Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
James Hatton 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 250. --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 |
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Convict Notes
Note: Year of birth is known from records -- 1843. The day and month are not known but must be entered in order to record a year of birth. Thus, 01/01 were used.
From his FREMANTLE jail record: HATTON, James; inmate #9759, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1843 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Collier Literacy: Semiliterate Sentence Place: Stafford Crime: Larceny Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 21 Jul 1871 Certificate of Freedom Date: 17 Mar 1876 Comments: General servant, labourer, miner, grubber, hay maker, fence maker, teamster. To South Australia, 19 Mar 1879 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/). --00—
IN WA: On arrival in WA, James Hatton, convict # 9759, was described as 23 when convicted, a collier, single, able to read and write imperfectly, and a Protestant. Relatives – his brother-in-law Henry Smith, High Street, Fenton, Staffordshire. Behaviour “fair”. Physical description: 5’7”, brown hair, light grey eyes, fresh complexion, middling stout build, pockmarked (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16)). --00--
1867, 8 October: James Hatton and Benjamin Haynes were among the 90 convicts sent from Portland jail to board the Hougoumont for transportation to WA. “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, 21 January: James Hatton was admitted to Portland jail, Grove Road, Portland. He was inmate #5975. Benjamin Haynes, also at Portland, was inmate #5974. Opened in November 1848 as the first male convict public works prison, “Portland received prisoners who had already undergone periods of separate confinement at Millbank, Pentonville and specially contracted local prisons. In the late 1860s and 1870s, Portland was selected to receive the small number of male juveniles who continued to receive sentences of penal servitude” (https://www.prisonhistory.org/prison/portland-prison/). --0--
1866, 24 December: James Hatton was sent from Millbank to Chatham prison, Kent (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1867). --0--
1866, 25 June: After serving 3 months 19 days in Stafford jail, he was admitted to Millbank prison, Westminster, London. Listed as inmate #2099, labourer, aged 21, single, Church of England and semi-literate; family – Charles Hatton, Longton (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners, 1866-1867). “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: 1866, 22 February: James Hatton was admitted to Stafford Gaol, Gaol Road, Stafford; inmate #37, 21 years old, born 1845, labourer, sentenced to 10 years’ PS (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for James Hatton, Stafford Gaol, Register of Prisoners, incorrectly labelled as 1869-1874). --0--
NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF TRIAL: From the Staffordshire Advertiser, 10 March, 1866, p7: “SHOP ROBBERY AT LONGTON. BENJAMIN HAYNES, 41, miner, SAMUEL TAMS, 30, potter, JAMES TAMS, 19, labourer, and JAMES HATTON, labourer, were indicted for stealing, the 26th January, two rolls of holland, the property of Mr. John Ward. The prosecutor is a draper at Longton, and on the day named, between five and half-past five in the evening, he missed the two rolls of holland from his counter. He gave information to the police, and the property was traced to the possession of the prisoners, who had endeavoured to dispose of it. James Tams pleaded guilty, and said the others had nothing to do with the robbery. The jury, however, after hearing the evidence, thought otherwise, and returned a verdict of guilty against all the prisoners. Haynes and Charles Tams [sic] had both undergone four years’ penal servitude, and Hatton had been previously convicted. There were other indictments against all the prisoners, and the Court sentenced them to ten years’ penal servitude each.” (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000252/18660310/111/0007) FOOTNOTE: All four men were transported to WA. The Tams brothers went first, in April 1867, aboard the Norwood. Benjamin Haynes and James Hatton were sent aboard the Hougoumont in October 1867. --00--
TRIAL: 1866, 6 March: Convicted at the Stafford Adjourned General Quarter Sessions, Staffordshire, and sentenced to 10 years’ penal servitude for larceny and previous convictions for felony (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for James Hatton; England, Staffordshire, 1866). --0--