Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Transportation
John Ragan was transported on the Nile, departing 18th Sep 1857 and arriving 1st Jan 1858 with 271 passengers.
Nile (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 93, Class and Piece Number HO11/18, Page Number 240. --0-- 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. |
| 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
From his Fremantle jail record (1884 conviction): REGAN, John; inmate #10304 Colonial Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Labourer Sentence Place: Western Australia, Australia Sentence Period: 7 years Previous Convictions: Yes Comments: Reconvicted in Western Australia --0--
From his Fremantle jail record (1878 conviction): RAGAN, Patrick; inmate 10225 [note surname here is Ragan] Colonial Date of Birth: 1839 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Labourer Sentence Place: Western Australia, Australia Sentence Period: 5 years Previous Convictions: Yes Comments: Reconvicted in Western Australia --0--
From his Fremantle jail record (1867 conviction): REGAN, John; inmate #9924 Colonial Alias: RAGAN Patrick Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Labourer Sentence Place: Geraldton, Western Australia, Australia Crime: Cattle stealing Sentence Period: 6 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket Leave Date: 14 Oct 1872 Comments: Labourer, teamster, general servant. Reconvicted in Western. --0--
NOTE: The above court case may refer to a different John Regan, so requires further checking. However, according to the database "Convicts associated with Toodyay", John Regan/Ragan also known as Patrick/Pat Ragan/Regan (per Nile) was reconvicted in WA three times (https://www.toodyay.wa.gov.au/). See below: Regan, John (Ragan, Pat) (1839- ); 4727; 9924 (conviction 1867); 10255 (conviction 1878); 10304 (conviction 1884); arrived 1858-01-01 Nile CWA: Unm; shoemaker; lit Prot; larceny 6 yrs; Perth, Toodyay, Guildford; reconv Geraldton 1867; cattle stealing 6 yrs; unm; lab; Champion Bay; lab, teamster, gen svt; reconv WA 1878; 5 yrs; unm; lab; reconv 1884; 7 yrs; unm; lab. BDWA: REGAN, John, b. 1839 (expiree). Arr. 1.1.1858 per Nile. Employed 2 T/L men 1866 & 1867 at Champion Bay, one a teamster. --0--
ON TRIAL AGAIN: 9 January, 1874: From the Perth Gazette, p3: SUPREME COURT ... THURSDAY,JANUARY 7TH. ... LARCENY. John Regan, John Owen, and Joseph Denley [called Dennolly later] were charged with stealing £3 10s., the property of Mr. Cornwall, at the Williams. Mr. Howell defended the prisoners. The following evidence was called :— Michael Hines, sworn, said he was a farmer residing at the Williams, but on the 20th November last he was acting in the capacity of barman at Mr. Cornwall's public house. The prisoners were there on that day drinking in company with a man named Freeman, Witness was called from behind the bar to attend to a customer, (Mr. Charles Hamersley) and on a shelf left a pannikin, containing about £3 10s. in silver, belonging to Mr. Cornwall, the landlord. While witness was talking to the parlour customer, he saw Freeman behind the bar, and having possessed himself of the pannikin, scramble over the counter, and run away. There were a number of customers in the bar when witness retired to serve in the parlour, but they had gone when he returned. Freeman was given in charge, and has subsequently received six months' imprisonment. Cross-examined by Mr. Howell:-Witness could not say whether the prisoners were in the bar when he left to serve the customer in the inner parlour, which was divided from the bar by an intermediate room. Freeman and Taylor were in the bar when witness left, and they were also there when he returned. James Taylor, the man referred to by the previous witness, said he was at Cornwall's on the day in question, having been engaged for a couple of days by Hines, the barman, at the public house, to do odd jobs. He saw the three prisoners in and out of the house on the day of the robbery, and was in the bar, which was full of customers, when Freeman crawled over the counter, assisted by the prisoners Owen and Regan. Witness could not swear whether Dennolly was there or not. When Freeman got the pannikin, he handed it over to Regan, who took it out of the bar, and scampered away. All the other men who were there also ran away. The witness was subjected to a severe cross-examination by Mr. Howell, and much amusement was created in court by the manner in which he replied to the learned counsel's questions. P. C. Haggarty deposed being sent for to Cornwall's public house after the robbery was committed, and taking Freeman into custody. The prisoner Regan was in the bar when witness entered, but he then left, resuming in a few minutes, and remarking to witness, "It was only a drunken spree." The witness Taylor was sitting down in the bar, and when accused of having connived with the other in the robbery he began to cry, and protested he was innocent of any share in the transaction. Witness discovered the pannikin (produced), which had contained the money, in a corner of the yard. Consequent upon information received from the witness Taylor, the three prisoners were arrested. This was the case for the Crown. His Honor observed that there was no incriminatory evidence against Dennolly, and directed the jury to acquit him. He was then discharged. Mr. Howell having opened the case on behalf of his other clients, called Alexander McDonald, a teamster, in the employ of Mr. Lavender, who said that he was at Cornwall's on the morning of the robbery, and had some conversation there with the prisoner Owen in the taproom, which affords a view of the bar. Witness remembered Hines, the barman, being called away from the bar to attend to Mr. Hamersley, and saw him running back again. The prisoner Owen was in company with witness during all this time, sitting down in the taproom. Owen's team, which was on its way to Perth with wool was drawn up a short distance from the public-house. Samuel Ewens, a brickmaker, deposed that on the morning of the robbery he was at work about a hundred yards from Cornwall's, and saw and conversed with the prisoner Owen (with whom he had a contract) a few minutes after the robbery. The witness Taylor had been discharged for misconduct; witness had often wondered how he obtained his livelihood. This was the case for the defence. The Crown Solicitor having addressed the jury, His Honor summed, and a verdict of guilty was returned against Regan, the other prisoner (Owen) being acquitted. Regan, who protested his innocence, was sentenced to three years' penal servitude." (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3754990) --00--
IN WA: On arrival in WA, he gets a name change ... to REGAN. And a change of vocation. From his Fremantle jail record: REGAN, John; inmate #4727, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Alias: RAGAN, ROGAN Date of Birth: 1839 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Shoe maker Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Clerkenwell, Middlesex, England Crime: Larceny Sentence Period: 6 years penal servitude Ticket of Leave Date: 3 Sep 1859 Comments: Reconvicted in Western Australia (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --0--
10 September, 1857: Sent from Portland to board the Nile for WA. On the voyage his behaviour was described as “good” (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers;Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). --00--
7 April, 1857: He was admitted to Portland prison, Grove Road, Portland, Dorset. Listed as inmate #6966. Health “good”; all other details as per previous records. Behaviour "good". 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, p40) --0--
31 July, 1856: John Ragan was admitted to Pentonville prison, Caledonian Road, London -- inmate #6896. He served 9 months 6 days and his behaviour here was "bad". Described as 5'6" tall with dark brown hair, grey eyes, fresh complexion and slight build; all other details as per Millbank (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for John Ragan; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1854-1856). --0--
26 June, 1856: Admitted to Millbank prison, Westminster, London -- inmate #2905. Listed as 17 years old when convicted, a labourer, single, able to read and write imperfectly; next of kin -- his sister, Miss Ragan of 4 Glasshouse Street, Royal Mint Street. “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). Millbank, Pentonville, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. John RAGAN served 1 month 5 days in separate confinement at Millbank; behaviour "good" (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for John Ragan; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; labelled as 1882-1885). --0--