Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Transportation
Henry Melling 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 252. Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Convicts Transported Per Nile (R32). |
| 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
DEPARTURE: 18 July, 1867: Henry and Mary Melling left WA for Batavia on the Sea Nymph. From the Perth Gazette, 19 July 1867, p2: "Cleared out... [18 July] same day: Sea Nymph, 172 tons, Captain Shaw, for Batavia. Passengers Mr. W. H. Fisher, in cabin; H. & M. Melling, in steerage. Exports - 22 horses, 250 bags flour, 55 tons provender, and 128 tons sandalwood; re-exports 34 tierces beef." (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3749724)
7 March, 1866: Mary Melling, Henry's wife, arrived in Western Australia per the Robert Morrison. The ship's departure from England on 25 November had been reported in the Perth Gazette, the interest being the "considerable number of emigrants on board" (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3750292). Its arrival also generated coverage in the same newspaper, in the form of a very long editorial: "To the real Settlers of this colony - those who have chosen it as their permanent home -the home also of their children - a serious subject of consideration must be - what are to be the principal elements from which its future population is to spring? Had there been any prospect of a continuation for a long series of years of the importation of the felon class from the mother country, the question would have decided itself - we must have sat down contentedly with the prospects of seeing the sons and daughters of the middle classes grow up with nothing to associate with but those sprung from the convict class. Happily, as we think, a few years will now see us purged from that element, and we may hope that in future a purer class may be expected to seek our shores as a home. But are we to remain contented with the hope that such will be the case? Would it not be the wiser policy to stir ourselves up to assist in an endeavor to introduce as quickly as possible a large supply of a better class of population? We have been led to this subject by the arrival of the Robert Morrison with 74 government passengers, and a consideration of what those passengers consist - five married couples, one single man, and 35 single women, the remainder being friends of residents in the colony. This is a fair sample of the supply of free immigrants with which we are favored perhaps once or twice a year, to counterbalance the evil effects of the introduction of some 8 or 900 convicts. What can be expected to result from such a system? Let His Excellency think of the possible results of the introduction of 35 females, or even double that number, to 800 or 900 males, and that going on year after year. The laboring population now consists almost exclusively of persons who have been convicts - our mechanics are generally men who have half learnt their trade while in prison, our farm laborers are men few of whom before they obtained their ticket ever handled a plough, and our shepherds previous acquaintance with a sheep has been principally its appearance in the shape of mutton upon the table. What is there to prevent our introducing a better state of things? We say - nothing..." For the remainder of the article, see https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3753014. --00--
OTHER: Henry Melling, private #868, fought in the Crimean War, receiving the Crimea War Medal clasp Sebastopol, and the Turkish Crimea Medal (https://crimeanwar-veteranswa.com/). He was also called Milling in his military records. --0--
From his Fremantle jail record: MELLING, Henry; #4515, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Date of Birth: 1820 Marital Status: Married Occupation: Tailor, soldier Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Hinda Pasha [incorrect -- see above record], Scutari, Turkey Crime: Drunk & striking superior officer [& using abusive language] Sentence Period: Life Ticket of Leave Date: 14 Jul 1860 Conditional Pardon Date: 21 Apr 1866 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/) --0--
12 March, 1857: He was sent to Portland prison in Grove Road, Dorset. This male convict public works prison took prisoners who had already undergone periods of separate confinement at Millbank, Pentonville and specially contracted local prisons (https://www.prisonhistory.org). He was listed as #6754, 35 years old, married, able to read and write, and a tailor latterly a soldier. His next of kin was Mrs Melling, c/- Captain Jeffries, Portobello Barracks, Dublin. He had four previous convictions by court martial for drunkenness. --0-- 10 September, 1857: Henry Melling was sent from Portland to board the Nile for transportation to WA (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portland Prison; Prison Records; to 1875). --00--
IN JAIL IN ENGLAND: At Woolwich, he was held for 42 days in association with other prisoners. --0-- 9 June, 1856: Henry Melling was admitted to Millbank prison at Westminster, in London. By the 1850s, Millbank and Pentonville were places for all male convicts to serve “their probationary term [of 9 months], after which they would be transported or sent to a public works prison” (https://www.prisonhistory.org). Henry Melling spent 9 months 3 days in separate confinement at Millbank. He was listed as #2777, 25 years old [incorrect], Church of England, a tailor and former private in the 1st King's Dragoon Guards, and received at Millbank from the Crimea (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; to 1885). --0--
COURT MARTIAL: 13 March, 1856: Henry Melling, a private in the 1st King's Dragoon Guards (formerly a tailor), was court martialled in Scutari, Turkey, and convicted on three charges -- being drunk; striking a superior officer; and using abusive language. He was sentenced to transportation for life (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Convicts Transported Per Nile (R32)). In jail in Scutari, he was held for two days in association with other prisoners. Aboard ship, on his return to England, he was held for 16 days in association with other prisoners. --00--