Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
Alexander Mcqueen 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 636. --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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Photos
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Convict Notes
FOOTNOTE: His co-accused THOMAS FAULDS was transported to Western Australia in 1850 per Scindian. There he served his time and received a Conditional Pardon on 3 August, 1859 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). See his bio at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/faulds/thomas/34366. THOMAS McLAUCHLAN/McLAUCHLIN never left England. Listed as prisoner #273, he died from “scrophula” [sic] aboard the Stirling Castle hulk at Portsmouth on 29 November, 1849. His next of kin was his father Edmund, of 128 Salt Market Street, Glasgow (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Thomas McLauchlin; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1774-1789 [mislabelled]). Scrofula is a tuberculosis infection of the lymph nodes in the neck (MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia at https://medlineplus.gov). --00--
OTHER: For more details of his convict life, see (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p136). --00--
IN VDL: 26 May, 1853: On arrival in VDL, Alexander McQueen, convict #27980, was listed as a labourer; 26 years old, 5’10” tall with light brown hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion. He was single, Presbyterian and semi-literate. Native place: Glasgow. He said he had been transported for “street robbery, stealing a watch”; nine times in prison for theft, assault etc. (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p136). Family: Father Alexander and sister Janet -- at his native place (http://foundersandsurvivors.org/pubsearch/convict/chain/ai46918). --0--
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, Alexander McQueen was described as 21 years old, sentenced to 14 years for “robbery with others”; born in Glasgow; Scots Church; light hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion, 5’11” tall; literate; painter; single; relatives/family – in America (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: 25 January, 1849: McQUEEN, ALEXANDER #1263, arrived on Gibraltar from the York hulk at Gosport per Appoline. He was held on the Europa hulk (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). --
NEWSPAPER REPORT OF TRIAL: 1 October, 1847: “GLASGOW AUTUMN CIRCUIT… Alexander M’Queen. Thomas McLauchlan, Thomas Faulds, and John Dewar, were charged with assaulting, robbing, and stealing, from the person of John McLaren, sheriff-officer…on the 13th April, 1847, a gold watch and chain... The prisoners all pled not guilty. After a lengthened trial, and addresses to the Jury from the Depute-Advocate and White, counsel for the prisoners, and the summing of Lord Wood, the Jury returned a verdict of guilty against McQueen, McLauchlan, and Faulds and the charge against Dewar not proven. Dewar was dismissed from the bar, and the other three sentenced each to fourteen years’ transportation. The prisoners on being removed from the bar behaved in a very improper manner.” (Greenock Advertiser, p1) --00--
28 September, 1847: TRIAL NAME: Alexander McQueen ROLE: Accused CRIME COMMITTED: Robbery (stealing a watch) TRIAL DATE: 28 Sep 1847 TRIAL LOCATION: Lanarkshire, Scotland COURT HOUSE: Glasgow VERDICT: Guilty SENTENCE: Transportation - 14 Years RELATED TRIAL PAPERS: Jc26/1847/427 RELATED PRECOGNITIONS: Ad14/47/388 Note: Co-accused Thomas Faulds, Verdict: Guilty, Sentence: Transportation - 14 years; and Thomas McLauchlan, Verdict: Guilty, Sentence: Transportation - 14 years. Co-accused John Dewar, Verdict: Not proven, Sentence: Assoilzied simpliciter and dismissed. --00--
1847: PRECOGNITION NAME: Alexander McQueen RESIDENCE: Bell Street, Glasgow, Lanarkshire ROLE: Accused CRIME COMMITTED: Robbery TRIAL DATE: 1847 TRIAL LOCATION: Scotland ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: painter RELATED TRIAL PAPERS: Ad14/47/388 (Scotland, High Court Criminal Indexes, 1790-1919). Note: Also accused were John Dewar, weaver, Address: Bridgeton, Glasgow; Thomas McLauchlan, moulder, Address: Saltmarket Street, Glasgow; and Thomas Faulds, moulder, Address: New Vennel, Glasgow. --0--