Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Transportation
Richard Forster was transported on the Nile, departing 18th Sep 1857 and arriving 1st Jan 1858 with 271 passengers.
Nile (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 93, Class and Piece Number HO11/18, Page Number 241 (122). --00--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. |
| 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
DEATH: Is this his record, from WA BDM? Query re the age at death... Foster, Richard; aged 77; reg no.2495; registered in 1899 (https://bdm.justice.wa.gov.au/). --0--
IN WA: From his FREMANTLE jail record: FOSTER, Richard; inmate #4525, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Alias: FORSTER Date of Birth: 1814 Date of Death: 18 Jan 1899 Place of Death: York Marital Status: Married 5 children Occupation: Farm labourer Literacy: Illiterate Sentence Place: Norwich, Norfolk, England Crime: Rape of his 14 year old daughter Sentence Period: Life Ticket of Leave Date: 16 Sep 1861 Conditional Pardon Date: 20 Aug 1866 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
10 September, 1857: Sent from Portland to board the NILE for transportation to WA; convict #18/6791 (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Convicts Transported Per Nile (R32)). Behaviour on voyage "good" (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). --00--
12 March, 1857: Richard Foster was admitted to PORTLAND prison -- inmate #6791. 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). Name: Richard Foster, #6791 Marital Status: Married Criminal Admission Age: 43 Record Type: Register Birth Date: abt 1813 Occupation: Laborer Criminal Charge: Rape Sentence: Trans Life Criminal Admission Date: 17 Mar 1856 Criminal Admission Place: Dorset, England Jail: Portland Prison Other: illiterate labourer, Protestant, 1 previous conviction for felony; health "good". Next of kin -- his wife, Elizabeth Foster, Outwell, Norfolk (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portland Prison; Prison Records to 1875). --0--
3 September, 1856: Richard Foster was admitted to MILLBANK prison, Westminster -- served 6 months 9 days in separate confinement; behaviour "good. 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). Millbank, Wakefield, Pentonville and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --0--
JAILS: 17 March, 1856: Richard FOSTER was admitted to NORWICH jail -- served 5 months; behaviour "good". --0--
NEWSPAPER report of his trial: 5 April, 1856: Extract from the Norfolk Chronicle, p4: "NORFOLK LENT ASSIZES... TUESDAY. RAPE AT STOW BARDOLPH. Richard Foster (43), was convicted with ravishing Emily Foster, his own daughter [aged 14], at Stow Bardolph, on the 10th of March... The jury returned a verdict of guilty. The JUDGE, in passing sentence, said, Richard Foster, you have been found guilty upon evidence which has satisfied the jury, and I believe every person who has heard the case, of a most horrible crime, the violation your own daughter; and your brutal lust has violated and degraded the tenderest and the purest of all human relations, that between a father and his daughter. A person who has so little control over his intemperate passion, who could yield to the suggestion of his brutal lust, and gratify it upon his unhappy child, is unfit for the society of his countrymen in England. The sentence is that you be transported for the term of your natural life." --00--
TRIAL: 29 March, 1856: Convicted at Norwich Castle Assizes and sentenced to transportation for life for the rape of his 14-year-old daughter, Emily (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for Richd Foster; England; Norfolk; 1856). --0--
COMMITTAL: 17 March, 1856: "DOWNHAM.—At the Petty Sessions held on Monday last [17 March] Richard Foster [sic], of Stow Bardolph, pit labourer, was brought up on remand charged with committing a rape upon Emily Foster, aged 14, of Stow Bardolph, his own daughter. The evidence being deemed sufficient, he was committed to Norwich Castle for trial at the ensuing assizes." (Norfolk Chronicle, 22 March, p2). --0--