Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
David Gaffin was transported on the Hougoumont, departing 10th Oct 1867 and arriving 9th Jan 1868 with 281 passengers.
875 ton ship was built at Moulmein in 1852. http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/on-this-day-in-history-australias-last-convict-ship-docks.htm ---------------------------- Incorrect Image ....This is a four masted steel hulled Barque in the drawing , im surprised Australian Geo didn't do a bit more research on this .......The Hougoumont was a works ship on the Forth Bridge Project in 1885 ....the one potrayed as a drawing in Aust Geo is the later version of this ship.....the photograph i have attached is the correct and original convict vessel. --00-- 1867 "The hired convict ship Hougoumont, which has been taken up by the Government for the conveyance of a numerous party of convicts to Freemantle, Western Australia, left the Nore on October 1, and proceeded down Channel, after receiving on board 150 convicts from the establishments at Chatham and Millbank. The convicts from the Chatham establishment, at St. Mary's, embarked from the dockyard on board the paddle-wheel steamer Adder, Mr. W. J. Blakely, and were in charge of a numerous party of convict guards and wardens, all heavily armed. Among the convicts shipped were a party of fifteen Fenians, who were engaged in the late conspiracy in Ireland, together with the officers and crew convicted of scuttling the ship Severn, and some others who have achieved notoriety from their crimes. The Fenian convicts, like the remainder of the prisoners, were chained together in gangs, but it was observed that they were kept apart from the other convicts in a portion of the vessel by themselves. The steamer Petrel also took down a number of convicts from the establishment at Millbank for shipment on board the Hougoumont, in charge of a strong escort and convict guard. On Tuesday, October 8th, the Hougoumont arrived in Portland roads. Shortly before midday ninety convicts were marched down to the Government pier at Portland under a strong escort of the 12th Light Infantry. The party included twenty-three Fenian convicts, among whom it was said, was Moriarty. The Government steamer employed in the breakwater service was used for conveying the convicts on board the Hougoumont transport ship. The convicts were chained together on embarking, and on board the steamer a strong guard of marines from her Majesty's ship St. George was formed, and saw the convicts safely placed on board the Hougoumont. The Governor of the penal settlement at Freemantle, Captain Young, is on board the Hougoumont, and returns in that ship to his sphere of duty after paying a visit to his native land." Source: Sydney Morning Herald, Thu 19 Dec 1867, p4, English Shipping, available on Trove at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271?searchTerm=hougoumont.
HougoumontReferences
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 93, Class and Piece Number HO11/19, Page Number 239 (122) |
| 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: GAFFIN, David, inmate #9742, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1845 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Pitman Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Durham Crime: Rape Sentence Period: 12 years Ticket Leave Date: 17 Jan 1872 Certificate of Freedom Date: 17 Apr 1878 Comments: Conditional Release 1875. Labourer (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/). --00--
IN WA: On arrival, DAVID GAFFIN was listed as #9742, aged 22, a pitman, single, able to read and write a little, Protestant; next of kin—his mother, Mary Peel, of Felling, Durham. He arrived with a behaviour rating of “very good”. Awarded a Ticket of Leave in 17 January, 1872; Certificate of Freedom, received from the RM at Perth on 17 April, 1878 (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16). —0—
“The hired convict ship Hougoumont, which has been taken up by the Government for the conveyance of a numerous party of convicts to Freemantle, Western Australia, left the Nore [anchorage in the Thames estuary] on October 1, and proceeded down Channel, after receiving on board 150 convicts from the establishments at Chatham and Millbank… On Tuesday, October 8th, the Hougoumont arrived in Portland roads. Shortly before midday ninety convicts were marched down to the Government pier at Portland under a strong escort of the 12th Light Infantry. The party included twenty-three Fenian convicts, among whom it was said, was Moriarty. The Government steamer employed in the breakwater service was used for conveying the convicts on board the Hougoumont transport ship. The convicts were chained together on embarking, and on board the steamer a strong guard of marines from her Majesty’s ship St. George was formed, and saw the convicts safely placed on board the Hougoumont.” (Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Dec 1867, p4, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271). —00—
