Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
James Warden 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 241 (123). --0-- Victoria, Australia, Death Index, 1836-1988. --0-- https://fremantleprison.com.au/ |
| 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 James Warden yet.
Photos
No photos have been added for James Warden.
Convict Notes
FOOTNOTE: From the WA Police Gazette, No.4, 26 Jan 1881, p15: 1880, 27 October: James Warden, expiree, is listed on a "Register of Expirees and Conditional Pardon Holders who have left the Colony". He sailed on the S.S. Rosette for Melbourne on 27 October. Described as: previously reg. no. 9905, arrived Hougoumont; aged 50, stout, 5'6" tall, dark brown hair, grey eyes, oval visage, fresh complexion (https://slwa.wa.gov.au/pdf/battye/police_gazettes/188101_m.pdf). Did he return to WA after this? --00--
DEATH OF JAMES WARDEN? Name: WARDEN, Jas Father's name: Warden Jas Place of death: Castlemaine Age at death: 66 Death registered: 1896 Reg. number: 12819/1896 (https://my.rio.bdm.vic.gov.au/ and Victoria, Australia, Death Index, 1836-1988). --00-- "An inmate of the [Castlemaine] Benevolent Asylum, named James Warden, died on Saturday morning." (Mount Alexander Mail, Monday 28 December, 1896, p2, ITEMS OF NEWS). --00--
From his FREMANTLE jail record: WARDEN, James, inmate #9905, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1830 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Labourer Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Maidstone Crime: Abuse of girl under 10 years Sentence Period: 10 years Ticket Leave Date: 7 Nov 1871 Certificate of Freedom Date: 4 Aug 1876 Comments: Piece worker, general servant, labourer, self-employed, 1875-1876. To Victoria, 17 Nov 1880 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
IN WA: January, 1868: On arrival in WA, James Warden was listed as 36 years old when convicted, convict #9905, a labourer, single, 5'6½" tall with dark brown hair, grey eyes, fresh complexion and stout build (http://www.perthdps.com/convicts/con-wa42.html). --00--
September, 1867: Three months later, he was sent from Chatham to board the Hougoumont for transportation to 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 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 [only two were on the Hougoumont – Thomas Berwick and Lionel Holdsworth, each sentenced to 20 years for fraud], 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.” (Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Dec 1867, p4, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271). --00--
11 June, 1867: James Warden was sent to Chatham Prison, St Mary's Island, Kent (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for James Warden; Portsmouth Prison, Registers of Prisoners, 1866-1868). --0--
18 April, 1867: He was admitted to Portsmouth Prison, Hampshire -- inmate #935 (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for James Warden; Portsmouth Prison, Registers of Prisoners, 1866-1868). --0--
18 September, 1866: James Warden was transferred from Maidstone and admitted to Pentonville Prison in north London. Completed in 1842, Pentonville was built “for the detention of convicts sentenced to imprisonment or awaiting transportation.” (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HM_Prison_Pentonville) He was listed as inmate #4001 (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for James Warden; Pentonville Prison, Register of Prisoners, 1866-1869). --0--
JAILS: 1866: He was held at Maidstone County Gaol and House of Correction, County Road, Maidstone, in Kent (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for James Warden; Pentonville Prison, Register of Prisoners, 1866-1869). --0--
NEWSPAPER reports of the trial: "A Shocking Affair.—James Warden, a sailor, with very sinister cast of countenance, was brought up in custody, charged with having feloniously assaulted a little girl only eight years of age, on the day previous. This case was a more than ordinarily painful one, and the prisoner in walking from the police-station to the Town Hall was followed by a crowd of people who loudly evinced their disgust at his shameful conduct. His victim was an interesting looking little child, who seemed painfully to realise the position she was placed in. Jane Eliza Herbert deposed that she was nine years old, next birthday, and that she lived at No. 9, Seven Star Street, and that the man Warden lived in the same house. It was on Sunday afternoon that he went into the room where she was. The child then, in reply questions from the Bench, gave a detailed account of what transpired. The Prisoner cross-examined and so frightened the little thing that she burst into tears, and her fright was such that she could with difficulty be prevailed on to speak. Elizabeth Lavender said she was the wife of John Lavender and lived in the same house as the little girl and the prisoner. She was lying down in the afternoon in a room on the same floor as that in which the offence was committed, when she heard the child say 'I will tell my mother', and scream out. She did not go to it for a minute or two because she thought the child was having a bit of a quarrel with another child who was very often there. When she got into the room Warden was gone, but from something the child said she went and called her mother. After examining the child they went up to prisoner's room, and witness asked him if he was not ashamed of himself, and if he did not know better. He did not reply to her, but in answer to her sister, the child's mother, said would do anything if they would forgive him, and he would give the last shilling he had got. She replied that she was the mother of the child and that she intended to see it out. He then said that he must have been out of his mind at the time. Mary Ann Howard deposed that she was the mother of the little girl bv a former husband. On Sunday last the witness, her sister, came up into her bedroom and after she had told her they went down together to see the child. They afterwards went to the prisoner's room, and he said he would give anything to make it up. When she spoke to him about it he turned very pale and burst out crying and said the devil had tempted him. This was not the only case of the sort in which he had been implicated. Arthur Long, surgeon, was examined as to the state of the child. A police officer also deposed taking the prisoner into custody. Remanded till Wednesday for the production of further evidence." (27 July 1866, Dover Express, pp2-3). -- "BRUTAL CONDUCT TOWARDS A CHILD. James Warden, a mariner, was charged with assaulting Jane Eliza Herbert, and attempting to commit a rape upon her, upon the ground-floor of a house in Sevenstar Street..." (28 July 1866, Dover Telegraph and Cinque Ports General Advertiser, p5). --00--