Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
William Hawkins 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 247 (126). --0-- 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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Photos
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Convict Notes
Note: BIRTH -- only the year is known. 01/01 were only entered to make this window "work".
ARRIVES PORT ADELAIDE: 1882, 13 May: The Maroon arrived at Port Adelaide: “MAROON, barque, 362 tons, James Cumming [sic], master, from Fremantle April 24. McLean Brothers, Bigg, and Co., Town and Port, agents. Passengers — Messrs. Hawkins and South” (South Australian Register, 15 May, p4 at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/47111743). --00--
SAILS FOR SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 1882, 24 April: Departed from Fremantle per MAROON, “barque 363 tons, J. Cummins [sic], for Port Adelaide. Passenger -- W. Hawkins. Cargo 321 loads jarrah timber, value of £1123 10s” (The West Australian, 25 April 1882, p2, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2986747). --0--
From his FREMANTLE jail record: HAWKINS, William; inmate #9760, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1834 Marital Status: Married Occupation: Joiner Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Clerkenwell Green Crime: Larceny Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 4 Dec 1871 [revoked as above] Certificate of Freedom Date: 18 Apr 1878 Comments: Carpenter, general servant, draughtsman, labourer. To South Australia per Maroon, 24 Apr 1882 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/). --00--
COURT APPEARANCE IN WA: From the Western Australian Times, 29 December 1874, p3: “1874, 21 December – Perth Police Court WILLIAM HAWKINS, a carpenter was charged with being drunk and out after the hours proscribed. The prisoner had the indulgence of having a ticket-of-leave granted to him on his own account. Mr. Barry came forward and stated the prisoner was in his employ, and if sent to prison, he would be very much inconvenienced. His Worship observed that he had no discretion; the ticket-of leave on his own account would be forfeited; the question was, will Mr. Barry give him an engagement. Mr. Barry promising to do this, the prisoner was discharged upon the promise of payment of 20s. fine.” (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2973475) --00--
IN WA: On arrival in WA, William Hawkins, convict # 9760, was described as 32, a joiner, married, no children, able to read and write, and a Protestant. Relatives – his wife Emma aged 27, living at 32 New Road, Brompton, London. Behaviour “bad”. His two failed attempts at escape after conviction are also listed on this record. Physical description: 5’4¼”, light brown hair, grey eyes, fresh complexion and middling stout build (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16); and Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers (128/40 - 43)). --0--
TRANSPORTATION: “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, 22 August: He was transferred to Chatham prison, St Mary’s, Kent. Chatham, Portsmouth, Portland 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 inmate #9258, he made another attempt to escape on 18 September – just 12 days before he was sent from Chatham to board the Hougoumont for transportation to WA. --00—
1867, 19 March: William Hawkins attempted to escape from Pentonville. He was unsuccessful. --0--
JAILS: 1866, 19 December: William Hawkins was sent from Cold Bath Fields jail to Pentonville Prison, Caledonian Road, London; listed as inmate #4154; character/behaviour “bad” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for William Hawkins; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1869). “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. --0--