Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Peter Pruntree was transported on the Albuera, departing 6th Sep 1858 and arriving 28th Oct 1858 with 11 passengers.
Albuera, launched at Moulmain (British Burma) in 1854, made three voyages to Adelaide up to 1874. Sailing from Calcutta, India, on 6 Sep, 1858, she arrived at Fremantle with 11 military convicts on 28 Oct. They were all convicted by Courts Martial (in India and Burma) and sentenced to transportation. Note: Albuera is not to be confused with other ships of the same name or those spelled Albeura.
Albuera (generic)References
| Primary Source | Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 4679-5166 (R1). --00-- Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930 for Peter Printie; Convict Establishment, Receipts and Discharges; Receipts and Discharges, 1855 - 1859 (Rd1 - Rd2). |
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Convict Notes
OTHER RECORDS: Peter Pruntree, also known as Peter Pruntee Male, #5053, b. 1826 Convicted: Convicted of desertion (Court Martial) and sentenced to 14 years on 7 July 1857 at Rangoon, Burma. Occupation: Recorded as a soldier; shoemaker on 28 October 1858. Physical Desc.: Recorded with the physical attributes: Scar right side of chin, D on left side on 28 October 1858. Family Status: Claimed that his marital status was unmarried as at 28 October 1858. Transported: Transported to WA on the Albuera arriving at Fremantle, Western Australia, on 28 October 1858. He had been collected from Calcutta prison. Convict No.: Assigned with Convict No. 5053 on 28 October 1858.1 Ticket of Leave: His Ticket of Leave was granted on 12 November 1860 at Western Australia. Conditional Pardon: His Conditional Pardon was granted on 11 April 1863 at Western Australia. (https://www.waconvicts.fhwa.org.au/g0/p203.htm#i5053) --00--
TICKET OF LEAVE REGISTER: 1860, 12 November: Peter Pruntee, #5053, is listed as 32, arrived per Edwin Fox [incorrect]. Name and residence of master: 12th Nov 1860 discharged on ToL from Probation Depot, Toodyay. 26-11-60 Reported service of Phillips ... [indistinct]. (Western Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930 for Peter Pruntee, Convict Department, Registers, Ticket of Leave Register, 1857-1861 (R6)). --00--
IN WA – CONVICTS ASSOCIATED WITH TOODYAY: Pruntree (Pruntee), Peter (1826- ) 5053 1858-10-28 Albeura CWA: Unmarried; labourer, shoemaker; 1857 Court martial desertion; 14 yrs; Toodyay. Ancestry: WA convict records: very few records to view under any of the names. WAGS ACC 721/30: At Toodyay Depot, 1861-1862: Engaged by C. Clinch, J. Wylde, A. Growse (Toodyay's doctor), G. Christmas (https://www.toodyay.wa.gov.au/documents/234/convicts-associated-with-toodyay-as-at-30-sep-2020). --00--
IN WA – FREMANTLE JAIL RECORD: PRUNTREE, Peter; inmate #5053, arrived 28 Oct 1858 per Albeura [sic] Alias: PRUNTEE Date of Birth: 1826 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Labourer, shoe maker Sentence Place: Rangoon Crime: Desertion Sentence Period: 14 years Ticket of Leave Date: 12 Nov 1860 Conditional Pardon Date: 11 Apr 1864 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/) --00--
IN WA – SICK RECORD: 1859, 7 February: Fremantle – no 864, convict 5050, division 5, PP Class, PETER PRUNTIE, 33, per Albuera, labourer, new case, rheumatic pains. [Treatment described but script is illegible!] (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930 for Peter Pruntie Convict Establishment, Fremantle Casual Sick; Casual Sick Registers, 1857 - 1859 (Cs4 - Cs5)) --00--
IN WA – CHARACTER RECORD: 1858, 28 October: PETER PRUNTEE [sic], #5053, 27, single, semiliterate, shoemaker; Roman Catholic; 14 years for “drunkenness, escape from confinement and desertion”. General character – “V Bad”. 1859, 23 April – to Toodyay. 1860, 12 November – on Ticket of Leave at Toodyay. 1861, 7 April – Ticket of Leave (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). --00--
