Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Transportation
John Marr 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 247 (125). --0-- 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. --0-- Roscoe, Katy (2018), "Convicts and the sea: the naval influence on Gibraltar Convict Establishment" at https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk |
| 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
22 June, 1852: Admitted to Wakefield prison in West Yorkshire -- served 10 months in separate confinement; behaviour "moderately good". “After a sentence of transportation 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, p40). Millbank, Pentonville, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --0--
3 April, 1852: Admitted to York Castle prison, York -- served 77 days in association with other prisoners; behaviour "very bad" (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for John Marr; Portland Prison; Prison Records to 1870). --0--
JAILS: 1852: Held at Leeds Borough prison (Leeds Borough Gaol and House of Correction), Gloucester Terrace, Leeds -- served 21 days. --0--
TRIAL: 4 March, 1852: John Marr and James Head were convicted at Leeds of "breaking into a shop and stealing therein". Marr -- 10 years' transportation, with a previous conviction for felony; Head -- 3 months' jail (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for John Marr; England; Yorkshire - West Riding; 1852). --0-- Newspaper coverage of the trial says they stole flour and oatmeal. --0--
OCCUPATION: John Marr/Marra was a cloth dresser (option not listed above). Cloth dressers were "skilled workers in the textile industry who cut woollen cloth with huge shears when it was ready to leave the mill, or sheared the nap from it." (Dictionary of Old Occupations at https://www.familyresearcher.co.uk/) --0--