Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Transportation
John Shadbolt 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 229 (116). --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. |
| 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
FOOTNOTE: See the bio for George GROVES at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/groves/george/86653. John BELL was transported to WA aboard the Clara (1), arriving 6 months ahead of the other two men, in July 1857. His bio is at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/bell/john/38711.
IN WA: From his FREMANTLE jail record: SHADBOLT, John; inmate #4579, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Date of Birth: 1829 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Labourer Literacy: Semiliterate Sentence Place: Cambridge, Cambridge, England Crime: House breaking Sentence Period: 15 years Ticket of Leave Date: 25 Aug 1859 Conditional Pardon Date: 4 Aug 1865 Comments: Self-employed, 1858 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --0--
10 September, 1857: Both men were sent from Portland to board the NILE for transportation to WA. John SHADBOLT was listed as #72/7014; behaviour on voyage “good” (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). --00--
20 April, 1857: Admitted to PORTLAND at Dorset—inmate #7014. 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) John Shadbolt was listed as 27 years old when convicted, single, Protestant, a general labourer, semiliterate. Next of kin—Grace Shadbolt, Cambridge. Health “good” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portland Prison; Prison Records to 1875). George Groves’s transfer to Portland occurred two weeks earlier, on 6 April, 1857. --0--
17 March, 1856: Admitted to PENTONVILLE—inmate #6534. Described as above plus brown hair, grey eyes, smart and active. He served 13 months 4 days in separate confinement; behaviour “good” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1854-1856). George Groves was also transferred to Pentonville at the same time. “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. —0—
16 February, 1856: Admitted to MILLBANK at Westminster, along with John Bell and George Groves —served 1 month 1 day; behaviour “good”. —0—
JAILS: 26 November, 1855: Admitted to CAMBRIDGE Castle Gaol (Cambridge County Gaol and House of Correction)—served 2 months 24 days; behaviour “good”. Described as 27, 5’5” with fair complexion, living at at Cambridge; labourer; “a very bad character” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for George Groves; Chesterton Gaol; Register of Felons; 1818-1867). —0—
TRIAL: 3 January, 1856: George GROVES, John SHADBOLT and John BELL were convicted and sentenced at the Epiphany Sessions, Cambridge, to 15 years’ transportation each for housebreaking (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892; England; Cambridgeshire; 1856).
12 January, 1856: From the Cambridge Chronicle and Journal, p4: “Good Riddance.—The town of Cambridge has got rid of three notorious characters — Bell, Shadbolt, and Groves — who last Saturday were sentenced to fifteen years’ transportation for housebreaking. For the last fifteen years or so they have lived almost exclusively by means of robbery and the expense to which they have put the borough and county at various times, for prosecutions and maintenance in prison, would amount to no trifling sum. When they were sentenced, a large number of of their pals who were in court appeared thunderstruck; and the prisoners appeared for a moment inclined to ...spring out of the dock. Bell, who, we understand, is in consumption, and not likely to live long, gave evidence of a deeply malignant spirit, telling the Chairman… ‘I hope you may sit there till I come back’; to which that gentleman quietly rejoined, ‘I hope I may enjoy good health’.” (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) —00—
12 January, 1856: From the Independent Press, p8: “The jury found all the prisoners Guilty. Previous convictions for felony were then put in against them, and they were sentenced to 15 years’ transportation each. Upon hearing the sentence they appeared crestfallen, and Bell expressed the stupid wish that the Chairman might sit upon the Bench till he (Bell) came back again.” —0—