JAIL & TRANSPORTATION: 8 October, 1867: DAVID GAFFIN, inmate #5896, was sent from Portland prison, Grove Road, Dorset, to embark on the Hougoumont for transportation to WA (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9059-9598 cont., 9599-10128 (R15-R16)). There are no free-to-view records of his jail admissions between March 1866 and this time. Two of his fellows in crime, Joseph O’Neil and Patrick Curo, were sent to Millbank prison at Westminster, London, and then to Portsmouth Jail before being transported, per the Norwood, to WA in April 1867. A third man, Thomas Bell, was also aboard the Norwood. There is no record of Thomas Scanlon being transported. --
AN INQUIRY: 1866, 27 July: A letter to the Chief Constable of Durham County instructs him to make enquiries into an allegation of police payments to the prosecutrix in the rape case, Mary Jane Thirlwell: “I am directed by … Secretary Walpole to transcript to you the accompanying memorial and affidavits in behalf of Patrick Curo, Joseph O’Neil, David Gaffin, and Thomas Scanlon**, convicted at the Durham Assizes in March last of rape, and to request that you will cause enquiries to be made through the Police as to the truth of the allegation that the prosecutrix was induced by the Police to accuse the prisoners of the crime, by the promise of 5 for each man convicted, and report the result to me for Mr Walpole’s information. [signed] H Waddington” (UK, Criminal Records, 1780-1871 for Thomas Scanlon; Criminal Entry Books 1866-1868; HO 13/109). Note: Thomas Bell is not mentioned in this communication. --0--
2. From the Newcastle Courant - Friday 09 March, 1866, p2: “TUESDAY. CROWN COURT.-Before Mr Justice MELLOR. – THE OUTRAGE AT THE FELLING. THOMAS BELL (22), JOSEPH O’NEIL (19), DAVID GAFFIN (20), PATRICK CURO (22), and THOMAS SCANLON (19), pitmen, were indicted for committing a rape upon the person of Mary Jane Thirlwell, at the Felling, on the 20th January. The prisoner Bell was further indicted for violently assaulting the said Mary Jane Thirlwell, and stealing from her person the sum of 6s. 6½d., and a tobacco box. Mr BLACKWELL prosecuted; and the prisoners were defended by Mr CAMPBELL FOSTER. Marg [sic] Jane Thirlwell said, that she lived with her husband, a pitman, at Felling, near Gateshead. On Friday evening, the 19th January, she went with her husband to Newcastle, to make some purchases. It was about six o'clock when they left home. After completing their purchases, they returned, stopping on their way at Sunderland Road End for about an hour. They then proceeded to the Felling. Her husband left her near the village, and went on home. She continued to follow on, but missed the proper turning, and reached the west end of the village, next to Heworth. When at the end of the houses, the prisoner Bell and another man went up to her. She knew Bell by name, and had known him for five years by eyesight. Did not see the other four men till that time. Bell threw his arms around her neck, which she thought was only a joke. She pushed by, and Bell stepped aside and spoke to the other four men. He then returned, put his arms round her neck, dragged her to the other side of the road, and threw her down. The other four men seized her by the arms and legs; and having perpetrated the offence charged ran off. She made to the road wall, and while in the act of climbing over it fell down on the ground. The men returned, and dragged her to a narrow lane. She called out, and Bell hit her on the left side of the head; and somebody struck her a blow on the small of the back, and threw her upon the ground. The offence was then repeated, and when she came to herself she was lying on the ground, quite benumbed. She got home after great difficulty, when she made a complaint to her son. The doctor came at four o’clock in the afternoon. Sergeant Thompson was sent for, and came in the afternoon. He came again with Bell in his custody, and she at once recognised him as one of the men who had ill-used her. He (Bell) said, ‘No, Mary, you know I would not harm you.’ As he was being taken away, he turned round to her husband and said- ‘Tell her to mind what she says.’ He also said (while being removed in the custody of the officer) -- ‘Paddy Curo knocked you down, and Scanlon ill-used you.’ At the County Police Court, Gateshead, 13 or 14 men were shown to her, and she identified Bell, O'Neil, and Gaffin as three of the men who committed the outrage. Prosecutrix was subjected to a long and severe examination by Mr FOSTER, relative to the past propriety of her conduct, and to her condition on the night in question. In reply to his Lordship, she admitted having had three glasses of bitter beer on that evening, and to having -- previous to the occurrence -- been occasionally the worse for drink. George Thirlwell, husband of the prosecutrix, gave corroborative evidence respecting the journey to market, and the fact of his wife having apprised him of the outrage on the following morning. Mrs Irwin, living next door to the prosecutrix, said that she saw her next morning, when she said that she had been robbed and abused, but did not mention anything about the special offence. H. K. Mallam, assistant to Dr. Pyle, Felling, deposed to the result of his examination of the prosecutrix. The marks which he observed were consistent with