Jean Herman Maas

341

Maureen Withey on 26th November 2020

25 Oct 1828 Letter re sending Jean Herman Maas/ “Celia” from Mauritius, to Fort Wellington as interpreter & Notes. Mentions “Lucy Anne” [also spelt Lucy Ann] – “ J H Maas sent 25 Nov 1828” Letter re application from Mr A Hill for John Herman Maas. CAMPBELL TOWN ASSIZES, THURSDAY. AUGUST 12th.— The Chief Justice, having opened this Court, by commission of Oyer and Terminer, — a panel composed of 7 officers of the army was sworn, when John Herman Maas and Thomas McGibbon were arraigned, indicted for defrauding the King, by forging a provision ledger or cheque list of a detached party of the Road Gang, No, 38; also the signatare of Mr. Lambie, the Assistant Surveyor of Roads, to a paper purporting to be a receipt for provision furnished by Mr. Thomas Rose, Contractor, between 5th May and 24th June last. It appeared in evidence that M’Gibbon was clerk to Mr. Strachan, Superintendent of Convict Barracks, at Liverpool, where Maas who was employed in the office of Mr. Owen, Commissariat Clerk, in charge at that station, lived with M’Gibbon. Believing the forged receipt of 15th July, to be genuine, Mr. Owen acted upon it, and as it appeared clearly that none but Maas could have effected the forgery, but that M’Gibbon, who slept in the same room, was not certain to have been implicated in it ; Maas was found guilty, M’Gibbon not guilty. For the prisoners, were Messrs Therry and Rowe. The Court after this, adjourned to next day. Friday.— When the above prisoners were again placed at the bar, on another indictment for defrauding the King, by falsely obtaining a bill of exchange, for £137 18s., forging thereon the signature of Mr. Thomas Rose, and fraudulently putting away the said bill. It appeared that on 24th July last, 3 drafts on the D. C. G. In favour of Mr. Rose the contracter, one of £144, the second £137 10s. and the third £56 18s. 3d. were drawn by Mr. Owen, Commissariat Clerk. The first was given to Mr. Rose’s son, Maas intimating to Mr. Owen, while he was writing out the next, that Mr. Rose wished to have the first draft, and to leave the other two for Mr. Wood, of the Ship Ian, who would send for them. The draft for £144 was accordingly given to Mr. Rose, Jun. who left town with it. Next evening, a letter signed James Wood reached Mr. Owen, conveying a request that two drafts left by Mr . Rose should be delivered for him, either to the waiter or to Maas. Considering the latter as the safer conveyance, the two drafts were given to Maas, with an injunction to bring back Wood’s acknowledgment in writing. The sums described in these drafts corresponded with the abstract and ledger kept in the Com. Office, and it was not an unusual practice to have plain forms signed beforehand The order purporting so come from Mr. Wood, of the Ship Inn, was a forged one, for Mr. Wood swore, that McGibbon came to his house, and agreeably to his (McGibbon’s request, Mr. Wood sent his waiter to convey a message to the Commisariat office, having no knowledge whatever of the drafts, and being without directions from Mr. Rose respecting them. After Maas had received the drafts, he never appeared again at the office. M’Gibbon and he absconded from Liverpool. On the 26th July, M’Gibbon walked into the shop of Mr. Pendray , tailor, in George-street; Sydney, and tendering a draft upon the D. C. General for £137 12s. said he wished to pay an account of £15, due by his friend Maas, and begged Mr. Pendray’s clerk, Wellings, would carry the draft over to the Commissariat Pay Office, which he did ; the draft was cashed in British silver, which was exchanged in the Treasury Office for a cheque on the Bank of Australia ; with this M’Gibbon proceeded to the Bank, obtained notes for it, and paid Wellings £15, talking a receipt for the same, McGibbon endorsing the cheques with the name Thomas Hamilton. Maas and his confederate were that day apprehended Maas endeavoured to set up a