William Emberton

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Dianne Jones on 22nd February 2022

IN WA: From his Fremantle jail record: EMBERTON, William; inmate #4716, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Date of Birth: 1830 Marital Status: Married 3 children Occupation: Cordwainer Literacy: Semiliterate Sentence Place: Birmingham, Warwick, England Crime: Stealing goods Sentence Period: 6 years penal servitude Ticket of Leave Date: 4 Jul 1859 Conditional Pardon Date: 7 Jan 1861 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--

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Dianne Jones on 22nd February 2022

10 September, 1857: Sent from Portland to board the Nile for WA; however, he does not appear on the manifest of prisoners sent from the jail, where the minimum sentence of the men listed for transportation is 14 years! (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Convicts Transported Per Nile (R32)). --00--

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Dianne Jones on 22nd February 2022

25 March, 1857: Admitted to Portland jail. Portland, Portsmouth, Chatham and Spike Island in Ireland were listed public works stations and 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) William Emberton was listed as inmate #6905; convicted of "stealing sundry goods from Master"; aged 26 when convicted; married, 2 children; semi-literate, a shoemaker, Church of England. Next of Kin: father, Thomas Emberton, shoemaker, Stafford. Health "good" (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portland Prison; Prison Records to 1875). --0--

218

Dianne Jones on 22nd February 2022

1 September, 1856: Leicester County Gaol, Welford Road, Leicester -- served 6 months 24 days in separate confinement; behaviour "very good". “After a sentence of transportation was handed down [it seems there was no distinction between transportation and penal servitude, whatever the theory], 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). Millbank, Wakefield, Pentonville and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --0--

218

Dianne Jones on 22nd February 2022

JAILS: 5 May, 1856: Committal -- Birmingham Borough Gaol and House of Correction, Winsom Green, Birmingham; served 3 months 27 days. --0--

218

Dianne Jones on 21st February 2022

NEWSPAPER reporting of the trial: From the Staffordshire Sentinel and Commercial & General Advertiser, 12 July, 1856, p5: "Serious Robbery by Railway Servants. At Birmingham Borough Sessions, on Tuesday morning, William Emberton and Charles Davis, servants lately in the employ the London and North-Western Railway Company, were charged, upon various indictments, with felony. Mr. Adams, instructed by Messrs. Colmore and Beal, appeared on behalf of the company; and Mr. O’Brien, instructed by Mr. Palmer, for the prisoner Emberton; Mr. Eiers, instructed also by Mr. Palmer, for the prisoner Davis. The first charge gone into was one against the prisoner Emberton, of having stolen a quantity of valuable Scotch, and inlaid tea caddies, razor cases, ladies’ reticules and work boxes, and other articles, on the 24th February. In opening the case, Mr. Adams referred to its being well known that the London and North-Western Company were large carriers on their own account, and it was in that capacity they appeared on the present occasion, in order to protect themselves and the public from any fraud or robberies practised upon them by the servants of the company. In reference to Emberton, he had been selected as a man who they thought could be depended upon to watch over and protect the goods placed in his care, and it would be for the jury to say whether he had properly conducted himself, or whether he had not committed a heinous robbery. The articles which the prisoner was charged with stealing formed part of a large quantity of fancy articles, from the manufactory of Messrs. Smith [indistinct] ... town. They were forwarded in due course to an exhibition at Stretford, where they remained on sale for some weeks; some portion (about ... worth) were sold, and the remainder, of the value about ..., were packed in a box, sent in the first instance on the Altrincham branch line to Manchester, and then duly forwarded in one of the London and North-Western Railway Company’s trucks numbered 1818, from Manchester to Birmingham. He could show in evidence that on the arrival of that truck on the night the 23rd of February, everything about the truck appeared safe, and that the tarpaulin was quite secure. The truck remained near Curzon-street station, and close to the place where the prisoner was on duty, till the following morning. On the unloading of the truck, it was found that the box addressed to Mr. Smith was missing, and nothing was heard of either it or its contents until the 2...th of April, when, on the prisoner's house being searched on suspicion of being concerned in another robbery, about ... worth of the missing property was found there. The account he gave of it was that he bought the articles one at time from a man he did not know, but who told him it was a bankrupt stock which he was selling off cheap. He thought, however, the jury would say that the articles found were not such as a railway points-man would be likely to purchase. A number of witnesses were called, tracing the articles produced from the time they in the first instance left Messrs. Smith’s, till the return of the truck 18-4S from Manchester and the finding of the articles in the house of the prisoner. Mr. O’Brien having addressed the jury for the prisoner on the statement made by him, the learned Recorder summed up, and the jury returned a verdict a verdict of guilty. Emberton was then tried on a second charge with Charles Davis, for having stolen seven bottles of port wine, the property of the company, on the 22nd of April last. The hamper containing the wine in the indictment was traced from Aylesbury to Birmingham; and the packing of some of the bottles was identified by a witness, as having been packed up at Aylesbury, and these were found in Emberton’s house, with some port wine, on the morning of the robbery, by Sergeant Dutton and Detective Kelly. The only strong point against Davis on this charge was, that he was seen to leave the station drunk, when he went off duty that morning. The jury found Emberton guilty of this offence also, but acquitted Davis. The learned Recorder then passed sentence on Emberton, remarking that he had been found guilty of stealing two lots of goods committed to his care. It was true, he had before these charges maintained a good character, and it was equally true that, but for that he would not have held the responsible position he had so badly betrayed. The prisoner was then sentenced to six years' penal servitude. The prisoner Davis was then tried, and found guilty, of stealing a piece ribbon from a package belonging to the London and North-Western Railway Company. He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment." (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/)

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Dianne Jones on 21st February 2022

TRIAL: 7 July, 1856: William Emberton, 26, was convicted at the Birmingham Quarter Sessions of "larceny by a servant" and sentenced to 6 years' penal servitude (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892; England; Warwickshire; 1856). --0--