IN WA – REGISTRATION: 1858, 28 October: On arrival, PETER PRUNTEE [sic] was listed as convict #5053, 32 years old, single, 5’9” tall, grey eyes, brown hair, long visage, sallow complexion, and middling stout appearance; marks – scar right side of chin, D left side. A labourer by trade; convicted at a General Court Martial, Rangoon, Burma; sentenced to 14 years’ penal servitude for “desertion” (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 4679-5166 (R1)). Note: Various records give his year of birth as 1826, presumably based on an assumption that he was 32 on arrival in WA. However, the “Convicts to Australia” site says the age quoted on these WA Convict Records “seems to refer to the age of the convict when the passenger list was created”. Thus, he could have been born in 1825. --00--
IN WA – RECEIVED: 1858, 28 October: On a list of “11 Provisional Prisoners received per HMCS Albuera”, #5053 Peter Pruntee [sic] (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930 for Peter Printie; Convict Establishment, Receipts and Discharges; Receipts and Discharges, 1855 - 1859 (Rd1 - Rd2)). --00--
THE VOYAGE TO WA: 1858, 6 September: The Albuera (Gannor, master) sailed from Calcutta for the Swan River, WA (Allen’s Indian Mail, Vol XVI, No 365, Oct 15, 1858, p827: Departures). One of the few snippets of information found about the Albuera's voyage appears in an article in the Melbourne Argus: “INDIA (From our Galle [Sri Lanka] correspondent. October 20, 1858): ... The very great mortality which has taken place in the shipment of horses from the different ports of Australia has created no little attention here. The Admiral Boxer, which arrived lately at Bombay from Sydney, landed only 76 out of 108 shipped. This makes the Australian horse too costly for cavalry purposes, and I am bound to say also, that the stamp of horses selected has not come up to what it might and should have been, in the opinion of the best judges, and those who have been in the colonies. The Government have despatched the ALBUERA [my emphasis] with convicts to Swan River, and to return with 120 horses from that colony. The experiment will be watched with much interest.” (The Argus, 18 Nov 1858, p5 at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/7304789) --00--
BRANDED with a “D”: Up to 1829, any soldier in the British military could be branded, but after that it was reserved for deserters who were “‘branded’ with a D on their left sides as a means of humiliating offenders” (Hilton, 2010, p140 at https://eprints.utas.edu.au/17678/2/Hilton_Thesis.pdf). Hilton doesn’t say how the branding happened and there are conflicting versions among writers. For example, some writers refer to barbaric fire brandings, while others describe painful tattooing using India ink. A post on the Irish Garrison Towns website (http://irishgarrisontowns.com/d-for-deserter/) says both practices were used – hot iron/fire branding being the preferred method until around the mid-19th century when it was replaced by tattooing: “A new device was created to mark the soldiers’ skin with ink, or even gunpowder… The large, blunt points [on the branding tool] hint at the pain it caused as a spring mechanism forced these points into the skin. Regimental doctors described the practice as ‘cupping’." Simon Barnard’s book “Convict tattoos: Marked men and women of Australia” (p55) has several shots of one of these spring loaded, brass “branding instruments”, manufactured by John Weiss & Sons of The Strand, London. Barnard says they were used by medical officers to tattoo army deserters. The head of the “Weiss’ Invention” model holds 47 needle points arranged in the shape of a “D”, all clearly capable of puncturing human skin. So, too, the points of the brass instrument featured on the Science Museum of London’s website. Made by the major surgical instruments manufacturer of the 18th century, Savigny & Co of London, its adjustable points “still bear traces of ink” and were pushed through the skin by a spring-powered mechanism”. The Museum says branding was abolished in 1829, except for army deserters. The English Mutiny Act of 1858 provided that, in addition to other penalties, a court martial could order that a deserter be marked with the letter D on the left side, 2 inches (5.1 cm) under the armpit, with such letter to be more than 1 inch long. From 1829, the mark was tattooed on the body until the practice was abandoned altogether in 1879 (https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co155799/branding-tool-for-marking-deserters-london-england-1810-1850-branding-tool). --00--