Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
John Witham was transported on the Racehorse, departing 19th May 1865 and arriving 10th Aug 1865 with 279 passengers.
This ship began her life as Matilde Wattenbach built by Frederick C Clarke in St Heliers, Jersey in 1853. Her principal owners were J J Melhuish of Liverpool and T H A Wattenbach, of London. In 1863, after trading for some years out of London to the Cape of Good Hope and to New Zealand, she was acquired by Philip Blyth, of London and the following year she was sold. Within a few days she was purchased by Alexander Fotheringham and renamed Racehorse. Racehorse was surveyed at Sunderland shipyards in January 1864 and at that time her specifications were 1077 tons, length 209.3 ft., breadth 36.1 ft. and depth 20.0 ft. For her voyage to the Swan River Colony another owner would be on the scene – John Smurthwaite, a Sunderland merchant. Racehorse left Portland on May 26, 1865 bound for Fremantle. She carried the thirty second of 37 shipments of male convicts destined for Western Australia. The voyage took 76 days and the Racehorse arrived in Fremantle on August 10, 1865 with 172 passengers and 278 convicts. M H Seward (DPS) or J Mann (Lloyds Register) and Dr Alexander Watson were the captain(s) and surgeon respectively.
RacehorseReferences
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 93, Class and Piece Number HO11/19, Page Number 73 (39) |
| 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
NOTE: Year of Birth is taken from WA 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.
LEFT WA: From: WA Police Gazette, Wednesday March 1, 1876, No. 1, p4... "PORTS OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA . Register of Expirees and Conditional Pardon Holders who have left the Colony during the Quarter ending December 31st, 1875... John Whitham, exp., 8469, dep. 10th December, per Daylight, to London. Remarks: Middling stout; 34 years; 5ft. 5 3/4 in. high; dark brown hair, hazel eyes, long visage, fair complexion." --000--
From his FREMANTLE JAIL record: WHITHAM, John; inmate #8469, arrived 10 Aug 1865 per Racehorse Date of Birth: 1842 Marital Status: Unmarried Occupation: Labourer Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Chelmsford, England Crime: Firing a stack Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 6 Nov 1869 Certificate of Freedom Date: 17 Dec 1873 Comments: Conditional Release 1871. Labourer, hut keeper, general servant (https://fremantleprison.com.au/history-heritage/research/convict-database/). --00--
Whitham, John; #8469, sentenced to 10 years PS at Chelmsford on 15 07 1863; arson & firing a stack; 21yo; labourer, single, no children; 5' 5 3/4" tall, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, long visage, fair complexion, middling stout build; no marks, etc (https://www.perthdps.com/convicts/con-wa37.html) --00--