William Gray

341

Maureen Withey on 11th February 2026

Court of Criminal Jurisdiction. TUESDAY.—Wm. Gray and Edw. Gainer were brought to the bar and indicted for having, on the evening of the 14th ult. stopped the cart of Edward Powell, on the King's highway ; putting Edward Powell, jun. and John Beckwith, in bodily fear, & robbing the cart of ten gallons of spirits and other articles of value, — Both Guilty — Death. Sydney Gazette, 26 Mar 1814. Wᴇᴅɴᴇꜱᴅᴀʏ.—... after which the persons capitally convicted were brought to the bar to receive sentence, namely 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑎𝑚 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑦, 𝐸𝑑𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝐺𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑟, … for highway robbery; .... On this melancholy occasion the Jᴜᴅɢᴇ Aᴅᴠᴏᴄᴀᴛᴇ addressed the unhappy men severally; and on the case of those convicted of highway robbery observed that it was an offence punished with death in the Mother Country, and which in this Colony had not heretofore been of frequent occurrence, but had of late been practised to an extent which seemed unhappily to render example necessary to check the progress of a crime so dreadful to society. Sydney Gazette, 2 Apr 1814.

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Maureen Withey on 11th February 2026

Colonial Secretary Index. GRAY, William. Per "Admiral Gambier", 1811 1814 Apr 12 Commutation warrant (Reel 6070; 4/7020 No.30) 1814 Apr 29 Death sentence commuted to life. Lieutenant Thompson, Commandant at Newcastle, instructed that Gray, being a dangerous & very desperate ruffian, be wrought in double irons & employed on hard labour (Reel 6004; 4/3493 p.158) 1814 Apr 29 On list of prisoners to be sent to Newcastle per "Endeavour" (Reel 6004; 4/3493 p.160) 1820 Apr 26 On list of prisoners transported to Newcastle per "Elizabeth Henrietta" (Reel 6007; 4/3502 p.10) 1821 Petition for mitigation of sentence (Fiche 3208; 4/1862 pp.74-74c)

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Maureen Withey on 11th February 2026

Tried at the Old Bailey, 6 Dec 1809 3. WILLIAM GRAY and HENDERICK CORNELIUS were indicted for feloniously stealing on the 13th of November , two gallons of rum, value 12 s. the property of Christopher Nockells . JAMES SEALEY . I am an apprentice to Christopher Nockells , on board the brig Monmouth; Mr. Nockells is the owner. On Sunday night, near a month ago Henderick Cornelius came from his own ship, the Hibernia, a collier; he came down in the steerage; I was asleep, he awoke me and asked me for a light, I told him if he felt on the table he would find a tinder box; he struck a light and went up, and then came down; William Gray , the other prisoner, he was mate of the Hibernia; I had seen them both before. William Gray came down and asked for the key of the hold of our ship, I told him I had not got the key; he awoke the other lad, he asked him for the key, his name is Robert Mallon ; Robert Mallon said I had the care of the keys, they were hanging up in the cabin. Gray said I must go and get them; I turned out of my hammock; he made me get the keys, I denied going to get them; he said he would pull me out, so I got out; I was afraid he would do some-to us if I did not get out; from that fear I went and got the key of the hold; he made me unlock the hold; he said our mate left him the command of the ship. Q He was not in the care of the ship - A. No. I unlocked the door, he took a bucket and went down in the hold, he took a candle with him; I went down to see what they were after; both the prisoners went down and put a spike in a puncheon of rum, and took a small bucket of rum out of it, and went up upon deck and bottled it off in their own cabin; they carried it to the Hibernia; I went with them to the Hibernia; they came down again, they drawed another bucket; they took that up, locked the door, and gave me the key. Q. How much was the amount of what they took. - A. They were two small buckets full, the buckets did not hold much. Q. Then after taking this last bucket they gave you the key. - A. Yes; and they carried it on board the Hibernia, then I went to bed again, they made Robert Mallon watch on deck, on board our own ship to see if our mate was coming, they took him on board their own ship, they gave him four bottles, he brought them down in the steerage. ROBERT MALLON. Q. How old are you. - A. I am just turned of fourteen. Q. What are you at this time. - A. I am apprentice to Christopher Nockells , the proprietor of the ship. I believe it was Sunday night, three weeks back, I was on board Mr. Nockell's ship, the Monmouth, Cornelius came down for a light, I was a bed, I knew him, he belonged to the Hibernia, I told him if he would feel upon the top of the chest, he would find a tinder box, he struck a light himself, he went upon deck and fetched Gray down. Gray asked my fellow apprentice for the key, he told him he had not got it, then they asked me for the key of the hold, I told them I had not got it, my fellow apprentice had got them. He made Sealey go and get them, he told him to unlock the door, he did; they went down in the hold and sent me upon deck to watch for fear our mate should come. I saw them come up with a bucket of rum, they went on board their own ship, they came down and got another bucket, and told me to come with them on board their ship, they gave me four bottles, two for Sealey and two for me. I took them on board, they told me I had no occasion to be afraid, they allowed three inches leakage in a cask, and we had a nice place below to keep it. On Monday morning, when the mate came on board, I told him that Gray and Cornelius were taking the rum on shore. The officers stopped it. GEORGE FAINT . I am a Police officer. On the 13th of November, between seven and eight in the evening, I was on my duty, I stopped Cornelius and Gray in a ship's boat belonging to the Hibernia, I found a tin beer can in the middle part of the boat, and seven bottles with rum in each; I asked Cornelius what was in the can, he said beer, I found it contained rum, I took them to the office. JOHN GOTTY . I am an officer of the Thames Police. I went to the ship Monmouth on the next morning, and from the information of Sealey, I gauged the cask of rum, the full contents of the cask would be 119 gallons, the ullage 115, there were four gallons deficient, the quantity taken was two gallons, there were two more deficient then was found on the prisoner: I drew a sample and tried the strength with the hydrometer, I found that taken on the prisoner in strength exactly corresponded with what was left, I have no doubt but that it was from the same cask by the flavour and strength. CHRISTOPHER NOCKELLS . I am the owner of this vessel. The rum being laden in my ship, I am answerable for it, it was consigned to Robert Burton and Co. in Cork. Gray's Defence. We lay alongside of this ship, this ship made use of our boat night and day, they were as likely to lay the rum in the boat as anybody else. I have been a sailor twenty years, and most of that time I served my country, under Lord Nelson, Collingwood and Gambier, as to the crime imputed to me, I am entirely ignorant of. Cornelius's Defence. As we were pulling the boat he came alongside of us, and asked us what was in the boat, I told him I did not know whether it was beer or not. GRAY GUILTY, aged 28. CORNELIUS GUILTY, aged 27. Transported for seven years . First Middlesex Jury, before Mr. Justice Grose. -------------------------------------- National Archives. Hulk Records. H0-9-8_2 Portsmouth. Captivity Hulk? Page 10/51. Received Twenty Prisoners from Newgate, London, 12 May 1810. William Gray, age 28, Felony, Tried Middlesex, 6 Dec 1809.BS (Beyond seas) 7 years, Admiral Gambier.