Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Thomas Williams was transported on the Thomas Arbuthnot, departing 6th Jan 1847 and arriving 4th May 1847 with 289 passengers.
Built 1841 at Aberdeen, Scotland. Wood ship of 621 Tons. Thomas Arbuthnot, 1847. “The Thomas Arbuthnot convict ship, Captain Thomson, sailed from Spithead this morning for Port Phillip, with a superior class of delinquents, officially called “exiles.” These are the first “exiles” sent to the above settlement, which the inhabitants of that respectable place are very wroth at, and have memorialised the Government on the subject. The most ingenious trades and professions are carried on, on board this ship; in fact, we believe, all trades in vogue have their representatives on board. The most ingenious affair, however, is a newspaper in manuscript, published every Saturday, having its foreign and domestic correspondence, advertisements, and, indeed, all the necessary accessories to an apparently well-conducted journal. The articles are well written and the arrangements well made. The name of this paper is the Citadel, and the conductors dub the captain of the ship ” the governor.” The Citadel having no opponents enjoys a large circulation. The editor is a man who has been of considerable note in the legitimate literary world; but all names and circumstances in connexion with their present position is strictly preserved secret with regard to these “exiles,” the greatest majority of whom are juvenile offenders from Millbank, Pentonville, and Parkhurst (Isle of Wight) prisons.”—Times, January 12. Published in the Launceston Examiner, 2 June 1847. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/36252218?searchTerm=Thomas Arbuthnot There was a lot of public criticism of the arrival of these “Exiles” in New South Wales, and of their treatment, by being offered training, etc, to the detriment of honest but poor labourers.
Thomas Arbuthnot (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 92, Class and Piece Number HO11/15, Page Number 141 (72) |
| 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
Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 05 December 2022), January 1845, trial of THOMAS WILLIAMS SARAH ROE WILLIAM NORMAN (t18450106-369). THOMAS WILLIAMS, SARAH ROE, WILLIAM NORMAN, Theft > simple larceny, 6th January 1845. 369. THOMAS WILLIAMS, SARAH ROE , and WILLIAM NORMAN , were indicted for stealing, on the 31st of Dec, 1 boot, value 2s. 6d.; the goods of Thomas Dousbery: and that Williams had been before convicted of felony. CHARLES KEEN . I am in the service of Mr. Thomas Dousbery, wbo keeps a shoemaker's shop in Liquorpond-street—I was in his shop on the evening of the 31st of Dec.—I missed a boot from the door-post—I heard a snap—I ran out, and saw Mr. Webb struggling with the prisoner Williams—I saw a boot thrown away by somebody, which was my master's—I looked round, to see where it would drop, and I heard a female say "Nail it, Bill' or Jem. GEORGE WEBB . I was passing in Liquorpond-street, and I heard Roe say to Norman, "D—n it, look at Jem"—I then saw Williams standing in the shade, with his right hand round the prosecutor's door-post, taking hold of some boots — he had got one before I got up to him— I stopped him with it, and he threw it away—he slipped from me, but I took a second hold of him, and walked him back to the prosecutor's shop—Roe and Norman followed him to the shop, and then down to the station, and there I identified them. JAMES WILD (police-constable G 182.) I was on duty from four o'clock till Williams was taken—I saw the three prisoners pass me in conversation, four or five times, and for the last two months Roe and Norman have been in Leather-lane and Liquorpond-street, associating together. THOMAS WARE (police-constable G 240.) I produce a certificate of Williams's former conviction, which I got at Mr. Clark's office—(read—Convicted on the 21st Oct., 7th Vict., of larceny as servant, confined one year)—the prisoner is the man, and he had been before convicted of felony. WILLIAMS— GUILTY . Aged 20.— Transported for Seven Years. ROE and NORMAN— NOT GUILTY . -------------------------------------------------- Convict Exiles Index. Thomas Williams, age 20, per Thomas Arbuthnot. Date of trial, 6/1/1845, at C.C.C., sentence, 7 years, Charge, Larceny. Remarks: see also Hales James; Exiles.