Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
William Skinner 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, p249 (127) --0-- Edgar, W. (Bill). (2018). “The precarious voyage of her majesty’s convict ship ‘Nile’ to the Swan River colony, late 1857 – and the unexpected aftermath.” The Great Circle, 40(1), 20–43. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26783779 --0-- https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/ |
| 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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Convict Notes
NOTE: Year of Birth is taken from official records but day and month are not known. The latter dates have been entered as 01/01 because the site does not allow those fields to be left empty.
FREMANTLE JAIL RECORD SKINNER, William; inmate #9876, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1828 [or 1830?] Date of Death: 30 October, 1871 Place of Death: Fremantle Prison Hospital, consumption Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Furrier [or farrier] Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Oxford Crime: Burglary Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/) --000--
IN WA: 1868: On arrival, WILLIAM SKINNER, 38, was listed as convict #9876; sentenced to 10 years, at Oxford, 12 July, 1866, for “burglary after previous conviction”; no trade [previously farrier in UK records]; single, no children; literate; Protestant; family – no details supplied; character “good”. Described as 5’8” tall, light brown hair, blue eyes, long visage, light complexion, slight; hair scanty. Previous convictions: 1864, March at Huntington – 18 months for burglary. “Supposed to have lived a career of crime for some years past.” Other: “Not fit to be discharged to Ticket of Leave” [eligible for ToL in November 1871]. “Died in the Fremantle Prison Hospital 30th October, 1871 (consumption [TB]).” (https://www.perthdps.com/convicts/con-wa42.html; and Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16)). TB/Phthisis: “In the medical writings of Europe through the Middle Ages and well into the industrial age, tuberculosis was referred to as phthisis, the ‘white plague’, or consumption—all in reference to the progressive wasting of the victim’s health and vitality as the disease took its inexorable course.” (https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Tuberculosis) --0--
EMBARKATION: 1867, 30 September: He was sent from Chatham to board the Hougoumont for WA (England, Criminal Lunatic Asylum Registers, 1820-1876; Quarterly Returns of Prisoners in Convict Prisons/Lunatic Asylums; 1867; September; image 122). “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 [not the senior Fenian, Captain Moriarty; rather, this was Bartholomew Moriarty, aged 17]. 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--
1867, 11 June: Admitted to Chatham Prison, St Mary’s, Kent – inmate #9094, aged 36; convicted of burglary; tried Oxford Assizes, 12 July, 1866; 10 years. No surgeon’s report or behaviour report – listed as “lately received” (England, Criminal Lunatic Asylum Registers, 1820-1876; Quarterly Returns of Prisoners in Convict Prisons/Lunatic Asylums; 1867; June; image 127). --0-- 1867, September: At Chatham Prison, as above (England, Criminal Lunatic Asylum Registers, 1820-1876; Quarterly Returns of Prisoners in Convict Prisons/Lunatic Asylums; 1867; September; image 122). --00--
1867, 18 April: Admitted to Portsmouth Prison, in Hampshire – inmate #919; aged 36, burglary; behaviour at Pentonville “very good” (England, Criminal Lunatic Asylum Registers, 1820-1876 for William Skinner; Quarterly Returns of Prisoners in Convict Prisons/Lunatic Asylums; 1867; June; image 329). Portsmouth, Portland and Chatham in England, Spike Island in Ireland, along with Gibraltar and Bermuda were listed public works stations and the second stage in the penal process. After separate confinement, prisoners were “placed on work parties at various locations, most commonly naval stations, where maintenance of facilities was vital for the effective protection of Britain’s far flung commercial and military influences around the world. While there, attitude and behaviour were monitored closely. In theory, only after consistently positive reports was a prisoner moved on to the third stage of his incarceration—transportation.” (Edgar, p40). --0--