defence, but in a very brief and incoherent way, and the learned judge having charged the commission with much clearness and precision, both prisoners were pronounced GUILTY. The third, indictment charged the same prisoners with fraudulently obtaining a bill for £ 51 16s. and forging thereon the endorsement of Thomas Rose, with intent to defraud Mr. Rose and William Sutherland. In this case, the evidence was equally clear, and both prisoners were found guilty ; after which, the Court adjourned to Saturday the 14th August ; when Maas and M’Gibbon, who throughout the whole of these proceedings had exhibited extraordinary levity and carelessness, again graced the bar, and the learned judge passed upon them sentence of death, when their conduct became perceptibly altered, and both were removed to the prison among a crowd of uncommiserating spectators. The Australian, 27 Aug 1830 EXECUTION. — On Wednesday last, Jean Henry Maas and James M’Gibbon underwent the sentence of the law, at Liverpool, for forgery on the Commissariat department. Maas was of a very respectable family at the Isle of France, from which place he was transported to this Colony for three years only, one half of which term had expired at the time when the offence was committed for which he suffered. Sydney Gazette, 4 Sep 1830 Jean Herman Mass was transported to NSW from Mauritius on board the Celia. On Tuesday last arrived, from the Mauritius, whence she sailed the 11th of August, the brig Celia, Captain Badger. Lading, sugar, &c. Passenger, Mr. Henry Melville. The Celia also brings two prisoners from the Mauritius under sentence of transportation for life. Sydney Gazette, 17 Oct 1828. “Jean Herman Maas, together with Pierre Dominique Hania, were found guilty of counterfeiting in September 1827 and sentenced to be worked in chains. The Governor of Mauritus remitted that portion of the sentence one year later, and at the colony’s expense, transported Hania and Massa on the Celia. Maas, “ a man of dark colour” was clever and well educated, and quickly gained a position as a clerk to the Commissariat Department, stationed at Liverpool. Together with a Belfast convict , Fitzgibbon, he undertook the administrative paperwork necessary for the road parties that operated in that area. They invented a road, and a list of 25 fictitious persons to work on it, thereby themselves accruing the payments necessary for the performance of the non-existent work. Tried at Campbell Town Assizes, Mas had the unfortunate distinction of being the last person hanged in New South Wales for forgery.” Source: The Australian People, edited by James Jupp. Jean Herman Maas was of Dutch-sinhalese origins, born in Ceylon. D Wong on 7th November, 2019 wrote: Jean Herman Maas was 20 years old on arrival. Native Place: Ceylon. Jean Herman was literate, single, 5’10¾” tall, coloured complexion, black hair and eyes. Occupation: Copying Clerk. Jean/John Herman Maas, was a Dutch-Sinhalese man. In 1824 he had been sentenced to seven years’ transportation for forgery. When transported to Mauritius he was accompanied by a personal note from the chief secretary to the government in Colombo. The chief secretary had written that Maas was ‘not of a class accustomed to hard manual labour’. He was then assigned as a personal assistant to the head of the department of roads and bridges, Mr. William Staveley, in Mauritius. Within a year of his arrival the police arrested Maas for trying to spend a forged coin - Maas was caught in the Camp Malabar, the Indian district in the east of Port Louis. The police searched him and discovered 47 forged centimes in his trouser pockets and waistcoat, and coining equipment. He was sentenced to 15 years’ transportation. In Sydney, he was assigned to the Liverpool commissariat’s office as a clerk. 1/9/1830: Jean Herman Maas and Thomas McGibbon were both hanged at Liverpool for forgery. D Wong on 7th November, 2019 wrote: The ‘Celia’ arrived in Sydney 14/10/1828.

