Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
John Thomas Newton 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 235 (120). --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. --00-- UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Jno Thos Newton; Newgate Prison; Registers of Prisoners; 1863. |
| 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: Years of Birth and Death are taken from official records but days and months are not known. The latter dates have been entered as 01/01 because the site does not allow those fields to be left empty.
PROBATE: “DECEASED PERSONS’ ESTATES Perth, June 8. The following probates and letters of administration were granted by the Supreme Court, last week :— Probates... John Thomas Newton, late of Albany, to John Thomas Newton [son], £100...” (The West Australian (Perth), Saturday 10 June 1916, p6 at https://trove.nla.gov.au). --000--
DEATH: Name: Newton, John Thomas Sex: M Age at death: 62 Place of death: Albany Year of death: 1903 Reg. no.: 2556 Year of reg.: 1903 (WA Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages at https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-justice). --00--
MARRIAGE: John Thomas NEWTON married Eliza Mary Ann SAMPEY, at Albany in 1884; registration no. 5807; year of registration 1884. WA BDM records show the couple had five children, two girls (Ethel Mary and Sophia Emma) and three boys (John Thomas, Timothy Segley and Charles Albert), between 1886 and 1893 (WA Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages at https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-justice). --00--
From his FREMANTLE JAIL record: NEWTON, John Thomas; inmate #9836, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1843 [or 1841?] Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Fishmonger Literacy: Semiliterate Crime: Robbery with violence Sentence Period: 7 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 29 Jun 1869 [Sent to Resident Magistrate at Albany] Certificate of Freedom Date: 24 Sep 1872 [Sent to RM at Albany] Comments: General servant (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/). --00—
IN WA: 1868, 10 January: On arrival, Johm Thomas NEWTON was listed as convict #9836, 22 [note change], fishmonger [another change!], single, no children; semi-literate, Protestant; convicted for “robbery together with others with violence and previous conviction”; 7 years’ penal servitude; family – father J.T. Newton, 40 Hart Street, Covent Garden; behaviour in jail in England “Very good”; 5’7¼” tall, light hair, grey eyes, oval visage, fair complexion, healthy appearance; marks – death and marrow bones left arm... lost one front upper tooth, scar left leg (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers, General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16)). --00--
EMBARKATION: 1867, 8 October: He was sent from Portland to board the Hougoumont for transportation to 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--
1866, 25 May: Admitted to Portland prison, Grove Road, Portland; inmate #5406. Portland, Portsmouth, Chatham and Spike Island in Ireland 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, 2018, p40) --00--
1865, 12 September: He was admitted to Millbank prison, London; inmate #912, 23, labourer [note change from above], single, semi-literate; Protestant; previous conviction – once summarily; behaviour “good”; served 1 month 26 days in separate confinement; family – John Newton, 40 Hart Street, Covent Garden. His co-accused, Thomas Black, was sent from Millbank to Portsmouth prison on 27 June (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Jno Thos Newton; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1865-1866). --00--
JAILS: 1865, 17 July: John Thomas Newton (23, stevedore) was taken into custody, along with Thomas Stockwood (20, shoemaker) and Thomas Black (21, labourer), and held at Newgate prison while awaiting their trial on a charge of robbery with violence (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Jno Thos Newton; Newgate Prison; Registers of Prisoners; 1863; and UK, After-Trial Calendar of Prisoners, 1855-1931 for John Thomas Newton; 1865). --00--