1866, 3 August: Admitted to Pentonville Prison, Caledonian Road, London – inmate #3877, William Skinner, alias Isaac Parish, 36, single, semiliterate, farrier; sentenced to 10 years’ ps; convicted Oxford Assizes, 3 August, 1866 [sic]; burglary and previous conviction felony; behaviour “good” (UK, Criminal Records, 1780-1871 for William Skinner; Prison Registers and Statistical Returns; 1864-1871; HO 24/18; image 104). “After a sentence of transportation was handed down, the prisoner entered into a separate stage where he was placed into an individual cell, isolated from others, apart from brief periods of exercise and attendance at chapel. However, no communication of any kind with other prisoners was permitted at any time. The philosophy behind this penal methodology had its provenances in the religious, monastic traditions; i.e., that in the isolation of his cell the malefactor would be able to contemplate the errors of his way, unadulterated by the negative influences of former contemporaries, and be reformed.” (Edgar, 2018, pp39-40) When first put into practice, the mandated period of separate confinement was 18 months. By the late 1840s, authorities had conceded that such conditions of imprisonment were “injurious to many prisoners’ mental health” and the stint was reduced to 12 months. Periods of separate confinement were reduced further “as a prisoner displayed good behaviour tendencies” (Edgar, p40). Pentonville, Millbank, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --0--
JAILS: 1866, March: Held at Oxford County Gaol (in Oxford Castle; also known as Oxford Castle County Gaol and Bridewell, Oxford Castle Gaol; opened after rebuilding in 1776) awaiting his trial, and following his conviction. (https://www.prisonhistory.org/) --0--
Trial / 2 The judge then passed sentence on the prisoner, and said that he had pleaded guilty to this burglary, and notwithstanding what had been urged by his counsel in mitigation of punishment, he felt it to be a burglary of a most aggravated description. By the use of certain implements intended expressly for such purposes he had effected an entrance into the house in the dead of the night, while the inmates were asleep in fancied security. Having thus obtained access to the premises he commenced by plundering various articles of great value which were ready to be conveyed away, but fortunately was stopped in his progress through the gallantry and courage of Mr. Thomson’s son, and by him was secured, and the property was recovered. The case was aggravated by the fact that the prisoner had been previously convicted of similar burglary, and although he denied it yet no one could doubt it for one moment, or dispute the proof of that conviction. Persons who had such implements in their possession were no novices, and therefore it was very improbable that this was his first attempt. He was sorry say that on two previous occasions, when he had the honour of presiding here judge, he had to try two similar cases where housebreaking implements were found upon the parties. Although there was no evidence to show that the prisoner belonged to a gang of burglars, there could be no doubt that he was professional burglar, and therefore it was necessary for the safety of the public that he should be removed from the country for considerable period. Accordingly he ordered him undergo ten years’ penal servitude.” (https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000634/18660721/160/0007) ** As reported in the Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette, Saturday 21 July, 1866, p2 at https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000989/18660721/035/0002. --0--
NEWSPAPER REPORT OF TRIAL: From the Oxford Times, Saturday 21 July, 1866, p7: “The Burglary at Marsh Baldon. William Skinner [** 36, described as a farrier] pleaded guilty to burglariously breaking and entering a dwelling-house at Marsh Baldon on the 27th of March last, and stealing certain silver spoons and other articles, the property of Guy Thomson, Esq. The prisoner was also indicted for having been previously convicted of a burglary in Huntingdonshire. To that charge he pleaded not guilty. Mr. Richard Barker, Inspector of the Huntingdonshire County Constabulary, proved that the prisoner was convicted at the Huntingdon Assizes in the name of Isaac Parish, January 25th, 1864, for a similar offence, and sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment. The prisoner denied this conviction through his counsel. Mr. Sawyer, instructed Mr. W. Brunner, and the jury were some time before they came to a unanimous decision. The learned judge called upon P.C. Tagart to produce the implements left in Mr. Thomson’s house. The housebreaking implements were produced, and consisted of a centre-bit, saws, augers, pinchers, jemmy, and various other tools, highly finished and admirably adapted for their purpose. The police officer also produced the two pieces sawn out of the shutter by which an entrance into the house was effected. Mr. Sawyer pleaded in mitigation of punishment that the prisoner was accompanied by no one on the night of the burglary and that when Mr. John Thomson so courageously captured him he made no resistance or used any violence, but quietly surrendered himself. Those were points deserving of consideration, because generally speaking more than one person was concerned in burglary, and oftentimes great violence and resistance were offered before a capture could be effected. Contd/2...