Summary
Personal Information
Transportation
Henry Kington was transported on the Nile, departing 18th Sep 1857 and arriving 1st Jan 1858 with 271 passengers.
Nile (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 93, Class and Piece Number HO11/18, Page Number 241 (122). --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 |
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Convict Notes
FOOTNOTE 2: BACK IN WA -- THE ABSCONDER RINGTON/KINGTON AT LARGE FOR 8 YEARS SO FAR! 1877, 28 February: "ABSCONDERS: 1. HENRY RINGTON, Reg. No. 4620, Imperial Convict; arrived in the Colony per convict ship Nile, in January, 1858. Description—Middling stout, present age 45 [sic], 5ft. 9in high, sandy hair, dark brown eyes, long visage, fresh complexion. Marks—H.K. on each arm; a farm laborer. Absconded from a Convict Party at Point Resolution on the 10th October, 1868. HENRY RINGTON is shown in list of convict ship "Nile" as Henry Rington; but in another part of ship list he is shown as Henry Kington, with the same description, &c. There is evidently some mistake in spelling the name, and he may be going in the name of Kington." (WA Police Gazette, Wednesday Feb 28, 1877, No.8, p32) --000--
FOOTNOTE: NEWSPAPER REPORT OF HIS TRIAL: From the Chester Chronicle, Saturday 26 July, 1856, p5: "Assize Intelligence... ARSON WELSHPOOL. Henry Kington, labourer, pleaded guilty of setting fire to an outhouse and stack of hay, on the 25th of June, belonging to Mr. R. Rider of Welshpool. To be transported beyond the seas for the period of 15 years." (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) --0--
IN WA: NOTE: Henry KINGTON, #4620, undergoes a name change in some WA convict records. On the list of prisoners arriving via the Nile, he is: RINGTON, Henry; #4620; farm labourer; S; illiterate; 5'9", sandy hair, dark brown eyes, long face, fresh complexion, middling stout; distinguishing marks -- H.K. on each arm (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department; Estimates and Convict Lists (128/1 - 32)). -- His Fremantle jail record also calls him RINGTON, as below: RINGTON, Henry; inmate #4620, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Alias: KINGTON Date of Birth: 1830 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Farm labourer Literacy: Illiterate Sentence Place: Newtown, Montgomery, Wales Crime: Arson of hay stack Sentence Period: 15 years Ticket of Leave Date: 24 May 1860 Comments: Absconded from convict party at Point Resolution, 10 Oct 1868 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). -- He remains Henry KINGTON (with no mention of an alias) in the WA Convict Records "Character Book" that lists his ToL as being granted on 14 May, 1860, at Guildford (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). Aside from reproducing the character and "previous form" entries from his Millbank jail record, this document also notes that Henry Kington has "Varicose veins".
September, 1857: He was sent from Portsmouth to board the Nile for transportation to WA; listed as #18/3971 (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Convicts Transported Per Nile (R32)). --00--
16 May, 1857: Admitted to Portsmouth jail in Hampshire. Portsmouth, Portland, Chatham 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, 2018, p40) At Portsmouth, Henry Kington was inmate #3971; behaviour "good" (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portsmouth Prison Register of Prisoners; to 1881). --0--
1 September, 1856: Admitted to Millbank, London -- inmate #3473; he served 8 months 15 days in separate confinement; behaviour "good". Aside from the usual facts about a prisoner -- that he was 27 when tried, single, illiterate, a labourer and a Protestant -- his record contains several notations. They are transcribed verbatim below as they appear, left to right on the page, so they are not necessarily in chronological order: "The Sec of State has no objection to this Prisoner being sent abroad, when the proper time comes when he will be eligible for transportation if he is not medically unfit." Previous convictions: "Once acquitted of arson upon the ground of insanity and ordered to be detained during Her Majesty's pleasure. Discharged from Fisherton Lunatic Asylum, March 1 1856, in a perfect sane state of mind." "Good." Special remarks: "Father, John Kington, Penzance, Moulder." "The convict made his escape out of the City Gaol Chester 1852 and will again attempt to do so if he has the least chance." (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners to 1885) --0--
JAILS: 1856: Montgomery -- Henry Kington served 1 month 21 days in separate confinement. Most likely he was held at the Montgomeryshire County Gaol, just outside the old town walls on the eastern side of Montgomery in Wales. The first prisoners were admitted in December 1832 and the jail housed prisoners from Montgomeryshire during much of the Victorian period before its closure in 1878. "Rules of the Montgomery County Gaol:- Each sleeping cell to contain the following articles: 1 chamber pot, 1 bedstead, 1 canvas mattress filled with straw, 2 blankets and 1 rug. Sheets to be changed once a month, shirts and socks once a week. All prisoners must attend divine service. All prisoners must get up at 6 a.m. in summer and at sunrise in winter. Most importantly, the prisoners were put to hard labour. This could be breaking rocks for hours on end, or picking oakum. Like most prisons, Montgomery had a treadmill where prisoners had to turn a great wheel with their feet for hours on end. In most prisons this machine did nothing. It was simply designed to give the prisoners something very hard and boring to do" (http://history.powys.org.uk/school1/montgomery/gaol1.shtml). --0--
TRIAL: 15 July, 1856: Convicted at Newtown Assizes of arson of a hovel and stack of hay; sentenced to 15 years' transportation. --00--