Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Thomas Harrison was transported on the Albuera, departing 6th Sep 1858 and arriving 28th Oct 1858 with 11 passengers.
Albuera, launched at Moulmain (British Burma) in 1854, made three voyages to Adelaide up to 1874. Sailing from Calcutta, India, on 6 Sep, 1858, she arrived at Fremantle with 11 military convicts on 28 Oct. They were all convicted by Courts Martial (in India and Burma) and sentenced to transportation. Note: Albuera is not to be confused with other ships of the same name or those spelled Albeura.
Albuera (generic)References
| Primary Source | Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 4679-5166 (R1). --00-- https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/courts-martial-desertion-british-army-17th-20th-centuries/ |
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Convict Notes
NOTE: Year of Birth is taken from official records but the day and month are not known. The latter dates have been entered as 01/01 because the site does not allow those fields to be left empty.
DEATH -- 5 January, 1884: Surname: Harrison Given name: Thomas Sex: Male Age: 54 Place of death: Geraldton Year of death: 1884 Reg. no.: 12251 Reg. year: 1884 (Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages at https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-justice) --00--
COLONIAL CONVICTION: 1876, 5 January: Supreme Court, Perth -- “Thomas Harrison pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with having stolen 10 lbs. of cheese, the property of Mr. Marfleet, confectioner, Perth. He was sentenced to 3 years’ penal servitude.” (The Inquirer and Commercial News (Perth), Wednesday 12 January, p3) --00--
OTHER RECORDS – 2: Thomas Harrison; Male, #5055, b. 1828, d. 5 January 1884. Birth He was born in 1828 Death He died on 5 January 1884 at Geraldton Hospital, Geraldton, Western Australia; starvation refusing to eat. Burial He was buried on 5 January 1884 at Geraldton Cemetery, Geraldton, Western Australia. Convicted Convicted of desertion & theft (Court Martial) and sentenced to 14 years on 23 October 1857 at Rangoon, Burma. He had been convicted previously. Family Status Claimed that his marital status was unmarried as at 28 October 1858. Occupation Recorded as a soldier; tailor on 28 October 1858. Physical Desc. Recorded with the physical attributes: D on left side on 28 October 1858. Transported Transported to WA on the Albuera arriving at Fremantle, Western Australia, on 28 October 1858. He had been collected from Calcutta prison. Convict No. Assigned with Convict No. 5055 on 28 October 1858. Literacy Recorded as being literate as at 28 October 1858. Ticket of Leave His Ticket of Leave was granted on 19 January 1861 at Western Australia. Cert. of Freedom His Certificate of Freedom was granted on 10 February 1872 at Western Australia. Convicted Convicted of larceny and sentenced to 3 years on 5 January 1876 at Perth, Western Australia. He had been convicted previously. Convict No. Assigned with Convict No. 10171 on 5 January 1876 (https://www.waconvicts.fhwa.org.au/g0/p203.htm#i5055). --00--
OTHER RECORDS – 1: Harrison, Thomas (1828- ) #5055; (Colonial) #10171, 1858-10-28 Albuera; CWA: Unmarried; tailor; literate; Protestant; convicted Rangoon 1857; Court Martial, desertion 14 yrs; Swan, Sussex, Wellington, Perth, Fremantle, Toodyay; labourer, tailor, general servant, splitter, teamster; reconvicted WA 1876; unmarried; tailor (https://www.toodyay.wa.gov.au/documents/234/convicts-associated-with-toodyay-as-at-30-sep-2020). --00--
FREMANTLE JAIL RECORD: HARRISON, Thomas; inmate #5055, arrived 28 Oct 1858 per Albeura [sic] Date of Birth: 1828 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Tailor Literacy: Literate Sentence Date: 1857 Sentence Place: Rangoon, India Crime: Desertion Sentence Period: 14 years Ticket of Leave Date: 19 Jan 1861 Certificate of Freedom Date: 10 Feb 1872 Comments: Labourer, tailor, general servant, splitter, teamster. Reconvicted in Western Australia (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/). --00--
IN WA – CHARACTER RECORD: 1858, 28 October: Thomas Harrison, 30, single, literate, tailor; Protestant; had 14 previous convictions by Courts Martial; 14 years for desertion and theft. General character – “V Bad”. 1872, 9 February: Cumulative sentence remitted (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). --00--
