William Jones

Level 40

Sandie McKoy on 2nd October 2022

EARLY YEARS IN ENGLAND William was born at home in 1823 at Factory (near Farlow) to parents Benjamin Jones and Anne Owens and was baptised on 20 July 1823 at the Farlow Parish Church (1). He grew up at Farlow and Oreton Common assisting his father with agricultural labouring. He was a fair-haired child with fair skin and grey eyes (2). When he wasn’t working, he had fun exploring the area with the local teenagers. They swam and fished in the River Rea, climbed the Clee Hills, and hunted in the forests. He had at least 6 siblings to play and share chores with at home. William saw from an early age what back breaking labour looked like for the people of Factory, Farlow and Oreton Common. Without the availability of easy access to Parish welfare, families had to work long hours to survive. William’s family was typical of the working class of the time. Everyone chipped in to help put food on the table, education was very limited, and their life revolved around the local Church and community activities such as small markets. At the same time William was growing up swimming in the River Rea and labouring in the Farlow area, his future wife Ellen Johnson was growing up as Tasmania – the place where William would be transported to as a convict. She was born around 1830 at Brighton, Tasmania to parents Montrose Johnson and Ellen Hickey – both convicts. Ellen was the youngest of her siblings. She grew up during a time when the newly formed British colony of Tasmania was relatively young. She had dark hair and dark eyes and was sometimes called Nellie. William’s criminal career begins Back in England, William had begun his criminal career which would place him on the path to meet Ellen. On 24 July 1841, he was charged with larceny at the County Assizes, Shropshire and sentenced to 6-months jail (3). I believe he only served 1 month of this sentence and it was for stealing wood. Unfortunately, the dark and dirty jail cell, horrible food and hard labour didn’t set William straight, as on 23 March 1843, he was committed to the Worcester County Gaol for allegedly stealing a bushel of potatoes, the property of Thomas Hustlings at Ombersley, Worcester (4). He remained at the Gaol for over a year before his trial was held on 1 July 1844 at the Shrewsbury Assizes. He was taken to Shrewsbury Gaol (know as ‘The Dana’) under police guard and was held there. At the trial he was found guilty. As this was his third offence for theft (he had been convicted for stealing wood previously), he was sentenced to be transported ‘across the seas’ for 7 years (5). He was lucky to receive this sentence, as the last public hanging at the prison was in 1863. From there, he either stayed at the gaol, or was imprisoned on a prison hulk. William is transported to Van Diemen’s Land On 10 August 1844, William was loaded onto the convict ship William Jardine with 266 other male convicts, leaving from London. It took 101 days to reach Van Diemen’s Land. The Ships master was Fran. Wilkins Lodge or John Gelmore. By 1844, conditions on convict ships had improved in terms of ventilation, food, and spiritual and medical care. Prisoners spent most of their time below deck and ship surgeon John Robertson took care to ensure the ship and men were as clean as possible to prevent disease outbreaks. I’m not sure if the men were chained on the William Jardine or if they were kept behind bars. They would have been let above deck for exercise and fresh air periodically. There were no convict women on board but there were 8 adult free women on the ship. William landed on the Derwent River at Hobart on 20 November 1844 (6). A board headed by the Superintendent of the Prisoner’s Barracks examined him and recorded details about his crime, his occupation and skills, and his family back in England. He was stripped to the waist and the details of his tattoos and physical appearance were recorded for identification purposes. This was a dehumanising experience for the convicts and must have given them a sense that escaping would be difficult. William’s records were cross checked with information about him forwarded from Britain. He was then disembarked from the ship and marched to the men’s Prison Barracks. Here he washed and changed into prison garments. William was assigned to a probation gang at the Impression Bay Probation Station at Premaydena on 16 December 1845 and was sentenced to 15 months there (7). The aim of the probation system was to both punish and reform convicts through hard labour, solitary confinement, education and spiritual guidance. They were classified based on their offences and were supposed to work through a graded reward system until they were freed. One can only imagine how William felt in those first few months. Maybe his years in prison had desensitised him somewhat to the the brutal penal system of early Tasmania. He possibly thought he would never return home. He was certainly home sick. William would have worked in convict ‘gangs’ to build infrastructure such as roads, bridges and government housing under heavy supervision. The probation system of the 1840s saw huge developments in infrastructure for