Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
James Wood 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 252. --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. |
| 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
COLONIAL indictment: Fremantle jail record: WOOD, James; inmate #10499; Colonial Other No: 9918 Date of Birth: 1833 Sentence Place: Western Australia, Australia Previous Convictions: Yes --00-- TRIAL & ACQUITTAL: 6 October, 1877: "LARCENY. James Woods, accused of having stolen from one Thomas Greenwood [a sawyer of Jarrahdale] the sum of £2 7s. 6d. at Fremantle, was acquitted." (The Inquirer and Commercial News, Wed 10 Oct 1877, p3 at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/66303948?searchTerm=james wood). --00--
IN WA: From his Fremantle jail record: WOOD, James; inmate #9918, arrived 10 Jan 1868 per Hougoumont Date of Birth: 1833 Marital Status: Married 1 child Occupation: Dyer Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: St Mary Newington Crime: Pickpocket Sentence Period: 10 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket Leave Date: 18 Sep 1872 Certificate of Freedom Date: 5 Feb 1877 Comments: Labourer, quarryman. Reconvicted [incorrect] in Western Australia (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --0--
8 October, 1867: He was sent from Portland 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 [an anchoring-ground in the estuary of the Thames, 3 miles n-e of Sheerness] 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 December, 1867, p4, on Trove at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28608271). --00--
25 June, 1867: Admitted to Portland jail. 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) —00—
JAILS: 15 September, 1866: Admitted to Pentonville prison, Caledonian Road, London, from Horsemonger Lane; inmate #3988, alias Arnold. Previous convictions -- 1854 4 years' penal servitude, 1860 6 years' penal servitude (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951 for James Wood; Pentonville Prison; Register of Prisoners; 1866-1869). Horsemonger Lane Gaol (also known as the Surrey County Gaol or the New Gaol) was a prison close to present-day Newington Causeway in Southwark, south London. Built at the end of the 18th century, it was in use until 1878 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsemonger_Lane_Gaol). In 1849 Pentonville became, like Millbank (also in London), a place for all male convicts to serve their probationary term (of 9 months), after which they would be transported or sent to a public works prison (https://www.prisonhistory.org/prison/pentonville-prison-2/). --0--
TRIAL: 3 September, 1866: Tried and convicted at the St Mary Newington Adjourned Quarter Sessions, and sentenced to 10 years' transportation for larceny from the person (pickpocketing), with previous convictions taken into account (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; General Register for Nos 9599-10128 cont. (R16)). --0--