Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
John Mountford was transported on the Hougoumont, departing 10th Oct 1867 and arriving 9th Jan 1868 with 281 passengers.
875 ton ship was built at Moulmein in 1852. http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/on-this-day-in-history-australias-last-convict-ship-docks.htm ---------------------------- Incorrect Image ....This is a four masted steel hulled Barque in the drawing , im surprised Australian Geo didn't do a bit more research on this .......The Hougoumont was a works ship on the Forth Bridge Project in 1885 ....the one potrayed as a drawing in Aust Geo is the later version of this ship.....the photograph i have attached is the correct and original convict vessel. --00-- 1867 "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, 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. 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." Source: Sydney Morning Herald, Thu 19 Dec 1867, p4, English Shipping, available on Trove at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271?searchTerm=hougoumont.
HougoumontReferences
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 93, Class and Piece Number HO11/19, Page Number 250. --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
NOTE: Year of Birth is known from UK records but not the day and month. The latter dates have been entered as 01/01 because the site does not allow those fields to be left empty.
DEATH: JOHN MONTFORD [sic] -- Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 at ancestry.com Name John Montford Death Date Abt 1879 Death Place Western Australia Registration Date 1879 Registration Place Australia Registration Number 10148 JOHN MONTFORD -- Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages at https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-justice/online-index-search-tool Name: Montford, John Sex: Male Age: Unknown Place of death: Asylum [Fremantle? Perth?] Year of death: 1879 Reg number: 10148 Reg year: 1879 --0000--
From his FREMANTLE JAIL record: MOUNTFORD, John; inmate #9830, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1833 Date of Death: 3 June 1879 Place of Death: Asylum Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Shoe maker Literacy: Semiliterate Sentence Place: Stafford Crime: House breaking Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket Leave Date: 11 Feb 1872 Certificate of Freedom Date: 14 Nov 1876 Comments: Shoe maker, labourer, self-employed, 1873-1875 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/). --00--
IN WA: On arrival, JOHN MOUNTFORD was listed as convict #9830, 33, single with no children, semiliterate, shoemaker, Protestant; family – Sarah Mountford, near The Lamb, Stafford; 5’4½” tall, brown hair, brown eyes, fresh complexion, healthy build. Behaviour in jail in England “good”. Previous convictions for felony in 1861, 12 months; 1863 assault, 18 months; 12 times summarily convicted (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department; Convict Dept Registers, General Registers for Nos 9599-100128 cont. (R16)). --00--
EMBARKATIONS: “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 senior Fenian, Captain Moriarty; rather, this was Bartholomew Moriarty, aged 17]. 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--
1867, 2 August: Just over 7 months later, JOHN MOUNTFORD was sent to Chatham prison, St Mary’s – inmate #9178; William Bill who was serving five years, was sent to Woking. --00-- 1867, 30 September: JOHN MOUNTFORD was sent from Chatham to board the Hougoumont for WA. --00--
JAILS: 1866, 26 December: JOHN MOUNTFORD, inmate #3165, was admitted to Pentonville prison, north London, sentenced to 10 years’ penal servitude at Stafford. William Bill was also an inmate at Pentonville (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for John Mountford; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1869). “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). Pentonville, Millbank, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --00--
NEWSPAPER REPORT OF TRIALS: BURGLARY AT STAFFORD.--John Mountford, John Godwin, and William Bill, the two former shoemakers, and the latter a carpenter, were brought up on a charge of breaking into the dwelling house of Ann Jane Petchell, on the 7th of October, in the parish of Castle Church, and stealing therein two pounds of tobacco and one box of matches. Prisoners Mountford and Bill, it was alleged, were seen near the house on the night of the robbery, and matches of the same description as those stolen were found in their pockets afterwards. Godwin was acquitted, and sentence on the other prisoners was deferred until the close of the next case. THEFT AT THE VINE, STAFFOD.--The above-named prisoners were then charged with stealing three dead pheasants from the Vine. Mr. Motteram prosecuted, and Dr. Hill defended Godwin. On the night when the pheasants were stolen, two of the prisoners were seen loitering about the gateway of the Vine. Afterwards the three were seen together, and, on being taken into custody, feathers were found about their clothes. The birds were found, together with the tobacco that was taken from the house of Mrs. Petchell, in an empty house in the Broad Eye, about eighty yards from Mountford's house. Dr. Hill made an earnest appeal to the Jury on behalf of Godwin, but they found all the prisoners guilty. Mountford, who had been convicted fourteen times, was sentenced to ten, and Bill to six years' penal servitude for the two offences. Godwin was sent to gaol for nine months.” (Birmingham Daily Post, Thursday, 18 October, 1866, p5 at https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000033/18661018/011/0005). --00--
1866, 15 October: JOHN MOUNTFORD, case #77, was found guilty at the Stafford Michaelmas Sessions, and sentenced to 10 years’ penal servitude for housebreaking and larceny [two trials], with a previous conviction (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for John Mountford; England; Staffordshire; 1866). Fourteen previous convictions, including 29 June, 1863, at the General Quarter Sessions of the Peace, Stafford, case #97 – grievous bodily harm, 18 months’ jail (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for John Mountford; England; Staffordshire; 1863). He was received at Stafford Gaol on 8 October, having been committed to stand trial for stealing pheasants. Listed as inmate #394, 31 years old (born 1835), an illiterate shoemaker from Stafford; he was sent from Stafford jail on 14 June 1867 – no destination indicated (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for John Mountford; Stafford Gaol; Register of Prisoners; [incorrectly labelled as] 1869-1874). --00--