David Preston

116

Tony Beale on 23rd December 2020

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930 for David Preston Bathurst 4/6/1851 2 months confinement for breach of A S Catherine Hudson in the Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 Married David Preston 1853 Bathurst, Kelso NSW BDM 394/1853 V1853394 99 PRESTON DAVID HUDSON CATHERINE LG At Roman Catholic St Michaels Church Kelso Bathurst

116

Tony Beale on 23rd December 2020

New South Wales, Australia, Certificates of Freedom, 7/9/1835 5' 5" ruddy freckled complexion brown hair and hazel eyes. Sent to Norfolk Island for life 5/11/1835 for burglary. The Sydney Monitor (NSW : 1828 - 1838) View title info Wed 11 Nov 1835 Page 4 UPREME COURT,—CRIMINAL SIDE. WEDNESDAY and THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4th, and 5th.—Before Mr. Justice BURTON, and a Civil Jury. David Priston (free) and William Harvey, Thomas Higgins, Thomas Taylor, Lewis Wingfield, John Robinson, Richard Linch-Waterman and Thomas Wright, prisoners attached to No. 10 (Thorp’s) Road Party, stationed between the Junction and Bathurst, were charged with breaking and entering the dwelling-house of Thomas Barnes at Honeysuckle Flat, on the night of July 16th, and stealing therefrom Cheques &c., of the value of £40, and sundry wearing apparel, the prosecutor’s Wife, and a Mr. Toms being therein put in bodily fear. Mrs. Lydia Barnes deposed, that Priston was employed by her husband to split shingles for him, and was aware that he (her husband) was from home on the day previous to which the robbery was committed. Late in the evening a traveller named Toms stopped at the house and went to bed ; in the course of the afternoon three or four of the road party men came up to see Priston who drew some money on account of his work and treated them, after which, they all went away together; about twelve o’clock at night she was awakened by the barking of dogs and a knocking at the door; she suspected that they wanted to rob the place, and called Mr. Toms, thinking that if they knew there was a man in the house they would go away; Mr. Tom’s came into the room, and immediately afterwards three men entered at the window, one of whom struck her a violent blow on the head which stunned her for a short time; and another struck Mr. Toms who remained insensible a considerable time; when she recovered, she saw Harvey and two others standing opposite the window, Harvey lifted her up and threw her on the bed and attempted to commit a rape upon her ; the others asked her where she kept the swag, she said in the box ; Harvey felt underneath the pillow for more, finding none, he said, ” I have a great mind to dispatch you at once;” she replied, “don’t leave a small family motherless, spare my life; I will never know you.” They then took the box out into the verandah; soon after they went away, Priston came to the window and said; ” give me two or three bottles of rum;” she replied, ” I cannot, but there’s the keg, spare my life, take it and be off as soon as possible.” Towards morning a military escort came up with prisoners, to whom the circumstances of the robbery were detailed, ” and Mrs B. told the corporal she was certain that she had seen the men at Thorp’s, to whose gang the party then proceeded. John Garland, a servant to Barnes, deposed, that about the middle of the night he was awakened by the barking of dogs, and when he got up he saw three men, of whom Harvey was one stand ing near the gate, he came up to him with a pistol and said he would blow his brains out, if he did get into the stable, it was so dark that he could not distinguish the other men’s countenances, but one had on a red shirt and the other a grey jacket a fourth man was left outside the stable door to watch ; after the men were gone, he went to the house where he found Mrs. Barnes and Mr. Toms bleeding profusely, after he had dressed their wounds he went into the verandah and found the box broken open and nothing left but a pair or two of stockings. Upon the military leaving the house he proceeded with them to the camp, where he picked out Harvey, Berwick, Waterman and Robinson. In returning home he picked up two notes of hand which had been stolen from Barnes’, within fifty yards of the camp; recollected that Harvey and Waterman were two of the men who, were drinking with Priston in the house. Michael Mullins, attached to Thorp’s gang was next examined. He recollected that, on the day before the