James Williamson

Level 338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 9th April 2022

Description List;- Indent No 2116. Trade; Tinsmith Height; 5 ft 11 in Age; 25 years [born about 1811] Scottish Indexes - High Court of Justiciary Trial Papers Trial papers relating to Archibald McAllister, Nancy or Agnes Williamson, Mary Williamson, James Williamson, Margaret McAllister, John McAllister, Isaac Willamson Trial Date 25 September 1835 Trial Location Aberdeen ACCUSED; - Name and Designation Age Birthplace Crime Crime Location ** Archibald McAllister, married, tinker, No fixed abode 23 Robbery, theft and assault Aberdeen Verdict; Guilty. Sentence; Transportation - 14 years TRANSPORTED; Ship: Elphinstone. Arrived; V.D.L.. 24 May 1836 ** Isaac Willamson, tinsmith, No fixed abode 22 Robbery, theft and assault Aberdeen Verdict; Guilty. Sentence; Transportation - 14 years TRANSPORTED; Ship: Elphinstone. Arrived; V.D.L.. 24 May 1836 ** James Williamson, married, tinsmith, Ferintosh, Ross-shire 23 Verdict; Guilty. Sentence; Transportation - 14 years TRANSPORTED; Ship: Elphinstone. Arrived; V.D.L.. 24 May 1836 ** John McAllister, Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire 16 Verdict; Guilty. Sentence; Transportation - 14 years TRANSPORTED; Ship: Elphinstone. Arrived; V.D.L.. 24 May 1836 ** Margaret McAllister (m.s. Williamson), wife of Archibald McAllister, tinker, and sister of Issac and James Williamson, co-accused, No fixed abode 26 Verdict; Guilty. Sentence; Transportation - 14 years TRANSPORTED; Ship: Arab. Arrived; V.D.L. 25 April 1836 ** Mary Williamson (m.s. Lindsay), wife of Isaac Williamson, Tinsmith, No fixed abode 20 ** Verdict; Guilty. Sentence; Transportation - 14 years TRANSPORTED; Ship: Arab. Arrived; V.D.L. 25 April 1836. ** Nancy or Agnes Williamson (m.s. Miller), wife of James Williamson, tinker, Ferintosh, Ross-shire 23 Verdict; Not Called VICTIMS; - Name and Designation Age Birthplace Crime Crime Location ** George Polson, servant to William Ogston, Nittens Heads or Newton Heads, Tyrie, Aberdeenshire ** John Fowlie, Broomhill or Cranhill, New Deer, Aberdeenshire ** Peter Scott, Broomhill or Sweetiehillock, New Deer, Aberdeenshire ** Rachel Scott, Broomhill or Sweetiehillock, New Deer, Aberdeenshire ** Thomas Ranken, New Pitsligo, Tyrie, Aberdeenshire ** William Cruickshank, Broomhill or Cranhill, New Deer, Aberdeenshire

