Summary
Personal Information
Transportation
Hans Hansen 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 232. --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. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26783779 |
| 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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Convict Notes
WA REGISTRATION OF DEATHS: Only two deaths are registered in the name of Hans Hansen on WA BDM for the period 1858 to 1900: They are: Hansen Hans, 42 (years), reg no.1047, registration year 1898; and Hansen Hans, 78 (years), reg no.2220, reg year 1898. The latter could be "our" Hans Hansen. Another possibility is: Hansen Hans, no age given, death registered at E Coolgardie, reg no.186, registration year 1914 (https://bdm.justice.wa.gov.au/). --00--
13 October, 1884 -- from the (Perth) Daily News, p3: "CITY POLICE COURT. MONDAY, October 13. (Before the Police Magistrate.) Hans Hansen, charged with being drunk, in Mr. T. Hall's store, said in his defence that he had dealt at that shop for three years past. Mr. Leake: Dealing at a store does not give you a right to lie on the broad of your back drunk on the premises. You will either pay 10s. or go to gaol for fourteen days." --00--
IN WA: From his Fremantle jail record: HANSEN, Hans; inmate #4571, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Date of Birth: 1822 Date of Death: 6 Jun 1868 [This date of death has to be an error. There are multiple newspaper reports of his many arrests and fines for drunkenness up to September 1870. Then there is a break, but they resume in 1884, as below.] Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Farm labourer Literacy: Semiliterate Sentence Place: Bodmin, Cornwall, England Crime: Murder Sentence Period: Life, commuted Ticket of Leave Date: 17 Sep 1861 Conditional Pardon Date: 15 Jul 1870 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
10 September, 1857: Hans Hansen was sent from Portland to board the Nile for WA; prisoner #64/6949 (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Convicts Transported Per Nile (R32)). --00--
6 April, 1857: Admitted to Portland jail; inmate #6949; behaviour "very good". Portland, Chatham, Portsmouth 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) --0--
8 July, 1856: Admitted to Pentonville gaol; inmate #6819. Details as above; 5'5" tall, brown hair, dark eyes, fresh complexion; reads and writes imperfectly; behaviour "good" during 8 months 19 days in separate confinement (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1854-1856). --0--
27 May, 1856: Admitted to Millbank gaol in London; inmate #2697. Listed as 34 (when convicted), single, Protestant, and convicted for the murder of Charles Jacobi, death commuted; next of kin -- stepfather Peter Adam Hansen, carpenter, Horrenholz, near Flensburg, Sleswick (Schleswig)-Holstein, Germany. He spent 1 month 11 days in separate confinement at Millbank; behaviour "good" (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners to 1885). By the 1850s, Millbank and Pentonville were places for all male convicts to serve “their probationary term [of 9 months], after which they would be transported or sent to a public works prison” (https://www.prisonhistory.org). --0--
JAILS: 1856: Hans Hansen was held at Bodmin jail, in Cornwall, for 2 months 4 days in association with other prisoners. Listed as 34, single, a stocking weaver, born abt 1822 in Denmark, late of Maker. Gaol Employment: Treadwheel. Notes: *Transported for life. Registration Number: 24438. Volume Number: AD 1676/4/4 (Cornwall, England, Bodmin Gaol Records, 1821-1899). --0--
DEATH SENTENCE COMMUTED 7 April, 1856: From 'The Manchester Guardian': "THE MURDER OF A GERMAN SOLDIER NEAR PLYMOUTH The sentence of death passed upon Hans Hansen, who was convicted at the last Cornwall Assizes of the murder of one of his comrades [Charles Jacobi] belonging to a German battalion quartered at Plymouth, has been commuted to transportation for life. The offence was committed when both the prisoner and the deceased, who had previously been on friendly terms, were in a state of drunkenness, and there is good reason to believe that there was an absence of premeditation on the part of prisoner which is necessary to constitute the crime of murder. - Observer" ((http://www.perthdps.com/convicts/w4571.htm). --00--
NEWSPAPER REPORT: 30 March, 1856: From the 'News of The World': "THE MURDER BY A GERMAN LEGIONARY Hans Hansen, 34, described as a stocking weaver, late a soldier in the German legion, was charged at the Bodmin Assizes with the wilful murder of Charles Jacobi, at Maker. The prisoner and the deceased man, Jacobi, were privates in the Jager regiment of the German Legion. The last time the deceased was seen was in company with the prisoner, about 8 o’clock at night. Both parties were much intoxicated, and prisoner was carrying a large stone under his arm. The next morning Jacobi was found dead in a field, with fractures and contusions about the head; a large stone was found with blood and hair on upon it, and also a military cap, the prisoner having lost his. The prisoner returned to his barracks on the night the murder was committed, long after the proper hour, in a most excited state. There was a great deal of blood on his hands, and his clothes were stained with blood. Prisoner was asked on different occasions to account for the blood, and he gave two accounts of it quite inconsistent with each other. The jury returned a verdict of Guilty - Sentence of death was passed." (http://www.perthdps.com/convicts/w4571.htm) --00--