68. (2) 42 days’ remission, 15/4/69; 1 month remission from gang labour, 31/8/69; 1 month remission from gang labour, 1/4/70. (3) Appointed constable, 1/2/71. (4) Granted Ticket of Leave (ToL), 17/7/71. (5) ToL revoked six times 1871-76 for various offences: disorderly conduct, being out after hours, drunk, in a house of ill fame, etc. – resulting in numerous fines and sentences totalling almost three years’ hard labour. Note: It’s for this reason that Thomas Delaney was not among the “Catalpa six” – military Fenians serving life sentences in WA and whose escape by sea was engineered, in April 1876, by American sympathisers. Thomas Delaney’s fondness for alcohol made him too big a risk: “… though he had been granted a ticket-of-leave, [he] continues to be sent back to The Establishment [Fremantle jail] for public drunkenness. He is a terrible man on the grog and they cannot risk telling him of the plan. His own freedom will come with simple sobriety, without need to engage in an elaborate escape” (FitzSimons, p209). Thomas Keneally (1998, p653) also writes of Delaney’s exclusion from the Catalpa rescue mission because of his “turbulent and alcoholic” behaviour and, although holding a Ticket of Leave, his temporary imprisonment at the time for “unruly behaviour”. Other accounts agree he was under constant guard by the prison authorities when the escape occurred. Thomas Delaney’s Convict record supports this. He was handed two sentences, in mid-June 1875, each of 6 months’ hard labour to be served consecutively, for being out after hours and drinking in a “disorderly” house. He had to serve the time at Fremantle prison. But FitzSimons’ dramatisation of the escape includes some last minute dialogue between Thomas Delaney and soon-to-be-rescued Fenian James Wilson, on Easter Monday morning, 1876: “The inveterate drunk Fenian, Thomas Delaney – in and out on ticket-of-leave – is aware of the plan and now, in the slim, inopportune window between parade and work, he insists he wishes to come too. Wilson delivers the speech of his life in an irate whisper: you are not coming. It is too late. You are NOT coming. You place everything at risk. If you insist, our own insistence to either stop you, or exact revenge for stopping us, will not be pretty. Thomas, you are NOT COMING. It is done. Delaney, glowering, gets the message.” (pp254-55)

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Dianne Jones on 27th September 2021

1868, 10 January: On arrival in WA, Thomas Delaney was listed as #9710, 24 years old, no trade/occupation and single, with no children (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department Registers (128/40 - 43)). He was described as of stout build, with dark brown hair, hazel eyes, a fresh complexion and round visage; 5’8½” tall, with one large and two small cut marks on the top of his head. On the General Register, his next of kin was his mother, Catherine Delaney, living at 50 Main Street, Maryborough, Queen’s County. He was able to read and write and was a Roman Catholic. His character was “good” and a notation indicates that he had been a Private in the 5th Dragoon Guards. This document also records that in the normal course of events he would be eligible for a Ticket of Leave in January 1872 (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9559 – 10128 cont (R16)). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 27th September 2021

1867, late September-early October: When the Hougoumont was boarded, all 17 military Fenians “were confined with ordinary convicts, whereas civilian Fenians were allotted separate quarters of their own. It would seem that this arrangement was at least a partial recognition that the civilian Fenians, all of whom were convicted either of treason-felony or high treason, were political prisoners rather than criminals – a concession that sympathetic Irish nationalists had earlier failed to gain official recognition of. Mutinous soldiers, on the other hand, were clearly regarded by the authorities as common criminals, and perhaps more dangerous ones in view of their training” (Amos, 1987, p107). Sleeping arrangements for the military Fenians consisted of “small airless compartments with eight rudimentary berths, 18 inches wide and six feet long, ‘constructed of commonest deal boards in tiers of two, one above the other’” (FitzSimons, 2019, p74). --00--

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Dianne Jones on 27th September 2021

