Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Matthew Maxwell was transported on the St Vincent, departing 28th Dec 1852 and arriving 26th May 1853 with 214 passengers.
St Vincent (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 92, Class and Piece Number HO11/17, Page Number 637 (321). --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 |
Claims
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Convict Notes
BURIAL: Name: Maxwell, Matthew Age: 72 Last known residence: New Town Charitable Institution, New Town Property: Cornelian Bay Cemetery, in a pauper's grave #227A Date of burial: 10 Nov 1891 File number: BU 8495 Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1557546 (https://stors.tas.gov.au/AF35-1-1$init=AF35-1-1P257J2K). --00--
DEATH: Name: Maxwell, Matthew Gender: Male Age: 72 Trade: Labourer Date of death: 07 Nov 1891 Cause: Senile decay Place: New Town Charitable Institution Registered: Hobart Registration year: 1891 Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1236782 Resource: RGD35/1/13 no 843 (https://stors.tas.gov.au/RGD35-1-13p106j2k). --0--
OTHER: For more details of his convict life, see (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p139. --00--
IN VDL: 26 May, 1853: On arrival in VDL, MATTHEW MAXWELL, convict #27983, was listed as a farm labourer; 32 years old, 5’10” tall with light brown hair, hazel eyes and a fresh complexion. He was single, Catholic and semi-literate. Native place: Wexford. He said he had been transported for “desertion from the 23rd Fusiliers; prior convictions for striking a sergeant, 200 lashes & deduction of pay; two court martials, 2 months’ and 4 months’ jail”. Gibraltar report “good” (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p140). Family: Mother Ellen (London); brothers Henry, Bernard and James; sisters Mary (London) and Bridget (Darlington) (http://foundersandsurvivors.org/pubsearch/convict/chain/ai48743). --0--
3 February, 1853: Sent aboard the St Vincent for transportation to VDL (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). --00--
On Gibraltar, MATTHEW MAXWELL was described as 25 years old, sentenced to 14 years for “desertion”; born in Wexford; Catholic; sandy hair, light hazel eyes and a fresh complexion, 5’10¾” tall; semi-literate; labourer, soldier 23rd Regt; single; relatives/family – in King’s County (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). --
Gibraltar and Bermuda were listed public works stations (and the second stage in the penal process). On Gibraltar, as “convicts worked together with free men on the dockyards, lines between them became blurred. Convicts, like seamen, were ‘easily recognised’ by ‘their swarthy, weather beaten complexions…[and] muscular well-knit frames’. The discipline on the penal settlement was also influenced by the naval department, who superintended part of the works. In the 1840s, for example, convicts were provided ‘a half gill of rum’ at 11am and 5pm, which they drank from a trough. This mirrored the daily allowance of diluted rum, known as grog, to Royal Naval seamen in the Victorian era. Convicts were also allowed to use part of their earnings, to buy goods, usually tobacco, which they were allowed to smoke in the evening in the barracks. Though official correspondence cited health reasons for grog allowance, it seems likely that the convict authorities feared insubordination if they were banned from drinking and smoking, which were provided to the sappers and dockyard workers whom they worked alongside… In 1854, the acting overseer stated that “half of the offences were committed when the men were excited by rum”. For more serious offences, convicts were flogged with a ‘cat o’nine tails’ whip against the ‘flogging mast’, and during an investigation Dr William Baly concluded that the whip which was used was an old naval cat, which was ‘much heavier than any now used in the government prison and hulks at home, or in the army.’” (Roscoe, Katy (2018), “Convicts and the Sea: the naval influence on Gibraltar Convict Establishment” at https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/). --
TO GIBRALTAR: 24 July, 1848: MAXWELL/MASWELL, MATTHEW #1218, arrived on Gibraltar from England per Enterpe. He was held on the Europa hulk (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). --
COURT MARTIAL: 26 April, 1847: Halifax, Nova Scotia – Private Matthew Maxwell of the 23rd Regiment was sentenced to 14 years’ transportation and stopped pay for “desertion and losing necessities” (Judge Advocate General's Office: general courts martial registers, abroad at https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1693598489). --00--