George Shepherd

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Dianne Jones on 31st January 2022

FOOTNOTE: WHAT BECAME OF THE OTHER FOUR CONVICTED MEN? 1. Henry PRESTIDGE was also transported with George SHEPHERD to WA per the Nile. See Henry’s bio at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/prestidge/henry/58879. 2. John PRESTIDGE, Benjamin TALBOT and William PRESTIDGE were imprisoned along with Henry PRESTIDGE and George SHEPHERD, at the same time, at: Northampton, Wakefield, Portland, and Gibraltar. But two of the five died on Gibraltar. The first death was that of Benjamin TALBOT (born 1830), in hospital, on 13 October, 1853. He was listed as Benjamin TALBOTT, inmate #1544, single, 19 when convicted, a labourer, born at Moreton Pinking [sic], and his family still lived there. He had brown hair, light hazel eyes, light eyebrows and lashes, a sharp nose, compact mouth, fair complexion, oval visage and a slight make/build, 5’5¾” tall. Other features: two small scars on right cheek, vaccination mark left arm (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc. Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 and other years). William PRESTIDGE (born 1822) also died in hospital on Gibraltar, on 21 June, 1856, following an accident. He was inmate #1542, married [to Sarah Tubb in 1841] with four children, 27 when convicted, a labourer, able to read and write, and had a previous conviction for assault. Born at Moreton Pinking [sic], and his family still lived there. William had brown hair, hazel eyes, brown eyebrows and lashes, a sharp nose, compact mouth, fresh complexion, oval visage and a slight make/build, 5’7” tall. Other features: small mole left side of back, one centre of breast, one inside small finger left hand (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc. Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 and other years). 3. On Gibraltar, John PRESTIDGE (born 1793) was inmate #1538, aged 56 when convicted; first conviction; married [to Mary Talbot]; able to read and write, a labourer, born at Morton Pinking [sic]. He had black and grey hair, hazel eyes, dark eyebrows and lashes, a sharp nose, compact mouth, swarthy complexion, oval visage and a stout make/build, 5’9½” tall. Other features: scar on left side, on back of neck, right breast and left shoulder, third finger broken (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc. Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 and other years). John returned to England per the Hamilla Mitchell convict ship in 1857 and, along with George SHEPHERD and Henry PRESTIDGE, he was admitted to Portsmouth prison, as inmate #4084. On 16 September, 1857, John PRESTIDGE was “invalided to Dartmoor”. By this time, he had served 8 years 6 months 14 days in jail (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portsmouth Prison; Registers of Prisoners; 1855-1858).

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Dianne Jones on 30th January 2022

IN WA: From his Fremantle jail record: SHEPHERD, George; inmate #4686, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Date of Birth: 1826 Marital Status: Married 1 child Occupation: Farm labourer Literacy: Illiterate Sentence Place: Northampton, Northampton, England Crime: House breaking Sentence Period: Life Ticket of Leave Date: 17 Mar 1858 Conditional Pardon Date: 15 Dec 1860 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 30th January 2022

8 September, 1857: George SHEPHERD was sent from Portsmouth, prisoner #1/4085, to board the Nile for transportation to WA. His behaviour on the voyage was “very good” (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). --00--

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Dianne Jones on 30th January 2022

4 July, 1857: He was admitted to Portsmouth prison, in Penny Street, Portsmouth, Hampshire, returning from Gibraltar per the convict ship Hamilla Mitchell. Listed as inmate #4085; details mainly as per Gibraltar except again listed as a chimney sweep, married with one child, both illiterate and "very ignorant". Next of kin — none named, only "Brackley" as their address. His behaviour at Northampton jail was "generally good but once attempted to escape"; at Wakefield "good"; Portland "good" and Gibraltar "--" (no report). Up to this time, according to his record, he had served 8 years 6 months 6 days in prison (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portsmouth Prison; Registers of Prisoners; 1855-1858). —0—

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Dianne Jones on 30th January 2022