Level 338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 9th April 2022

1842 - Australian Convict Transportation Registers Noted against name. EXECUTED; 4 January 1842 EXECUTION OF WILLIAMSON AND BAILEY. As full details of the evidence which led to the conviction of James Williamson and George Bailey, of the wilful murder of Thomas Lord, at Swan Port, were contained in our reports of the last Criminal Sessions, we will not revert to the circumstances of the atrocious deed, but merely lay before our readers, as an appendage to the accompanying sketches, a succinct account of their persons, together with what we have been able to collect as to their deportment between the times of their condemnation and their execution, which took place Fix this texton Tuesday morning last, at a few minutes past eight. WILLIAMSON, AS TAKEN IN THE DOCK. This unfortunate man, born at Cromdale, Blackisle, in Scotland, of Irish parents, was about six feet in height, thirty-five years of age, and of athletic frame. The outline of his physiognomy was harsh, and, for those who give credence to the laws of phrenology, we will observe, that the posterior regions of the cranium were strongly developed at the expense of the anterior. His eyes, small and deeply set, had, as seen in the dock, an expression of prying curiosity, mixed with cunning, which was considerably heightened by a sarcastic curl of the upper lip. His hair was of slight brown, and his whiskers inclining to be sandy, the check bones prominent, and that on the right side ploughed with a deep scar, The effect produced by a survey of the ensemble of his person tended to his prejudice, as it could not but convey an impression of ferocity, borne out by the massive proportions of his frame. In consequence, however, of the marked prominence of the lower jaw, his neck, which was bare, seemed disproportionately small, especially when examined at its junction with so roomy a thorax. Williamson (who, when at school, was always looked on as a king of dunces, and could never, either by fair or foul means, be induced to acquire a knowledge, however slight, either of reading or writing,) was, on the 25th September, 1835, convicted before the Justiciary Court of Aberdeen, of robbery with assault, and, being sentenced to transportation for fourteen years, armed in this colony by the Elphinstone on the 24th May, 1836. The trade which he followed at home was that of a brazier and tinsmith. His colonial character was rather good than otherwise, the only complaints preferred against him by his overseers being occasional absence from muster and not accounting for his tools. He served part of his time on the roads, and the latter portion at Mr Willis's, Swan Port, in whose service he still was at the time the murder was committed. During the trial, which took place on the 20th December, and lasted from ten in the morning until six in the evening, Williamson preserved his sang froid, and gazed with the utmost unconcern on the lookers-on—with which the Court was crowded almost to suffocation—and with equal apathy on Highett, at the very time when the latter was emitting evidence which he could not fail to see must place his life in jeopardy. This apparent indifference no doubt sprang from that belief which, at the time of their capture, he endeavoured to impart to Bailey, when the latter remarked that they "would both be hung as round as robins that "—that "it might not turn out as badly as he thought :" but as soon as the verdict of the jury led him to perceive that his position was one of greater danger than flattering hope had allowed him to anticipate, a tear rolled down his cheek, which, from the flush of excitement it had borne during the whole day, suddenly became pale, his lip quivered, and his eye, before bright, lost its fire. Remanded for sentence, he was taken back to his dungeon, and several days elapsed—in the settling a technical objection, raised by the learned counsel on behalf of Bailey, his coadjutor in guilt—before he was again replaced in the dock, to learn the extent of his misery. When he did reappear, traces of the anxiety under which he had been labouring in the interim, were visible on a brow expressive of despair, and seeing, by the expostulations of the judge, that an untimely end must be the consequence of his crime, his legs refused their functions, and kneeling, or rather throwing himself, down in the dock, he responded to the exhortation addressed him by the Court, to prepare for speedy execution, by exclaiming aloud, "God have mercy on us!" Taken back to the gaol, his first avowal was, that he had experienced a fair and impurtial trial, and that his sentence was only in due proportion to the enormity of the crime ; he knew that the judges had done him every justice, and felt grateful to his counsel for the pains which he had bestowed on their defence. As all hopes of life being spared receded from his mind, religion seemed to yield some consolation, but in this he was, in a measure, checked by his inability to read. During the moments when the Rev. Mr. Bedford was not in attend ance, Williamson several times requested Bailey (who occupied the same cell) to read aloud for their mutual benefit; but the latter, giving way to some ill feeling which seemed to exist between them, as often refused to do so. Another prisoner per formed the kind office, and to him Williamson, in adverting to the murder, said, that though he had committed the deed, Highett had plotted it with Bailey and himself, and was as much to blame as either. He also stated that he could not assign any reason for the murder, which had not been planned more than half an hour before its perpetration, and disclaimed having felt any previous ill will towards their victim in his capacity of storekeeper On Tuesday morning last, at a few minutes before eight, the bell of St, David's church began to sound the death knell, and shortly after Williamson, attended by the Rev Mr. Bedford, ascended the scaffold. He seemed much agitated, and his knees shook violently , his countenance was very pale, and his lips appeared to be in motion, as if in the utterance of prayer. After the rope bad been adjusted to his neck, and the cap drawn over his face, which he allowed to be done without saying a word, he shook hands with Bailey, when, on withdrawal of the fatal bolt, he was consigned to that "bourne from whence no traveller returns, leaving behind him an unfortunate widow and three orphans, residing, as we understand, in Scotland. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2955030?searchTerm=james williamson

Level 338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 31st March 2022

1835 - 25 Sept. Transported for Robbery and assault Status; Married - 3 Children. Wife Nancy at Native Place, Ross. ** Charged with the same offence; Margaret Williamson alias Margaret Mcallister. Arrived V D Land per Ship; Arab - 1835. Archibald McAllister [on board and husband of the above] Isaac Williamson [on board - Brother] Mary Lindsay & a male child. 3 years old. Arrived at V D L per Ship; Arab - 1835 - Wife of Isaac Williamson] 1841 - Colonial Sentence; 20 December 1841. Guilty to be hanged 1842 - Executed on the 4 January 1842