what he should have expected if an outrage had been committed. They might also to a certain extent have been produced by falling on the hard road. Mr FOSTER then proceeded to address the jury on behalf of the prisoners. He asked them if they could place implicit reliance upon the testimony of the prosecutrix. He commented strongly upon the probable motive which caused a separation between the prosecutrix and her husband while returning home. He also referred to the absence of prosecutrix's son, to whom she alleged she had mentioned the outrage on the following morning. The jury, after half an hour's consultation, found all the prisoners guilty. His LORDSHIP, in passing sentence, said that the evidence must have been satisfactory to all who heard it that the prisoners had been guilty of a most serious outrage upon the prosecutrix. He had once before had occasion to try a case of rape in the county of Durham, in which four men were charged with the offence; but it was the first time that five men had stood before him indicted for the same crime. Less than murder he knew nothing worse than the offence which they had committed under circumstances of peculiar aggravation, and they must expect a severe sentence. He would be wanting in his duty, seeing that rapes were so common, if he did otherwise. It was his place to show what would be the penal consequences of such a crime, and that the law would protect women who were exposed to such dangerous society as that of the prisoners. The prisoner Bell was then sentenced to penal servitude for fifteen years, and the other four prisoners to twelve years each. Some friends of the prisoners, who were near the dock after the sentence, warmly grasped the hands of the prisoners, bidding them farewell, and telling them to ‘keep up their hearts.’” (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000085/18660309/002/0002) --00—
NEWSPAPER REPORTS OF THE TRIAL: 1. From the Leeds Mercury - Wednesday 07 March, 1866, p3: DURHAAM ASSIZES. CROWN COURT. TUESDAY, (Before Mr. Justice Mellor.) THOMAS BELL (22), JOSEPH O’NEIL (19), DAVID GAFFIN (20), PATRICK CURO (21), THOMAS SCANLON (19), all pitmen, were convicted of having committed a rape upon Mary Jane Thirlwell, a married woman, between Felling and Heworth, in the parish of Jarrow, on the 20th of January last, and were sentenced, Bell to penal servitude for fifteen years; and the other four prisoners to twelve years' penal servitude.” (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000076/18660307/009/0003) --
TRIAL: 1866, 1 March: David Gaffin was one of five men convicted of rape at the Durham Assizes, and one of four to be sentenced to 12 years’ penal servitude (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for David Gaffin; England; Durham; 1866). --0--
Occupation: Pitman. Employed 3 T/L men 1876 & 1883. one grubbing.
David Gaffin was transported on the Hougoumont, aged 23, and arrived in Western Australia on 10 January 1868. He got his ticket of leave on 17 January 1872 and certificate of freedom on 17 April 1878. Born in 1845, he was literate, single, a Protestant and his occupation was a Pitman. He was sentenced at Durham for rape and was given 12 years. His number was 9742. I have the newspaper account of his trial. He was part of a group of men accused of raping a woman. David Gaffin appears to have been a quiet, well respected man in Jarrahdale, Western Australia, so we can draw two conclusions from this: 1. This was a one off offence due to his youth and after he had served his time, he had learnt his lesson and turned over a new leaf 2. He never committed the offence in the first place. His physical description: 5 foot 6 inches, brown hair, grey eyes, long face, sallow complexion, middling stout, several small coal cuts on face, scar on left shoulder and cut on top of head. Source: Fremantle Prison, Crime and Punishment, Convict Data base keyboard search. David Gaffin was a member of the Road Board (Jarrahdale which became Serpentine-Jarrahdale) from 1906 to 1922. David Gaffin was also a member of the Board of Health at Jarrahdale. Gaffin was an educated man and took part in community affairs and was respected. In the 1920s, when an old man, he disappeared and was thought to have been lost in the bush. Although a large police-organised party searched for him for days he was never found. Source: Fall V.G., The Mills of Jarrahdale, University of WA, c1972 p84 Notes from the file held at State Record Office Western Australia (SROWA) Consignment 3436 - 92/1927: David Gaffin of Bonnie Vale, near Jarrahdale in the State of Western Australia, retired farmer, died on or about 26 June 1926. Administration granted to David Cecil Gaffin, labourer. Gaffin's last Will and Testament was made on 11 November 1924. The witnesses to his Will were George Watkins and his wife, Mary Isabel Watkins. (They were his neighbours for many years and for whom he had worked). Gaffin appointed his son, David Cecil Gaffin to be Executor. He left £150 to his daughter, Evelyn Selina Mary Postans, wife of Frederick Postans and subject to this payment gave in equal shares all his real and personal estate to his two sons, Cecil and Wilfred.