John Rankine

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Marion Young on 21st December 2023

Died at the home of his son, John Rankin of Clyde Cottage Balmain. His age is listed as 78

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Penny-Lyn Beale on 20th February 2021

New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents. Indent No; 179 Name; John Rankine. Additional remarks noted against name; WIFE; convicted and expected by the "Lady of the Lake as Cath Stewart FATHER; of Henry Rankine. Indent No; 180

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Dianne Jones on 14th February 2021

1852, 28 July: Admitted to hospital (see Conduct Record, Libraries Tasmania site). 1852: John RANKIN is on a list of Probation passholders. He is employed by Lawrence Costin of Liverpool Street, earning £9 per 12 months (see Tasmania, Australia, Convict Court and Selected Records, 1800-1899; Employment; Registers of the employment of probation passholders, 1848-1857). 1853, 8 August: John RANKIN per Layton is listed as employed by Lawrence Costin of Liverpool Street at the rate of £10 for 12 months (see Libraries Tasmania NAME_INDEXES:1427976). 1854, 30 September: John RANKIN per Governor Phillip is on a list of recipients of Tickets of Leave. His was granted on 22 September (see The Cornwall Chronicle, Sat 30 Sep 1854, p8). 1856, 22 July: His Conditional Pardon was approved. By this time he was 82 years old (see Conduct Record, Libraries Tasmania site).

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Dianne Jones on 14th February 2021

1848, 10 May: John RANKIN was ordered to Impression Bay, “being an invalid” (see Conduct Record, Libraries Tasmania site). 1849, 1 March: He was returned to VDL from Norfolk Island (see Conduct Record, Libraries Tasmania site). 1850, 1 October: John RANKIN per Layton is listed as employed by George Britton of Liverpool Street for 6 months at the rate of £9 for 12 months (see Tasmania, Australia, Convict Court and Selected Records, 1800-1899; CON152-1-1). 1851: John Rankin petitions to be removed from Norfolk Island (see Conduct Record, Libraries Tasmania site). 1851, 16 June: John RANKIN per Layton [to NSW] and Governor Phillip [to VDL] is listed as employed by Mr Augustine Flanaghan, at Melville Hut, for 6 months (see Tasmania, Australia, Convict Court and Selected Records, 1800-1899; Employment; Register of convicts hired by private employer, 1850-1852).

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Dianne Jones on 14th February 2021

1846, 15 December: Punished for having a knife improperly in his possession – 14 days' imprisonment (see Conduct Record, Libraries Tasmania site). 1847, 4 September: Having 2 shillings improperly in his possession – “2 months H.L.C.” (see Conduct Record, Libraries Tasmania site). 1848, 1 January: The following report of John RANKIN’s treatment on Norfolk Island is one of 10 cases reported in an article in the Hobart Courier (p2), details of which were supplied by a whistleblower who alleged maltreatment of convicts on the island by authorities. The age attributed to him appears to be incorrect. Based on his age on arrival in NSW, he would be about 72: “...Case 3: JOHN RANKIN, an old man, upwards of eighty years of age, for several years physically incapable of work, and allowed, daily, in consequence of his infirmities, a pint of milk, was charged with ‘misconduct in having two shillings in his possession’. He admitted the charge, stating that the two shillings were sent him by Mrs. Hiney’s daughter, living at Sydney. He was very sorry – he promised never more to offend, and wept like a child. He held up his hands in the most imploring manner to the Commandant, and begged him to forgive him. It was his first offence. He was upwards of eighty years of age, feeble and helpless – scarcely able to walk, and afflicted with inquinal hernia, rupture of the groin, so that he could scarcely move. The Commandant passed sentence, observing that as he had ‘two shillings’, he sentenced him to wear chains for ‘two’ months!! The chains were immediately attached to the shrivelled limbs of this old man, already advanced in his second childhood, and had performed seven weeks of his sentence when the last vessel left...”

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Dianne Jones on 14th February 2021

1844, 21 August: Notice in the Sydney Morning Herald, p4 – John RANKIN, per Layton, is on a list of prisoners of the Crown whose Tickets of Leave have been cancelled. His was cancelled for “being an accessory before the fact of the murder of Mr. Noble; [order issued by the] Hyde Park Barracks Court. 1844, 27 September: John RANKIN’s sentence of death was commuted to transportation for life to VDL, recorded in the Colonial Secretary’s letter dated 27 September 1844. This notation appears on his Convict Indent record (see New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842; Bound Indentures 1829). 1844, 13 November: The Launceston Examiner reported that the “convict Rankin, who was convicted of the murder of the unfortunate Mr. Noble, has been ordered off for Hobart Town”. 1844, 23 November: John RANKIN arrived in Tasmania per Governor Phillip having had his death sentence of 15 July 1844 commuted to life. His Conduct Record lists him as a carpenter and agent, aged 70, who can read and write. His right hand is crippled. In a statement on this record, John says he has 13 houses in Sydney and is married.

