Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Charles Harmsworth 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 246 |
| 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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Photos
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Convict Notes
FOOTNOTE 2: Family researchers give his full name as CHARLES JAMES HARMSWORTH. He married Margaret Heely (aka Healy, nee McCormick), a widow, in Perth in 1874 (marriage reg. no. 3797, Perth). The couple had two children -- a boy and a girl. Margaret Harmsworth died in 1917. --000--
FOOTNOTE: Dates of Birth and Death cannot be entered on this database unless a day and month are supplied. 01/01 have been used to allow entry of the known years of Charles Harmsworth's birth and his death.
DEATH: Surname: Harmsworth Given Names: Charles Sex: M Age: 51 Father: Unknown Mother: Sarah Ann SNOW Place of Death: Jarrahdale Year of Death: 1897 Registration District: -- Registration Number: 1350 Registration Year: 1897 (Source: Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages at https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-justice/online-index-search-tool). --00--
From his FREMANTLE jail record: HARMSWORTH, Charles; inmate #9753, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1843 [at odds with UK records] Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Shoe maker Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Clerkenwell Green Crime: Pickpocket Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 7 Jun 1871 Comments: Conditional Release 24 Oct 1873, Perth. Shoe maker, labourer, boot maker, self-employed, 1872 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/). --00—
IN WA: On arrival in WA, Charles Harmsworth, convict # 9753, was described as 23, a shoemaker, single, able to read and write, and a Protestant. Relatives – his mother Sarah, King’s Cross Road, London. Behaviour “good”. A notation on his record reads: “Has hereditary tendency to insanity. See Memo on Medical Certificate from Pentonville Prison dated 18.3.67.” (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16)). --0--
TRANSPORTATION: 1867, late September: He was taken from Chatham jail to board the convict ship Hougoumont, “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 [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 [not the senior Fenian, Captain Moriarty; rather, this was Bartholomew Moriarty, aged 17]. 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). --00—
1867, 18 April: Charles Harmsworth was sent to Chatham prison, Kent; listed as inmate #8974. --00—
1867, 19 March: He was received at Portsmouth prison, Hampshire; inmate #793 (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Charles Harmsworth; Portsmouth Prison; Registers of Prisoners; 1866-1868). Portsmouth, Portland, 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) --0--
JAILS: 1866, 24 April: Charles Harmsworth was sent from Cold Bath Fields and admitted to Pentonville Prison, Caledonian Road, London. “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). Pentonville, Millbank, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. In Pentonville, Charles Harmsworth was listed as prisoner #3656; sentenced to 10 years’ penal servitude. Aged 21, he was single, a shoemaker, and literate. Behaviour “good” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Charles Harmsworth; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1869; and UK, Criminal Records, 1780-1871 for Charles Harmsworth; Prison Registers and Statistical Returns; 1864-1871; HO 24/18). --0--
RECIDIVISM: Charles Harmsworth's recidivism received added attention in a letter published in the Gloucester Chronicle, on Saturday 17 March 1866, p5. Referring to the “manufacture of such ruffians as Charles Harmsworth”, the writer pointed to the consequences when courts were unaware of a convicted person’s criminal history: “I might give any number of instances to show the evils of a repetition of short imprisonments; but I will only ask your attention to one as the most recent I have seen, as quoted in the Standard of March 8 (last Thursday). Charles Harmsworth, age 21, was convicted of a daring robbery before Mr. Bodkin, assistant-judge at the Middlesex sessions. He was proved to have been previously convicted — 1st, March 4, 1861 (at the age therefore of 16, too late even then to have been sent to a reformatory as the law now stands) and to have received a sentence of three months; 2ndly, June 13 (i.e. nine days after he came out), he was again sentenced to two months; 3rdly, October 30 (two months out this time), he again got two months; 4th, Jan, 1, 1862, two months; 5th, May 16 two months; 6th, Sept. 23 (at the Central Criminal Court), twelve months; 7th, April 2, 1864, three months !!! All these sentences were to Holloway (city of London) prison; but it was shown that since that time he had had, 8th, two months in Coldbath Fields prison; and from a good deal of experience I have had in such cases, I should have little doubt that Maidstone or other neighbouring gaols could account for some of his absences from Holloway. Mr. Bodkin sentenced him very fairly to seven years' penal servitude; but as he was leaving the dock ‘he struck the prosecutor a violent blow under the left ear, which was heard throughout the court’, on which Mr. Bodkin still more properly changed his sentence to ten years. This is a not very unusual instance of the sort of desperate ruffian which we are in the habit of manufacturing, at a great expense to the country, by our system of repeated short imprisonments. It is a manufacture which no man who cares for the welfare of his kind can contemplate lightly, unless he blind his eyes, and may that whatever is the custom must therefore be right. But how can such a costly manufacture be checked? The magistrates of the city would never have so far stultified themselves as to sentence Chas. Harmsworth to six sentences of two months each, if they had known his previous history. They simply did it in ignorance of the fact. But then comes a question which looks the more awkward the more we look at it. Is it desirable that we should continue the practice of passing sentences on prisoners in utter ignorance of the facts by which those sentences ought to be governed? This is hardly a pleasant subject for reflection. In a great measure we have lessened this ignorance. The police now bring a statement of the prisoner s antecedents, where they are known, before the magistrate, who is thereby enabled to judge what sentence he ought to inflict, or whether he should commit for trial. I seek to add to this a recommendation of the Court, that where the prisoner is unknown, and the magistrate is therefore in ignorance of the circumstances which ought to regulate the sentence, he should first give him every opportunity of showing his antecedents; but if he refuses to do this he should commit him for trial, rather than pass a sentence without knowing what sentence ought to be passed… I remain, Gentlemen, your obedient servant, T. B. LL. BAKER. Hardwicke Court, March 13, 1866.” (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000393/18660317/037/0005) --00--