Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
William Spencer 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, p247 (126) --00-- 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 --00-- https://fremantleprison.com.au/ |
| 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
NOTE: Year of Birth is taken from official records but day and month are not known. The latter dates have been entered as 01/01 because the site does not allow those fields to be left empty.
TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA: 1881, 2 October: William Spencer, expiree, per Hougoumont, late reg. no. 9883, sailed on the “Sarah Burnyeat” for Adelaide. Remarks: “Healthy appearance, age 46, 5ft.7in. high, brown hair turning grey, brown eyes, long visage, fresh complexion, marked on right arm and left thumb, scar right arm and shoulder; tailor.” (‘Register of Expirees and Conditional Pardon holders who have left the Colony’, WA Police Gazette No.45, Nov 16, 1881, p.194, at https://slwa.wa.gov.au/pdf/battye/police_gazettes/188111_m.pdf). The brig “Sarah Burnyeat” carried 270 loads of jarrah timber, from the Jarrahdale Timber Company, valued at £1100. The more than 3700 pieces of sawn timber, as well as palings, posts and rails were bound for auction at Bower’s New Wharf, Port Adelaide (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/197762833). The Melbourne Argus reported on her disrupted journey: “The Sarah Burnyeat was 44 days in coming [to Adelaide] from Fremantle, having sprung a leak. She did not experience 43 hours fair wind all the voyage. The crew were on short provisions for the last 10 days.” (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/11524114) The Sydney Morning Herald’s account differed slightly: “The Sarah Burnyeat, on her voyage to this port [Adelaide] from Fremantle, occupied 41 days, having sprung a leak not 48 hours after sailing. She had a fair wind all the time, but the men were on short provisions, having only sufficient to last 10 days.” (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13499103) --000--
FREMANTLE JAIL RECORD: SPENCER, William; inmate #9883; 10 Jan 1868; Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1830 Marital Status: Married, 2 children Occupation: Tailor Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Clerkenwell Green Crime: Receiving stolen goods Sentence Period: 14 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket Leave Date: 2 Feb 1874 Certificate of Freedom Date: 2 Aug 1881 Comments: Shingle splitter, general servant, labourer, tailor, cook, wood cutter, self-employed, 1877-1878. To South Australia, 2 Oct 1881 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --0--
IN WA: 1868: On arrival, WILLIAM SPENCER, 35 [on arrival], was listed as convict #9883; sentenced to 14 years, at Clerkenwell, 7 January, 1867, for “receiving property well knowing the same to have been stolen, and previous conviction”; tailor; married, two children; literate; Roman Catholic; family – wife Louisa, 54 Nelson Street, Boundary Street, Church Street, Shoreditch, and children Louisa and William; behaviour “good”. Described as 5’7” tall, brown hair, brown eyes, long visage, fresh complexion, healthy; marked on left arm and right thumb, scar right arm and shoulder. Several previous convictions, all detailed at the start of this bio. Ticket of Leave 2.2.74; Certificate of Freedom 2.8.81. OTHER: 1868, 11 June, Bunbury: “Violently assaulting Acting Constable 9887 D[avid] Taylor by striking him a violent blow on the head with a hammer, 3 months’ hard labour at Fremantle Prison.” (https://www.perthdps.com/convicts/con-wa42.html; and Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16); image 275). David Taylor, convict #9887, a stone cutter, had been tried and sentenced at the same Clerkenwell Green Sessions as William Spencer. Taylor got 10 years for stealing and previous convictions. Both men were from Shoreditch. It’s likely the two, if unknown to each other before their arrests, would have met either in jail at Cold Bath Fields, or later at Millbank, or still later on the voyage to WA, since both were on the Hougoumont. If they were still unacquainted by the time they got to WA, their time at Fremantle Prison, before they were each assigned to the work party at Bunbury, provided another opportunity to meet. What triggered Spencer’s assault on Taylor isn’t clear, and – strangely – the assault isn’t noted on Taylor’s record. Nor does that record mention his role as an Acting Constable (see https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/60668/images/44765_352421-00283). -- 1874, 2 September: William Spencer was convicted at Perth Magistrates Court for “unlawful possession of a silver cup supposed to be stolen”; sentenced to 12 months’ hard labour at Fremantle Prison. --0--
EMBARKATION: 1867, 30 September: William Spencer was sent from Millbank to board the Hougoumont for WA (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1867; image 193). “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 [only two were on the Hougoumont – Thomas Berwick and Lionel Holdsworth, each sentenced to 20 years for fraud], 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 [not the senior Fenian, Captain Moriarty; rather, this was Bartholomew Moriarty, aged 17]. 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.” (Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Dec 1867, p4, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271). --00--
1867, 25 February: Admitted to Millbank Gaol – inmate #3016, William Spencer, tailor, 33, married with two children, semiliterate, Roman Catholic; convicted 7 Jan 1867 at Middlesex Sessions, convicted receiving and pre convictions [in 1852 10 years PS; in 1857 6 years PS, Family – wife Louisa Spencer, 54 Nelson Street, Church Street, Shoreditch. “Visit to date from 4th February. Visited by wife, mother in law and sister in law 7.8.67. To kiss his wife and children. Wife, mother and sister in law 21.9.67.” --0--
JAILS: 1867: Cold Bath Fields Gaol, Mount Pleasant, Clerkenwell – William Spencer was held here prior to and following his conviction, serving 1 month 17 days in separate confinement after the guilty verdict; behaviour in sc “good” (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1867; image 193). Coldbath Fields Prison, named after a nearby well, was formerly known as the Middlesex House of Correction and Clerkenwell Gaol, and informally known as the Steel. In 1850, the prison was extended and changed to take men only. (https://www.prisonhistory.org) “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, Pentonville, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --0--
TRIAL in 1867: 1867, 7 January: At Clerkenwell Green Sessions, Middlesex, William Spencer was sentenced to 14 years’ penal servitude for warehouse breaking and receiving after previous conviction (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for William Spencer; England; Middlesex; 1867; image 3). --00--
TICKET OF LEAVE: 1856, 30 September: Granted, Licence number 6499; ref PCOM 3/61/6499 Licence number 6499: William Henry Rhone “Caption order and prison record from when he was convicted of Housebreaking after a previous conviction of felony at the Quarter Sessions at Clerkenwell Green, Middlesex on 01 July 1852. Then aged 18 years and by trade a Labourer. Sentence: 10 years’ transportation. Licence granted 30 September 1856, for early release from Portland prison. Date: 1856, September 30” (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10373303) --00--
PREVIOUS CONVICTIONS: 1851, 3 February: Old Bailey (Central Criminal Court) – as William Spencer, aged 17, breaking & entering a dwelling & stealing, 1 year (https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/) 1852, 1 July: General QS, Clerkenwell, Middlesex – as William Henry Rhone, housebreaking after pc felony (along with Charles Hutchinson), 10 years’ transportation (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892; England; Middlesex; 1852; image 90). 1857, 17 December: General Sessions, Clerkenwell, Middlesex – as William Henry Spencer, assault with intent to rob after pc felony, 6 years’ penal servitude (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892; England; Middlesex; 1857; image 66). --0--