Benjamin Wait

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Maureen Withey on 6th May 2020

A French Canadian political prisoner, convicted following the Patriot War in Canada in 1837-38. “The dates of the ship arrivals became significant. Prior to 1840, the penal administrators parceled out new convicts to settlers. The convicts provided free labor in exchange for room and board, so the six Short Hill raiders from the Marquis of Hastings who survived had an easier time than their comrades who arrived in 1840. For example, Benjamin Wait and Samuel Chandler found employment on a ranch – Chandler as a carpenter and Wait as a clerk and schoolteacher. The other four were George Cooley, James Waggoner, John Vernon and Norman Mallory. Beginning in 1840, the colony assigned all new convicts to government chain gangs. That fate befell all Patriot and Hunter prisoners transported on the Buffalo and Canton.” From “The Patriot War along the Michigan-Canada Border: Raiders and Rebels” by Shaun J. McLaughlin. -------------------------------------------------- Tasmanian conduct Record: https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON31-1-48$init=CON31-1-48p119 2598. Benjamin Waite. Per Marquis of Hastings 18 July 1839, Tried at Upper Canada, 18 July 1838. Life. Transported for High Treason. No Gaol report. Hulk report good behaviour and stated this offence High Treason, under sentence of Death 3 months 7 then respited to ?? Sir George Arthur came to see me 3 times. Married wife ???? T.L. 4.8.41. --------------------------------------------------- Only three of the Canadian Patriot prisoners managed to escape from Van Diemens Land, Benjamin Waite, Samuel Chandler and James Gemmell. “In August 1841, after two years working on a ranch, Wait and Chandler received their tickets of leave. Chandler used his new freedom to plan their escape. A Mason, he located lodge brothers in Hobart Town who helped arrange clandestine passage on an American whaling ship. Just after Christmas 1841, Chandler and Waite obtained passes from their employer (for good work) and travelled to Hobart Town. They rented a rowboat on the pretext of fishing and rowed out to sea. They spent three days in anxious uncertainty until their escape ship located them. On the journey home, Waite and Chandler helped hunt whales and survived a shipwreck off South America. In Rio de Janeiro, another American captain agreed to take them to New York. They arrived in July 1842. Masons paid their train fare to Niagara Falls, New York, where they reunited with their families. From “The Patriot War along the Michigan-Canada Border: Raiders and Rebels” by Shaun J. McLaughlin.