Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
George Jones was transported on the St Vincent, departing 28th Dec 1852 and arriving 26th May 1853 with 214 passengers.
St Vincent (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 92, Class and Piece Number HO11/17, Page Number 623 (314) |
| 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
ABOUT GIBRALTAR: 25 January, 1849: JONES, GEORGE #1257, arrived on Gibraltar from the York hulk at Gosport per the Appoline. He was held on the Europa hulk (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). Gibraltar and Bermuda were listed public works stations (and the second stage in the penal process). On Gibraltar, as “convicts worked together with free men on the dockyards, lines between them became blurred. Convicts, like seamen, were ‘easily recognised’ by ‘their swarthy, weather beaten complexions…[and] muscular well-knit frames’. The discipline on the penal settlement was also influenced by the naval department, who superintended part of the works. In the 1840s, for example, convicts were provided ‘a half gill of rum’ at 11am and 5pm, which they drank from a trough. This mirrored the daily allowance of diluted rum, known as grog, to Royal Naval seamen in the Victorian era. Convicts were also allowed to use part of their earnings, to buy goods, usually tobacco, which they were allowed to smoke in the evening in the barracks. Though official correspondence cited health reasons for grog allowance, it seems likely that the convict authorities feared insubordination if they were banned from drinking and smoking, which were provided to the sappers and dockyard workers whom they worked alongside… In 1854, the acting overseer stated that “half of the offences were committed when the men were excited by rum”. For more serious offences, convicts were flogged with a ‘cat o’nine tails’ whip against the ‘flogging mast’, and during an investigation Dr William Baly concluded that the whip which was used was an old naval cat, which was ‘much heavier than any now used in the government prison and hulks at home, or in the army.’” (Roscoe, Katy (2018), “Convicts and the Sea: the naval influence on Gibraltar Convict Establishment” at https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/). 3 February, 1853: George Jones was sent aboard the St Vincent for transportation to VDL. --00--
OTHER: 13 December, 1853: George Jones was granted a Ticket of Leave. 7 September, 1858: He received a Conditional Pardon (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p100). --0--
IN VDL: 26 May, 1853: On arrival, George Jones was listed as convict #27947, 34 years old, single, Protestant and a labourer from Birmingham. He was a Protestant and able to read and write a little. Standing 5’1½” tall, he had black hair, blue eyes and a fresh complexion (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p100). Prior conviction – stealing money from the person (12 months’ jail). Family – his aunt Ellen Linguard lived in Birmingham (http://foundersandsurvivors.org/pubsearch/convict/chain/om8216). --0--
NEWSPAPER report of the trial: 20 August, 1847: From the Liverpool Mercury, pp6-7: “Lancashire Summer Assizes… ROBBERY. George Jones [28], James Harvey [28], and Mary Ann Wilson [19] were indicted for having assaulted and robbed Thomas McCormick, the 13th of July, the borough Salford. Mr. Joseph Pollock conducted the prosecution. Mr. Tindal Atkinson defended Jones, and Mr. Monck Harvey. The female prisoner was undefended by counsel. The prosecutor is a travelling Scotchman residing in Strangeways, Manchester, and on the morning of the day stated in the indictment had been over to Bolton pursuing his avocation, and during the day he had collected the sum of £4145 [typo]. Upon returning in the evening, and leaving the railway station in Salford, he missed his way, and inquired from the female prisoner, who took him down Worsley-street and whilst they were standing together in this street, the male prisoners came up, knocked him down, and the female rifled his pockets of the money, which she handed to the prisoner Jones. The prisoners were all found guilty. Jones and Harvey were sentenced to fifteen years' transportation, and the female to twelve months' imprisonment.” (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) --00-- NOTE: James Harvey was transported to VDL per the Rodney in 1851. See his bio at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/harvey/james/9905 --00--
TRIAL: 11 August, 1847: George Jones, 28, semi-literate, was tried and convicted at the Lancaster Assizes, Liverpool, and sentenced to 15 years’ transportation for larceny from the person – stealing money at Salford (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892; England; Lancashire; 1847). This was his third conviction, according to his VDL Conduct record. It also states that he had been sent previously to Gibraltar (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p100). --0--
COMMITTAL: 13 July, 1847: George Jones, 28, James Harvey, 28, and Mary Ann Wilson, 19, were committed by R.P. Livingstone Esq. to stand trial for “having, at Salford, made an assault upon Thomas McCormick, and from his person two sovereigns, half a sovereign, and twenty shillings, feloniously stolen” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for George Jones; Liverpool Gaol; Calendar of Trials; 1832-1853). --0--