Edward Murphy

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Dianne Jones on 9th January 2024

NOTE: Year of Birth is taken from official court and UK jail records but day and month are not known. The latter dates have been entered as 01/01 because the site does not allow those fields to be left empty.

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Dianne Jones on 9th January 2024

TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 1880, 5 November: Edward Murphy, expiree, #9831 per Hougoumont, sailed from WA on the “SS Otway” for Adelaide. Remarks: Healthy, age 39, 5ft. 5in. high, brown hair, hazel eyes, square visage, light complexion, eyebrows meet, mole right cheek; labourer (WA Police Gazette, No 2, January 12, 1881, p8 at https://slwa.wa.gov.au/pdf/battye/police_gazettes/188101_m.pdf) --000--

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Dianne Jones on 9th January 2024

FREMANTLE JAIL RECORD: MURPHY, Edward; inmate #9831, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1841 Marital Status: Unmarried Literacy: Literate Crime: Robbery with violence Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 9 April, 1873 Certificate of Freedom Date: 21 Nov 1876 Comments: General servant, miner, teamster, self-employed, 1876. To South Australia, 5 Oct 1880 & returned to Western Australia ((https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/) --00--

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Dianne Jones on 9th January 2024

IN WA: 1868: On arrival, EDWARD MURPHY, 38, was listed as convict #9831; sentenced to 10 years, at CCC (Old Bailey), 19 Nov, 1866, for “robbery with violence and previous conviction”; no trade [previously plasterer in UK records]; single, no children; literate; Roman Catholic; family – Mrs Mallett, 39 Upper Axebridge Street, Notting Hill; character “good”. Described as 5’5½” tall, brown hair, hazel eyes, square visage, light complexion, healthy; eyebrows meet, mole on right cheek. Previous convictions: 1861, July at Middlesex – 3 years; 1861, March – 3 months rogue and vagabond; 1864, April – 6 months; and 14 times in House of Correction. Other: 9.4.73 Ticket of Leave; 21.11.1876 Certificate of Freedom (https://www.perthdps.com/convicts/con-wa42.html; and Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16)). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 9th January 2024

EMBARKATION: 1867, 8 October: Edward Murphy was sent from Portland to board the Hougoumont for WA. “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--

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Dianne Jones on 9th January 2024

1867, to 7 October: Portland Prison – inmate #6310, as above (England, Criminal Lunatic Asylum Registers, 1820-1876 for Edwd Murphy; Quarterly Returns of Prisoners in Convict Prisons/Lunatic Asylums; 1867; December; image 270). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 9th January 2024

1867, 23 August: Admitted to Portland Prison, Grove Road, Portland, Dorset – inmate #6310, Edward Murphy, 21, robbery, convicted Central Criminal Court, 19 Nov 1866, 10 years; heath “good”, behaviour “good” (England, Criminal Lunatic Asylum Registers, 1820-1876 for Edwd Murphy; Quarterly Returns of Prisoners in Convict Prisons/Lunatic Asylums; 1867; September; image 250). Portland, Portsmouth and Chatham in England, Spike Island in Ireland, along with Gibraltar and Bermuda were listed public works stations and the second stage in the penal process. After separate confinement, prisoners were “placed on work parties at various locations, most commonly naval stations, where maintenance of facilities was vital for the effective protection of Britain’s far flung commercial and military influences around the world. While there, attitude and behaviour were monitored closely. In theory, only after consistently positive reports was a prisoner moved on to the third stage of his incarceration—transportation.” (Edgar, p40). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 9th January 2024

1866, 15 December: Admitted to Pentonville Prison, Caledonian Road, London – inmate #4146, Edward Murphy, 10 years PS; previous conviction as Edward Mallett, July 1861 3 years’ PS (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Edward Murphy; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1869; image 54). “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. --0--

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Dianne Jones on 9th January 2024