116

Tony Beale on 26th November 2020

From Ceylon (Sri Lanka) single protestant who could read and write was a copying clerk. guilty of forgery no previous. 5' 10 1/2" coloured complexion blak hair and black eyes. Indent says hanged at Liverpool September 1830 The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) Tue 17 Aug 1830 Page 3 CampbellTown Assises Campbell=town Assizes. The Court was opened here this day by his Honor the Chief Justice, and a Jury being impannelled, the following prisoners were placed at the bar : Jean Herman Maas and Thomas McGibbon, charged with defrauding our Sovereign Lord the King, by forging a certain document, being a provision ledger or check list, of a detached party of the road gang No. 38. ; also a receipt for provision stated to have been furnished for the use of the said party, by Mr. Thomas Rose, the contractor, between the 25th May and 24th June last, and purporting to be signed by John Lambie, Esq. J. P. Assistant Surveyor of Roads. The prisoners severally pleaded not guilty. Stephen Owen sworn.—I am a Commissariat clerk in charge at Liverpool ; I have had that charge since 25th December last ; the prisoner Maas was employed as a writer in my office ; he was assigned from the Convict Barracks for that purpose ; it is my duty to receive the provision ledgers of the road gangs, and to pay the contractors for the same, by drafts on the Deputy Commissary General in Sydney ; the document now shown me was so received, about the 15th of July last, in the usual manner ; it is signed with the name of the Assistant Surveyor of Roads, which I believed to be genuine, and acted upon it accordingly. An abstract of it was drawn up by the prisoner Maas, shewing the amount due to the contractor. An objection was made by Counsel for the prisoners to the competency of Mr. Owen as evidence in this case, but which was over-ruled by the Court. John Lambie sworn—I am Assistant Surveyor of Roads in the Liverpool district; it is my duty to make up the provision ledgers of the road gangs under my direction ; the road gang No. 38, is one of those ; the document now shown me is such as I am accustomed to make up, and send monthly, to the Commissariat Office at Liverpool ; it exhibits the names of the men, the number of days, each of them has worked in the gang, during the month, and the total quantities of provisions, furnished for them by the contractor ; my office ¡s upwards of twenty miles from Liverpool ; the papers aro usually sent to the Commisariat-Office by a messenger, one of the gang, and under a blank cover ; the document now shewn me is signed with my name, but not in my hand writing, but a very exact imitation, which might even deceive myself at first sight ; the whole is a forgery ; there was no such party as it describes, detached from the gang, No. 38. James Strachan sworn—I am Superintendant of the Convict-Barracks, at Liverpool ; the prisoner M'Gibbon, is my clerk ; I knew also the prisoner Maas ; they are both prisoners of the Crown ; I mean persons transported to this country, and still under sentence ; I have observed them to be very intimate and much together ; indeed they slept in the same place in the barracks that is in my office ; I have observed them frequently writing there, not for me, but in filling up printed forms, such as I myself use, to obtain the provisions for the Barracks ; on enquiring, M'Gibbon told me that Maas employed him to fill up these forms, and paid him well for doing so ; the document now shewn to me, signed with the name of Mr. Lambie, is of the same kind as they were filling up, but I did not examine them. Thomas Rose sworn—I am contractor for supplying provision for the road gangs in the districts of Liverpool and Myrtle Creek ; the gang, No. 38, was one of those ; I supplied that gang with pro- vision until some time in June last, when it was moved beyond my districts ; I was paid monthly by drafts of Mr. Owen upon the Deputy Commissary General in Sydney; the provision stated in the document now shewn to me, signed with the name of Mr. Lambie, I never supplied, nor ever heard of any such detached party as it describes ; the drafts which I received in payment were always delivered to me by the prisoner Maas ; at his request I also signed the printed forms of account without their being filled up, and generally nine or ten every month ; in going on business to the Commissariat Office I always saw the prisoner Maas ; I saw Mr. Owen there on two such occasions only. His Honor the Chief Justice read over his notes of the evidence to the Jury, and with an able and eloquent charge left the case in their hands. Verdict-Maas Guilty, M'Gibbon Not Guilty. Counsel for the prisoners, Messrs. Therry and Rowe. FRIDAY, AUGUST 13. (Before His Honor the Chief Justice.) Jean Herman Maas and Thomas M'Gibbon were again placed at the bar. The