Summary
Personal Information
Transportation
Henry Mitchell 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 231 (117). --00-- Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department Registers (128/38 - 39). --00-- Edgar, W. (Bill). (2018). “The precarious voyage of her majesty’s convict ship ‘Nile’ to the Swan River colony, late 1857 – and the unexpected aftermath.” The Great Circle, 40(1), 20–43. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26783779 |
| 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
FOOTNOTE: Henry Simpson (alias Charles Povah) was also transported to WA on the Nile as Charles Povah. His bio is at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/povah/charles/59001.
WHAT HAPPENED TO HENRY SIMPSON? 1 May, 1856: "The Government has offered a reward of £5O for the apprehension of Peter Williams, alias Henry Simpson, who escaped from the Pentonville prison, whilst undergoing transportation for fourteen years, for burglary..." (Brighton Gazette, p7). --0-- 5 May, 1856: "Henry Simpson, alias Peter Williams, [who] was apprehended one day last week at Manchester, on a charge of housebreaking..." had escaped detection until his description was sent to London (Morning Advertiser, p5).
FOOTNOTE: 26 November, 1855: Henry Mitchell, 21, a bricklayer from Storington, and Henry Simpson, 23, a labourer from Walworth, had originally been tried at the Old Bailey and convicted of burglary in the dwelling house of Thomas Roberts, stealing more than 1200 yards of silk valued at £187, other goods to the value of £137 and £3/3/- in money. Mitchell was sentenced to 4 years' penal servitude. Simpson who, in May 1852 was convicted at Surrey of stealing 30 lbs weight of veal and sentenced to transportation for 10 years, was sentenced to 14 years' transportation. --0-- 4 January, 1856: They were held at Newgate prison before being sent to Millgate prison in London where they were each served 13 days in separate confinement (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Newgate Prison; Registers of Prisoners to 1862). --0-- 17 January, 1856: Both men were admitted to Pentonville; Simpson as inmate #6336 and Mitchell as #6337. Again, they were put in separate confinement. “After a sentence of transportation was handed down, the prisoner entered into a separate stage where he was placed into an individual cell, isolated from others, apart from brief periods of exercise and attendance at chapel. However, no communication of any kind with other prisoners was permitted at any time. The philosophy behind this penal methodology had its provenances in the religious, monastic traditions; i.e., that in the isolation of his cell the malefactor would be able to contemplate the errors of his way, unadulterated by the negative influences of former contemporaries, and be reformed.” (Edgar, 2018, pp39-40) When first put into practice, the mandated period of separate confinement was 18 months. By the late 1840s, authorities had conceded that such conditions of imprisonment were “injurious to many prisoners’ mental health” and the stint was reduced to 12 months. Periods of separate confinement were reduced further “as a prisoner displayed good behaviour tendencies” (Edgar, p40). Millbank, Pentonville, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --0-- ESCAPE: The jail record says they escaped on 20 March, 1856 (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1854-1856). --00--
From the 'Weekly Dispatch', May 18, 1856: "Henry Mitchell, 27, pleaded 'Guilty' to an indictment which charged him with being feloniously at large before the expiration of a sentence of penal servitude that had been passed upon him. Mr. Bodkin, who was instructed for the prosecution, stated to the Court that the prisoner had been convicted of burglary at these sessions, and sentenced to four years’ penal servitude. He was placed in the Model Prison at Pentonville to undergo his sentence, but he contrived to elude the vigilance of the officer, and made his escape. How he contrived to get out of the prison no one could tell, but a rope ladder was made use of, and very great adroitness was exercised, and another man besides the prisoner also succeeded in making his escape at the same time. A detective officer named Whicher accidentally met the prisoner as he was walking in company with two other officers, and the prisoner said, upon his taking him into custody, that if he had been alone he would have found his mistake, but as there were two other officers with him, he should go quietly. The Recorder inquired the particulars of the charge upon which the prisoner had been originally sentenced to penal servitude. Mr. Lilley said he was counsel for the prosecution, and the prisoner and another man were convicted of a burglary of a very serious character at the house of a draper in the New Kent-road. Property to the amount of nearly £400 was packed up ready to be taken away, and the prisoner’s companion made a very violent assault upon the constable, when he endeavoured to take him into custody. The prisoner did not make use of any violence and in consequence of this he was only sentenced to penal servitude, and his companion was ordered to be transported. Mr. Bodkin informed the Court that he had that moment received information that the man who escaped with the prisoner from the Model Prison had been arrested at Liverpool. The prisoner handed in a written statement to the Court in which he asked for mercy, and said that if he were to be set at liberty he would in return give information of the mode in which he escaped from the prison. The Recorder, in passing sentence, said it was quite clear that the prisoner was a very dangerous fellow, and he felt it to be his duty to send him out of this country. He then sentenced him to be transported for 14 years." (http://www.perthdps.com/convicts/w4672.htm)
