James Mccoy

218

Dianne Jones on 29th September 2021

Release: 1878, 28 March: James McCoy was granted a Conditional Pardon. Amos says he worked as a baker, cook, general servant and labourer at Perth, Fremantle and Sussex, before sailing for Melbourne on the Rob Roy on 1 July 1882 with former military Fenian convicts John Shine and Thomas Delaney (but I can find no record of their passage; and the Rob Roy was undergoing repairs in Melbourne around this time). He probably left for America, according to Amos (1987, p374).

218

Dianne Jones on 29th September 2021

“Holding intercourse with Convicts”: James McCoy’s court appearance 1874, 4 September: From the Western Australian Times, p3: “Conversing with Prisoners – On Saturday last Mr. Landor, the Police Magistrate, was called upon to deal with an offence which is by no means an uncommon occurrence, though seldom any action is taken in connection therewith. We allude to the habit of talking to prisoners in the streets and on public works. In the case alluded to a ticket of leave holder, named James McCoy, hailing from Geraldton, was charged, at the instance of Sergeant McLarty, with holding a conversation with a probation prisoner on public works [in the Government Garden, on 15 August, according to his Convict record]. The sergeant said it might appear a frivolous charge to prefer against a ticket-of-leave holder, that of conversing with an old acquaintance; but it had recently came to the knowledge of the police that, consequent upon a verbal communication, similar to the one before the bench, arrangements had been made to supply an outfit for a runaway convict, who had thereby eluded capture. The accused was sentenced to two months' imprisonment with hard labor." Note: James McCoy’s Ticket of Leave was also revoked at this time.

218

Dianne Jones on 29th September 2021

From his WA Convict record: Record: (1) Petitioned in Millbank - no grounds. (2) Appointed constable, 1/9/70. (3) Under influence of liquor, 21/3/71 – severely reprimanded. (4) Making a groundless complaint against Mr. Munday, 29/7/71 - to forfeit tobacco for 1 month. (5) Reappointed constable, 1/2/72. (6) Under influence of drink, 26/8/72 – reprimanded and to lose 1 month remission as constable. (7) Drink, 23/9/72 - disrated. (8) Granted Ticket of Leave (TL), 3/6/74. (9) TL revoked 6 times for various offences, June 1874-June 1877: being disobedient, absent from lodgings, drunk and disorderly, “holding intercourse with convicts in the Government Garden” [see newspaper coverage of his court appearance below], refusing to work, refusing to leave a refractory cell. Punishments: 27/- in fines, 11 months Hard Labour, 21 days Bread & Water. --0-- Ticket of Leave work: (1) Baker for Thomas Davey, Fremantle, £2 per month, 5/6/74. (2) Cook for W. Watkiss, Jarrandale, £2 per month, 14/7/74. (3) Baker for Thomas George Anstruther Molloy, Perth 50/- per month, 25/11/74. [Thomas Molloy was a Canadian-born builder, speculator and local government politician whose father, John, migrated to the penal colony of Western Australia as a pensioner guard. Thomas Molloy also owned and ran a bakery and provided cottages for his employees (Wikipedia).] (4) General servant for Joseph Noonan, 40/- per month, 27/2/75 [Fenian Joseph Noonan, per Hougoumont, had been sentenced to seven years for treason-felony but received a special remission and Free Pardon in 1869. By 1875, he was a high profile builder and architect in Perth.] (5) Labourer and baker 4/5/75 to 18/2/78, numerous positions, mostly at Perth, including assignment to Rev. Matthew Gibney, as a labourer 8/1/78, for 30/- per month. [By 1881, Father Gibney was the Catholic Vicar-General of Perth. “On a trip to the colonies on the east coast of Australia in 1880, Gibney was travelling by train between Benalla and Albury when at Glenrowan, he heard of the Siege of Glenrowan and left the train. Gibney tended to the injured Ned Kelly, heard his confession and gave him the last rites” (Wikipedia). He served as Bishop of Perth from 1886-1910.] --0--

218

Dianne Jones on 29th September 2021

From his Fremantle jail record: MCCOY, James, #9815, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1843 Place of Birth: Dublin Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Baker, soldier Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Dublin Crime: Mutinous conduct Sentence Period: 15 years Ticket Leave Date: 3 Jun 1874 Conditional Pardon Date: 28 Mar 1878 Comments: One of 62 Fenians transported on the Hougoumont, the last convict ship sent to Australia. Its arrival at Fremantle on 9 Jan 1868 signalled the end of transportation to this country. Baker, cook, general servant, labourer. To Mauritius, 15 Aug 1878 & Victoria, 1 Jul 1882. Ex 61st Regiment of Foot (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --0--