information charged the prisoners with defrauding our Sovereign Lord the King, by falsely obtaining a Bill of Exchange for £137 18s. forging therein the name of Thomas Rose, and passing or putting away the said bill. The prisoners severally pleaded not guilty. Stephen Owen sworn—I am a Commissariat clerk, and in charge at Liverpool ; the prisoner Maas was employed as a writer in my office ; he was handed over to me by my predecessor with a very good character; on the 24th of July last, Mr. Rose, junior, son of the contractor, came to my office to receive my drafts on the Deputy Commissary General, in payment of provisions furnished to road gangs ; the prisoner Maas, who was present, had previously prepared three sets of accounts in triplicate, for the sums due to Mr. Rose; the amounts of which were £114—£137 18s.—and £56 18s. 3d. ; the said accounts were made from abstracts drawn up by Maas from the provision ledgers of the road gangs ; having written out the draft for £144, Maas came to me while I was writing out the next, and said that Mr. Rose, who was going home, wished to take that draft, and that the other two he wished to leave for Mr. Wood, of the Ship Inn, who would send for them ; I assented, and delivered to him the draft I had written, which he gave to Mr. Ross, who departed ; I continued to complete the other two drafts, which, when done, I put into my pocket to keep until Mr. Wood would send for them ; I had no application for them until the evening of the following day, when I saw the waiter of the Ship Inn go into the office ; I followed ; he had just delivered a letter to Maas, who handed it to me; it was signed by the name of James Wood, and requested that the two drafts left for him by Mr. Rose should either be delivered to his waiter, or be sent to him by Maas ; the latter I considered the safest mode, and gave the two drafts to Maas, telling him to deliver them to Wood, and to bring me his acknowledgement in writing ; Maas left the office with the drafts, absconded from Liverpool, and was, two days thereafter, apprehended in Sydney. Cross-examined by the Counsel for the pri- soners-I did not examine the ledgers ; I considered the signature of Mr. Lambie to be sufficient authority ; I examined the abstract made up by Maas with the ledgers ; my drafts were founded on it ; I permitted blank forms to be signed for accounts ; I was urged to this by necessity and want of time, and to save trouble to the contractor ; my orders do not sanction such practice, I am aware it is not right, but my motive was a good one. James Wood sworn—I keep the Ship Inn in Liverpool ; about the 24th of July last, the prisoner, M'Gibbon, came to my house ; he asked of me to allow my servant to carry a note to the Commissariat Office ; I offered to send the ostler; he wished to send the waiter, who went accordingly ; the waiter returned shortly afterwards, followed by the prisoner Maas, who joined M'Gibbon, and they left my house together; I never received any drafts for Mr. Ross, nor had any orders from him to such effect. John Robinson sworn—I am waiter at the Ship Inn in Liverpool ; about the 24th of July last, in the evening I was sent by the prisoner, M'Gibbon, with a note to the Commissariat Office ; delivered the note to Maas; saw him hand it to Mr. Owen ;heard Mr. Owen tell Maas to go with the drafts, and to bring him an acknowledgement in writing; returne home, followed by Maas, who joined M'Gibbon, and they left the inn together. Thomas Rose sworn—I am contractor for sup- plying with provision the road parties in two districts ; the amount due to me up to the 24th of June, £144, I received, about the 24th of July, in a draft on the Deputy Commissary General, as usual by my son, whom I sent to Liverpool for the purpose ; I signed blank forms every month by desire of Maas ; on one of these occasions Mr. Owen was present in the office ; some of them I signed at the Inn; never endorsed any bill in blank ; never gave Mr. Wood or any person (but my son on one occasion) orders to receive drafts for me ; the draft for £137 18s. now shown me, I never saw before ; my name is indorsed on it, but not in my handwriting ; the resemblance is so exact, that it might even deceive myself ; but I swear positively it is not my handwriting ; no similar sum has at any time been due to me from the Commissariat. George Wellings sworn—I am clerk to Mr. Pen- dray, taylor, in Sydney ; on the 26th of July last the prisoner M'Gibbon came to our shop and said he wished to pay an account of £15 due by the prisoner Maas; I received from him a draft of £137 18s. drawn on the Deputy Commissary General ; that now shown to me is the same ; carried the draft, at M'Gibbon's request, to the Commissariat Pay-office, opposite in the Barrack Square, and received the money ; I requested to be paid in bank notes, but they refused