Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
William Payne was transported on the St Vincent, departing 28th Dec 1852 and arriving 26th May 1853 with 214 passengers.
St Vincent (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 92, Class and Piece Number HO11/17, Page Number 631 (318). --0-- Roscoe, Katy (2018), “Convicts and the Sea: the naval influence on Gibraltar Convict Establishment” at https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/ |
| 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
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Photos
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Convict Notes
FOOTNOTE -- ABOUT HIS CO-ACCUSED: James Cartwright, 24, illiterate, was not transported it seems, nor has any record been found to date of his imprisonment in the UK among freely available documents. All four men were held at Worcester – either at Worcester County Gaol and House of Correction, in Castle Street, or at Worcester City Gaol and House of Correction, in Friar Street (this is based Henry Sweatman’s records). Then, they were sent to Millbank prison in Pimlico, London, a place for all male convicts to serve their probationary term of up to 9 months, after which they would be transported or sent to a public works prison. After Millbank, at least two men were separated from the others, going to the hulks (Sweatman) or Gibraltar (Payne). -- Thomas Turberville, 22, illiterate, falls into the same category as James Cartwright. It seems he wasn’t transported and no jail records have come to light. However, in later life he may have returned to Kidderminster. The 1901 England Census shows a Thomas Turberville, 76, on a list of “Persons who slept or abode in [sic] this institution on the night of 31 March, 1901” – i.e. the Kidderminster District Union Workhouse. In the 1901 Census, a Thomas Turberville was listed as a widower, born in Kidderminster, and a retired green fruiterer (1901 England Census for Thomas Turberville; Worcestershire; Kidderminster; ALL; District Kidderminster Union Workhouse). -- Henry Sweatman/Sweetman, 22, illiterate, was transported for 15 years – to WA per the Pyrenees in 1853. See his bio at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/sweatman/henry/8791. --00--
OTHER: For more details of his convict life, see (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p155. --00—
VDL: 26 May, 1853: On arrival in VDL, WILLIAM PAYNE, convict #27999, was listed as a glassblower and weaver; 29 years old, 5’8½” tall with dark brown hair, dark brown eyes and a dark complexion. He was single, Protestant and literate. Native place: Kidderminster. He said he had been transported for “burglary, stealing £115”; previous conviction for assault – 1 month. Gibraltar report “very good” (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-115$init=CON33-1-115p155). Family: Mother Elizabeth; brother John; sister Eliza – at his native place (http://foundersandsurvivors.org/pubsearch/convict/chain/ai55272). --0--
3 February, 1853: He was sent aboard the St Vincent for transportation to VDL (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). --00--
On Gibraltar, WILLIAM PAYNE was described as 25 years old, sentenced to 15 years for “burglary and previous conviction”; born in Kidderminster; Church of England; brown hair, light hazel eyes and a dark complexion, 5’8¾” tall; literate; glassblower; single; relatives/family – in Osbourne Square, Kidderminster (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). --
On Gibraltar, as “convicts worked together with free men on the dockyards, lines between them became blurred. Convicts, like seamen, were ‘easily recognised’ by ‘their swarthy, weather beaten complexions…[and] muscular well-knit frames’. The discipline on the penal settlement was also influenced by the naval department, who superintended part of the works. In the 1840s, for example, convicts were provided ‘a half gill of rum’ at 11am and 5pm, which they drank from a trough. This mirrored the daily allowance of diluted rum, known as grog, to Royal Naval seamen in the Victorian era. Convicts were also allowed to use part of their earnings, to buy goods, usually tobacco, which they were allowed to smoke in the evening in the barracks. Though official correspondence cited health reasons for grog allowance, it seems likely that the convict authorities feared insubordination if they were banned from drinking and smoking, which were provided to the sappers and dockyard workers whom they worked alongside… In 1854, the acting overseer stated that “half of the offences were committed when the men were excited by rum”. For more serious offences, convicts were flogged with a ‘cat o’nine tails’ whip against the ‘flogging mast’, and during an investigation Dr William Baly concluded that the whip which was used was an old naval cat, which was ‘much heavier than any now used in the government prison and hulks at home, or in the army.’” (Roscoe, Katy (2018), “Convicts and the Sea: the naval influence on Gibraltar Convict Establishment” at https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/). --
TO GIBRALTAR: 4 March, 1851: PAYNE, WILLIAM #1480, arrived on Gibraltar from England per Cornwall. He was held on the Europa hulk (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Misc.; Register of Prisoners; 1810-1822 [mislabelled]). --
AFTERMATH – “STEALING” FROM THE BURGLAR: 31 March, 1848: Mary … [indistinct], aged 26, charged with stealing, on the 1st of February last, Stivichall, near Coventry, one sovereign, the property of William Payne. Payne, who has, since the alleged robbery, been convicted of burglary at Stafford, and is now under sentence of transportation, did not appear, and no other evidence being offered, the girl [sic] was ordered to be liberated.”(Coventry Herald, pp2-3). --00--
NEWSPAPER REPORTS OF THE TRIAL: 13 March, 1848: “James Cartwright, 24, Thomas Turberville, 22, Henry Sweatman, 22, and William Paine [sic], 24, were indicted for a burglary in the house of John Mound, at Knighton-upon-Teme, on the night of the 22d of January, and stealing therefrom 115/. in notes, gold, and silver, and also a gun. They were convicted, and sentenced to be each transported for 15 years.” (Morning Advertiser, p4) -- 13 March, 1848: James Cartwright, aged 24, Thomas Turberville, aged 22, Henry Sweatman, aged 22, and William Payne, aged 24, were charged with having, on the night of the 27th January last, at the parish of Linridge, near Kidderminster, feloniously and burglariously entered the dwelling-house of John Mound, and stolen therefrom £115 in bank notes, gold, silver, and copper, and a single-barrelled gun, his property. Mr. Huddlestone appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Best for the defence…” (Morning Herald London, p7) --00--
TRIAL: 6 March, 1848: William Payne, 24 and semi-literate, was convicted and sentenced to 15 years’ transportation for burglary and a previous conviction for felony (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 for William Payne; England; Worcestershire; 1848). --0--