Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Philip Sherry was transported on the Hougoumont, departing 10th Oct 1867 and arriving 9th Jan 1868 with 281 passengers.
875 ton ship was built at Moulmein in 1852. http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/on-this-day-in-history-australias-last-convict-ship-docks.htm ---------------------------- Incorrect Image ....This is a four masted steel hulled Barque in the drawing , im surprised Australian Geo didn't do a bit more research on this .......The Hougoumont was a works ship on the Forth Bridge Project in 1885 ....the one potrayed as a drawing in Aust Geo is the later version of this ship.....the photograph i have attached is the correct and original convict vessel. --00-- 1867 "The hired convict ship Hougoumont, which has been taken up by the Government for the conveyance of a numerous party of convicts to Freemantle, Western Australia, left the Nore on October 1, and proceeded down Channel, after receiving on board 150 convicts from the establishments at Chatham and Millbank. The convicts from the Chatham establishment, at St. Mary's, embarked from the dockyard on board the paddle-wheel steamer Adder, Mr. W. J. Blakely, and were in charge of a numerous party of convict guards and wardens, all heavily armed. Among the convicts shipped were a party of fifteen Fenians, who were engaged in the late conspiracy in Ireland, together with the officers and crew convicted of scuttling the ship Severn, and some others who have achieved notoriety from their crimes. The Fenian convicts, like the remainder of the prisoners, were chained together in gangs, but it was observed that they were kept apart from the other convicts in a portion of the vessel by themselves. The steamer Petrel also took down a number of convicts from the establishment at Millbank for shipment on board the Hougoumont, in charge of a strong escort and convict guard. On Tuesday, October 8th, the Hougoumont arrived in Portland roads. Shortly before midday ninety convicts were marched down to the Government pier at Portland under a strong escort of the 12th Light Infantry. The party included twenty-three Fenian convicts, among whom it was said, was Moriarty. The Government steamer employed in the breakwater service was used for conveying the convicts on board the Hougoumont transport ship. The convicts were chained together on embarking, and on board the steamer a strong guard of marines from her Majesty's ship St. George was formed, and saw the convicts safely placed on board the Hougoumont. The Governor of the penal settlement at Freemantle, Captain Young, is on board the Hougoumont, and returns in that ship to his sphere of duty after paying a visit to his native land." Source: Sydney Morning Herald, Thu 19 Dec 1867, p4, English Shipping, available on Trove at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271?searchTerm=hougoumont.
HougoumontReferences
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 93, Class and Piece Number HO11/19, Page Number 263 (134). --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. --0-- Judge Advocate General’s Office: general courts martial registers, abroad, 1866-1900, at https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1693332502/view |
| 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 |
Claims
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Photos
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Convict Notes
FOOTNOTE: Why was he sent to Calcutta when the 2nd Battalion was at the Curragh in Ireland / England at this time, according to the two records of its postings cited above? It seems he had time for some R&R before sailing: 20 January, 1871 -- From the Express (Freemantle), p3: FREMANTLE POLICE COURT "Thursday, 19th January... Philip Sherry was charged with being drunk and disorderly." --0--
From his Fremantle jail record: SHERRY, Phillip; inmate #9870, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1844 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Soldier Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Halifax, Canada Crime: Desertion & theft Sentence Period: 10 years Comments: Sentence remitted, 7 Jun 1870. To Calcutta, 31 Jan 1871 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
2 February, 1771: From the Herald (Fremantle), p2 "MONTHLY SHIPPING REPORT. Departures... Jan. 31-STAR OF THE MERSEY, brigantine, 255 tons, E. Thomas, for Calcutta. Passengers Messrs. W.H. Targett, J. McLarvine, P. Sherry, and J. Cawthra." (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/111526772) --0--
IN WA: 10 January, 1868: On arrival he was listed as #9870, sentenced to 10 years' PS commuted from 15 years for "desertion, making away with necessaries, threatening to shoot a superior officer and theft". He came with a "fair" behaviour reference from Chatham prison; a soldier, 22, single, able to read and write, Roman Catholic, and no next of kin details. Notation 1: "2320 Philip Sherry is ordered to rejoin his corp when released from PS. Letter dated 5.9.66 Colchester camp." Notation 2: "Remainder of Sentence remitted ... Received Certificate of Remission of the unexpired portion of sentence 7th June 1870." Notation 3: "Sailed for Calcutta per Star of Mersey 31.1.71." (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16)) --0--