218

Dianne Jones on 29th September 2021

In “The escape of the Fenians, Western Australia, 17 April 1867”, Ormond Waters (1997, p100) describes the transportees’ arrival off WA on Thursday, 9 January, 1868: “The Fenian prisoners were the last to be taken ashore from the Hougoumont in small boats and brought to ‘The Establishment’ as Fremantle Prison was called. One convict described the scene in a letter home: ‘Very early on the morning of the 10th, we were put on shore in Fremantle, and marched through the little town of that name to our destination, The Prison. Here we lay for some two days, going through the ordinary routine of prisoners on the first reception. Dressed in a suit of Drogheda linen, ornamented with a red stripe and black bands, typical of the rank we hold in the colony. To wit, convicts.' The prison rules were harsh. There was a long list of offences, the penalty for which was death. Cells measured seven feet by four feet wide by nine feet high. Prisoners slept in hammocks.” --0-- 1868: On arrival in WA, convict #9815 James McCoy was listed as 23, single and a baker. He was 5’4” tall with brown hair, brown eyes, a fair complexion and of strong build. The “D” on his left side was his only distinguishing mark (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department Registers (128/40 - 43)). On his WA Convict Record, he was also listed as 23 years old on arrival, single, literate, a Roman Catholic and a baker. His family or next of kin was Peter McCoy, St Georges, Bermuda. His physical description was as above except that he was now judged to be “not very strong” in appearance. His behaviour was described as "fair". It was noted that he had petitioned while in Millbank jail (for leniency) but had been refused on 29 June, 1867 (by this time he would have been at Chatham), on the basis of “no grounds” (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16)). --0--

218

Dianne Jones on 29th September 2021

Transportation: The so-called military offenders/military Fenians shouldn’t have been transported at all, had Colonial Office policy been adhered to, according to Keith Amos (1987). He says the process for selecting the Fenian transportees was conducted behind closed doors so little is known about it except that “only less troublesome Fenian rank and file were to be transported [or so the Home Office told the Governor of Western Australia]… but in fact this policy was only loosely adhered to” by the British authorities. Amos says: “Although none were Fenian leaders, most had been severely punished; half having been sentenced to life imprisonment. All but two were convicted between March and August 1866, following exposure by informants who alerted the authorities to the fact that Fenianism had established a considerable base among British regiments in Ireland and England. Six of the seventeen had been 5th Dragoon Guards… Three were from the 61st Foot: Robert Cranston, Michael Harrington and James McCoy…" Others were from the 24th Foot, the Royal Horse Artillery, 2nd Queens, 60th Rifles, 53rd Foot and the 10th Hussars: “All seventeen military offenders had been convicted either of mutinous conduct or of failure to report knowledge of a mutiny to a commanding officer. Seven had committed the further sin of deserting to avoid apprehension. To identify this group and to remind them forever of their crime, a capital letter 'D', two inches in height, was engraved on the left side of their chests. The instrument used was an awl, and the scar was made indelible with Indian ink [28]. All the deserters bar one who received fifteen years [James McCoy], received death sentences – later commuted to life imprisonment. The other military offenders received sentences ranging from five years to life. When the Hougoumont was boarded, all the military Fenians were confined with ordinary convicts, whereas civilian Fenians were allotted separate quarters of their own. It would seem that this arrangement was at least a partial recognition that the civilian Fenians, all of whom were convicted either of treason-felony or high treason, were political prisoners rather than criminals - a concession that sympathetic Irish nationalists had earlier failed to gain official recognition of. Mutinous soldiers, on the other hand, were clearly regarded by the authorities as common criminals, and perhaps more dangerous ones in view of their training. Note 28: John Boyle O'Reilly quoted by James Jeffrey Roche, ‘Life of John Boyle O'Reilly’, New York, 1891, p. 329.” (1987, pp106-07) --00--

218

Dianne Jones on 29th September 2021

1867, late September: Taken from Chatham jail to board the convict ship Hougoumont, James McCoy was, according to newspaper reports, one of 15 Fenians sent from that jail for transportation: “The hired convict ship Hougoumont, which has been taken up, by the Government for the conveyance of a numerous party of convicts to Freemantle, Western Australia, left the Nore on October 1, and proceeded down Channel, after receiving on board 150 convicts from the establishments at Chatham and Millbank. The convicts from the Chatham establishment, at St. Mary's, embarked from the dockyard on board the paddle-wheel steamer Adder, Mr. W. J. Blakely, and were in charge of a numerous party of convict guards and wardens, all heavily armed. Among the convicts shipped were a party of fifteen Fenians, who were engaged in the late conspiracy in Ireland, together with the officers and crew convicted of scuttling the ship Severn [only two were on the Hougoumont – Thomas Berwick and Lionel Holdsworth, each sentenced to 20 years for fraud], and some others who have achieved notoriety from their crimes. The Fenian convicts, like the remainder of the prisoners, were chained together in gangs, but it was observed that they were kept apart from the other convicts in a portion of the vessel by themselves. The steamer Petrel also took down a number of convicts from the establishment at Millbank, for shipment on board the Hougoumont, in charge of a strong escort and convict guard. On Tuesday, October 8th, the Hougoumont arrived in Portland roads. Shortly before midday ninety convicts were marched down to the Government pier at Portland under a strong escort of the 12th Light Infantry. The party included twenty-three Fenian convicts, among whom it was said, was Moriarty [not the Fenian Centre Mortimer Moriarty, but a teenage Fenian called Bartholomew Moriarty]. The Government steamer employed in the breakwater service was used for conveying the convicts on board the Hougoumont transport ship. The convicts were chained together on embarking, and on board the steamer a strong guard of marines from her Majesty's ship St. George was formed, and saw the convicts safely placed on board the Hougoumont. The Governor of the penal settlement at Freemantle, Captain Young, is on board the Hougoumont, and returns in that ship to his sphere of duty after paying a visit to his native land.” (Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Dec 1867, p4, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271). --00--