Tasmania, but also saw to the downfall of the transportation system. There were many critics of the brutality of the system and transportation ceased in 1853. The probation system was unique to Tasmania and the huge numbers of convicts that were transported during the 1840’s experienced the dehumanising effects of the initiative. Once William finished at Impression Bay on 7 May 1846 (8), he was assigned to private citizens to work for them as a convict labourer and servant. He worked in the Glenorchy and Sandy Bay (possibly for William Russell Esquire), Jericho, and Oatlands areas (9) in 1846, 1847 and 1848, and at the Old Wharf at Hobart in 1849 (10). His convict indent is hard to read, so I can’t be sure exactly where he worked and who for. He was paid a small amount for his services and entered into employment contracts during this time. He was in trouble several times during this period for being absent without leave. On 24 October 1848 and 9 January 1849 William received Tickets of Leave (11). This enabled him to work for himself. He had to work within a designated area, carry his Ticket at all times, and attend church services each Sunday. WILLIAM STARTS HIS LIFE WITH ELLEN JOHNSON Whilst William was working for himself, his future wife Ellen was growing up in the areas of Brighton, Richmond and Browns Plain. By early 1850, they had met and formed a relationship. William and Ellen had their first child – Catherine Ann on 24 December 1850 at Glenorchy (12). Ellen was listed as being William’s wife on the birth record, but they weren’t married. William applied for permission to marry Ellen and this was granted on 4 Feb 1851 (13). Below: digitised image of the permission to marry record. I can’t find any evidence that they officially married, but Ellen took the last name of Jones. They lived in the Glenorchy area. Sadly, their daughter Catherine died 12 January 1853 at Glenorchy (14). They then had the following children: Harriet Matilda (b. approx 1855). Married George Gorst Ellen Elizabeth (b. 10 Jul 1855, d. 7 Aug 1855) William Benjamin Jones (b. approximately 1861). Married Elizabeth Chisholm. Arthur Ernest (b. approx. 1870). Married Emily Esther Peck. According to Sylvia and Geoff Pollard, William and Ellen worked as hawkers and travelled around selling dolly pegs that they made. WILLIAM’S LIFE IN TASMANIA I have found the following records for William in Tasmania. William was being mentioned in an arrest warrant for his daughter Harriet on 12 Feb 1873. Harriet had been accused of stealing a horse and was said to be heading towards Bothwell or Hobart Town with him (15). On 14 Feb 1873 William was arrested by the Brighton Municipal Police and Harriett by the Oatlands Municipal Police and the stolen horse was recovered (16). The next record I have for the family is a theft trial at the Glenorchy Police Court on 6 Apr 1878 and the start of records pertaining to William and Ellen’s drinking habits. According to the story in the Mercury (Hobart, Tas: 1860 - 1954), Saturday 6 April 1878, page 3, William, Ellen and their children stayed at a hotel. They couldn't afford board/lodgings, so they sold the owner their horse. They gave either William Jnr or Arthur the money as they were drinking and didn’t want to spend or lose it. The money was stolen. On 12 Dec 1879, William was tried for Larceny at Westbury and was sentenced to 1-month in jail. He was released on 14 Jan 1880 at Launceston . After this, William and Ellen were arrested at least 7 times for being drunk and 'incapable of looking after themselves' at Deloraine and Launceston. During one arrest, William was further charged with encouraging Ellen to resist arrest. The last arrest I can find for them is in 1893. I can’t find a death or burial record for William yet, so I’m not sure what happened to him after this. Ellen died 24 Sep 1898 at Launceston and was buried at the Charles Street Cemetery, Launceston (17). SOURCES 1: Shropshire Baptisms, Register date range 1813-1879, Archive reference, P107/A/1/1, Page 22. © DC Thomson Family History 2: Convict records obtained from Tasmania LINC 3: England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com 4: 23 March 1843 - Worcester Journal 5: England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892, Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Class: HO 27; Piece: 74; Page: 13 6: The True Colonist Van Diemen's Land Political Despatch, and Agricultural and Commercial (Hobart Town, Tas: 1834 - 1844) Thursday 21 November 1844 p 2 Article. 7: Tasmania LINC, Index number: 38439. Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1407545 8: Tasmanian State Archives. 9: Tasmania LINC, Index number: 38439. Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1407545 10: ibid. 11: ibid. 12: LINC Tasmania, Record ID: NAME_INDEXES: 954842. Resource: RGD33/1/4/ no 74. 13: Tasmania State Record, NAME_INDEXES:1255062, CON52/1/3 Page 241 14: Tasmania State Record, Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1190725, Resource: RGD35/1/3 no 2029 15: Tasmania, Reports of Crime, 1861-188]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com 16: ibid. 17: Source 1: Sylvia and Geoff Pollard. Source 2: Tasmania State Archives