Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
John Farmer was transported on the St Vincent, departing 28th Dec 1852 and arriving 26th May 1853 with 214 passengers.
St Vincent (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 92, Class and Piece Number HO11/17, Page Number 616. --0-- Roscoe, Katy (2018), “Convicts and the Sea: the naval influence on Gibraltar Convict Establishment” at https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/ |
| 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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Convict Notes
FOOTNOTE 2: WHEN WAS HE BORN? From the official documents cited for this bio came a host of possibilities for his year of birth: 1790 or earlier, 1796, 1801/2, 1806 and 1810! 1800 was selected purely because it’s around the middle ground and can be corrected when better evidence comes to hand. --00--
FOOTNOTE 1: JOHN FARMER / JOHN FARR (WILLIAM FARR) John Farmer was recorded as having been transported previously, a fact he denied according to his VDL record. But John Farmer and John Farr (even though the alias given in 1853 was William Farr) could be one and the same person. John Farr’s prisoner record from the York hulk at Gosport not only shows he was transported, but that he bears a striking resemblance to John Farmer, as below: Easter, 1833: John Farr was convicted at Worcester Easter Sessions and sentenced to 14 years’ transportation for larceny (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for John Farr; England; Worcestershire; 1833). 13 October, 1841: John Farr was admitted to the York hulk, Gosport, having been returned to England from Bermuda per the Numa. He was listed as prisoner #9822, a glover who was tried at Worcester on 8 April, 1833, and sentenced to 14 years' transportation for “stealing gloves”. He was 45 [age at conviction or receipt aboard the hulk?]. He was single and born at Luggerden [sic], Herefordshire [probably Lugwardine, near Hereford?]; Church of England. He had brown hair, hazel eyes and a swarthy complexion, with a scar on his right cheek. Family: a brother and sister in London. John Farr received a Free Pardon on May 25, 1845 (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for John Farr; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1808-1814 [mislabelled]). --0--
PENAL SERVITUDE ENDS: 26 February, 1856: He was granted a Conditional Pardon (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p65). 2 July, 1856: John Farmer, a steerage passenger, left the port of Hobart Town aboard the ship Tasmania bound for Sydney. Remarks: English servant, age 50 [another age discrepancy] (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CUS36-1-507). --00--
IN VDL: 26 May, 1853: On arrival in VDL, JOHN FARMER alias “William Farr” was listed as convict #27901, a servant, 51 years old [another age discrepancy], 5’0½” tall with light brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion; hairy arms! He was a widower with four children, Protestant, and literate. Native place: “near Hereford”. He said he had been transported for stealing goods from the railroad, and denied he had been transported previously.*** He said his previous conviction was for assault (3 months’ jail). Character/behaviour on Gibraltar “very good”. Family: Brothers John and Edward and sister Margaret -- at Worcester (http://foundersandsurvivors.org/pubsearch/convict/chain/om8170). For further details see his VDL Conduct record at https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p65 and his Indent record at https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON14-1-47$init=CON14-1-47_00154_L. *** See Footnotes. —0—
On Gibraltar, JOHN FARMER was listed as 56 years old when convicted [20 years older than in his court records], sentenced to 21 years on 3 indictments for larceny. The words “First conviction” have been ruled out and “Transported before” inserted.*** Born in Kenchester, Herefordshire; Church of England; grey hair, hazel eyes and fresh complexion, 5’2” tall; mark on right cheek; literate; a servant; married; relatives/family living at Little Chapel Street, Westminster. *** See Footnotes. —0— 3 February, 1853: He was sent aboard the St Vincent for transportation to VDL (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). —00—
