Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
William Thompson 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 264. --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. --0-- https://riflesmuseum.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Rifles_Chronology_1685-2012_Edn2.pdf |
| 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
IN WA: From his Fremantle jail record: THOMPSON, William; inmate #9892, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1832 Date of Death: 23 Jun 1878 Place of Death: Fremantle Prison Hospital, heart disease Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Labourer, soldier Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Montreal, Canada Crime: Insubordination & violence against officer Sentence Period: Life Ticket of Leave Date: 28 Aug 1877 Comments: Labourer. Reconvicted in Western Australia [incorrect. The other William Thompson #9895, per Hougoumont, was reconvicted and was recorded as Colonial #10141.] (https://fremantleprison.com.au/) --0--
8 October, 1867: He was sent 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 [anchorage in the Thames estuary] on October 1, and proceeded down Channel, after receiving on board 150 convicts from the establishments at Chatham and Millbank... 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 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." (Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Dec 1867, p4, at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271?searchTerm=hougoumont) --00--
23 April, 1867: He was sent to Portland prison, Grove Road, Portland. Portland, Portsmouth, Chatham and Spike Island in Ireland 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--
17 September, 1866: He was admitted to Pentonville prison, Caledonian Road, London -- inmate #3997; other details listed are already on record. Notation: "Parchment Certificate of Discharge received 1.4.67 and handed to Steward" (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for William Thompson; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1869). --0--
31 August, 1866: William Thompson was admitted to Millbank prison, Westminster, London, having arrived from Canada per the ship Orontes. By this time he had already served 1 month 20 days in jail in Canada and aboard the ship for "insubordination in having attempted to shoot his superior officer". Listed as a servant and formerly a Private, 4th Battalion Rifle Brigade, now inmate #2325; 33 years old when convicted, single, Church of England, able to read and write imperfectly. Next of kin—his sister, Katherine, in Melbourne, Australia. Previous convictions—1 General Court Martial, two at District CsM (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for Willm Thompson; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1867). While at Millbank, he would have been held in separate confinement. “After a sentence of transportation [or penal servitude] 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). Millbank, Pentonville, Wakefield and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. —0—
COURT MARTIAL: 11 July, 1866: Private William Thompson, Rifle Brigade, was court martialled at Montreal for "firing at a Sergeant with intent to kill him [and] discharging a rifle". He was sentenced "to suffer death by being hung"; sentence commuted "Death to Penal Servitude for life" (Judge Advocate General's Office: general courts martial registers, abroad, 1866-1900 at https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1693332957/view). The 4th Battalion Rifle Brigade served in Canada 1865-1866 (in 1866 it saw war service in the "Fenian raids"), before returning to England in 1867 (http://regiments.org/default.htm). --0--