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Dianne Jones on 14th February 2021

1844, 17 August: The Guardian reported on the executions of George Vigors and Thomas Burdett in minute detail. Its coverage is relevant here because, among Vigors’s last words, was a specific exoneration of JOHN RANKIN: “EXECUTION OF THE MURDERERS OF MR. NOBLE. “On Tuesday morning George Vigors and Thomas Burdett, convicted at the late sessions of the murder of Mr, James Noble, on the night of Sunday, the 26th of May, suffered the awful penalty of the law. The gallows was erected over the entrance gate of Woolloomooloo Gaol, the beam from which the fatal ropes were suspended projecting, beyond the walls of the gaol. At nine o'clock the prisoners, attended by the Rev. Mr. Elder (Chaplain of the gaol), Mr. Prout (Under Sheriff), Captain Innes (Visiting Magistrate), and Mr. Keck (Gaoler), ascended the scaffold. The appearance and demeanour of Vigors was perfectly fearless and composed; but Burdett seemed to suffer much from the terrors of his situation, and his whole faculties were apparently absorbed in prayer. As soon as they had taken their places on the scaffold, Burdett sunk on his knees, and Vigors followed his example, whilst the chaplain administered the last consolations of religion; after which, they both stood upright, and Vigors came forward to the front of the scaffold and attempted to address the multitude assembled in front of the gallows. An underling of the gaol, however, stepped forward, and, with a rude and indecent officiousness, thrust him back, and the rope was placed on his neck and tightened. Vigors turned round, and, by the motion of his hands, appeared to be appealing to the Under Sheriff for permission to speak, and the fatal noose was again removed from his neck. “Vigors then came to the front of gallows, and, with a firm, clear voice, spoke to the following effect: ‘In the situation in which I now stand— not knowing where I am going to, or what I am to suffer— I feel it my duty to say a few words, with respect to the old man, Rankin. I solemnly declare that he had no knowledge — no idea — where we were going, or what we were going to do, on the night we left his house: and I do declare that I had never been in his house — never seen or spoken to him — until the day on which we did the murder.’ “He then bowed to the crowd, and turning back, took his stand under the cross-beam, and suffered the rope to be re-adjusted round his neck. He then again turned to Captain Innes, and requested him not to forget what he had told him respecting Hyde Park Barracks. The men then shook hands with each other, and with the Chaplain, Vigors maintaining his firm composure to the last. The fatal bolt was drawn, and the unhappy beings were launched into eternity... “Both prisoners were attired in the same clothes they had on when tried. Ever since then, Burdett had displayed great signs of penitence ; but Vigors, to the last, continued hardened, and appeared to derive little benefit from any of the religious instructions and admonitions tendered to him. It is understood that Vigors, shortly before his execution, stated to those in charge of him, that he had been a thief since he was nineteen years of age; then he made a voyage to sea, that being the last and only time he had tried to earn an honest livelihood. He had been in many prisons, both at home and here, and had undergone different punishments; but he never had been in a place where so much crime and rascality was carried on, as in Hyde Park Barracks: and both prisoners united in stating, that it was chiefly owing to their being placed there that they had done the deed which brought them to an untimely end.”

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Dianne Jones on 14th February 2021