4 March, 1851: FARMER, JOHN #1605, arrived on Gibraltar from England per Cornwall. He was held on the Europa hulk (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). Gibraltar and Bermuda were listed public works stations (and the second stage in the penal process). On Gibraltar, as “convicts worked together with free men on the dockyards, lines between them became blurred. Convicts, like seamen, were ‘easily recognised’ by ‘their swarthy, weather beaten complexions…[and] muscular well-knit frames’. The discipline on the penal settlement was also influenced by the naval department, who superintended part of the works. In the 1840s, for example, convicts were provided ‘a half gill of rum’ at 11am and 5pm, which they drank from a trough. This mirrored the daily allowance of diluted rum, known as grog, to Royal Naval seamen in the Victorian era. Convicts were also allowed to use part of their earnings, to buy goods, usually tobacco, which they were allowed to smoke in the evening in the barracks. Though official correspondence cited health reasons for grog allowance, it seems likely that the convict authorities feared insubordination if they were banned from drinking and smoking, which were provided to the sappers and dockyard workers whom they worked alongside… In 1854, the acting overseer stated that “half of the offences were committed when the men were excited by rum”. For more serious offences, convicts were flogged with a ‘cat o’nine tails’ whip against the ‘flogging mast’, and during an investigation Dr William Baly concluded that the whip which was used was an old naval cat, which was ‘much heavier than any now used in the government prison and hulks at home, or in the army.’” (Roscoe, Katy (2018), “Convicts and the Sea: the naval influence on Gibraltar Convict Establishment” at https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/). --0--
NEWSPAPER REPORT OF TRIAL: 20 June, 1846: Morning Herald (London), p7 “RAILWAY ROBBERIES... John Farmer, aged 36, described in the calendar as a glover, was placed at the bar charged, on three indictments, with robberies on different railways, and on two other indictments with robberies on the Post Office. The prisoner pleaded guilty to the indictments for robbery on the railroads, and the charges against him for defrauding the Post Office were not pressed. A female named Mary Ann Newland, who is indicted for receiving the stolen property, being in a bad state of health, and not able to take her trial, Mr. Baron Rolfe postponed giving judgment on the male prisoner.” (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) --00--
21 July, 1846: John Farmer was sent from Newgate to Millbank prison, London. Note: Mary Ann Newland, charged with receiving stolen goods from John Farmer, and remanded to be tried at the July session due to her ill health, was sentenced to 6 months in the House of Correction. --00--
TRIALS & TRANSCRIPTS: 15 June, 1846: “#1265. JOHN FARMER, alias WILLIAM FARR, was indicted for stealing 1 leather case, value 6l.; 1 knife, 2s.; 1 key, 1s.; 50 paper writings, 10s.; the goods of Matthew Backston: and 1 leather writing-case, value 5 1 surveyor's chain, 1l.; 1 set of drawing instruments, 2l.; 1 box, 5s.; the goods of William Evans.—2nd COUNT, stating them to be the goods of the London and Birmingham Railway Company:— also, for stealing 3 shawls, value 6l.; 1 scarf, 1l.; 4 petticoat-bodies, 10s.; 1 pair of drawers, 3s.; 11 handkerchiefs, 20s.; 1 pair of shoes, 5s.; I brooch, 20s.; 2 reticules, 20s.; 6 books, 6s.; 2 collars, 55.; 1 cap, 5s.; 2 maps, 55.; 1 cape, 6s.; 13 stockings, 55.; 1 ring, 40s.; 2 brooches, 405.; and 1 box, 5s.; the goods of Joseph Woodhead:—another COUNT, charging them as the property of the South-Eastern Railway Company:— also, 1 portmanteau, value 205.; 2 coats, 51.; 1 pair of trowsers, 205., 1 waistcoat, 10s.; 10 books, 5l.; 1 pair of braces, 1s.; 1 5l. Bank note; 1 sovereign; 12 shillings; 3 bonnets, 1l.; 5 collars, 30s.; 1 handkerchief, 3s.; 10 handkerchiefs, 30s.; 2 caps, 5s.; and 1 opera-glass; 40s., the goods of John Roberts:—other COUNTS, stating them to be the property of the South-Eastern Railway Company; to all which indictments he pleaded GUILTY.— Judgment Respited, (There were other indictments against the prisoner.)” (https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/) -- 6 July, 1846: “#1416. MARY ANN NEWLAND was indicted for feloniously receiving of John Farmer 1 portmanteau, value 20s.; 2 coats, 5l.; 1 pair of trowsers, 20s.; 1 waistcoat, 10s.; 10 books, 5l.; 1 pair of braces, 1s.; 1 bank-note, 5l.; 1 gown, 12s.; 3 bonnets, 1l.; 5 lace-collars, 30s.; 1 handkerchief, 3s.; 10 handkerchiefs, 30s.; 2 caps, 5s.; and 1 opera-glass, 40s.; well knowing them to have been stolen; and feloniously harbouring and maintaining the said John Farmer; to which she pleaded GUILTY. Aged 31.— Confined Six Months.” (https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/) --0--
PRISON & TRIAL: May, 1846: In Newgate prison, London, inmate John Farmer, 36 years old, a glover from Gloucester, committed for trial by D Jardine Esq. for “feloniously receiving 3 shawls, 1 scarf, 11 handkerchiefs, 1 brooch, the property of Joseph Woodhead…”. Described as 5’3” tall with fresh complexion, brown hair and hazel eyes, scar on right cheek. He was tried before Baron Rolfe and pleaded guilty. On 19 June, he was sentenced on 3 indictments to transportation for 7 years each, totalling 21 years. Previous conviction at Kent (3 months)*** (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for John Farmer; Newgate Prison; Registers of Prisoners; 1860-1861 [mislabelled]). *** See Footnotes --0--