Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Thomas Townley 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, Page Number 266. --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. |
| 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
No one has claimed Thomas Townley yet.
Photos
No photos have been added for Thomas Townley.
Convict Notes
1851 England Census: THOMAS TOWNLEY, aged 12, born Coventry, Warwickshire; son of John Townley (36), a printer and bookbinder, and Louisa Townley (30), living at Thorp Arch [about 14 miles north-east of Leeds] (1851 England Census for Thomas Townley; Yorkshire; Thorp Arch; ALL; 10). --0--
Records of Royal Marines: Name: Thomas Townley. Age: 18 years. Place of birth: Coventry, Warwickshire. Reference: ADM 158/69/13/36 Description: Name: Thomas Townley. Age: 18 years. Place of birth: Coventry, Warwickshire. Date: [1818-1868] Held by: The National Archives, Kew (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/f5edcae08d3b47c191ab2a1e77f149dc). --0--
OTHER: Attestation papers: Reference: ADM 157/81/293 Description: Folios 293-295. Thomas Townley, born Warwickshire. Attestation papers to serve in the Royal Marines at Woolwich 1855 (when aged 18). Discharged 1866 as Prison. Joined from West Yorkshire Militia. Date: 1855-1866 Held by: The National Archives, Kew (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10046792). --0--
NOTE re OCCUPATION: When convicted, he was a Royal Marine, an option that's not listed above, so his civilian trade of miller -- given on his arrival in WA -- has been used. --00--
IN WA: TOUNLEY, Thomas; inmate #9896, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Alias: TOWNLEY Date of Birth: 1838 Date of Death: 30 May 1885 Place of Death: Fremantle Prison Hospital, heart disease Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Miller, soldier Literacy: Semiliterate Sentence Place: Plymouth Crime: Firing at sergeant with intent Sentence Period: Life Ticket of Leave Date: 1 Jul 1879 Comments: Gardener, labourer, road worker, teamster, stone breaker (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
30 September, 1867: He was sent from Millbank to board the Hougoumont for WA. “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 [anchorage in the Thames estuary] on October 1, and proceeded down Channel, after receiving on board 150 convicts from the establishments at Chatham and Millbank... 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.” (Sydney Morning Herald, Thu 19 Dec 1867, p4, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271)
JAILS: 29 December, 1866: Thomas Townley was admitted to Millbank prison -- inmate #2697, 28 years old when convicted, single, able to read and write imperfectly, Protestant; sentenced to penal servitude for life for "firing a loaded rifle at his superior officer with intent to murder". Next of kin -- his father John Townley, Leeds. Notation 1: "Visited by brother and sister-in-law 29.6.67" Notation 2: "Visited by brother 21.9.67". This record says he was court martialled at Plymouth [general address] rather than the specific location of Devonport (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Thomas Townley; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1867). While at Millbank, he would have been held in separate confinement. “After a sentence of transportation [or penal servitude] 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--
NEWSPAPER report of the court martial: 15 December, 1866: "COURT-MARTIAL. — A court-martial was held at Devonport on Thursday, on board the Royal Adelaide, guard ship in the Mersey, for the trial of Thomas Townley, a private in the Royal Marines Light Infantry, belonging to the 60th company of the Woolwich division, for firing a rifle loaded with gunpowder and ball at Serjeant Robert Urquhart, Royal Marines Light Infantry, belonging to the 60th company of the Woolwich division, his superior officer, with intent to murder him. He was found guilty [other reports say he pleaded guilty] and sentenced to transportation for life." (London Evening Standard, 15 December 1866, p3) --0--
COURT MARTIAL: 13 December, 1866: Thomas Townley was court martialled at Devonport [not Plymouth, as given above], aboard the Royal Adelaide, and sentenced to penal servitude for life. --0--
8 December, 1866: "Attempted Murder by Marine.—On Wednesday evening, Thomas Townley, marine on board the Donegal—the guardship in the Mersey—attempted to murder one of the sergeants of his corps, named Urqnhart. Townley fired point blank at the sergeant, who escaped, however, with the loss of part of his mustache and the tip of one of his fingers. The assassin made no secret of his intention to take Urquhart’s life, and he was at once placed in irons. He appears to have long cherished an angry feeling against the sergeant, on account of some interference in the matter of leave." (Lancaster Guardian, Saturday 8 December 1866, p8, at https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) --0--