JAILS: 1866, 29 October: Admitted to Newgate Prison, having been committed by W Mansfield, Marylebone, on charge of robbery with violence on Isaac Taylor, and stealing a gold chain; 21 years old, plasterer from Marylebone (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Edwd Murphy; Newgate Prison; Registers of Prisoners; 1863 [sic]; image 257). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 9th January 2024

TRANSCRIPT OF TRIAL: “23. EDWARD MURPHY (21) was again indicted, with WILLIAM BERRY (40), for a robbery on Isaac Taylor, and stealing from his person one chain, his property. MR. GOUGH conducted the Prosecution, and MR. LEWIS defended Murphy. ISAAC TAYLOR. I am a carpenter, of No. 55, Queen Street, Edgware Road—on Saturday evening, 27th October, about a quarter to nine o'clock I was at the White Lion public-house, and saw Berry there, who I had seen about four years ago, but not since, as he robbed me then—I was quite sober—I did not speak to him, but he caught hold of my arm and chucked me round—I asked him what he did that for; he made no answer, but struck me on my breast, and struck my watch-guard up, saying, ‘You are not everybody, if you have got a guard on’—he struck me two or three times—I buttoned my coat up, and turned to go outside to get away from him, but he rushed at me, unbuttoned my coat, and struck me a violent blow on my eye—we struggled together and both fell on the floor inside, and I felt a tug at my watch, and then missed it—I immediately got up, and said, ‘He has stolen my watch’—he got up immediately, and I found my chain was gone, but my watch was still in my pocket—I said, ‘You have stolen my watch’, and then I saw him pass something to Murphy, who I then saw for the first time—I said, ‘Stick to the door, and let no one go out till we get the police in’—Murphy rushed at me and struck me three times to get to the door, but I kept him in—he made a rush at another door and got out there—Berry stood in a fighting attitude till Murphy was gone—the police came in and I gave him in charge—my chain was worth about 8l.—I have not seen it since. Cross-examined. Q. How many persons were in the house? A. There might be twenty, and most of them were prostitutes—I know that, because they are always walking about the streets—I did not speak to any of them—the landlord was there, not the potman—Berry did not say that he would go, he did not speak, he only struck me. Berry. Q. Did you not come in and have something to drink with us? A. I have had nothing to drink for twelve months—I did not get into conversation with you. WILLIAM LITTLEJOHN (Policeman 186 X). I took Berry at the White Lion, and asked him what he had got to say about stealing the chain—he said, ‘I did not mean to steal it I did it for a lark’—I said, ‘Where is the chain now?’—he said, ‘I threw it over the bar’—I could not find it there. Berry. Q. Was I not standing in the bar when you came in? A. Yes. WILLIAM COLLIER. I am a carpenter, of No. 58, Camden Street, Notting Hill—I was standing in the White Lion, and saw both the prisoners strike the prosecutor—Murphy's hat was off on the ground—Berry said, ‘Run to the door’—they could not get out, and he said to me, ‘You b—, let me go’—I had not the presence of mind to stop him, but let him pass, and ran after him—he ran up the Edgware Road, and afterwards came back. Cross-examined. Q. Did you run? A. Yes, and had him in sight a good part of the way, but he was out of my sight three or four minutes—he was about twenty yards before me as he ran. MR. GOUGH. Q. Are you sure Berry is the man who ran. A. Yes. Berry's Defence. I quarrelled with Taylor in the public-house about his bad work, and he caught me by the neck and knocked me against the door, when thirty or forty people came between us and stopped the fight. I never touched his watch-guard. I did not say that I threw the watch and chain over the bar. If so, how could he have his watch? I never saw Murphy in my life, and did not know he was in the house. Taylor and the bricklayer were the worse for drink. I did not say that I did it for a lark. I defy any person to say that I ever committed felony, or was at any police-court in the kingdom. Taylor says that I robbed him four years ago. If so, why was I not brought before a Magistrate the same as now? I am a working man, and no thief. MURPHY— GUILTY. He was further charged with having been before convicted of felony, in July, 1861, to which he PLEADED GUILTY.**— Ten Years' Penal Servitude . BERRY— GUILTY.— Confined Twelve Months.” --00--