Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
William Wilkes was transported on the Lady East, departing 4th Nov 1824 and arriving 9th Apr 1825 with 212 passengers.
Lady East (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 88, Class and Piece Number HO11/5, Page Number 217 (110) |
| 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
From what we can learn of the Bruné Island murder case, for which Wilks suffered death on Saturday last, it appears that all the parties concerned including the murdered man, were servants of Mr. Roberts, who at that period (more than two years ago) had an establishment for the manufactory, of salt and soap upon Brune Island, near the water's edge. The party had been engaged in playing cards, in the men's hut, when, according to the story told by the accomplice, a quarrel having arisen between Dennis Alcoloret, the murdered man, and Wilks, the latter struck the other with an axe, and afterwards, in the rear of the premises, completed the murder. Ferguson, it appears and the King's evidence, Ayton, were present at the beginning of the fray, and immediately after the murder was committed, Wilks possessed himself with some loaded fire-arms that were in tile hut, compelled the two others by intimidation, to have a hand in the horrid deed, by dragging Dennis Alcoloret's body, in which life was not yet extinct, and placing it under the furnace, where it was presently consumed by fire! But the eye of Providence was observing their proceedings, and although the spot is so secluded, a person, named Stephen Gould, happened to visit it in his boat, and to endeavour to put in, for the purpose of lighting his pipe, but was peremptorily refused permission to land. Now, this of itself was nothing, but coupling it with the extraordinary smell of burnt flesh that he describes - with the unusual circumstance of not being allowed to land at a place where strangers were generally received with a welcome, and with its having happened on the precise day when the murder was stated by the accomplice to have been perpetrated, it had considerable weight in fixing guilt upon one or more of the parties, and in confirming the story told by Ayton. Wilks continued most hardened to the last moment of his existence, and repeatedly asserted his innocence, but neither his deportment nor anything else at all confirmed his words. After he left the Court, under the awful sentence of the law, and with barely forty hours to live, his language and manner were indecorous in the extreme; nor was he in a much better frame of mind, as he ascended the gallows steps, using expressions that showed but too, clearly, the callous state of his mind. Colonial Times, 29 Jan 1830.
Tasmanian Conduct record. https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON31-1-45$init=CON31-1-45P213 No 637. William Wilkes, Lady East, tried 12 Jan 1824, 7 years. Aug 25 1828. Commd. for trial for the wilful murder of Dennis Alcoloret. -------------------------------------------------- TUESDAY 19.-The trial of William Wilkes and Angus Fergusson for the murder of Dennis Alcoloret, a servant of Mr. Roberts, at his salt works on Brune island in October 1827, commenced this day. William Wilkes was found guilty, and was sentenced to be hanged this morning at 8 o'clock, Angus Fergusson was acquitted. Hobart Town Courier, 23 Jan 1830.
1830 - Burials in the Parish of Hobart Town in the County of Buckingham No; 699 Name; William Wilks ** Spelling as per Register Abode; Hobart Town from Hospital When buried; 1830, 26 January Age; 25 years Ship’s Name; Lady East. Quality or profession. Convict. Executed for Murder • William Wilkes - 23 January 1830 - Hanged at Hobart for the murder of Dennis Alcoloret on Bruny Island in Oct 1827
The Prisoners tried during the Sessions were sentenced follows TRANSPORTATION. Seven Years. Wm. Perry, Jacob Perry, John Heath, and Wm. Wilkes, (all under 20 years of age) for stealing quantity of poultry, the property of Wm. Breedon. Warwick Advertiser, 17 Jan 1824.
National Archives. Criminal Petitions. HO 17/25/57[1824 Feb] Prisoner name(s): William Wilkes. Prisoner details: Aged 18 years. Court and date of trial: Warwick Quarter Sessions, January 1824. Crime: Felony, being found in dwelling house of Mary Perry with stolen goods belonging to William Breedon. Initial sentence: Seven years transportation. Annotated (Outcome): Refused. Petitioner(s): William Wilkes, the prisoner, undersigned by William Breedon, the prosecutor, and 11 inhabitants of Birmingham [Warwickshire]. Grounds for clemency (Petition Details): The prisoner is innocent; requests imprisonment in Penitentiary. Additional Information: Prisoner arrested with William Perry, Jacob Perry and John Heath. Held in Warwick gaol.