Summary
Personal Information
Transportation
John Haine 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 243 (123). --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 |
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Convict Notes
IN WA: From his FREMANTLE jail record: HAINE, John; inmate #4577, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Date of Birth: 1837 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Cordwainer Literacy: Semiliterate Sentence Place: Taunton, Somerset, England Crime: Arson of barn & outbuildings Sentence Period: 14 years Ticket of Leave Date: 5 Jan 1860 Conditional Pardon Date: 3 Jun 1862 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
10 September, 1857: Sent from Portland to board the NILE for transportation to WA. He was listed as #70/6955; behaviour on voyage “good” (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). --00--
6 April, 1857: Admitted to PORTLAND, in Dorset -- inmate #6955. 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 John HAINE, 20 when convicted, single, reads imperfectly; Church of England; next of kin his mother Ann Hawker of Preston near Yeovil; no known previous convictions. Behaviour "very good". Health “good” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portland Prison; Prison Records to 1875). --0--
8 July, 1856: Admitted to PENTONVILLE, Caledonian Road, London -- served 8 months 19 days in separate confinement; behaviour "good". --0--
27 May, 1856: Admitted to MILLBANK at Westminster, London -- served 1 month 11 days in separate confinement; behaviour "good". “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, Pentonville, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --0--
JAILS: 26 February, 1856: Committed for trial at Yeovil and admitted to TAUNTON jail -- served 2 months [from 23 March, 1856]. --0--
NEWSPAPER report of his trial: 9 April, 1856: From the Taunton Courier, and Western Advertiser, p7: "SOMERSET SPRING ASSIZES ARSON AT PRESTON PLUCKNETT. John Haine (20), was charged with having, the 16th February, maliciously set fire to a barn and outbuildings at Preston Plucknett, near Yeovil. Mr. H. T. Cole prosecuted, and Mr. Edwards defended the prisoner. It appeared from the opening of the learned counsel that the crime charged in the indictment was rather more serious in the results than the generality of arson cases, inasmuch as the amount of property destroyed was very considerable, and comprising some extensive premises, three horses, several machines and agricultural implements, a quantity of grain, and other effects. The prosecutor, Mr. William Rodbard, a farmer and baker, resided at Preston Plucknett, near Yeovil, and the premises he occupied abutted on the side of the road leading from Yeovil, through Preston Plucknett to Houndstone. On the night of the 16th of February about half-past 12, a fire broke out on the premises, which, from its nature and the mode in which it commenced, it was said must have been produced by the act of an incendiary. The evidence to show that the prisoner was the incendiary was partly circumstantial and partly direct. Thomas Taylor, a man in the employ of the prosecutor was driving home from Yeovil on the night of the fire about 11 o'clock, and a girl named Mary Ann Harris was with him in the van. As they were riding home the prisoner came alongside the van and wished to be taken up. Taylor refused to do so, and the prisoner then ran behind the van as far as Preston. Taylor put up the van and horse, and left everything safe at half-past 11. He did not take any light into the stable, nor did he smoke upon the premises. The girl Harris confirmed Taylor's statement, and added that shortly after she got home she went outside her house with another girl named Emily Salisbury, and she then saw the prisoner standing under a yew tree near the prosecutor's premises. They had some conversation with him, in the course of which he made a statement as to his having been to the house of Mrs. Pilton, which afterwards proved to be false. The witness Salisbury also deposed that shortly after she went in doors she heard a noise at the bottom gate of Mr. Rodbard's premises, as if the gate was being opened or some one was getting over. Within five minutes of that time an alarm of fire was given. Another witness, who lived within a few yards of Mr. Rodbard's was going to bed about 20 minutes before the fire was discovered. His attention was attracted by the noise of some drunken men in the road, and he went to his bedroom window and stood looking out for about 4 or 5 minutes. He then saw the prisoner... Some statements made by the prisoner, both before and after the fire took place, were also urged as tending to show his guilt. Mr. Edwards, on behalf of the prisoner, reminded the jury that there was an entire absence of any motive to warrant the supposition that the prisoner committed the offence laid to his charge, and urged that the fire might have been the result of accident, and might have been caused by a spark from the pipe of one of the drunken men, who were proved to have passed the premises shortly before the flames broke out. His Lordship having minutely summed up, the prisoner was convicted and sentenced to 14 years' transportation." (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) --0--
TRIAL: 27 March, 1856: Convicted at the Assizes at the Castle of Taunton, Somerset, and sentenced to 14 years' transportation for "arson of a barn" (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892; England; Somerset; 1856). --0--