Summary
Personal Information
Transportation
David Skinner 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 250 |
| 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: Newspaper coverage of their trial: From the Greenock Advertiser, Tuesday 20 May 1856, p4: William Clark, David Skinner, and Mary Barnet were charged with two cases of assault and robbery on the garotte principle. The jury found the male prisoners guilty, but by a majority they found the charge against Barnet not proven. Clark was sentenced to transportation for life, and Skinner for twenty-one years.”
7 April, 1883: From the Daily News, p3: I N Q U E ST. Death at the Canning. An inquest was held at the City Police Court on Friday morning before the Coroner (Mr. Cowan), touching the death of a man named David Skinner. The Jury was composed of Messrs. J. Bowra, jun. (Foreman), A. Silvester, and A. Fouchard. James Bailey deposed: I am a farmer and gardener on the Canning. I recollect seeing the deceased at Markwell's at about four o'clock last Wednesday afternoon, when he wanted to go and have a look at my farm and garden, which are on the other side of the river. We went down to wards the river, when I saw that the boat had been taken across to the other side. I then said, 'It is of no use going any further,' but he replied 'I'll swim over for it' to which I replied ' No'. He went down to the river, stripped himself, and walked in as far as he could, but when he came to the deep water, very near to the other side of the river, which may be rather more than a chain wide there, he swam a few strokes, when he suddenly went down head first. I am sure that I was perfectly sober at the time, as I never taste anything. After he went down he came up again, and floated on the water face downwards — he did not struggle at all; I could see only the back of his head and of his shoulders above the water when he was floating. I did not make any attempt to go in to rescue him as I cannot swim; if I had done so I should have gone down like lead as soon as I got into the deep water. He floated until he was picked up; the body did not sink a second time. I then shouted out that a man was drowning, and in a few minutes another man — W. Larmour — came to the spot. He pulled off his clothes and swam across to get the boat, and then he picked the body up and brought it ashore where I was standing. We straightened out the arms and legs and then covered the body with the deceased's clothes. A plaisterer, called Jack, was there, and he sent his boy into Perth with the news. We lit a large fire and sat beside the corpse until the police arrived. The deceased was middling sober when I first met him in the afternoon; he knew what he was doing, walked without staggering, and was able to swim. The body was in the water about half an hour altogether. William Larmour, being sworn, said: I am a sawyer, residing at the Canning, and was there last Wednesday. At about four o'clock in the afternoon my attention was attracted by hearing some shouts. The deceased had left me at McLeod's, where he was stopping, half an hour before, and I was waiting for him to come back again. When I heard the shouts I began to think that there was something wrong, as I saw him go towards the river; he was then under the influence of drink, and had been all the morning; I had been drinking at McLeod's with him, and before half past eight in the morning four or five of us had consumed two bottles of whiskey; the deceased then left us in company with the last witness. It was between three and four o'clock in the afternoon when I heard the shouting. A man named Thomas Smith went with me down to the river, where we saw Bailey walking up and down the bank, who told us that Dave was gone, that 'it was all up with him,' and pointed to a spot up the river, saying 'There he is, floating still.' I could not see the body from where I stood, but I stripped and swam across to the boat. I took the boat across to the other side of the river; when a plaisterer (whose name I didn't know) and Bailey got in, but Smith refused to do so. I then sculled the boat to the spot Bailey pointed out, where we saw the deceased floating in the water, face downwards. I took hold of one of his arms and Bailey sculled the boat back to the bank, and so we towed the body ashore. When I found the body the feet were resting on bottom, the water not being deep enough to let it sink, being only about four feet deep at that spot, but the water was deep on both sides, and the deceased could not have reached either bank without swimming. We laid the body on the bank, covering it with the deceased's clothes, and waited by it until the police arrived upon the spot. Charles McLeod said: I am a lodging house keeper and reside at the Canning. I have no license, but