BRANDED with a “D”: Up to 1829, any soldier in the British military could be branded, but after that it was reserved for deserters who were “‘branded’ with a D on their left sides as a means of humiliating offenders” (Hilton, 2010, p140 at https://eprints.utas.edu.au/17678/2/Hilton_Thesis.pdf). Hilton doesn’t say how the branding happened and there are conflicting versions among writers. For example, some writers refer to barbaric fire brandings, while others describe painful tattooing using India ink. A post on the Irish Garrison Towns website (http://irishgarrisontowns.com/d-for-deserter/) says both practices were used – hot iron/fire branding being the preferred method until around the mid-19th century when it was replaced by tattooing: “A new device was created to mark the soldiers’ skin with ink, or even gunpowder… The large, blunt points [on the branding tool] hint at the pain it caused as a spring mechanism forced these points into the skin. Regimental doctors described the practice as ‘cupping’." Simon Barnard’s book “Convict tattoos: Marked men and women of Australia” (p55) has several shots of one of these spring loaded, brass “branding instruments”, manufactured by John Weiss & Sons of The Strand, London. Barnard says they were used by medical officers to tattoo army deserters. The head of the “Weiss’ Invention” model holds 47 needle points arranged in the shape of a “D”, all clearly capable of puncturing human skin. So, too, the points of the brass instrument featured on the Science Museum of London’s website. Made by the major surgical instruments manufacturer of the 18th century, Savigny & Co of London, its adjustable points “still bear traces of ink” and were pushed through the skin by a spring-powered mechanism”. The Museum says branding was abolished in 1829, except for army deserters. The English Mutiny Act of 1858 provided that, in addition to other penalties, a court martial could order that a deserter be marked with the letter D on the left side, 2 inches (5.1 cm) under the armpit, with such letter to be more than 1 inch long. From 1829, the mark was tattooed on the body until the practice was abandoned altogether in 1879 (https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co155799/branding-tool-for-marking-deserters-london-england-1810-1850-branding-tool). --000--
IN WA: 1858, 28 October: On arrival, THOMAS HARRISON, was listed as convict #5055, 30 years old, single, 5’10½” tall, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, long visage, swarthy complexion and slight appearance; [branded] D on left side. A tailor by trade, he had been convicted at a General Court Martial, at Rangoon, in Burma, and sentenced to 14 years’ penal servitude for “desertion and theft” (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 4679-5166 (R1)). Note: Various records give his year of birth as 1828, presumably based on an assumption that he was 30 on arrival in WA. However, the “Convicts to Australia” site says the age quoted on these WA Convict Records “seems to refer to the age of the convict when the passenger list was created”. Thus, he could have been born in 1827. --00--
THE VOYAGE TO WA: One of the few snippets of information found about the Albuera's voyage in 1858 comes from an article in the Melbourne Argus: INDIA (From our Galle [Sri Lanka] correspondent. October 20, 1858): ... The very great mortality which has taken place in the shipment of horses from the different ports of Australia has created no little attention here. The Admiral Boxer, which arrived lately at Bombay from Sydney, landed only 76 out of 108 shipped. This makes the Australian horse too costly for cavalry purposes, and I am bound to say also, that the stamp of horses selected has not come up to what it might and should have been, in the opinion of the best judges, and those who have been in the colonies. The Government have despatched the ALBUERA [my emphasis] with convicts to Swan River, and to return with 120 horses from that colony. The experiment will be watched with much interest. (The Argus, 18 Nov 1858, p5 at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/7304789) --00-- --00--