Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
George Grover was transported on the Earl St Vincent, departing 20th Apr 1826 and arriving 13th Aug 1826 with 165 passengers.
Earl St Vincent (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 88, Class and Piece Number HO11/6, Page Number 14 |
| 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
— George Grover and Richard Smith, each 22, labourers, for feloniously breaking into the dwelling-house of Samuel Puttick, of Kirdford, in the absence of the family, and stealing therein divers articles of apparel and linen, the property of the prosecutor.
Conduct record. CON31-1-15;- 1825 - Transported for Felony. [House Breaking] Gaol Report - Behaved Well in Prison Ship Report - Good. Previous Conviction; Breaking a window at Westminster - 6 months Ship report states he is married and on arrival he states he is single. 1826 - 4 Sept. Neglect of Duty last Wednesday, Thursday & Friday. Sentence; 3 months on Chain Gang. 1826 - 9 Dec. Chain Gang. Absconding from Chain Gang. last Sunday to last Tuesday, when found at New Norfolk by Wm. Newman. Sentence; 25 Lashes and one month Chain Gang. 1827 - 24 Dec. Aiding and prompts lacey and slaughter in fights in the barracks on Saturday night. Sentence; 25 Lashes 1829 - 7 Jan. Disobedience of Orders 1829 - 8 Oct. Flagellator. Dis. in the Public Road last night with insult F Roper Esq. police magistrate in the exercise of his Duty with refusing to give up the public papers in his possession & which were eventually taken from him by force & running away from the person in whose charge he was placed. Sentence; 25 Lashes. 1831 - Flagellator. Feloniously aiding and abetting Joshua Threader in assaulting and carnally knowing Anne Harris on Tuesday the 12th this present month. Sentence; Fully committed Joshua was found Not Guilty 1831 - 1 October - Sentence; 3 months 1832 - Murdered March 1832. Memo P. S. Annual Report 1832 - Burials in the Parish of Sorrell Richmond in the County of Buckinghamshire in the Year No; 81 Name; George Grover Abode; Richmond When buried; 3 March 1832 Age; 27 years Ship’s Name; Earl St Vincent By whom the Ceremony was Performed. Wm. Moore, the chaplain being absent attending the funeral of Revd. H Robinson
1831 - October, while Richmond Gaol flagellator, stood trial for stealing a few bits of old timber, 12 months hard labour. 15/6/1832 - James Coleman (Colman) charged with murder of George Grover by throwing him over the Coal River Bridge (Hobart Town Courier). Further details from inquest: families in Richmond were celebrating a Harvest Supper, and many of their "servants" (convicts) got drunk. A constable was placed to supervise the male convicts but overnight George Grover was thrown over the bridge. He was found the next morning, still alive. He said he had been thrown by 5 men, one of whom was James Coleman. Coleman was tried for murder and acquitted. The inquest tried to find a way to blame the newspaper editor, who was the person who had the convicts working on his property in Richmond. It was said he had given each of his male convicts "a pint and a gill" of wine and a glass of rum. As a result of his giving the convicts alcohol, all his convicts were removed from his property. The editor complained bitterly that the Chief Justice was accuser, witness and judge, who had passed sentence without ever hearing any defence or even making a charge. The Governor sent for the editor and said that this removal of his convicts wasn't meant to happen, and he would get more convicts to work on his land only if he would apologise about what he had published regarding the Chief Justice. This instruction was refused and the editor still continued to gat convicts as the Governor knew they were always well treated and well managed.
1832 - Murdered March 1832 3/10/1832 - Inquest detailed in Hobart Town Courier 3/3/1832 - buried at St Luke's Anglican Cemetery, Richmond
The Ghost of George Grover One the more famous of Richmond 's many ghosts is that of a man who was supposedly murdered and thrown over the bridge by the convicts he tortured during the building of the Richmond Bridge. He was known as the wicked Flagellator, George Grover, George Grover had been transported to Van Diemen's Land after being tried at Winchester England for stealing and arrived on the Earl Vincent in October 1825 – two years after the start of the building of the bridge. He spent a lot of time on the chain gangs for bad behavior but by 1829 his record shows him as a Flagellator at Richmond . It was at this time that John Lee Archer, the Colonial Architect, authorised the rebuilding of the piers of Bigge's Bridge at Richmond. Grover is said to have ridden on the heavy hand-carts full of stone from Butcher's Hill, which had to be dragged along by the convicts, and whipped the prisoners like horses.