some of the workmen stop at my place, and the deceased was one of them. Last Tuesday evening I was in the kitchen with Dave when a waggon drove up containing two men and a woman. The woman said they wanted something to eat, and brought in with her two bottles of whiskey, one of which I happened to let fall and thus broke it; she then went out to the waggon and brought in another bottle. The two bottles were drunk in my house, after which they went out, the deceased, Dave, with them, and camped by the waggon, where they continued drinking all night long. Early on the next (Wednesday) morning, hearing screams, I ran out, when I saw that two men had Dave down on the ground and were jumping upon him; he was covered with blood. I told them to 'stop it,' and asked what was the matter, when one of the men replied that he had felt Dave's hand in his pocket. I said ' Well, if you did, that is no reason why you should murder him.' After that they were quiet. At breakfast I saw that Dave's two eyes were blackened, and that both his cheeks were much bruised, there was blood on his shirt as well. I never saw him alive again after breakfast time. He had been drinking a good deal on and off at the public house, which is only one grant away from my place. The deceased never complained to me of feeling any pain internally; he spoke only of his eyes and cheeks, which, as I have said, were much bruised. A police constable then gave formal evidence of his bringing the corpse in from the Canning, and of placing it in the Dead House of the Colonial Hospital, under the care of Mr. Scanlan, the dispenser. The Coroner briefly summed up the evidence, and, after a short retirement, the jury returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased, David Skinner, was accidentally drowned - while endeavouring to swim, across the Canning River.
6 April, 1883: From the Daily News, p3: An inquest was held this morning at the Court House, touching the death of a man named David Skinner, who was drowned in the Canning River last Wednesday. A full report of the evidence taken at the inquest will appear in our issue of to-morrow.
DEATH: 5 April, 1883: From the Daily News, Perth, p2: A man, named David Skinner, was found drowned in the Canning River this morning and brought by the Police to the Dead House, where the body awaits an inquest, which will be held at the Colonial Hospital at' 4 o'clock this afternoon. --00--
CRIME: Assault and robbery, as per court documents. OCCUPATION: None listed on court documents. Appears variously as a silversmith and a printer on different WA Convict records (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department Estimates and Convict Lists (128/1 - 32); and Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department Registers (128/38 - 39)).
From David Skinner's Fremantle jail record: SKINNER, David; # 4542, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Alias: Daniel Date of Birth: 1822 Date of Death: 4 Apr 1883 Place of Death: Canning River, drowned Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Silversmith Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland Crime: Assault & robbery Sentence Period: 20 years Ticket of Leave Date: 23 May 1861 Conditional Pardon Date: 4 Apr 1868 Comments: Self-employed, 1862 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/).
Note: William Clark/Clarke was also transported on the Nile and was listed as convict #4584 (see his bio at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/clark/william/59017). --00--
TRIAL: 17 May, 1856: National Records of Scotland -- Reference JC26/1856/365 Trial papers relating to David Skinner, William Clark and Mary Barnet for the crime of assault and robbery at Melville Street and St Andrew Square, Edinburgh. Tried at High Court, Edinburgh. Accused: David Skinner, Verdict: Guilty, Sentence: Transportation - 21 years. Accused: William Clark, alias Thomson, Verdict: Guilty, Sentence: Transportation - Life Previous convictions: robbery - High Court, Edinburgh, 23 July 1847, under the name of William Thomson. Accused: Mary Barnet, Verdict: Not proven, Sentence: Assoilzied simpliciter and dismissed. --00--
CRIME: 1856: National Records of Scotland -- Reference AD14/56/266 Precognition against David Skinner, Mary Barnet and William Clark for the crime of assault and robbery at Melville Street and St Andrew Square, Edinburgh. Accused: David Skinner, Address: Edinburgh Accused: Mary Barnet, Age: 29, Address: No fixed abode; prisoner in Edinburgh prison, Origin: Born in Berwickshire. Accused: William Clark, alias Thomson, Age: 30, Address: Edinburgh. Victim: Henry Inglis, writer to the Signet, St Andrew Square, Edinburgh Victim: John Cameron, clerk, residing with James Tully, gardener, Mackenzie Place, Stockbridge, Edinburgh. --0--