Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
James Kearney 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 259 (132) |
| 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
"James Kearney Snr was my Great Great Grandfather."
Photos
No photos have been added for James Kearney.
Convict Notes
PHOTO of JAMES KEARNEY: Taken in 1866 [although this is at odds with the dates, above, of his incarceration in various prisons] while he was an inmate of Mounjoy Prison, Dublin, and labelled Image ID 1111426, the photo is available online at https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-975f-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 (see The New York Public Library Digital Collections, 1866).
Footnote: His crime has been listed as "malicious wounding" because "malicious assault" was not available in the list of options.
From James Kearney's Fremantle Jail record: KEARNEY, James: #9791, arrived 10 Jan 1868, per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1846 Place of Birth: Macroom, County Cork Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Shoe maker Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Cork Crime: Assault Sentence Period: 5 years Ticket Leave Date: 17 Mar 1870 Comments: One of 62 Fenians transported on the Hougoumont, the last convict ship sent to Australia. Its arrival at Fremantle on 9 Jan 1868 signalled the end of transportation to this country. Remission Certificate 12 Jan 1871. Shoe maker (see https://fremantleprison.com.au/) --00-- 1869, 12 June: From the Advocate, p12: "THE IRISH POLITICAL PRISONERS WE subjoin a return of the names of the Fenian convicts NOT proposed to be released [as opposed to those Fenians who had been granted Free Pardons, i.e. to be unconditionally released, by order the the House of Commons on 25 February, 1869] stating what portion of their sentences is unexpired... Those confined in Australia are:— Edward John Kelly, for the remainder of his life; James Dunne, alias Cody, for the remainder of twenty years, from 8th April, 1867; John Flood, fifteen years, from 8th April, 1867; Cornelius Dwyer Kane, ten years, from 17th January, 1866; Thomas Baines, ten years, from 17th February, 1867; David Bradly, ten years, from 11th June, 1867; Thomas Fennell, ten years, from 15th July, 1867; George Francis Connolly, seven years, from 8th April, 1867; and JAMES KEARNEY [my emphasis], five years, from 2nd May, 1867." --00--
1867, 30 September: James Kearney and 13 other “Government prisoners” (Fenians) in Millbank were removed for transportation aboard the Hougoumont (see UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison Register of Prisoners, 1867-1868). --00-- 1868, 10 January: On arrival in WA, he was listed as 21 years old, and a shoemaker; single, with no children (see Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department Registers (128/40 - 43)). This record also contains his physical description. --00--
1867, 12 August: From the Argus (Melbourne), "The June Mails from England", p1: “The Cork prisoners under sentence of penal servitude, some for life, and others for various limited periods, arrived in Dublin on the 10th en route for their destination in English prisons. Among them are Captain John McClure, Edward Kelly, David Joyce, Thomas Bowles, alias Cullinane, James Walsh, alias Colonel F. X. O'Brien, Francis Joseph Kearns, Bartholomew Moriarty, JAMES KEARNEY [my emphasis], and James Connell, alias Cummins. They came in a carriage appropriated to themselves, with a strong constabulary escort. The prisoners presented a wretched appearance. Clothed in the convict uniform, their beards and moustaches shaven off, and their hair closely cropped, it was impossible to distinguish them from felons of the lowest class...” --00--
1867, 2 May: At the Special Commission at Cork, before Chief Justices Keogh and George, James Kearney, 20, was convicted of malicious assault, i.e. “assaulting Private G Sutton of 12 Lancers and using seditious language”. He was sentenced to 5 years’ transportation. James Kearney had been admitted to Cork Prison on 5 April, 1867. The jail record lists him as a shoemaker, from Macroom, County Cork. Born in 1847, he was a Roman Catholic and could read and write (see Ireland, Prison Registers, 1790-1924; Cork; Cork 1861-1873). 1867, 10 June: He was sent from Cork to Mountjoy Prison, in Dublin, where he was kept for 3 weeks. 1867, 6 July: James Kearney was admitted to Millbank Prison, at Westminster in London, which served as a holding facility for convicted prisoners before they were transported to Australia. At Millbank, he was listed as 20, single, able to read and write imperfectly, a Roman Catholic and a shoemaker. By this time, jail records showed he had spent 2.4 months behind bars [it was almost 3 months]. --00--
James Kearney is my great grandad His son John Kearney was grandad My is Bernard Thompson Kearney he married Pam Hartnett ( Cundinup ) They had 4 children Mervyn Geoffrey Leanne Mark Mervyn married Susan Willcocks 3 children Brad Brett Skye
James Kearney shouted at some soldiers in the street of Macroom, Co. Cork Ireland. and was arrested and deported to Western Australia in 1867. He was classed as a civilian, fenian, and shoemaker. He was an uncle to my grandfater James Kearney of Cork Street, Macroom. He waS 21 years old at the time.
Had 4 sons James Jnr, Patrick, John & Thomas Married to Catherine who died in 1904 then married to Ruth Veronica in 1907
I believe James Kearney was my great grandfather on my fathers mothers side. My father was born in Templemore Nannup around 1943