William Silverlock

221

D Wong on 16th August 2020

First arrived per 'York' 1831. William Higgins was listed as 19 years old on arrival. Native Place: Liverpool. William was literate, RC, single, 5’5¼” tall, ruddy freckled and pockpitted complexion, dark brown hair, brown eyes, diagonal scar in centre of forehead, anchor on right arm. 1837: Assigned to Robert Scott, Patrick Plains. 30/3/1837: COF Tried as William Silverlock, at Adelaide, South Australia, for Highway Robbery on 5/11/1839. Transported to NSW per ‘Kate’ 1839. 9/11/1839 South Australian Register: Thursday, November 7. Thomas Wilson and William Silverlock were placed at the bar charged with having taken from the person of Archibald Gall, on the night of the 4th inst., while he was passing down Morphett street, a one pound note and eighteen shillings of silver. The prisoners pleaded not guilty. The Advocate-general appeared for the prosecution—Mr Mann for the prisoners. Archibald Gall, the person from whom the money was taken, was first examined. He said he was passing down Morphett-street on the evening of Monday last, about nine o’clock, when two men came up to him, one of whom stopped his mouth with his hand, while the other put his arm round him, forced him to the ground, and took the sum alleged from his trousers pocket. Witness cried “Murder!”—when one of the men struck him, and said he would take his life if he said a word. They then ran away down Morphett-street, and witness called for the police, who immediately appeared and took the prisoners into custody before they had been out of sight of the witness. Police Constable Fisher being in Morphett-sreet, near Mr Chapman’s, on Monday evening, heard a cry for help come from the direction of the Land Office. He immediately ran off in that direction, and saw two men running from Gall, who said they had robbed him. Witness, and a policeman who was with him, made chase and took the prisoners into custody at the corner of Morphett street and North-terrace, where they made a stop. Witness never lost sight of them from the time he saw them running from Gall till he took them into custody. Nineteen shillings in silver were found on Wilson—nothing was found on Silverlock. Wilson received a good character from Mr Hack. Both were found guilty and sentenced to seven years’ transportation. The Judge remarked that the robbery was of a very daring description being perpetrated on the public streets of the town. Had the indictment been properly drawn up, the prisoners might have been found guilty of robbery, for which crime the punishment in this colony is death; but the indictment only charged him with stealing the money, so that the punishment was only transportation. William Silverlock (alias Higgins) was listed as 28 years old on arrival. 8/4/1840 Sydney Gazette: Higgins William alias Silverlock, Kate, 39, Liverpool, labourer, 5 feet 6½ inches, sallow and little pockpitted comp., black hair, brown eyes, diagonal scar centre of forehead, hoizontal scar under right eye, another under centre of lower lip, breast and arms hairy, anchor inside lower light arm, jagged scar ball of left thumb, blue dot back of left hand, large featured, (was transposed before to this Colony, by the ship York, in 1831, for seven years, in the name of William Higgins, from Escort 50th Regiment, proceeding from Kiama to Wollongong, since 10th instant. Last advertisement for William Silverlock was 1/12/1848.