CONVICTS AND CURIOUSITIES !
It seems that I am not alone with my interest in convicts and the early convict era of Australia's history. So, with that in mind, I decided to look for some of the lesser known stories, and maybe those items and places that you may not have seen.
TROVE to the rescue, along with Pinterest, and many of the archives and libraries that we are fortunate enough to have at our fingertips.
From Tasmania...
Convict-powered tramway. Port Arthur to Eagle Hawk Neck.
tasmanregion.com.au
Convict tramway
The Convict Tramway was a tramway (sometimes also called a railway)[1] that ran from Norfolk Bay to Port Arthur, Tasmania.[2] The tramway was the first passenger-carrying railway in Australia.[3]
Started in 1836, the carriages of tramway were pushed by Port Arthur convicts.[4] The tramway was created to replace the hazardous sea voyage from Hobart to Port Arthur.[3][1] Charles O'Hara Booth oversaw the construction of tramway.[5]
Convict leg irons, said to have come from Tasmania. From the collections of the Dixson Library, State Library of New South Wales:
http://acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/itemDetailPaged.cgi?itemID=442956
Two pairs of convict manacles, said to have come from Port Arthur, Tasmania. From the collections of the Dixson Library, State Library of New South Wales: http://acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/itemDetailPaged.cgi?itemID=449230
TROVE...
It seems that the newspaper sought to make a few extra shillings by providing many of the necessary forms that kept the colony running...
The Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas. / 1835 - 1880) Sat 5 May 1838
' Applications for Marriage Licences without publications of Banns' among the many items listed.
National Library Australia
From Victoria...
TROVE
Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), Monday 7 May 1877, page 3
A Convict's Fortunes
A romantic case is a subject of inquiry before a Commission held at the suit of the Attorney-General of Victoria and nine claimants, one resident in Ireland and the rest in America. The case is one of interest, and the question of substantially raised is the legitimacy of the claimant. The amount of property involved is estimated at between £60,000 and £90,000. It was realised by one Patrick Cody, who, it is stated, was born in the old goal of Newgate in Dublin on St. Patrick's Day, 1816, and died in Australia on the 16th of June l872. The mother of the deceased was a servant, who was convicted of stealing plate which belonged to her master, Mr. R. Sweetman, who lived in Montjoy-square. She was sentenced by the then Recorder of the city to seven years transportation, and while awaiting the arrival of a convict ship at Cork to take her to New South Wales she gave birth to the deceased, who was baptised Patrick in the Roman Catholic Chapel of St. Michan, which has the entrance directly opposite that leading to Old Newgate in Halston street. At the termination of her sentence his mother got ' the run ' of the country, and married a freed convict named Buckley. Whether this second marriage was bigamous or not does not appear, but the Buckleys prospered. The woman died at an advanced age, and her memory is honoured in poetry and prose in monumental marble in the Roman Catholic Cathedral of Sydney. Her son, having been one of the earliest squatters in Gippsland, amassed a very large fortune and bore a high character for benevolence and rectitude. After her death search was made for a will but none could be found. Whether any existed or not there are no means of ascertaining, as the authorities had all the records relating to the arrival of convicts and other circumstances In their penal life destroyed, lest they should bring disgrace on families which had grown rich and respectable. Two suits were instituted in Australia, one in Chancery and the other in Probate. In the latter a forged will was set up by a man named Maher, but the fraud was detected and Maher sent to gaol to await his trial for the offence. Inquiries were instituted by Mr. Octavins O'Brien J.P. of this city, and the result is that the present set of claimants have come forward. In order to establish these rights evidence has been taken by Commission in the United States, Canada, Newfoundland, Kilkenny, and now finally in Dublin, before the trial which is to determine the question at issue is held in Australia. A number of old records relating to Newgate, also to registrations of marriage and baptism, and of the sailing of the convict ship, were given in evidence, and the examination of witnesses was closed on Wednesday.— Times. February 23.
re Irish Convict, NSW, Victoria, Dublin Ireland,
re Irish Convict, NSW, Victoria, Dublin Ireland,
From New South Wales...
