Summary
Personal Information
Transportation
Johann Gad 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 234. --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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Photos
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Convict Notes
From his FREMANTLE jail record: GAA, Johan; inmate #4592, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Alias: GAAR, Johann Date of Birth: 1829 [or 1826?] Date of Death: 6 Jul 1899 Place of Death: Mount Eliza Marital Status: Married [When?] Occupation: Farmer [Soldier when convicted] Literacy: Semiliterate Sentence Place: Chelmsford, Essex, England Crime: Rape Sentence Period: Life Ticket of Leave Date: 1 Jul 1863 Conditional Pardon Date: 24 Jun 1867 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --0--
IN WA: On arrival, he was flagged as "certified unsuitable for separate confinement" because he had twice attempted to hang himself -- once at Springfield and once at Millbank (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). --0--
10 September, 1857: Sent from Portland to board the NILE for transportation to WA; behaviour at Portland "good". --00--
20 May, 1857: Admitted to PORTLAND in Dorset -- inmate #7059. 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 Johann GAA, 26 years old when convicted, single, Roman Catholic; reads and writes imperfectly; soldier with the 4th Light Infantry, BG Legion, 8th Company; next of kin -- his mother Elizabeth Gaa of North America. No previous convictions. Health "good". Notations on this record: "Has attempted to strangle himself" and "Bad". (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portland Prison; Prison Records; 1870-1875). --0--
--0-- 21 February, 1857: Admitted to MILLBANK at Westminster, London -- served 2 months 29 days in separate confinement. “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: 5 November, 1856: Committed at COLCHESTER to stand trial; admitted to SPRINGFIELD County Gaol and House of Correction, Chelmsford -- served 3 months 15 days.
NEWSPAPER coverage of the trial: Compiled from extracts from the Globe, Essex Standard and Chelmsford Chronicle (19 December, 1856): "ESSEX WINTER ASSIZES... SECOND DAY (FRIDAY). The case of rape at Elmstead.— Johann Gaa, a soldier of the British German Legion, was indicted for a rape upon Elizabeth Dennis, married woman, at Elmstead. Mr. Hirt, of Colchester, acted as interpreter. The prosecutrix, a married woman but separated from her husband, lives at Elmstead; on the evening of Sunday the 2nd of Nov. she was at Wivenhoe on the Colchester road, about 11 o'clock. Two of her daughters were out that night, and she went to meet them. She was standing under hedge when the soldier came up, and took hold of her hand. She told him he must not meddle with her and her husband was close by. The soldier 'took fast hold of my hand, and I called out and rushed from him; he overtook me, and jumped on my back; then drew his bayonet, pointed it at me, and said something I could not understand; his hat fell off, and he ran after it, but came back, caught hold of me, and turned me round by the shoulders two or three times, trying to get me nearer to the ditch. We both fell in; I cried out "murder", but he pointed the bayonet at me with one hand, and put the other over my mouth. [Witness detailed the outrage.] I had seen the prisoner before; I went immediately to a person named Holbrook, stated what occurred; my hair was out, my shawl torn, and blood came from my scratches; I gave information to the police the same night, and next morning I went to the camp. By the prisoner: I am quite sure you are the man; I can swear to you; I had seen you before. Prisoner: I can swear it was a comrade. Witness, to the court: I scratched the prisoner's hands at the time; this took place in a lane leading to the high road; the prisoner was courting a young woman there ...' The prisoner said the witnesses whom he could have called to prove that he was not the man had gone from the camp and left the country. Mr. Baron Bramwell summed up, and the jury found Johann Gaa guilty. Mr. Baron Bramwell said 'it might thought that, as he was a foreigner and they should get rid of him, there was no reason why they should punish him for the benefit of his own country; but if he were an Englishman he would be transported for life, and he saw no reason why he, being a foreigner, should not receive the same punishment. The sentence, therefore, was that he transported for life. It was most intolerable that a decent married woman could not walk about the highways of this country without the risk of undergoing the most atrocious outrage that could be practised on her.'" (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) --00--
TRIAL: 11 December, 1856: Convicted and sentenced at the Chelmsford Winter Gaol Delivery to death, commuted to transportation for life for the rape of Elizabeth Dennis (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892; England; Essex; 1856). --0--