Thomas Townley

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Summary

Born
Jan 1837
Conviction
Violence to a superior officer
Departure
Oct 1867
Arrival
Jan 1868
Death
May 1885
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Personal Information

Name: Thomas Townley
Gender: Male
Born: 1st Jan 1837
Death: 30th May 1885
Age at death: 48
Occupation: Miller
Aliases: Tounley

Crime

Convicted at: Plymouth, HMS Adelaide General Court Martial
Sentence term: 99 years

Voyage

Departed: 10th Oct 1867
Arrival: 9th Jan 1868
Place of Arrival: Western Australia

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.

HougoumontHougoumont

References

Primary SourceAustralian 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 DescriptionThis 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 SourceGreat Britain. Home Office
Compiled ByState Library of Queensland
Database SourceBritish convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database

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Convict Notes

Dianne Jones avatar
218
on 25th April 2022

NEWSPAPER reports of the lead-up to his court martial: 7 December, 1866: "ATTEMPT TO MURDER A SERJEANT OF MARINES ON BOARD THE DONEGAL. On Wednesday evening, about nine o'clock, shortly after the lights had been extinguished on board her Majesty's ship Donegal (the coastguard ship at Liverpool), a Private of Marines, Thomas Townley, fired his rifle at Serjeant Urquhart, the senior serjeant of the marines corps attached to the ship. Urquhart's escape was little short of miraculous. He and another serjeant were sitting talking at their mess-table on the lower deck, and Urquhart was leaning with his head resting on his hand. Townley, it appears, when the lights were extinguished, went to the arms rack, took out his own rifle, and proceeding to the mess-table, next to that at which Urquhart was sitting, placed his rifle over the breach of a gun and discharged it point blank at Urquhart, who was facing him at the moment. The other serjeant was sitting with his back towards Townley. The bullet passed close to the ear of the man, and then took off the tip of Urquhart's forefinger, and, crossing his lip, deprived him of one of his moustachios, then passing through the breach of the gun behind Urquhart was flattened against the iron. Immediately after the report Townley stood forth and said, 'You need not look; I am the man who did it.' He was at once seized and placed in irons. Captain Paynter is absent on leave, but the first lieutenant (Cooper) immediately summoned a court of inquiry. From the evidence adduced, it appeared that Townley had nourished a feeling of resentment against Urquhart for upwards of a year, in consequence of his belief that the serjeant had prevented him obtaining leave of absence and that desire for revenge had prompted him to make the attempt on the Serjeant's life. It appeared during the inquiry that the prisoner secreted a cartridge on Wednesday afternoon when he was out with a shooting party, and that on the same occasion one of his comrades saw him stooping down apparently hunting for a cap. When questioned he said he was looking for a sixpence which he had dropped. One of the men on board also stated that after the firing of the gun he heard Townley say, 'I did it for revenge for stopping my leave this time twelve months ago.' A report of the affair has been forwarded to the Admiralty, and steps will be taken for the prisoner's trial." (London Evening Standard, Friday 07 December 1866, p3, at https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/) --0--