218

Dianne Jones on 29th September 2021

1867, 21 May: After a little over 6 months at Millbank, James McCoy was transferred to Chatham prison, east of London at St Mary’s Island in Kent. There he was listed as prisoner #9036. Chatham, a public works prison for male convicts, was notorious for riots in the 1860s (https://www.prisonhistory.org). --0— Branded with a “D”: At some point during his incarceration, James McCoy was “branded”, a practice continued by the British until 1871, according to Phillip Hilton’s thesis, “Branded with a D on the left side”. Until 1829, any soldier could be branded but after that it was reserved for deserters. Hilton says “deserters were… ‘branded’ with a D on their left sides as a means of humiliating offenders” (2010, p140, https://eprints.utas.edu.au/17678/2/Hilton_Thesis.pdf), but he doesn’t say how the branding happened and there are conflicting versions among writers. For example, Peter FitzSimons (2019) refers to barbaric fire brandings of the four Fenian deserters among the “Catalpa six” who escaped from WA to America, while others such as Amos (1987) describe painful tattooing using India ink and an awl. A post on the Irish Garrison Towns website (http://irishgarrisontowns.com/d-for-deserter/) says both practices were used – hot iron/fire branding being the preferred method until around the mid-19th century when it was replaced by tattooing: “A new device was created to mark the soldiers’ skin with ink, or even gunpowder… The large, blunt points [on the branding tool] hint at the pain it caused as a spring mechanism forced these points into the skin. Regimental doctors described the practice as ‘cupping’." Simon Barnard’s book “Convict tattoos: Marked men and women of Australia” (p55) has several shots of one of these spring loaded, brass “branding instruments” manufactured by John Weiss & Sons of The Strand, London. Barnard says they were used by medical officers to tattoo army deserters. The head of the “Weiss’ Invention” model holds 47 needle points arranged in the shape of a “D”, all clearly capable of puncturing human skin. So, too, the points of the brass instrument featured on the Science Museum of London’s website. Made by Savigny & Co of London, its adjustable points “still bear traces of ink” and were pushed through the skin by a spring-powered mechanism. Savigny & Co was “better known as a major manufacturer of surgical instruments in the 1700s and early 1800s”. The Museum says branding was abolished in 1829, except for army deserters. After this, the mark was tattooed on the body until the practice was abandoned altogether in 1879 (https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co155799/branding-tool-for-marking-deserters-london-england-1810-1850-branding-tool). --0--

218

Dianne Jones on 29th September 2021

1866, 1 November: From Pentonville, he was sent to Millbank at Westminster in London, which served as a holding facility for convicted prisoners before they were transported to Australia. At Millbank, James McCoy was listed as prisoner #2555, a baker and Drummer in the 61st Regiment, No.644. He was 21, a Roman Catholic, single, able to read and write imperfectly, charged with “mutinous conduct” and sentenced at a general court martial in Dublin to penal servitude for 15 years. His behaviour was described as “good”. To this time, he had served a total of 7 days in separate confinement (from 24 October 1866). Next of kin were his brother Patrick McCoy of Whitechapel and his mother who was in Quebec. A notation says a “PC [parchment copy] of Discharge” from the army, received on 20 December, was attached to his record (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners 1866). Martin Hogan, Thomas Hassett, James Wilson, Patrick Keating, Thomas Delaney, John Shine, William Foley, John Donaghoe and John Lynch were also transferred to Millbank at the same time. All 10 would be sent for transportation to West Australia within a year. Note: By the 1850s, Pentonville and Millbank were places for all male convicts to serve “their probationary term (now reduced to 9 months), after which they would be transported or sent to a public works prison. This function continued more or less (notable exceptions including the reception of military prisoners in the 1860s…) until the decision to remove it from the convict prison system in 1885” (https://www.prisonhistory.org).

218

Dianne Jones on 29th September 2021

Prisons contd: 1866, August: James McCoy was admitted to Mountjoy jail in Dublin. About two months later he was sent to England. Most likely he and the nine others similarly “exported” were taken under military escort from Mountjoy prison to the Irish port of Kingstown, for passage by boat, landing at Holyhead in Wales. From there it was 300 miles south by road to London. --0-- 1866, 24 October: He was admitted to Pentonville prison in north London – prisoner # 4061, a Roman Catholic and “known Fenian”. Also transferred at the same time and described as Fenians were Martin Hogan, Thomas Hassett, James Wilson, Patrick Keating, Thomas Delaney, John Shine, William Foley, John Donaghoe and John Lynch (U.K. Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Pentonville 1866-1869). Pentonville was built and completed in 1842 “for the detention of convicts sentenced to imprisonment or awaiting transportation” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Pentonville).