Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Richard Hurrell 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-- England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for Richard Hurrell; England; Staffordshire; 1866. |
| 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
--000-- NOTE: Year of Birth is known from UK records but not the day and month. The latter dates have been entered as 01/01 because the site does not allow those fields to be left empty. --000--
From his FREMANTLE JAIL record: HURRELL, Richard; inmate #9775, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1843 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Labourer Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Stafford Crime: House breaking Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 21 May 1873 Certificate of Freedom Date: 23 Apr 1878 Comments: Labourer, general servant, gardener (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/). --00--
IN WA: On arrival, Richard HURRELL was listed as convict #9775, 23, single with no children, literate, labourer, Protestant; family – mother Mary Ann, at Mudbury, Plymouth; 5’6½” tall, brown hair, dark hazel eyes, fresh complexion, stout build. Behaviour in jail in England “good”. Previous convictions include: 14 October, 1862, at Devon Assizes, 4 years’ penal servitude for housebreaking (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department; Convict Dept Registers, General Registers for Nos 9599-100128 cont. (R16)). --00--
EMBARKATION: 1867, 5 October: Richard HURRELL was sent from Portsmouth 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--
--00-- 1867, 27 September: Richard HARRALL [sic] was admitted to Portsmouth prison, Hampshire; inmate #1235 (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Richard Harrell; Portsmouth Prison; Registers of Prisoners; 1866-1868). --00--
1867, 23 August: Admitted to Woking prison, Surrey; inmate #3251. Opened April 1859, Woking jail at Knaphill, Woking, was primarily for invalided male convicts, and by March 1860 had taken over entirely from the temporary invalid prison at Lewes. Between 1862 and 1867, it was responsible for the working party sent to labour for the construction of Broadmoor Criminal Asylum. The prison closed in March 1889 as the decline in the convict population made it unnecessary to maintain a separate prison for invalids (https://www.prisonhistory.org/prison/woking-male-prison/). --00--
1866, 2 August: Admitted to Millbank prison, Westminster, London; 22, single, semiliterate, Roman Catholic & Protestant; other details as per Stafford record. Family – Mary Ann Hurrell, Mudberry [sic; Modbury], Devon (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Richard Hurrell; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1867). --00--
JAILS: 1866, 7 June: Admitted to Stafford jail, Gaol Road, Stafford; inmate #189, 22 years old, labourer (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Stafford Gaol; Register of Prisoners; 1869-1874 [should be 1866-74]). In the 1860s, the prison held a daily average of more than 650 prisoners (https://www.prisonhistory.org/). --00--
NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF TRIAL: From the Staffordshire Advertiser – Saturday, 7 July, 1866, p6: HOUSEBREAKING NEAR STONE. RICHARD HURRELL, 22, labourer, JOHN KNIGHT, 41, stonemason, and RICHARD SMITH, 55, labourer, were indicted for breaking into the dwelling-house of William Hazlehurst, at Stoke in the parish of Stone, on the 7th ult., and stealing therein a coat, a vest, two handkerchiefs, two shawls, 3lbs. of bread, 16lbs. of cheese, and other articles. Hurrell and Knight pleaded guilty. Smith was acquitted, the evidence against him being inconclusive. The Chairman, in sentencing Burrell and Knight, observed that they have both previously undergone a term of penal servitude and on their return from the convict prison they were both under the protection of the Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society in this county. They were entitled to certain gratuities on their discharge, and under the very excellent system which at present existed these gratuities were paid into the hands the Discharged Prisoners’ Aid Society. The society spent part of the gratuities in purchasing tools for the prisoners, and also obtained employment for them at very good wages. There was no reason why they should not have continued to earn these wages, which were quite ample for them, but appeared that they were unable to resist temptation, and committed the very serious offence with which they were now charged. The sentence upon them was that they be kept in penal servitude for ten years. (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000252/18660707/124/0006) --00--
TRIAL: 1866, 2 July: General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, Stafford – Richard Hurrell 10 years’ penal servitude for housebreaking and previous conviction for felony (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for Richard Hurrell; England; Staffordshire; 1866). --00--