Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Transportation
Jeremiah Smith 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 238. --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. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26783779 |
| 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
From the Inquirer and Commercial News, 26 January, 1881, p3: "Canning, January 19... Fatal Accident. — A man named Jeremiah Smith, in the employ of Mr. George Woolhouse, at the Greenough, was killed by a cart which he was driving capsizing and the shaft falling upon his neck. A son of Mr. Woolhouse was riding on horseback a few yards behind the cart, and upon observing the accident, which was caused by one of the wheels going over a palm-tree stump, hurried to the poor fellow's assistance. The young man states that death must have been instantaneous. Upon closer examination it was found that Smith's neck had been broken." (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/65958991) --00--
From the Victorian Express, 19 January, 1881, p3: "GREENOUGH. [From our own Correspondent.]... Last week a man named Jeremiah Smith, in the employ of Mr. George Woolhouse, met a sudden and violent death. It seems that the unfortunate man was in the bush with his horse and cart, and managed to fall off. The wheel passed over his neck and the poor fellow was killed almost instantaneously." (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/212143081) --00--
OTHER: From the Geraldton Observer, 18 January, 1881, p3: "OUR OWN GREENOUGH CORRESPONDENTS -- Jan. 15; 1881. In the early part of this week a man named Jeremiah Smith, in the employ of Mr. G. Woolhouse was accidentally killed by the overturning of a dray. The facts of the case, as obtained from a reliable source, are that Jerry Smith and G. Woolhouse Junr. were at a sheep station a few miles beyond Bokara, engaged in shifting sheep troughs; the work being completed, Woolhouse started Smith homeward with the team directing him across the sand plain until he struck the road. Woolhouse then proceeded to saddle his horse intending to follow up the team, this he did, and had not proceeded many hundred yards before he saw the dray lying on the off wheel and the shaft horse on the ground; hastening to the spot he saw that the dray had overturned, the shaft horse lying very quietly and the man Smith lying on his face on the ground with the off shaft near the head of the dray lying across the head and neck firmly fixing him to the ground, Woolhouse found that he could not extricate Smith until the shaft horse had been first removed which he lost no time in doing, and the lifted then dray round. On examining the prostrate man he found him to be quite dead, one of the iron boltheads affixed to the dray had penetrated the skull and to all appearance the neck was broken. Woolhouse at once hurried home and sent off a conveyance and brought in the body. An inquest was held next day when a verdict of accidental death was returned. The remains of the unfortunate man were conveyed to the Roman Catholic cemetery and interred without any ceremony — Father Lecaille having declined to officiate. I ought to have mentioned that the dray was overturned by reason of the wheel passing over a high palm stump as at first it was difficult to understand how Smith came to be found on the off side of the dray but now it is generally believed that he must have gone to the off side with the intention of pushing the dray back into its position before going right over and this supposition is borne out by the fact that the dray after pushing over the stump went along on one wheel for some distance before going on. Smith had been in the district many years, and was one of the best working men here, but was addicted to periodical sprees which benefited others more than himself. That he had serious intentions of joining the Good Templars here I convinced for I am told that amongst the last words he spoke to his companion, were these, "When you get into the lodge, George, you must propose me for membership." When I add that Smith was a man of fair education and intelligence I have said all that can be said with regard to the untimely end of poor Jerry Smith." (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/255707865) --00--
DEATH: The death of Jeremiah Smith, aged 44, was registered in 1881, #10805 (https://bdm.justice.wa.gov.au/). --00--
IN WA: From his Fremantle jail record: SMITH, Jeremiah; #4733, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Alias: SUMMITT Samuel Date of Birth: 1835 Date of Death: 12 Jan 1881 Place of Death: Greenough Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Lithographic printer Literacy: Semiliterate Sentence Place: Salford, Lancashire, England Crime: Larceny Sentence Period: 10 years penal servitude Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 20 Jun 1861 Conditional Pardon Date: 13 Oct 1864 Comments: Labourer, general servant --00--
September, 1857: Jeremiah Smith was sent from Chatham to board the Nile for transportation to WA; listed as #4/1079 (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Convicts Transported Per Nile (R32)). —00—
8 May, 1857: He was transferred to Chatham, in Kent; inmate #1079. 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--
15 September, 1856: He was admitted to Pentonville; inmate #6979. In addition to the above information, he was listed as 5'4½" tall with brown hair, grey eyes and a sallow complexion. He served 7 months 23 days in separate confinement and his behaviour was "good" (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners: 1854-1856). —0—.
15 August, 1856: He was sent to Millbank; inmate #3312. He was 22 [when convicted], single, a labourer, able to read and write imperfectly and Church of England. Next of kin -- his mother, Ann Sinnett, Cleggs Buildings, Oldfield, Salford. [Note: On WA Convict records he is listed as a lithographic printer.] At Millbank, he served 1 month in separate confinement (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1882-1885). --0--
JAILS: 4 July, 1856: At Salford (probably at the Manchester New Bailey, also called the Salford House of Correction), he served 3 days in association with other prisoners and 1 month 8 days in separate confinement. “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, Wakefield, Pentonville and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. —0—