Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Thomas Mahoney was transported on the Albuera, departing 6th Sep 1858 and arriving 28th Oct 1858 with 11 passengers.
Albuera, launched at Moulmain (British Burma) in 1854, made three voyages to Adelaide up to 1874. Sailing from Calcutta, India, on 6 Sep, 1858, she arrived at Fremantle with 11 military convicts on 28 Oct. They were all convicted by Courts Martial (in India and Burma) and sentenced to transportation. Note: Albuera is not to be confused with other ships of the same name or those spelled Albeura.
Albuera (generic)References
| Primary Source | Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 4679-5166 (R1). --00-- https://www.waconvicts.fhwa.org.au/g0/p203.htm#i5059 |
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Convict Notes
FOOTNOTE: The day and month of birth are not known, but 01/01 were entered in the Year of Birth window because the database wouldn’t accept a year on its own.
OTHER RECORDS – MARRIAGE: Name: Thomas Mahoney Marriage Date: 1860 Marriage Place: Toodyay, Western Australia Registration Date: 1860 Registration Place: Western Australia, Australia Spouse : Emily Georgiana Wilson Registration Number: 1565 (Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950, at ancestry.com.au; WA Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages) --00--
OTHER RECORDS – www.waconvicts.fhwa.org/.au Thomas Mahoney Male, #5059 Birth: He was born in 1828 Convicted: Convicted of attempted murder (Court Martial) and sentenced to 14 years on 6 October 1855 at Umballah, India. Family Status: Claimed that his marital status was unmarried as at 28 October 1858 Occupation: Recorded as a soldier; carpenter on 28 October 1858 Literacy: Recorded as being literate as at 28 October 1858 Transported: Transported to WA on the Albuera arriving at Fremantle, Western Australia, on 28 October 1858. He had been collected from Calcutta prison. Convict No.: Assigned with Convict No. 5059 on 28 October 1858 Ticket of Leave: His Ticket of Leave was granted on 6 April 1859 at Western Australia Conditional Pardon: His Conditional Pardon was granted on 18 July 1861 at Western Australia Research: CWA has him reconvicted as #10035 but that no. belongs to #5058 [William Howard, also transported per Albuera]. CWA also has him reconvicted as #9649 but that no. belongs to William Anderton on the Hougomount (https://www.waconvicts.fhwa.org.au/g0/p203.htm#i5059). --00--
OTHER RECORDS – CONVICTS ASSOCIATED WITH TOODYAY: Mahoney, Thomas (1828- ) 5059; 9649; 10035 1858-10-28 Albeura CWA: Unmarried; carpenter; literate, RC; attempted murder 14 yrs; reconvicted WA [no evidence to date to support this] (https://www.toodyay.wa.gov.au/documents/234/convicts-associated-with-toodyay-as-at-30-sep-2020). --00--
FREMANTLE JAIL RECORD: MAHONEY, Thomas; inmate #5059, arrived 28 Oct 1858 per Albeura [sic] Other No: 9649, 10035 [Note: These two convict numbers are incorrect. The first belongs to William Anderton per Hougoumont; the second belongs to William Howard, transported aboard the Albuera and the recipient of three colonial convictions in WA.] Date of Birth: 1828 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Carpenter Literacy: Literate Sentence Date: 1855 Sentence Place: Umballa Crime: Attempted murder Sentence Period: 14 years Ticket of Leave Date: 6 Apr 1859 Conditional Pardon Date: 18 Jul 1861 Comments: Reconvicted in Western Australia twice (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/). Note: There is no evidence, to date, of any colonial convictions for Thomas Mahoney. --00--
IN WA – CHARACTER RECORD: 1858, 28 October: THOMAS MAHONEY, 29, single, literate, labourer; Roman Catholic; “.Attempt to murder”, 14 years, court martial Umballah 6 Oct 1855 [note different date]. General character – “Very good – Special commendation by the Gov of Calcutta Jail”. 1859, 6 July: Ticket of Leave (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). --00--
IN WA: 1858, 28 October: On arrival, THOMAS MAHONEY was listed as convict #5059, 30 years old, single, 5’9½” tall, grey eyes, light hair, round visage, fair complexion, and middling stout appearance; no distinguishing marks. A carpenter by trade; convicted at a General Court Martial, Umballah, India, on 14 September, 1855; sentenced to 14 years’ penal servitude for “Attempt to murder”. Ticket of Leave 6 April, 1859; Conditional Pardon 18 July, 1861 (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 4679-5166 (R1)). Note: Various records give his year of birth as 1828, presumably based on an assumption that he was 30 on arrival in WA. However, the “Convicts to Australia” site says the age quoted on these WA Convict Records “seems to refer to the age of the convict when the passenger list was created”. Alternatively, if 30 when court martialled he could have been born in 1825 or 1824. --00--
THE VOYAGE TO WA: One of the few snippets of information found about the Albuera's voyage in 1858 appears in an article in the Melbourne Argus: “INDIA (From our Galle [Sri Lanka] correspondent. October 20, 1858): ... The very great mortality which has taken place in the shipment of horses from the different ports of Australia has created no little attention here. The Admiral Boxer, which arrived lately at Bombay from Sydney, landed only 76 out of 108 shipped. This makes the Australian horse too costly for cavalry purposes, and I am bound to say also, that the stamp of horses selected has not come up to what it might and should have been, in the opinion of the best judges, and those who have been in the colonies. The Government have despatched the ALBUERA [my emphasis] with convicts to Swan River, and to return with 120 horses from that colony. The experiment will be watched with much interest.” (The Argus, 18 Nov 1858, p5 at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/7304789) --00--
GENERAL COURT MARTIAL (GCM) This was army’s highest tribunal, dealing with commissioned officers and the most serious cases involving other ranks. It could only be convened by the Crown or its deputy (for example, the commander in chief, or governors general). At least 13 commissioned officers had to be present if ‘at home’ (serving in the British Isles, Ireland, non-British territories or small British possessions), or five if ‘overseas’ (the British colonies), together with a judge advocate. Decisions were confirmed by the person who issued the warrant (that is, the Crown or its direct deputy). (https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/courts-martial-desertion-british-army-17th-20th-centuries/) --00--
COURT MARTIAL: 1855, 14 September: THOMAS MAHONEY, rank and regiment not given, appeared before a General Court Martial at Umballah (aka Ambala), India, and was sentenced to 14 years’ transportation for “attempted murder”. Given the severity of sentence, this was probably not his first court martial. At some stage following his conviction, he was sent to Calcutta and held there in jail to await transportation (https://www.perthdps.com/convicts/con-wa24.html; Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 4679-5166 (R1); https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/60668/images/44765_352437-00409, image 410) --00--