The Guardian editorial contd: “GEORGE VIGORS arrived in the colony in the ship Florentia, 3rd January, 1828, having been convicted and sentenced to seven years transportation, for stealing a watch and shoes, at the Dover Assizes, 13th March, 1826. Punishments in the colony. 1828 — March 7th, fifty lashes for drunkenness; May 10th, one hundred lashes for absconding and stealing boots and shoes; July 12th, three months in an iron gang for absconding; August 14th, fifty lashes for absconding. 1829. — January 13th, three years extension of original sentence for robbery; January 27th, twenty-five lashes for absconding; June 22nd, fifty lashes for being illegally at large; October 12th, six months in irons for forging an order and uttering the same; November 23rd, fifty lashes for absconding. 1830. — April 12th, fifty lashes for absconding. 1831. — May 21st, three days in the cells for being out after hours ; May 31st, twenty-five lashes for neglect of work; July 30th, six months in an iron gang for absconding ; October 29th, one hundred lashes for absconding and making away with a government blanket; December 17th, seventy-five lashes for running away. 1832.— January 27th, fifteen lashes for absconding ; February 21st, thirty-five lashes for making away with his leg irons ; March 21st, fifty lashes for absconding; April 14th, fifty lashes for absconding ; May 10th, thirty-six lashes for absconding; November 1st, tried at the Sydney supreme court for highway robbery and transported to Norfolk Island for seven years. 1834. — March 22nd, seven days in cells for rioting; May 17th, seven days in cells for disorderly conduct. 1835. — July 1st, three hundred lashes for dishonest and disorderly conduct. Returned from Norfolk Island November 21st, 1839. 1840. — May 7th, tried again before the Sydney supreme court for highway robbery, convicted, and transported for life to Norfolk Island. 1841. — July 3rd, four months solitary confinement and four months in gaol for attempting to escape from the Island; December 21st, three months imprisonment for cutting the bars of his prison. 1842. — May 7th, twelve months in irons for making a canvas boat and absconding therewith. 1843. — March 21st, twenty-five lashes for proceeding to hospital unnecessarily; March 24th, imprisonment till further orders for absence and threatening language. Returned from Norfolk Island as an invalid the 27th March, 1844. 1844. — July 13th, tried at the supreme court, Sydney, for having on the 26th May— two months after his arrival as an invalid – committed wilful murder on the body of James Noble, of which he was convicted, and cast for death. THOMAS BURDETT arrived in the colony, per Florentia No. 2, the 15th December, 1830, having been convicted and sentenced to transportation for life at the Middlesex Gaol Delivery, for burglary, 18th February, 1830. Punishments in the colony. 1832. — March 30th, two months to an iron gang for disorderly conduct. 1834. — December 10th, twenty-five lashes for being out after hours. 1835. — August 24th, tried at the Bathurst quarter sessions for cattle stealing, convicted, and transported to Norfolk Island for life, from whence he was returned as an invalid the 31st January, 1844. 1844. — July 13th, tried before the Supreme Court of Sydney for the murder of James Noble on the 26th May, convicted, and cast for death. JAMES MARTIN arrived in the colony, per ship Norfolk, February, 1837, having been tried, convicted, and sentenced to transportation for life, for burglary, at the Sussex Assizes, 23rd July, 1836. Punishments in the colony. 1838. — April 10th, ten days in cells for absconding; June 7th, fifty lashes for insolence and drunkenness. 1841. — February 2nd, tried at the Supreme Court, Sydney, for housebreaking, and sentenced to ten years transportation to Norfolk Island, from whence he was returned as an invalid the 27th March, 1844. 1844. — July 13th, was admitted an approver on the trial of the murderers of Mr James Noble. RONALD [sic; should be Robert] MALCOLM arrived in the colony per ship Lloyds the 18th December, 1843 [incorrect – it was 1833], having been tried, convicted, and sentenced to fourteen years transportation, for stealing a watch, by the Court of Justiciary, Stirling, 16th April, 1843 incorrect; 1833]. Punishments in the colony. 1834. — April 21st, fifty lashes for pilfering, 1835.— February 12th, was tried at the Bathurst Quarter Sessions for cattle stealing, convicted, and transported for life to Norfolk Island, from whence he returned 27th March, 1844, as an invalid. 1844. — July 13th, was admitted an approver on the trial of the murderers of Mr James Noble. JOHN RANKIN arrived in the colony per ship Layton on the 9th November. 1829, having been tried, convicted and sentenced to transportation for life, at the Edinburgh Court of Justiciary, 15th December, 1828, for receiving stolen goods. No colonial offence recorded against him; and on the 1st March, 1838, he obtained a Ticket-of- Leave No 38-400, for the district of Sydney. 1844.— July 13th, was tried before the Supreme Court of Sydney as an accessory before the fact to the murder of Mr. James Noble, committed, and cast for death.”

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Dianne Jones on 14th February 2021

