Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Transportation
George Woodcock 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 233 (118). --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. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26783779 |
| 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 of 1827 for George Woodcock is from family research that sources documents such as England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975.
OTHER: 9 May, 1865: Marriage -- in Perth, WA, Australia, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, to Esther Shortel/Shortell, registration number 2285 (Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1950). --0-- 18 May, 1909: Death -- in Perth, WA. Buried -- Karrakatta Cemetery, Nedlands City, Western Australia; Plot RC Section AA 0335A. On his gravestone, he is called George Druce Woodcock. --00--
COLONIAL CONVICTION: WOODCOCK, George; #9973 Colonial Other No: 4729 Date of Birth: 1822 Place of Birth: Yorkshire, England Marital Status: Married 4 children Occupation: Boot closer Sentence Place: Albany, Western Australia Crime: Stealing 35 pounds from the person Sentence Period: 6 years Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 1 Aug 1874 Certificate of Freedom Date: 15 Apr 1876 (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
IN WA: From his Fremantle jail record: WOODCOCK, George; #4729, arrived 1 Jan 1858 per Nile Alias: MALLOY Matthew, WILLIAMSON, JOHNS, SEGISMOUND Date of Birth: 1822 Place of Birth: Yorkshire, England Marital Status: Widower Occupation: Boot maker Literacy: Literate Sentence Place: Derby, Derby, England Crime: Felony Sentence Period: 10 years penal servitude Previous Convictions: Yes Ticket of Leave Date: 15 Dec 1859 Conditional Pardon Date: 3 Oct 1864 Certificate of Freedom Date: 3 Oct 1864 Comments: Self-employed, 1863-1864. Reconvicted in Western Australia (https://fremantleprison.com.au/). --00--
THE VOYAGE: THE VOYAGE: George Woodcock’s behaviour during the voyage was “very bad”, according to his WA Convict record. He was placed on bread and water for three days; flogged, receiving 12 lashes and 36 lashes on different occasions; and listed as “incorrigible” (Western Australia, Australia, Convict Records, 1846-1930; Convict Department, Registers; Character Book for Nos 4508-5585 (R8)). What prompted these punishments? Although a requirement, no journal/full report of the voyage from the ship’s Surgeon Superintendent has ever been located, according to Bill Edgar (2018) whose research fills in some blanks. Around two-thirds of the Nile’s 268 convicts could be considered “serious criminals” by virtue of the violence of their crimes, or their recidivism or both. A point that wasn’t lost on the ship’s crew or warders. Edgar (2018) says between the starting point of the Nile’s voyage at the head of the Thames at Sheerness and her arrival at Plymouth a week or so later to take on prisoners from Dartmoor, two warders “having seen the potential for trouble… decided to refuse duties they could clearly perceive as very dangerous”. They left the ship. Between the Nile’s departure from Plymouth, on 23 September, and her arrival just over 4 weeks later at Bahia (in Brazil), a “litany of frightening incidences took place aboard”. Fearing a mutiny, the captain had nine convicts placed in chains “where they were to stay for the remainder of the voyage”. There was no mutiny. Edgar writes, however: “It had been a near run thing. The prospect of a mutiny had been very real.” Despite the Nile’s arrival off WA late on the night of 31 December, 1857, the bulk of the prisoners were not disembarked for five days. Twelve men were unloaded on 2 January – three bound for hospital and nine who went in chains to Fremantle prison. The latter were the “failed mutineers”, listed as men of “bad character” by the ship’s Surgeon Superintendent in a letter to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty (Edgar, pp24-25, 27). They were: George Foxton (alias Thompson), John Turnbull, James H Jones, John Cirans (Ceirans), Thomas Ward, Patrick McBride, Michael Henry, John Ferguson, and George Woodcock. **Note: In addition to the aliases already listed above, George Woodcock also went by the names of Thompson, Montgomery and Colbeck. --00--
10 September, 1857: He was sent from Portland to board the Nile for transportation to WA (UK, Prison Commission Records, 1770-1951; Portland Prison; Prison Records; 1870-1875). --00--
23 June, 1857: Admission to Portland gaol, inmate #7124. Listed as a bootmaker, 28 [when convicted], single, reads and writes well, from Tickhill. His stints of separate confinement were listed as: Derby 2 months 4 days and Preston 8 months 17 days, and his behaviour at these jails was described as "very bad" and "bad" respectively. At Dartmoor (the first time) it was also "very bad"; there was no behaviour report for his second stint at Dartmoor. --0--
11 June, 1857: Re-admission to Dartmoor Prison. George Woodcock had described himself as being "born a rogue" and said he meant "to continue a rogue". It seems he knew that transportation was imminent too. Once returned to Dartmoor, "he planned by means of a rope ladder to scale one of the walls and get clean away" (https://www.legendarydartmoor.co.uk/wood_cock.htm). --0--
11 December, 1856: Assizes at the Castle of Exeter, Devon -- Convicted for unlawfully escaping and being at large and sentenced to six months' imprisonment (England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892; England; Devon; 1856). It seems George Woodcock was sent to the Devonshire County Gaol to serve his six months' term handed down at Exeter, before being returned to Dartmoor to complete his previous sentence. --0--
8 November, 1856: "Middlesex Sessions, 7 November -- A desperate convict, who has given his name as Omar Shamgar, but whose real name is George Woodcock, has been examined before the Lord Mayor of York on the charge of escaping from the convict establishment at Dartmoor..." (Globe, p4). --0--