robbery, Thorp sent him with Higgin’s to No. 2 Stockade to see the Doctor, they (witness and Higgins) returned about six o’clock; a short time afterwards, Harvey, Wingfield, Berwick and Waterman came into the camp drunk, Harvey stripped to fight, he and two or three others fought up and down the camp for an hour or so About seven o’clock Harvey came into his hut with three or four shillings in his hand ; about eight o’clock he wanted to borrow my jacket; soon afterwards Lynch, Taylor, Wright, Wing- field, were in my hut, they were joined by Graham and Priston, I asked where Harvey had gone to, they said he was asleep; there were two men, from No 2, Stockade in the camp that night. - Berwick, watchman, at the camp, deposed, that he saw the two men who had come from the Stockade in or near the camp that night; they were joined by four men from the camp on the road leading to Barnes’; he saw one of the party leave the “mob” and go into the bush, this made him think all was not right, he was going to the overseer to report that Taylor and Higgins had absconded, when a strange man came up to him, and, putting a pistol to his head, said he would shoot him if he went to report any thing; Taylor and Higgins absconded the next day; he heard Taylor say he knew where Barnes’ things were planted, and heard Higgins say he had chucked a piece of French money which he had got from Barnes’ in to the road. Overseer Thorp, knew that Harvey and Wing- field were absent on the 16th. He mustered the men at eight and eleven as nigh as he could guess, he had no watch; he did not wake the men but counted them ; knew nothing of them from then until the morning; in the interim they were in charge of the watchman ; recollected the escort taking away the four men, sent Wingfield with them for having been absent. The non-commissioned officer of the escort corroborated the evidence relative to the taking of the prisoners, &c. Corporal Allen, 4th Regiment—Was at No. 2 Stockade when the prisoners were brought there; Harvey was one of them; knew Harvey at Norfolk Island about eighteen months ago ; Harvey when in the guardhouse confessed to witness that he was the man who broke into Mr. Barnes’ house, and knocked Mrs B down. The Crown Solicitor deposed, that the confessions which he then held in his hand, had been made by Taylor after he had been cautioned that any confession he might make would be used against himself, as his evidence was not wanted ; Taylor said he was induced to make it because there were several men in custody who knew nothing of the matter, and several who were concerned had not been apprehended. The three confessions, made at different times varied but little; they were in substance as follows :-On the return of Higgins from the junction, he told Taylor that a party of men from the junction were coming up for the purpose of robbing Mr. Barnes ; when they arrived, Taylor refused to accompany them, because he was known by Mrs. B; they said it was no matter they would give him the property out of the window; the party consisted of Burns, Higgins, Quigley, Gatley, Mullins, and Taylor; Mullins had a pistol. Four of the party went to the house, and the fifth remained at the stable, as detailed by Garland; Taylor remained in the verandah while the others got in at the window; Higgins snapped the pistol at Toms, and Quigley illused Mrs. Barnes; Gatley went back after the rum. The prisoners in their defence, had nothing but a few remarks respecting each other and the junction men to make; and although they had subpoenaed sixteen prisoners from road parties as witnesses, who were all in attendance, only one was called, and he was merely examined as to the practice of the gang being allowed to work for settlers in their own hours. The Solicitor-General said, that there was one man in attendance who had been down every Session for the last two years, Mr. Justice Burton stated, that he had before suggested a remedy for the evil, and the Solicitor General should have seen it carried into effect. His Honor then summed up at considerable length, and the Jury, after a few minutes absence, returned a verdict of Guilty against Priston, Harvey, Higgins, and Taylor, and acquitted the other prisoners. Mr. Justice Burton immediately passed sentence of death upon the prisoners, and told them that from the aggravated nature of their offence, he could not hold out the slightest hopes of mercy, especially to Harvey, who most assuredly would suffer.