1844, 27 July: After the trial, the Guardian ran a two-page editorial on the flaws of the British colonial penal system… “POLICE HISTORIES of Vigors, Burdett, Martin, Malcolm, and Rankin, the parties connected with the murder of Mr James Noble. We have been enabled to procure an outline of the police histories of the parties concerned in the late murder, which has spread so much excitement and horror throughout the city; and we lay it before our readers, confident that whilst it will excite wonder and disgust, it will lead to yet graver reflection on those systems of punishment and reformatory discipline, the efficacy of which have been so loudly and repeatedly vaunted. In looking over this record of sustained infamy, the first fact that strikes us, is the enormous expense to which the colony has been subjected by the career of crime, to which it has been exposed by the transportation of these men. In the case of Vigors, we perceive that he has been dealt with by the various tribunals not loss than thirty times, three of which were before the supreme court of the colony; whilst for each of the other minor offences, the colonial paid services of the constabulary, scourger, and police magistrates, have been called into requisition, with all the expensive machinery by which they are accompanied. Truly, if any illustration of facts were wanting to enforce the argument, of the injustice of Great Britain saddling this colony with the expenses of police and gaols, for restraining the outcasts sent here, the narrative of this man's colonial life would afford a most powerful one. Of the five individuals connected with the murder, Rankin is the only one who has not subjected himself to a second conviction previous to the commission of the awful crime, for which three of the number, now await the last penalty of the law. Far beyond this question of expense, however, is the feeling of shame, and fear, and horror, that such beings should have been allowed to be thrown into communication with the people of a British colony; and we find, notwithstanding the audacious and persevering villainy which characterised him, that no less than sixteen times was Vigors punished for being illegally at large. Will this serve to explain to the obtuse faculties of the Colonial Secretary and the upholders of the city prison establishments the moral contamination which has been spread by these men? Will this serve to show how often the lives and property of the colonists have been placed at the mercy of a man whose every feeling of moral restraint seems to have been deadened? The list which we present is of the crimes only for which he was convicted: Who can furnish an account of those which evaded the eye of justice? Who can tell what deeds of bloodshed and savage ruffianism, now hidden in oblivion, may not have been committed by this man — a man so reckless that neither the fear of punishment or a knowledge of its pain, could compel him into even a semblance of obedience to the law? There is one other point of view in which we cannot refrain from noticing this record — the disgusting, the revolting, amount of corporeal punishment it exhibits forms to us the solo cause, on which the mind can rest, on inquiry into the reasons which could have impelled so long, so pertinacious, a career of vicious habits — the Lash: the degrading and torturing instrument of brutality is blazoned in this record in fearful characters, and the result has shown its utter inefficiency as a corrective to the evil dispositions of man! We have no morbid sympathy with the criminals; we have no pity for their sufferings; but we fear for the feelings of others, when they can know that such enormities are perpetrated on their fellow men. We believe that the boasted discipline of the prison establishments of this colony has been nothing more than this unsparing use of the lash: that terror, debasement, and savage irritation have been nurtured in them; that it has been unnecessarily used — that it has been unfairly used. We admit there are men of that brutal order which may be coerced by the lash, but the control of these minds may be achieved by other means. Whilst we are quite sure that no reformation, nothing but minds seared to crime in its deadliest aspect can result from confinement in a dungeon where the sound of the scourge, and its attendant groans and curses, is constantly heard. Let the reader read the following detail and judge for himself." Then followed summaries of each man's criminal history...

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Dianne Jones on 14th February 2021

1844, 13 July: The Murder Trial ran over two days – Saturday 13 July and Monday 15 July. This extract is from a report of the first day by the Sydney Morning Herald, on 17 July, p3: “George Vigors, labourer, late of Sydney, was indicted for the wilful murder of James Noble, late of Clarence-street, Sydney, by stabbing him with a knife on the evening of the 26th May last, thereby inflicting a mortal wound, of which the deceased died on the following day; and Thomas Burdett, labourer, late of Sydney, was indicted, for being present, aiding, and abetting the said George Vigors, in the committal of the said murder, and John Rankin, late of Sydney, labourer, was indicted us an accessary before the said murder, by hiring, counselling, commanding, or otherwise conspiring with the said George Vigors and Thomas Burdett, previous to the committing of the said murder.” The three accused pleaded not guilty. Both James Martin and Robert Malcolm appeared as “approvers” – witnesses for the Prosecution. The Attorney General told the Court (Judge and Jury) he wanted to “call their attention to the fact that at the time that Martin turned approver, he had had no opportunity of ascertaining whether Malcolm had said anything or not. Martin was in the custody of the police, and not allowed to communicate with anyone, but the stories of Martin and of Malcolm, when compared, would be found exactly to correspond. Both would be brought before them as approvers and to the evidence of both he invited their most serious attention. They had had no opportunity of communicating with each other before they made their statements; but when a Jury had to decide on a case which rested principally on the evidence of two approvers, they must be satisfied that the details of the stories told by these approvers agreed, and at the same time that the agreement was not previously concocted; in this case he thought that the Jury could entertain no doubt…” Several witnesses were called, including the two approvers – James Martin and Robert Malcolm. Each testified in a similar vein to their statements at the committal hearing. The Court adjourned at 11.45pm. On Monday, the case continued. This report is from The Guardian, 20 July, p247: “…the defence was resumed by Mr Purefoy (on behalf of the prisoner Rankin) who spoke upwards of three hours, and called the Rev Dr McGarvie as a witness to Rankin’s character. [Note: Rev McGarvie was probably a family friend, having celebrated the marriages of John’s son Henry and his daughter Helen to their respective spouses at the 2nd Scot’s Church, Elizabeth Street, Sydney, in 1835.] “The defence having closed, the Attorney-General replied in a most powerful speech; in the course of which he paid a well-merited tribute to Mr. Keck, governor of the gaol, for his public spirited conduct in the investigation of this painful case. “His Honor then proceeded to charge the jury, in an address of nearly three hours, entering most minutely into all the details of the evidence. “The jury retired for about half an hour, and returned with a verdict of Guilty against all three prisoners. “The judge then proceeded to pass the awful sentence of the law upon the prisoners.”