Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Joshua Ellis 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 254. --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. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26783779 |
| 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
NOTE: The "Date of Birth" window will not function unless the day, month and year are entered. In this case, only the birth year is known, 1839. Disregard the 1st of January -- that is, the actual day and month of his birth are not known.
From the TOODYAY CONVICTS database: Ellis, Joshua (1838- ) #9727, arrived 1868-01-10 per Hougoumont. Convicts WA: Mar; 1 child; coal miner; literate, Prot; housebreaking, previous convictions, 10 years; Newcastle, Fremantle, Perth, Beverley, Swan; labourer, general servant, sawyer. Ancestry: WA Convict records: General Register for Nos 9059 - 9598 cont., 9599 - 10128 (R15 - R16). P643: #9727 Ellis, Joshua. Hougoumont. Assigned as TOL to Toodyay 1878-1879, then 1879-1881 (CF). Working in Toodyay, Newcastle and Victoria Plains, for various employers. Mentioned in Toodyay Police Visitors’ book, 1880 (https://www.toodyay.wa.gov.au/documents/234/convicts-associated-with-toodyay-as-at-30-sep-2020). --00--
From his FREMANTLE JAIL record: ELLIS, Joshua; inmate #9727, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1838 Marital Status: Married 1 child Occupation: Coal miner Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Rotherham Crime: House breaking Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket Leave Date: 22 Jan 1873 Certificate of Freedom Date: 24 Jan 1881 Comments: Labourer, general servant, sawyer (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/) --0--
IN WA: 1868: On arrival in WA, convict #9727 Joshua ELLIS was listed as 28, married with 1 child, literate, Protestant and a plasterer, sentenced to 10 years’ for “housebreaking after previous convictions”. His next of kin was his wife, Emma, 24, living at Manchester, with their child Laura, aged 3. His behaviour in Chatham jail was described as “good”. He received his Certificate of Freedom from the RM at Newcastle on 24 January, 1881 (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department Registers, General Register for Nos 9059-9598 cont., 9599-10128 (R15-R16)). --0--
1867, late September: Joshua Ellis was taken from Chatham jail to board the convict ship Hougoumont 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 [Bartholomew Moriarty went aboard the Hougoumont, not the senior Fenian Captain Mortimer 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--
JAIL: 1867: At some stage following his conviction he was transferred to Chatham prison, east of London, at St Mary’s Island in Kent. Chatham, a public works prison for male convicts, was notorious for riots in the 1860s (https://www.prisonhistory.org). He was listed as inmate #8975. Chatham, Portland, Portsmouth and Spike Island in Ireland, as listed public works stations, were the second stage in the penal process. After separate confinement, prisoners were “placed on work parties at various locations, most commonly naval stations, where maintenance of facilities was vital for the effective protection of Britain’s far flung commercial and military influences around the world. While there, attitude and behaviour were monitored closely. In theory, only after consistently positive reports was a prisoner moved on to the third stage of his incarceration—transportation.” (Edgar, p40) --0--
TRIAL: 1866, 6 July: At the Rotherham Adjourned Sessions, Joshua Ellis pleaded guilty, and was convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ penal servitude for housebreaking and two previous convictions for felony (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for Joshua Ellis; England; Yorkshire - West Riding; 1866; UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Joshua Ellis; Wakefield Gaol; Calendar of Trials; 1882-1886). --0--
INDICTMENT: 1866, June: Indictment Joshua Ellis – late of Wakefield, Co of York, labourer – alleged that on 19 June, 1866, he broke into the dwelling house of George Smith at Ardsley and stole a rug, two blankets, two sheets, a shirt, waistcoat and towel (Yorkshire, England, Quarter Session Records, 1637-1914 for Joshua Ellis; Wakefield; Indictment, 1866 – 1867). --0--