30 September, 1867: Philip Sherry was sent from Chatham to board the Hougoumont for WA. “The hired convict ship Hougoumont, which has been taken up by the Government for the conveyance of a numerous party of convicts to Freemantle, Western Australia, left the Nore [anchorage in the Thames estuary] on October 1, and proceeded down Channel, after receiving on board 150 convicts from the establishments at Chatham and Millbank. The convicts from the Chatham establishment, at St. Mary’s, embarked from the dockyard on board the paddle-wheel steamer Adder, Mr. W. J. Blakely, and were in charge of a numerous party of convict guards and wardens, all heavily armed... The Fenian convicts, like the remainder of the prisoners, were chained together in gangs, but it was observed that they were kept apart from the other convicts in a portion of the vessel by themselves..." (Sydney Morning Herald, Thu 19 Dec 1867, p4, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271) --00--
19 February, 1867: He was admitted to Chatham prison, St Mary's, Kent (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1867). Chatham, Portland, Portsmouth 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--
JAILS: 31 August, 1866: Philip Sherry was admitted to Millbank prison, Westminster, London, having arrived from Canada per the ship Orontes. By this time he had already served 3 months 26 days in jail in Canada and aboard the ship. Listed as a labourer and formerly a Private, 2nd Battalion 16th Regiment of Foot; now inmate #2320, 21 years old when convicted, single, Roman Catholic, able to read only. Next of kin—no details provided. Previous convictions—none listed. Notation: “To rejoin his corps when released; see letter from Colchester camp 5.9.66” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1867). While at Millbank, he would have been held in separate confinement. “After a sentence of transportation [or penal servitude] 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—
BRANDING WITH A "D": The practice of branding was continued by the British until 1871, according to Phillip Hilton’s (2010) thesis, “Branded with a D on the left side”. Until 1829, any soldier could be branded but after that it was reserved for deserters who were “marked on the left side, 2 inches (5 cm) below the armpit, with the letter ‘D’, such letter to be not less than an inch long” (Wikipedia). Hilton says branding deserters was “a means of humiliating offenders” (2010, p140, https://eprints.utas.edu.au/17678/2/Hilton_Thesis.pdf), but he doesn’t say how the branding happened and there are conflicting versions among writers. For example, Peter FitzSimons (2019) refers to barbaric fire brandings of the four Fenian deserters among the “Catalpa six” who escaped from WA to America in 1876, while others such as Amos (1987) describe painful tattooing using India ink and an awl. 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 Savigny & Co of London, its adjustable points “still bear traces of ink” and were pushed through the skin by a spring-powered mechanism. Savigny & Co was “better known as a major manufacturer of surgical instruments in the 1700s and early 1800s”. The Museum says branding was abolished in 1829, except for army deserters. After this, 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). Notoriously bad soldiers were also branded with “BC” (bad character), according to Wikipedia. --0--
ABOUT THE 16TH: Chronology of the 2nd Battalion of the 16th Foot: 1858. The 2nd battalion of the 16th Foot are raised in Ireland. All line regiments up to the 25th are expanded to include a 2nd battalion following reforms resulting in the glaring deficiencies shown up in the Crimean War and the Indian Mutinies. 1859. The 2nd battalion is stationed in Ireland. 1861. The 2nd are sent to Halifax in Canada on their first foreign service and spend their time in Nova Scotia in response to tensions created between the British Empire and America during the aftermath of the American Civil War. 1866. The 1st battalion are involved in several small engagements along the borders around Niagara against the attempted invasion by American Fenians. 1866. 2nd battalion are sent to the West Indies. 1869. 2nd battalion return home and are posted to Curragh in Ireland. 1876. 2nd battalion are posted to India for the first time, being based from Madras (now Chennai) until moved to Burma in 1881. In 1885 orders arrived that moved them to Bellary (Ballari, in Karnataka), India, and a move 350km north-east to Secunderabad (in Telangaga) followed four years later (http://bedfordregiment.org.uk/history/16thfoothistory.html). -- 1859 Ireland 1861 at sea 1862 Nova Scotia: Halifax 1862 Trent Affair: Halifax 1862 Nova Scotia: Halifax 1866 West Indies: Barbados 1869 England 1876 India: Madras (http://regiments.org/deploy/uk/reg-inf/016-2.htm) --00--
COURT MARTIAL: 5 May, 1866: Private Philip Sherry of the 16th (Bedfordshire) Regiment of Foot was court martialled at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and found guilty of "desertion, losing necessaries, striking a superior officer and theft (2 counts)". He was sentenced to 15 years' penal servitude, commuted to 10 years' penal servitude, branded with a D, and stoppages [of pay and leave, presumably] were imposed (Judge Advocate General's Office: general courts martial registers, abroad, 1866-1900, at https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1693332502/view). --