1867, 21 May: After 6½ months at Millbank, he was transferred to Chatham prison, east of London at St Mary’s Island in Kent. He was listed as prisoner #9037. Chatham, a public works prison for male convicts, was notorious for riots in the 1860s (https://www.prisonhistory.org). --0— 1867, late September: Taken from Chatham jail to board the convict ship Hougoumont, Thomas Delaney #9037 was, according to newspaper reports, one of 15 Fenians sent from Chatham for transportation: “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 [only two were on the Hougoumont – Thomas Berwick and Lionel Holdsworth, each sentenced to 20 years for fraud], 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 [not the Fenian Centre; this was a teenager, Bartholomew 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.” (Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Dec 1867, p4, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 27th September 2021

1866, 1 November: After just a week, he was sent from Pentonville jail to Millbank at Westminster in London, which served as a holding facility for convicted prisoners before they were transported to Australia. There he was listed as prisoner #2556, 23 years old, a labourer, and Private 5th Dragoons, no.581. He was described as single, Roman Catholic, able to read and write imperfectly, and sentenced to 10 years’ penal servitude for mutinous conduct, by General Court Martial, Dublin, on 24 August 1866. A notation says a parchment copy of his Discharge, received 20 December 1866, was attached. His behaviour was described as “good”; his next of kin was his mother Katherine Delaney, of Mean Street, Maryborough, Queen’s Co. Up to 24 October 1866, [or since 24 October – the record is not clear on this] he had served a total of 7 days in “Separate confinement” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951, Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners 1866-1867). Note: By the 1850s, Pentonville and Millbank were places for all male convicts to serve “their probationary term (by then reduced to 9 months), after which they would be transported or sent to a public works prison. This function continued more or less (notable exceptions including the reception of military prisoners in the 1860s…) until the decision to remove it from the convict prison system in 1885” (https://www.prisonhistory.org). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 27th September 2021

1866, 24 October: Thomas Delaney was transferred to England, to Pentonville jail in north London. Most likely he was sent under armed escort from Mountjoy via the Irish port of Kingstown and landed at Holyhead, for the land journey of 300 miles south to London and the penitentiary. Completed in 1842, Pentonville was built “for the detention of convicts sentenced to imprisonment or awaiting transportation” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Pentonville). At Pentonville, he was listed as prisoner #4062, a Roman Catholic and “known Fenian”, sentenced to penal servitude for 10 years. Also transferred with him were Martin Hogan, Patrick Keatinge, James Wilson, Thomas Hassett, James McCoy, John Shine, William Foley, John Donoghoe and John Lynch – all listed as known Fenians (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners 1866-1869). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 27th September 2021

1866, August: Private Thomas Delaney, a guardsman with the 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales’s) Dragoon Guards – a British Army cavalry regiment – faced his court martial at the Royal Barracks, Dublin. He was charged with mutinous conduct for having “attended a Fenian meeting, [and] harbouring deserters”. 1866, 24 August: Thomas Delaney was sentenced to 10 years’ penal servitude. His transfer from military to civilian prison - along with that of nine other convicted Fenians - was reported in newspapers in both hemispheres: “The sentences upon the 10 men convicted at the late courts martial in Dublin have been promulgated. The sentence upon Privates Patrick Keatinge, James Wilson, and Martin Hogan, of the 5th Dragoon Guards, and Private Hassett, of the 34th Regiment, is imprisonment for life; Drummer McKoy, of the 61st Regiment, to 15 years' penal servitude; Private Thomas Delaney, of the 5th Dragoon Guards, to 10 years' penal servitude; Private Giles of the 60th Rifles, to 10 years, and Privates Lynch and Foley, 5th Dragoon Guards, and Maloney 24th Regiment to five years' imprisonment. The sentences having been read, the prisoners were removed to the military prison, Arbour-hill, where they were dressed in the convict clothes. They were afterwards conveyed to Mountjoy Convict-prison in the van, which was escorted by a troop of the 5th Dragoon Guards” (The Maitland Mercury, 22 December, p4).