Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
James Vant was transported on the Thomas Arbuthnot, departing 6th Jan 1847 and arriving 4th May 1847 with 289 passengers.
Built 1841 at Aberdeen, Scotland. Wood ship of 621 Tons. Thomas Arbuthnot, 1847. “The Thomas Arbuthnot convict ship, Captain Thomson, sailed from Spithead this morning for Port Phillip, with a superior class of delinquents, officially called “exiles.” These are the first “exiles” sent to the above settlement, which the inhabitants of that respectable place are very wroth at, and have memorialised the Government on the subject. The most ingenious trades and professions are carried on, on board this ship; in fact, we believe, all trades in vogue have their representatives on board. The most ingenious affair, however, is a newspaper in manuscript, published every Saturday, having its foreign and domestic correspondence, advertisements, and, indeed, all the necessary accessories to an apparently well-conducted journal. The articles are well written and the arrangements well made. The name of this paper is the Citadel, and the conductors dub the captain of the ship ” the governor.” The Citadel having no opponents enjoys a large circulation. The editor is a man who has been of considerable note in the legitimate literary world; but all names and circumstances in connexion with their present position is strictly preserved secret with regard to these “exiles,” the greatest majority of whom are juvenile offenders from Millbank, Pentonville, and Parkhurst (Isle of Wight) prisons.”—Times, January 12. Published in the Launceston Examiner, 2 June 1847. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/36252218?searchTerm=Thomas Arbuthnot There was a lot of public criticism of the arrival of these “Exiles” in New South Wales, and of their treatment, by being offered training, etc, to the detriment of honest but poor labourers.
Thomas Arbuthnot (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 92, Class and Piece Number HO11/15, Page Number 156 |
| 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
Convicts. —On Monday evening last, the following convicts were sent from York Castle to the Milbank prison, London, to pursuance of their respective sentences of transportation. For life,— Henry Bourn. For fifteen years,— William Phillips, James Wilson, and John Beaumont. For twelve years,—Richard Cragg. For ten years,—James Cragg, William Wood, and James Vant, the two latter of whom, it will be remembered were the parties implicated in the robbery at the shop of Mr. Smailes, in this city. Yorkshire Gazette, 3 May 1845. Convict Exiles Index. James Vant, age 17, per Thomas Arbuthnot. Date of trial, 84/3/1845, at York Assizes, sentence, 10 years, Charge, Larceny from his master. Remarks: The conduct of all these prisoners during their stay in Milbank Prison has been good; besides having learned to read and write well, they have made some progress in Arithmetic and all have been instructed in some useful trade.
Serious Robbery by Shop Boy. It will be remembered by many of our readers that young boy named James Vant was tried and convicted at the York Easter Sessions of having embezzled a sum of money from Mrs. Dent, of Pavement, stationer &c., being at the time of the commission of the offence her employ. A sentence of six months' imprisonment followed his conviction, and he consequently obtained his liberty about three months ago, when Mr. Smales, Colliergate, took him into his service as an errand-boy. and he has been thus engaged up to Wednesday last. On the evening of that day, about eight o'clock, business called Mr. Smales from his shop, which was left charge of this boy. At this time Mr. Smales' cash-box, containing £5, three notes, and the remainder in gold and silver, was under the counter, but not locked up—the box itself was locked. Soon after his master had gone out, Vant left the premises, taking, as is supposed, the cash-box with him. He then went, as it has since been discovered, to the residence of a notorious bad character, whose name is Wood, but who more generally passes by the appellation of The Flying Tailor. Wood went out with him shortly after, and it has been found that on the same evening they were at the Punch Bowl public-house, without Mieklegate Bar, where where they asked for a private room, ordered some ale, made enquiries about the time at which certain trains left York, and succeeded in getting a £5 note changed. That note is now the hands of the police, and has been identified by Mr. Smales as one of those which were the cashbox on the night in question, and we understand that the identity of the parties by whom it was changed, is equally certain. The attention of the police is being vigilantly directed to the case, and we may hope, therefore, that the course of a day or two, this young scamp and his companion will be apprehended. Yorkshire Gazette, 18 Jan 1845.
John Vant was the son of William Vant, from Ripon, Yorkshire. In March 1844, at age 16 and while apprenticed to William Dent, a stationer, Vant stole £3 15s paid over by a customer and boarded a train to Hull. He was arrested at the Temperance Hotel and sentenced to 6 months imprisonment. In March 1845, Vant was convicted of stealing from his employer, John Smailes, a draper. Vant stole Smaile's cash box and bought tickets to New Orleans for himself and 38 year old William Wood. They used £5 of the funds in Mr Smiley's Punch Bowl public house buying drinks. When arrested, the cashbox was found in a carpet bag purchased for the voyage. Both were sentenced to 10 years transportation. Wood was sent to Tasmania and Vent to Port Phillip. On arrival, Vant secured employment as a Shepherd in Geelong. He stayed for a time at Mr Duscombe's boarding house in Flinders Lane, with fellow exiles, Richard Hart (John Williams), Henry Devlin and George Clarke. When he left, Vant left clothing and books locked in trunks in Duscombe's store room. Hart, Clarke and Devlin were convicted of stealing and selling goods belonging to Vant and sentenced to transportation for 7 years, to Cockatoo Island.
James Vant was 17 years old when transported for stealing from his Master. He was a convict exile. James arrived in Victoria per the Thomas Arbuthnot. There is no record of him in VDL., and no other information after his arival.