Francis Tully

341

Maureen Withey on 25th January 2022

Conduct Record: https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON37-1-9p55 2nd conviction. Tried Hobart Town Q.S. 6 July 1857. 2 years hard labour, At Port Arthur. Freedom 26.2.1859. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/3244383?searchTerm=Francis Tully George Jones, Francis Tully, and Jeremiah Ashcroft were charged with stealing, on the 20th of June, 4 turkies, of the value of £2 ; and 1 bag, of the value of 1s ; the property of John Davis, of Brighton. John Davis, licensed victualler, stated that he had poultry in his yard, and amongst them some turkies ; at half-past 12 at night, on the 20th ult., some one, he thought a constable, came to the house, and in consequence of what he said, witness went the next morning to the Police Office yard, where he saw 4 turkies in a bag ; the turkies and the bag, now produced, were the same, and were the property of witness ; the turkies and the bag were in the hen-house at dusk on the 20th ; witness knew the prisoners, and had frequently seen Ashcroft knocking about the township ; about 8 o'clock on Saturday night, witness heard the dogs bark, but he took no notice, as they barked at almost anything. Cross-examined by Mr. Graves, on behalf of the prisoner Jones : When the constable came to the house on Saturday night, he asked witness to come to the Police Office to identify some turkies ; witness had 25 turkies, all marked under the wing; the prisoner Jones went about the township selling cakes and sweetmeats to the children. By the prisoner Ashcroft: Witness had never seen the prisoner with the other men nor did he see him at all on the Saturday night. By His Honor : Witness was going to take back the turkies, as there was to be a large public dinner. A witness named Stockford, a constable, deposed to hearing the dogs bark on the night in question ; he went into Mr. Davis' yard, and saw three men standing on the dung heap talking together; the prisoners were those men ; witness saw Tully hand a bag to Ashcroft, and heard Jones offer £2 to Ashcroft, but he said it was too little; witness then proceeded towards them, but they ran away towards the main road to Hobart Town ; witness called out for the police, and ran after the men, when he caught Ashcroft getting over a fence ; Ashcroft dropped the bag while witness was struggling with him, and Tully picked it up ; he told Ashcroft he must take him to the watchhouse, but he got away ; witness could not tell what was in the bag ; after Ashcroft got away, witness pursued the other prisoners into an unoccupied house, and took them to the watchhouse, with the bag and its contents ; witness afterwards apprehended. Ashcroft at his own residence on the township; there was a light in the unoccupied house, which was blown out as witness went in. At this stage of the proceedings, Mr. Graves offered to conduct the defence of all the prisoners, as he had seen enough of the case to induce him to do so. The prisoners Tully and Ashcroft gladly accepted the offer, and His Honor acceded to it. The witness was then cross-examined as to the localities of Mr Davis' yard, which he described ; he stated that as soon as he saw the men in the yard, he went up to them, when they directly ran away ; he heard the conversation about the £2 before he went to the men ; the turkies made no noise; witness was a free man, and had been harvesting before he joined the police at Brighton ; he was struggling with Ashcroft four or five seconds or four or five minutes ; the mouth of the bag was not tied, and when Ashcroft dropped the bag the turkies did not get out ; Ashcroft struck him with a stick on the shoulder, but he could not say what sort of a stick it was ; when Ashcroft dropped the bag, Tully pulled it through the fence with the turkies in it ; the fence was a five-rail fence ; the men went willingly to the watchhouse, and witness carried the bag. John Lievesay, watchhouse keeper, deposed to constable Stockford bringing Jones and Tully to the watchhouse, and the bag and the turkies ; Ashcroft was brought there afterwards; neither of the prisoners said anything. Cross-examined by Mr. Graves : The witness Stockford complained of having been struck by one of the men ; the night was very dark, but the hut (the unoccupied house) could be seen from Mr. Davis's. D. C. Simpson was called merely to prove the custody of the turkies, since he received them at the station house at Brighton. Mr. Graves addressed the jury for the prisoners : he closely criticized the evidence of the witness Stockford, and pointed out the palpable inconsistency of the alleged bargain between Jones and Ashcroft for the turkies ; the learned gentleman also pointed out other improbabilities in his testimony, and called upon the jury to weigh well the statement made by the witness in all its particulars; the liberty of the prisoners was at stake, and if they entertained any doubt, they would, he felt assured, be released to give them the benefit of that doubt. His Honor briefly addressed the Jury, concurring in the opinion of Mr. Graves, that the prisoners were entitled to the benefit of any fair doubt, that they might entertain of the evidence. The Jury retired, and in about a quarter of an hour returned into court, with a verdict of Guilty against all the prisoners. Hobart Town Mercury, 8 July 1857.

341

Maureen Withey on 24th January 2022

Kinnear Indent: https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON14-1-17$init=CON14-1-17P64 and https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON14-1-17$init=CON14-1-17P65 Francis Tully, tried at Kings, 4th March 1842, 10 years, age 27, height 5ft 2 ½, catholic, can neither read nor write, single. Offence: Stealing a mare, p. Dovey of Kings. Surgeon’s Report: Good. Trade, Groom. Native place, Maidstone, Kent. Remarks: Never stated I was married. M, Bridget, Co. Galway; 2 B, Jno & Michael; 1 S, Kelly at Galway.