Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
John Gray 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 245 (125) |
| 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
NOTE: In Date of Birth, only the year is known (1839), but a day and month must be entered in order for the window to function. Disregard the day and date as they have not been confirmed.
OTHER: 1885, 11 February: Fremantle Police Court “John Gray, a ticket-of-leave holder, was drinking at a hotel on the evening of the 10th instant, and was seen by Constable Pryor leaving the premises soon after ten o'clock under the influence of liquor. Having been liberated from goal only a day previously, the Bench thought it desirable to send him in for another month.” (The West Australian (Perth), 12 February 1885, p3) Several news stories report on his various jail sentences for drunkenness. The last of these appeared on page 3 of the Albany Mail and King George’s Sound Advertiser, on 3 December, 1887 – eight days before his death: “At the Police Court on Thursday, the 1st instant, John Hollis, for loitering about public houses, received a sentence of imprisonment, and John Gray 21 days for habitual drunkenness.” (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/232702482) --00--
From his FREMANTLE JAIL record: GRAY, John; inmate #9751, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1839 Date of Death: 11 Dec 1887 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Sailor Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Liverpool Crime: Pickpocket Sentence Period: 14 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket Leave Date: 4 Feb 1875 Comments: General servant, cutter, stone cutter, labourer, quarrier (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/). --00—
IN WA: 1868: On arrival in WA, convict #9751 John Gray was listed as 28, single, literate, Roman Catholic and a sailor, sentenced to 14 years for “larceny from the person after previous convictions”. Next of kin – no information. Previous convictions included six years’ penal servitude for robbery with violence in 1859. He received his Ticket of Leave on 4 February, 1875 (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department Registers, General Register for Nos 9599-10128 (R16)). —0—
1867, 30 September: John Gray was sent from Millbank to board the Hougoumont for transportation to WA: “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] 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 [only two were on the Hougoumont – Thomas Berwick and Lionel Holdsworth, each sentenced to 20 years for fraud], 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.” (Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Dec 1867, p4, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271). --0—
JAIL: 1867, 21 August: John Gray was sent from Liverpool, where he had served 1 month 3 days in separate confinement, and admitted to Millbank Prison, Pimlico, London. “After a sentence of transportation [or penal servitude] 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, Pentonville, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. At Millbank, John Gray was listed as inmate #3687, semi-literate, Roman Catholic; next of kin – sister Anne Gray, Millbank Prison. Other details: NAME: John Gray MARITAL STATUS: Single CRIMINAL ADMISSION AGE: 27 RECORD TYPE: Register BIRTH DATE: 1840 OCCUPATION: Sailor CRIMINAL CHARGE: Larceny SENTENCE: 14 CRIMINAL ADMISSION DATE: 21 Aug 1867 CRIMINAL ADMISSION PLACE: Middlesex, England JAIL: Millbank Prison SOURCE DESCRIPTION: Millbank Prison, Middlesex: Register of Prisoners (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for John Gray; Millbank Prison, Register of Prisoners, 1867-1868). --0—
NEWSPAPER REPORT OF TRIAL: From the Liverpool Daily Post - Friday 19 July 1867, p7: “Two courts were held, over the first of which the Recorder presided, and over the second Mr. Hosack. The following was the result of the trials… John Gray (27), sailor, for having stolen a purse containing ten pawn tickets, the property of Martha Cartwright, from her person, was sentenced to 14 years' penal servitude.” --00—
TRIAL: 1867, 18 July: At the Liverpool Quarter Sessions, John Gray was sentenced to 14 years’ penal servitude for larceny from the person, with four previous felony convictions (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for John Gray; England, Lancashire, 1867). --0--