From the 'News of The World', April 20 1856, p7: "CLERKENWELL Prison Breaking Henry Mitchell was charged being an escaped convict and illegally at large before the expiration of his term of imprisonment. The prisoner, in company with another convict named Simpson, made their escape from the New Model Prison, Holloway, and walked as far as Camberwell, passing several of the Metropolitan Police in their way, owing to the uniform worn in the two different prisons not being known. Sergeant Whicher, of the detective force, stated he went to a room and apprehended the prisoner, telling him what he took him for. When the prisoner was handcuffed, he said “I will not resist, but if you had come alone you would have found your mistake out.” In justice to the landlord of the house, he wished to state that he was not in any way connected with the prisoner, and that he lent the police, every assistance. Mr. Hosking, the governor of the New Model Prison, had in court the copybook in which the prisoner had been taught, from which it appeared that he had been engaged in writing a poem, commencing: 'Farewell, my friend, adieu,' but he refused to allow any one to look at it. The prisoner, when asked if he had anything to say in his defence, replied, that, understanding that one of the officers had been discharged or suspended, he wished to clear the whole of the officers, and to state that they had nothing whatever to do with his escape. They were perfectly innocent. Mr. Corrie committed the prisoner to Newgate for trial." --0--
From the 'News of The World', April 13, 1856: "CLERKENWELL The Escape From Holloway Henry Mitchell, aged 23, was charged with being an escaped convict. The prisoner made his escape, with another convict, from the New Model Prison, Holloway, about three weeks since. The prisoners escape caused a great deal of excitement, it being almost unparalleled and beyond all prison breaking. The two prisoners had been some time incarcerated in the goal, one being sentenced to fourteen years’ transportation, and Mitchell to six years' penal servitude. They were two daring characters, and one, it was stated, was a relative to the notorious Hackett, who escaped from the same place. They were safely locked up in their cell, and to get out they had to pick one of the patent locks which fastened the cell door. In the morning an alarm was raised, and on search being made, it seems that the prisoners, after opening the door of the cell, walked along the passage, where they found an iron trapdoor, weighing three cwt., which they must have forced up, and got on the roof of a low building. From that they scaled a lofty wall, by the aid of a ladder made of wax-ends, which brought them to the roof of the prison, where they must have encountered several difficulties, for they descended and ascended at least six times before they could have reached the outside of the gaol. The matter was placed in the hands of Sergeant Whicher, of the detective force, and he succeeded in apprehending the prisoner. The prisoner, who did not say anything in defence, was remanded." --00--
FOOTNOTE: VARIOUS NEWSPAPER REPORTS: From the 'Weekly Dispatch', April 13, 1856, p2: "CLERKENWELL Apprehension of an Escaped Convict On Tuesday, Henry Mitchell, aged 23, a thick, short-set, powerful looking fellow, described on the police-sheet as a bricklayer, of No.4 Brill-row, Somerstown, was placed at the bar, before Mr. Corrie, charged with being an escaped convict, and illegally at large before the expiration of his term of imprisonment. It will be remembered that the prisoner made his escape in the company of another convict, a shoemaker, named Henry Simpson from the New Model prison, about three or four weeks since. The prisoner’s escape caused a great deal of excitement, it being almost unparalleled and beyond all previous prison-breaking. It appears that the two prisoner’s had been for some time in the jail; Simpson, who is described as a labourer, 21 years of age, 5 feet 5 inches high, fresh complexion, brown hair, hazel eyes and stoutly made, having been convicted on 26 November 1855 at the Central Criminal Court, of burglary and sentenced to 14 years transportation, having been convicted of felony in Surrey and sentenced to 10 years transportation, while the prisoner Mitchell, who was convicted at the same sessions for a like offence, was sentenced to four years penal servitude. They were two daring characters, and one, it was stated at the time, was a relative of the notorious Hackett, who escaped from the same place, several years since. When the prisoners were in Horsemonger-lane Jail, a woman was apprehended and convicted for conveying to them a file and other articles necessary for the picking of locks inside a half quartern of bread and the prison authorities were told to keep a sharp lookout on them. On the night of 19th of March they were safely locked up, in their cell, and to get out they had to pick one of the patent locks that fastened the cell door. On the following morning an alarm was raised, and on subsequent search being made it seems that the prisoners walked along the passage, where they found an iron trap-door, weighing 3 cwt. which they must have forced up and got upon the roof of a low building, having picked several locks in their way. Thence they scaled a lofty wall by the aid of a ladder, made of waxends, which brought them to the roof of the prison, for they descended and ascended at least six times before they could have reached the outside of the jail. The matter was placed in the hands of Sergeant Whicher, of the detective force, and he, after watching for some time succeeded after great difficulty, in apprehending the prisoner. Mitchell stated that after he and his companion escaped, they walked in their prison dress, as far as Camberwell, passing several of the metropolitan police before they entered any house, thus showing the necessity of the police being made aware of the different styles of dress worn by the different prisoners. He also stated that in making their escape, they once or twice ran great risk of losing their lives. The prisoner who had nothing to say in defence was remanded for a week." (http://www.perthdps.com/convicts/w4640.htm --0--
From his Fremantle jail record: MITCHELL, Henry; #4672, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Date of Birth: 1833 Marital Status: Married Occupation: Bricklayer Literacy: Semiliterate Sentence Place: London, London, England Crime: At large before expiry of sentence Sentence Period: 14 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 10 Dec 1859 Conditional Pardon Date: 20 Feb 1865 Certificate of Freedom Date: 12 May 1870 Comments: Self-employed, 1860 --00--
1856: While awaiting transportation, Henry Mitchell was held at Millbank prison where his conduct was described as "good" and at Chatham prison where it was "very good" (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Convicts Transported Per Nile (R32)). --00--
TRIAL -- 12 May, 1856: Old Bailey #505. HENRY MITCHELL, feloniously being at large before the expiration of his sentence: to which he PLEADED GUILTY. Aged 23.— Transported for Fourteen Years (https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/). --00--