and paid me in British silver, which I exchanged with Mr. Wallace in the Treasury Office, for a check on the Bank of Australia ; I returned to the shop and found M'Gibbon waiting ; went with him to the door of the Bank ; saw him go in and come out with a quantity of bank-notes, from which he paid me the £15, and took my receipt for it as on account of the prisoner Maas . William Miller sworn—Is an Assistant Commissary General ; has charge of the Commissariat Pay office in Sydney ; the draft for £137 18s. now shown to him was presented at his office by the last witness, and paid by a check on the cashier of the Military Chest ; the check now shown to witness is the same and bears his signature also, the endorsation of the last witness. Cross-examined by the Counsel for the prisoner ; would not permit an account to be received if known to have been signed in blank ; there is scarcely any thing considered in the department as a greater impropriety ; would reject it as an illegal document; the draft now shewn to witness was examined previously to payment and found to agree with the contractor's account ; the account was examined by the clerk to whom that duty belongs, and found to correspond with the contract, and to be properly signed. Leslie Duguid, Esq. sworn—Is teller in the Bank of Australia ; the check on the Bank for £i37 18s . now shewn to him, signed John Wallace, was paid by witness on 26th July last, to a person having a general resemblance to the prisoner, M'Gibbon ; cannot swear positively that M'Gibbon is the per- son to whom the money was paid ; said person in- dorsed the check with the name Thomas Hamilton. Several of the witnesses were cross-examined by the learned Counsel for the prisoners, who also took exceptions to several parts of the information, but which were over-ruled by the Court. The prisoner Mass, on being called upon, addressed the Court as follows :—I have been accused of the heinous crimes of fraud and forgery, and found guilty ; I know I am doomed to die and expect no pardon, but my crime should have been discovered in the first month, for the person under whom I was employed had done his own duty, of which Mr. Rose, junior and Mr. Wilson could have given evidence if called as witnesses. His Honor the Chief Justice charged the Jury, who returned a verdict finding both prisoners Guilty. Another information was preferred against the same two prisoners, charging them with falsely and fraudulently obtaining a bill for £51 16s. and forging thereon the indorsation of Thomas Rose, with intent to defraud the same Thomas Rose and William Sutherland. The prisoners pleaded not guilty. The evidence of Stephen Owen and of Thomas Rose was similar to that given by them on the two former trials of the same persons. William Sutherland sworn.—I am an inn-keeper in Liverpool ; the bill now shown to me, drawn on the Deputy Commissary General in Sydney, was was given to me by the prisoner, M'Gibbon, who who requested me to cash it for him, saying it belonged to the prisoner, Maas ; it was then endorsed with the name of Thomas Rose ; I required M'Gibbon to put his own name on the bill, which he did ; I also endorsed it when I paid it away. George Fitzgerald Wilson sworn ; I am a Commissariat clerk, and in charge at Bong Bong; I was the predecessor of Mr. Owen at Liverpool ; he succeeded me on the 25th of December last, but I was ordered to remain there some months longer, to afford him any information he might require ; I have taken the signatures of contractor, sometimes upon printed forms for accounts before filling them up, but it was always for their accommodation, to prevent their being obliged to wait or to return when I had not received the necessary information, to complete their accounts ; I know it is wrong, and contrary to the rules of the department ; the prisoner Maas always behaved well while with me, and I gave him a very good character. His Honour charged the Jury, who returned a verdict, finding both prisoners Guilty. SATURDAY, AUGUST 14th. The Court opened this morning at 10 o'clock, when Jean Herman Maas and Thomas M'Gibbon were placed at the bar, and His Honour the Chief Jus- tice passed sentence of Death on both prisoners. The conduct of these two unhappy men exhibited great levity and unconcern throughout the trials, which conduct, however, was much altered after receiving sentence. The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) View title info Sat 4 Sep 1830 Page 2 EXECUTION. — On Wednesday last, Jean Henry Maas and James M'Gibbon underwent the sentence of the law, at Liverpool, for forgery on the Commissariat department. Maas was of a very respectable family at the Isle of France, from which place he was transported to this Colony for three years only, one half of which term had expired at the time when the offence was committed for which he suffered.