Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Thomas Jones 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 243 (124). --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 |
Claims
No one has claimed Thomas Jones yet.
Photos
No photos have been added for Thomas Jones.
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--
--00-- FREMANTLE Jail record: JONES, Thomas; inmate #9785, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1843 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Labourer Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Manchester Crime: Receiving stolen goods Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 4 Apr 1872 Certificate of Freedom Date: 19 Jun 1877 Comments: Drainer, sawyer, cook, teamster, labourer, general servant, wood (https://fremantleprison.com.au/) --000--
IN WA: On arrival, THOMAS JONES was listed as convict #9785, 23 [when convicted], single no children, literate, labourer, Protestant; family – father Thomas, 13 Scotland Road, Liverpool; 5’3¼” tall, dark brown hair, dark hazel eyes, fresh complexion; behaviour in jail in England “good”. Seven previous convictions, including: Manchester, December 1860 – housebreaking, 4 years’ penal servitude (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department; Registers (128/40 - 43)). --00--
EMBARKATION: 1867, 8 October: Thomas JONES was sent from Portland prison 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--
1866, 5 September: Admitted to Millbank prison, Westminster, London; inmate #2336; Listed as 23 years old, tailor, single, illiterate, Roman Catholic and Protestant; alias Thomas Wilson. Family – father Thomas Boyle, 35 Angel Street, Rochdale Road, Manchester (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1867). 1867, 17 April: Thomas Jones, alias Thomas Wilson, was sent to Portland jail; inmate #6087. --00--
JAILS: 1866, July: Salford – Thomas JONES served 1 month 9 days in solitary confinement; behaviour “fair”. Previous convictions – December 1860, 4 years’ penal servitude; twice convicted, four times summarily UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1867). “After a sentence of transportation [or penal servitude] 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, 2018, p40). Millbank, Pentonville, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --00--
NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF TRIAL: SOUTH LANCASHIRE ASSIZES. SALFORD HUNDRED. CROWN COURT —Friday. (Before Mr. Justice Lush.) The business of these assizes commenced yesterday. His lordship took his seat in the Crown Court at eleven o'clock... BURGLARY. Thomas Jones, 23, charged with having, at Manchester, broken and entered on the night of the 6th of April, the house Richard Tunstall, and stolen a coat and two pieces of cloth. Mr. Watson prosecuted, and stated that on the evening of April 6, the shop of the prosecutor, tailor, of Lower Mosley-street, was broken into, and a coat stolen. Some days afterwards the prisoner was found in possession of the stolen coat, of which he gave the account that had been made for him by man named "Tailor Tom," two months previously. He should prove that no coat had been made by the individual named, but that it had been in the shop six months prior to the robbery, and was seen safe the Friday night.—The jury found the prisoner guilty of receiving, knowing the property to have been stolen.—The prisoner begged for mercy. His lordship said the prisoner had been seven times previously convicted, and could not pass a less sentence upon him now than of ten years' penal servitude. The court rose shortly after six o'clock, and will resume at nine o'clock this (Saturday) morning. (Manchester Courier, 28 July, 1866, p6 at https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000206/18660728/041/0006) --00--
TRIAL: 1866, 26 July: Manchester Assizes – convicted and sentenced to 10 years’ penal servitude for receiving stolen goods and knowing them to be stolen, and before convicted of felony (two previous convictions) (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892; England; Lancashire; 1866). --0--