National Museum of Australia
TROVE...
The World's News, 12 Jan 1938 nla.news-page16091992 convict marriages
Originally published in The Sydney Herald , Jan 11, 1838
Click to enlarge..
Conditional pardon granted to Patrick Geraghty by Lieutenant General Ralph Darling, Governor of New South Wales. Pardon granted by Darling on 11 March 1830; grant confirmed by Darling, after approval by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, on 21 June 1831. Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales:
http://www.acmssearch.sl.nsw.gov.au/search/itemDetailPaged.cgi?itemID=423843
TROVE...
World's News (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 1955), Wednesday 26 June 1935, page 18
National Library of Australia
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136321230
The Convict Barracks...
Click to enlarge..
The Convict Barracks...
Click to enlarge..
From Queensland...
Artist's impression of the Convict Barracks Queen Street Brisbane. Neg no. 31216. John Oxley Library
TROVE...
Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. / 1861 - 1908) Sat 22 Feb 1873
Story from Victoria...and NSW
Capture of a Desperate Character
CAPTURE OF A DESPERATE CHARACTER
In June last four notorious criminals effected their escape fom the goal at Ballarat. A great deal of daring was exhibited in their mode of breaking out of prison, and every effort was made, but unsuccessfully, to recapture them. The Government offered £200 reward for their apprehension; but even this was not sifficient to induce their companions to give them up. On Monday evening (says the Wagga Wagga Advertiser), however, the police in Wagga received information that one of the escaped prisoners was employed in the establishment of Mr. Walsh, butcher, Newtown. It was stated that he was armed with a knife and a pistol, and Sergeant Carroll, accompanied by another constable, proceeded to arrest him on a charge of stealing a coat. At first the man, who now calls himself Wilson, was inclined to show fight, but subsequently surrendered at discretion, and was marched to the watch-house, where he was charged, under the name of John Darmody, alias Harris, with being an escaped convict. He admitted the charge, and also said that he had on him the marks as described in the Police Gazette, namely warts on one wrist, and an anchor tattoo on the back of the other hand. He was brought before the magistrates on Tuesday, and remanded for a week for further inquiry. There can be no doubt whatever that this man is of the missing prisoners; and it is a matter of congratulation that so desparate a character has again come within the grasp of the gaoler.
From Western Australia...
RUNAWAY CONVICTS
Return of convicts who have escaped from the colony between the 1st June, 1850, and the 31st of March, 1859. http://encore.slwa.wa.gov.au/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2487454__SWestern%20Australia.Comptroller-General%20of%20Convicts.__Orightresult__X3?lang=eng&suite=def
If you go to the link above, you can enlarge far more easily, you will need FlashPlayer.
Lots of detail, including appearance, ship, etc.
e.g.
15. - From the Perth District, 3rd July, 1854
Reg.No. 2692, John Rose, per Sea Park, tried at Maidstone 10th March 1849;
14 years; painter and paper-hanger; age 35 years; height 5feet 5 3/4 inches; hair light brown; eyes blue; visage long; complexion brown, appearance slight; marks, Woman, Anchor, with word "Hope" inscribed. Figure of a man with glass in his hand, and letters H.H. on right arm. A temple with two women standing at the door; a slop and anchor, and letters H.H. A figure of a man with glass in his hand, with a woman leaning on his arm - on left arm; ring on left forefinger.
TROVE...
WASun (Kalgoorlie, WA / 1898 - 1919), Sunday 29 June 1902, page 3
nla.news-article211215237.2 The Convict Days
Click to enlarge...
Backhouse, Edward, A chain gang, convicts going to work near Sidney [i.e. Sydney], New South Wales 1843, nla.obj-138467409
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