Summary
Personal Information
Transportation
Richard Francis 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 232. --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 |
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Convict Notes
DEATH of Richard Francis?: 31 October, 1902: From the Daily News (Perth), p1: "GENERAL NEWS. The following is the weekly return of patients treated up till to-day from the Perth Public Hospital:— Admitted, 29; discharged, 23; died 1; remaining in institution, 114; medical cases, 60; surgical, 54; typhoid, 6. Out-patients' Department — New cases, 83; re-attendances, 257. The name of the patient who died was Richard Francis, aged 92." (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/81324558) --0-- From WA BDM: Francis Richard, aged 92, born Manchester England; rego no.2373; death registered 1902 (https://bdm.justice.wa.gov.au/).
10 September, 1857: Sent from Portland to board the NILE for transportation to WA. Behaviour on voyage "good" (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). --0-- IN WA: From his FREMANTLE jail record: FRANCIS, Richard; inmate #4589, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Date of Birth: 1812 Marital Status: Unmarried [How so? Was Mary Ann granted a divorce?] Occupation: Labourer Literacy: Illiterate Sentence Place: Chester, Cheshire, England Crime: Attempted murder Sentence Period: 15 years, commuted Ticket of Leave Date: 1 Nov 1860 Conditional Pardon Date: 7 Mar 1864 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). Comments: Lived Victoria Plains --0--
19 May, 1857: Admitted to PORTLAND prison -- inmate #7052. 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). Listed as Richard Francis, 45 when convicted, single, boatman, Church of England, illiterate; next of kin -- his brother-in-law James Wall, Back Bryn Marr [Brynmawr], Llanellen, Brecknockshire, South Wales. Health "good" (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portland Prison; Prison Records to 1875). --0--
23 December, 1856: Admitted to WAKEFIELD prison -- served 4 months 25 days in separate confinement; behaviour "very bad". “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). Wakefield, Millbank, Pentonville and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --0--
JAILS: 25 April, 1856: Admitted to RUNCORN (CHESTER CASTLE) jail -- served 7 months 28 days; behaviour "good". --0--
NEWSPAPER coverage of his trial: 9 August, 1856: Compiled from extracts from the Chester Observer, Chester Courant and Chester Chronicle: "ATTEMPTED MURDER AT RUNCORN. Richard Francis, 45, boatman, was charged with cutting the throat of Mary Ann Francis, his wife, with intent to murder, at Runcorn, on the 17th April last. Mr. Brandt appeared for the prosecution and the prisoner was undefended. Mary Ann Francis said she and her husband were employed on the canal, navigating two narrow boats, called the Alice and Margaret. On the 17th April she and the prisoner were in a public-house at Runcorn, having some beer. The prisoner wanted his wife to pay for more drink, which she refused to do. They afterwards went on board the boat (witness and the prisoner) where the prisoner recommenced the quarrel; the captain [of the two narrow boats], Phineas Veere was on the bank. Thinking the prisoner was going to strike her, she jumped down into the cabin; he followed and she told him that she would not live with him any longer if he continued to lead that life; he asked her to forgive him, but she said that she would not stay with him; he then put his arms on her shoulders and asked her to give him a kiss, at the same time she felt him pressing a knife into her throat with his right hand; he then put his fingers of his left hand into the wound and tore it open, causing the blood to flow in streams. She then got away from him, and while trying to get on deck, he tried to pull her back by the clothes; she succeeded, however, in getting on deck, and screamed for assistance. She looked down into the cabin, and there saw the prisoner in the act of cutting his throat, with the same knife; he came up from the cabin and she got on to the adjoining boat, where he was prevented following her by a man named Cox who came up at the time; she then became insensible. The witness stated that the prisoner was not quite drunk, though far from sober; and that while at the inn the captain [Veere] had told the prisoner he should discharge him if he did not treat the witness better; while on the boat she was backing away from him when he took hold as if to kiss her. Phineas Veere said he was captain of the two boats Alice and Margaret. On the day of the attempted murder, he was with them in Stellfox's public-house, and there he saw the prisoner abuse his wife; he afterwards saw them on board their boat, and heard them quarrelling; they were neither drunk nor sober. Henry Humphries, a boy stated that while standing on the bank, he saw the prisoner draw something across her throat on the deck of the boat. Cox, the witness previously spoken of, said he heard the scream of 'murder', and went to the boats, and saw Mrs. Francis coming up from the cabin, with her throat cut. Mr. Cooper, surgeon, of Runcorn, said he attended the woman; the wound extended from one side of the neck to the other, seven inches long and half-an-inch in depth, the haemorrhage being very considerable, and her life being seriously in danger; he stitched up the wound, and had her removed to a lodging house. William Blake, constable, produced a knife covered with blood, which he found in the steerage of the Alice boat. The steerage was covered with blood. There was a jagged cut on the prisoner's throat which Mr. Wilson stitched up. The prisoner in defence made a long, rambling statement in which he stated that he and his wife, with Phineas Veere and his wife, had a deal of drink and he became intoxicated and did not recollect anything else. The learned Judge summing up said the present indictment was framed under a statute which enacted that in every case where cutting and wounding with the intention to kill occurred, the offence was a capital one. The principal point for the jury to consider would be the question of intent to kill which, if made out, would amount to murder, as no count for a lesser offence was in the indictment. His Lordship then read the entire evidence, minutely examining the bearings of the case. The jury deliberated for a few minutes and then returned a verdict of guilty. Sentence of death was recorded against the prisoner. The learned Judge said he had been considering whether he ought not to have passed the last sentence of the law upon him. The brutal manner in which women were treated by men of the prisoner's class called for some severe measures, and the prisoner, although his life would be spared, would receive the next severe sentence to death." --00--
TRIAL: 2 August, 1856: Convicted at Chester Castle Assizes and sentenced to death, commuted to transportation for 15 years, for "wounding with intent to murder" his wife, Mary Ann Francis (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892; England; Cheshire; 1856). --0--