Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Transportation
George Williams was transported on the Nile, departing 18th Sep 1857 and arriving 1st Jan 1858 with 271 passengers.
Nile (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 93, Class and Piece Number HO11/18, Page Number 240 |
| 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
No one has claimed George Williams yet.
Photos
No photos have been added for George Williams.
Convict Notes
IN WA: From his Fremantle jail record: WILLIAMS, George; inmate #4723, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Date of Birth: 1830 Marital Status: Married 3 children Occupation: Shoe maker Sentence Place: Westminster, Middlesex, England Crime: Larceny Sentence Period: 6 years penal servitude Ticket of Leave Date: 28 Sep 1859, at Guildford Comments: To South Australia, 3 Sep 1864 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
10 September, 1857: Sent from Portland to board the Nile for WA (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). --00--
7 April, 1857: Admitted to Portland prison, in Grove Road. 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) George Williams was inmate #6962; listed as 27 (when convicted), married with three children, able to read and write, a labourer, Church of England; next of kin -- his wife, of 2 Prospect Terrace, near Ageston [sic; Haggerston] Church, Shoreditch. He has two previous convictions for felonies, 9 months and 12 months' jail; and was sentenced to 6 years' Penal Servitude for stealing a purse and £10/4/11 from the person (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portland Prison; Prison Records to 1875) --0--
31 July, 1856: Admitted to Pentonville prison, Caledonian Road, London; served 9 months 6 days in separate confinement; behaviour "good". --0--
26 June, 1856: Admitted to Millbank prison in Pimlico, London; inmate #2914; served 1 month 5 days in separate confinement; behaviour "good" (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners to 1885). “After a sentence of transportation [or penal servitude, apparently] 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, Wakefield, Pentonville and Mountjoy in Ireland were the “Probation” or “Separate” prisons, as were some local jails. --0--
2 May, 1856: Admitted to Clerkenwell jail (Cold Bath Fields); served 56 days in association with other prisoners (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Millbank Prison; Register of Prisoners to 1885). --0--
JAILS: 12 April, 1856: George Williams was committed for trial at Marylebone Police Court. --0--
WHEN THE PICKPOCKET'S PROFILE RIVALS THE VICTIM'S? Newspaper report of George Williams' trial: From the "Weekly Dispatch", May 4, 1856, p16: "Clerkenwell: Adjourned April Quarter Sessions PLATFORM ROBBERY George Williams, 27, was indicted for and found guilty of stealing a purse containing £10/22/4 [clearly a typo for shillings; other records say £10/4/11] from the person of the Hon. Charlotte Lyon Bowes (Lady Glamis) on the platform of the Paddington terminus of the great Western Railway. The prisoner was one of the most notorious members of the swell mob [pickpockets]; and on his apprehension on that charge, Mr. Collard, the superintendent of the railway police traced out his career, and found that he had been convicted at Manchester Sessions of robbing a gentleman on the Exchange of £80, and sentenced to a year’s hard labour. That conviction was now proved by Inspector Sandford, of the Manchester police. Whicher, the detective sergeant, said he had known the prisoner for years as a swell mobs-man, and the companion of those who pursued that avocation, all over England. The prisoner was taken into custody, with two others, at the Norwich Festival, when Jenny Lind performed there. The Assistant Judge sentenced the prisoner to six years’ penal servitude." (http://www.perthdps.com/convicts/w4723.htm) -- Note: Charlotte Lyon-Bowes, Lady Glamis (née Grimstead; 22 January 1797 – 19 January 1881) was a daughter of Joseph Valentine Grimstead, of Ewood Park and Merry Hall, and Charlotte Jane Sarah Walsh. She was born at Leatherhead and died at Redbourn and was a great-grandmother of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She married Thomas Lyon-Bowes, Lord Glamis, only son of Thomas Lyon-Bowes, 11th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne and Mary Elizabeth Louisa Rodney Carpenter, on 21 December 1820 at St. James's, Westminster, London, England (Wikipedia). --0--