4 March, 1851: Arrived at the large Gibraltar work station. The penal servitude system used Gibraltar as an outlying branch of Millbank — “the terrible base prison” in London on whose site the Tate Gallery now stands. “It never promised more remission than one year in four, and sentences were high” (Chipulina 2013). Between 1842 and 1875, Gibraltar, along with Bermuda, was regarded as the second stage in the penal process (along with Portsmouth, Portland and Chatham in England and Spike Island in Ireland) “whereby convicts spent one to three years on public works, after which they would be sent on to Australia” (Chipulina 2013). 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 2018, p40). On Gibraltar, as “convicts worked together with free men on the dockyards, lines between them became blurred. Convicts, like seamen, were ‘easily recognised’ by ‘their swarthy, weather beaten complexions…[and] muscular well-knit frames’. The discipline on the penal settlement was also influenced by the naval department, who superintended part of the works. In the 1840s, for example, convicts were provided ‘a half gill of rum’ at 11 AM and 5PM, which they drank from a trough. This mirrored the daily allowance of diluted rum, known as grog, to Royal Naval seamen in the Victorian era. Convicts were also allowed to use part of their earnings, to buy goods, usually tobacco, which they were allowed to smoke in the evening in the barracks. Though official correspondence cited health reasons for grog allowance, it seems likely that the convict authorities feared insubordination if they were banned from drinking and smoking, which were provided to the sappers and dockyard workers whom they worked alongside…. In 1854, the acting overseer stated that “half of the offences were committed when the men were excited by rum”. For more serious offences, convicts were flogged with a ‘cat o’nine tails’ whip against the ‘flogging mast’, and during an investigation Dr William Baly concluded that the whip which was used was an old naval cat, which was ‘much heavier than any now used in the government prison and hulks at home, or in the army.’” (Roscoe, 2018). On Gibraltar, George SHEPHERD was held on the Europa Hulk; inmate #1543. Listed as 23 when tried, convicted for housebreaking; first conviction. Other: Protestant, illiterate, labourer, married, 4 [sic] children; brown hair, hazel eyes, light eyebrows and lashes, pointed nose, compact mouth, fair complexion, oval visage and stout make/build, 5’4¼” tall. Other features: scar on back of neck & third finger right hand, slightly tattooed left arm, vaccination mark right arm (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc. Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 and other years). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 30th January 2022

18 February, 1851: He was sent aboard the Cornwall for transportation to Gibraltar (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portland Prison; Prison Records; Undated). --0--

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Dianne Jones on 30th January 2022

--0-- 3 May, 1850: Admitted to Portland prison, inmate #1380. Listed as 23 when convicted, married with one child, chimney sweep (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portland Prison; Prison Records; Undated). 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—

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Dianne Jones on 30th January 2022

13 June, 1849: He was admitted to the West Riding House of Correction (also called Wakefield House of Correction, Wakefield County Gaol, Wakefield Prison and HMP Wakefield), Love Lane, Wakefield, in Yorkshire. “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). Wakefield, Millbank, Pentonville and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. In Wakefield, George SHEPHERD served 6 months 21 days in separate confinement. —00—

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Dianne Jones on 30th January 2022

JAILS: 3 January, 1849: George SHEPHERD was held at the Northampton County Gaol, George Row, following his committal at Towcester on 3 January and while awaiting trial at the Lent Assizes in Northampton. —0—

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Dianne Jones on 30th January 2022

NEWSPAPER reporting (annotated) of their trial -- Northampton Mercury, 10 March, 1849, p4: "The Burglary at Catshanger. Frederick Prestidge [sic], Joseph Prestidge [sic], John Prestidge, George Shepherd, and [illegible] stood indicted for feloniously and burglariously breaking into the dwelling-house of Thomas Lovell at Catshanger, on the 15th December last..." Thomas Lovell testified that during the burglary Benjamin Talbot took away his gun but he saw the whole party several times. "Talbot, George Shepherd, and Henry Prestidge had handkerchiefs over their faces; some of the handkerchiefs were dark red," he said. "In answer to a question from the prisoner Shepherd, Mr. Lovell said knew him by his features, and his voice, and believes that he was one of the men who pointed a gun at Mrs. Lovell." Among the items taken from the Lovell house were "some silver spoons from a stocking under the bed" and, after ransacking "all the boxes and drawers in the house, the burglars took away Mr Lovell's watch, a silver knife, a quantity of chamber linen and clothes, provisions, a gun, and other articles...". (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/)