Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
Duncan Mclellan 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 634. Linc, Conduct Record (CON33/1/115) and Description List (CON18/1/59). --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
No one has claimed Duncan Mclellan yet.
Photos
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Convict Notes
FOOTNOTE: There is no record of John Muirhead being transported to VDL, NSW or WA.
TO VDL: 26 May, 1853: On arrival in VDL, Duncan McLellan, convict #27976, was listed as a stonecutter and mason; 30 years old, 5’6¾” tall with black to brown hair, grey eyes and a sallow complexion. He was single, Presbyterian and literate. Native place: Fifeshire. He said he had been transported for “stealing 2 pounds from the person, prosecutor at Aberdeen; nine times in prison for being drunk and disorderly” (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p132). --00--
3 February, 1853: He was 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, Duncan McLellan was described as 25 years old, sentenced to 15 years for “robbery”; born in Fife; Church of England; dark brown hair, light hazel eyes and a swarthy complexion, 5’7 ¼ ” tall; semi-literate; miner; single; relatives/family – Edinburgh (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). --0--
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/). --
25 January, 1849: McLELLAN, DUNCAN #1307, arrived on Gibraltar from the Stirling Castle hulk at Portsmouth per Appoline. He was held on the Europa hulk (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). --
TO GIBRALTAR: 4 January, 1849: Duncan McLellan was sent from the Stirling Castle hulk for transportation to Gibraltar (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Duncan McLellan; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1854-1865 [mislabelled]). --0--
JAIL: Admitted to the Stirling Castle hulk at Portsmouth – inmate #2319. He had been in prison “11 times before”. Native place Fifeshire; family there. Other details, as below: NAME: Duncan Mc Lellan MARITAL STATUS: Single CRIMINAL ADMISSION AGE: 23 RECORD TYPE: Register BIRTH PLACE: Fifeshire, Scotland OCCUPATION: Miner CRIMINAL CHARGE: Robbery with another SENTENCE: 15 SOURCE DESCRIPTION: Hulks: Register of Prisoners on the Hulk Stirling Castle (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Duncan Mc Lellan; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1854-1865 [mislabelled]). --0--
TRIAL: National Records of Scotland -- Reference JC26/1847/603 Title Trial papers relating to John Muirhead and Duncan McLellan for the crime of robbery at Fleshmarket Close, High Street, Edinburgh. Tried at High Court, Edinburgh Dates 12 May 1847 Related record AD14/47/512 Accused: John Muirhead, Verdict: Guilty, Sentence: Transportation - 15 years. Note: Diet continued JC8/53, ff.114v & 115v. Accused: Duncan McLellan, Verdict: Guilty, Sentence: Transportation - 15 years. Note: Diet continued JC8/53, ff.114v & 115v. (https://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/). --0--
BEFORE ARRIVING IN VDL: PRECOGNITION: National Records of Scotland -- Reference AD14/47/512 Title Precognition against John Muirhead and Duncan McLellan for the crime of robbery at Fleshmarket Close, High Street, Edinburgh. Dates 1847 Related record JC26/1847/603 Accused: John Muirhead, groom, Address: Calton Street, Edinburgh. Accused: Duncan McLellan, miner, Address: St Paul's Work [Paul's Work], Edinburgh. Victim: James Laing, Hector's Court, Commerce Street, Aberdeen (https://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/). --0--