Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Samuel Tams was transported on the Norwood, departing 6th Apr 1867 and arriving 13th Jul 1867 with 256 passengers.
Norwood (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 93, Class and Piece Number HO11/19, Page Number 219 (112) --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 |
| 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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Convict Notes
NOTE: Year of Birth is known from UK records but not the days and months. The latter dates have been entered as 01/01 because the site does not allow those fields to be left empty.
From his FREMANTLE jail record: TAMS, Samuel, inmate #9591, arrived 13 Jul 1867 per Norwood (Journey 2) Date of Birth: 1834 [1836 in UK records] Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Groom Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Stafford Crime: Larceny Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 10 Oct 1871 Certificate of Freedom Date: 21 Dec 1876 Comments: General servant, labourer, shingle splitter, brick maker, clearer, teamster, fence maker (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/). --00--
IN WA: 1867, 14 July: On arrival, #9591 Samuel Tams was listed as 31, single, a groom (not a potter, as per UK records), single, literate, and a Protestant. Family – living at New Street, Longton, Stafford[shire]. Physical description: 5’6” tall, light brown hair, grey eyes, a clear complexion and healthy appearance. No distinguishing marks. Behaviour “indifferent” (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9059-9598 cont., 9599-10128 (R15-R16) ). --0--
ARRIVAL: From the Inquirer and Commercial News, 17 July 1867, p2: “LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS. The ‘Norwood’.—The convict ship Norwood, Captain Frank Bristow, anchored in Gage's Roads at 6.30 p.m. on Saturday, 13th; Dr. Saunders, Staff Surgeon, RN, Surgeon Superintendent, and Mr. Irwin, Religions Instructor; having on board a guard of 30 pensioners, 18 women and 30 children, 4 warders, with their families, and 253 convicts. The ship was inspected on the 14th, and the prisoners all landed on that afternoon. No set of such men could have conducted themselves with greater subordination and good order than these did on the voyage out, and they were all landed in good health. Only one death occurred among the convicts, and no other. There have been four births on board. The Norwood was here with convicts in 1862, under the Superintendence of Dr. Watson, RN, and she belongs to Messrs. J. H. Juscombe, of London. Strong S.W. gales were encountered in the Channel, after leaving Portland on the 18th of April, with head winds as far as the Canaries. From thence fair average weather, with good trades. The Norwood had moderate winds in running down her easting, which she did between 39 and 40deg. S, until the 12th when a very heavy N.W. gale was encountered, which moderated early on the 13th, when she made Rottnest about noon. The ships spoken were the City of Shangai, for China, the Roxburgh Castle for Madras, and the Italian barque Oreste, near the line, which took letters home. The Palestine left the Downs for Swan River when the Norwood was lying at Portland. One more convict ship will probably leave in September. Dr. Saunders has had charge of convicts for the first time, and the voyage has been most favourable with respect to the order, discipline, and cleanliness of the ship.” (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/69384931) --00--
EMBARKATION: 1867, 30 March: Samuel Tams was sent from Chatham to board the Norwood for WA (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9059-9598 cont., 9599-10128 (R15-R16)). From the Kentish Gazette, 2 April 1867, p6: “On Saturday [30 March] a batch of convicts left St. Mary's convict prison, and were marched to the landing place, at Chatham dockyard, where they embarked aboard the steam tender Adder, for conveyance to the Nore. On arriving there the ship Norwood was waiting to receive them, and will convey them to Fremantle, Western Australia, where they will undergo the remainder of their sentence.” (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18670402/006/0003) --00--
Unknown date: Samuel Tams was sent to Chatham prison, St Mary’s, in Kent; inmate #8743 (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Register of Prisoners, 1865-1866). 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) --00—
1866: It’s likely Samuel Tams was sent from Stafford jail and held at Millbank prison, Westminster, London (now the site of the Tate Gallery), where he would have undergone solitary confinement before being “passed on” in the system. -- “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. --00--
JAILS: 1866, 22 February: Samuel Tams [incorrectly listed as Samuel Sams] was admitted to Stafford Gaol, Gaol Road, Stafford to await his trial; inmate #35, 30 years old, born 1836, potter; subsequently sentenced to 10 years’ PS (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Samuel Tams, Stafford Gaol, Register of Prisoners, incorrectly labelled as 1869-1874). --0--
NEWSPAPER COVERAGE OF TRIAL: From the Staffordshire Advertiser, 10 March, 1866, p7: “SHOP ROBBERY AT LONGTON. BENJAMIN HAYNES, 41, miner. SAMUEL TAMS, 30, potter, JAMES TAMS, 19, labourer, and JAMES HATTON, labourer, were indicted for stealing, the 26th January, two rolls of holland, the property of Mr. John Ward. The prosecutor is a draper at Longton, and on the day named, between five and half-past five in the evening, he missed the two rolls of holland from his counter. He gave information to the police, and the property was traced to the possession of the prisoners, who had endeavoured to dispose of it. James Tams pleaded guilty, and said the others had nothing to do with the robbery. The jury, however, after hearing the evidence, thought otherwise, and returned a verdict of guilty against all the prisoners. Haynes and Charles Tams [sic] had both undergone four years’ penal servitude, and Hatton had been previously convicted. There were other indictments against all the prisoners, and the Court sentenced them to ten years’ penal servitude each.” (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000252/18660310/111/0007) FOOTNOTE: All four men were transported to WA. The Tams brothers went first, in April 1867, aboard the Norwood. Benjamin Haynes and James Hatton were sent aboard the Hougoumont in October 1867. --00--
TRIAL: 1866, 6 March: Convicted at the Stafford Adjourned General Quarter Sessions, Staffordshire, and sentenced to 10 years’ penal servitude for larceny, and (four) previous convictions for felony and (one for) larceny (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for Samuel Tams; England, Staffordshire, 1866). --0--