1850 Convict information

[Janno]

My gggfather arrived in Western Australia on the Scindian in 1850. His details are:

James Hatton
Born 1819
Sentence Date - 20/03/1847
Sentence Place - Liverpool
Sentence County -Lancashire
Court - Assizes

His crime, sadly, was rape. I am hoping his court records will reveal further information to trace the family back from there. Apparently, he was widdowed and had 2 children. His mother was Catherine.

Any ideas/assistance would be most welcome.

[ChristineR]

Do you have his 1858 marriage certificate? it might have his father's name on it.

His occupation at the time - he might be able to be found in the census in 1841 - manager of cotton mill, warehouseman

Also, the record (Fremantle Prison website) says that his marital status was married, two children. He did not have to be widowed to be able to marry again, as once he was away from England for about 7 years his original married could be annulled and both parties would be free to marry.

His crime would be reported in the local newspapers, more information about him could be revealed. It would be highly sensationalized, just like todays media.

Christine

[Janno]

Thank you Christine. No I have nothing more than James' Fremantle Prison details. The widdowed comes from Dictionary of WA. I will follow your suggestions of Census and Newspapers.

Jan

[Elwyn Soutter]

I had an ancestor who was transported from Scotland in 1830 after a conviction for burglary. She was tried at Perth Assizes (Scotland). The records of her trial are now held in the Scottish Records Office in Edinburgh, and are open to the public. So I got copies very easily. Probably a similar arrangement exists for trials in England.

Liverpool Assizes (where your relative was tried) would now be called Liverpool Crown Court. Have you tried contacting them and asking them where records for a trial in 1847 are now held? (I expect they have a website with contact details).

Elwyn

[Janno]

Hi Elwyn,

Thank you for your reply. Apparently, it works similarly in UK - the records are held in the National Archives and open to the public. My problem is living in Australia means I must hire a researcher and this can be costly. I will follow up your suggestion of contacting the Liverpool Crown Court - you just never know! Thank you again.

Janno

[Terry Reeves]

I'm afraid the Crown Courts in England do not hold historic records of this nature. The National Archives hold some records for Liverpool in PCOM2 "Calenders of Assizes at Liverpool" ect, but these appear to run only from Jan - Dec 1852. If you cannot find the court records, it may be worth looking for the Prison Calenders which give some information about an inmate, but the sort of information you are looking for is not normally recorded and may only be of use confirming what you already know. Lancashire County Records Office may be worth a try for the prison calender. Their address is on the internet.

Another source is local Liverpool newspapers who would have almost certainly covered the trial. Mid-nineteenth century newspaper accounts were often published verbatim and make interesting reading. Perhaps a forum member who lives in Liverpool may be able to help out.

On a more general point, the prison service website has information about the transfer of their records into the public domain.

http://tinyurl.com/52lcgc

Terry Reeves

[Ann65]

I am in England, and found a records of someone who was transported in 1844 - thanks to the fact that he was tried in Lincoln, and Lincolnshire has put their convicts index online. I then managed to find living descenants (luckily!) in Australia, and they had this persons death certificate.

On this certificate were named his previous wife in England, and his children there.

Of course this would depend on the convict making such details known to existing members of a new family (which this guy did) or to someone else close to them who was able to supply such information at his death.

Good luck trying though!

[Ann65]

mmmm Catherine Hatton was his mother.........


What about this.....

1841 Chorley Lancs
David Hatton 45
Cathrine Hatton 40
David Hatton 15
Elisebeth Hatton 14
Ann Hatton 10
Sarah Hatton 7
John Hatton 5
Ellen Hatton 4

The description of what he did is probably best left to someone else cos I cant read it. It might say Union - it might say Weaver. Not at all sure. They were all born in Lancashire.

I LOVE the 1841 census transcriptions, they are so obscure with only a county for birth and an approximate age within 5 years for adults.

The 1851 Census seems to yield more information.....

61 Peach St, Liverpool, Lancs

Catherine Hatton, Lodger, widow, aged 60 Charwoman b.Owestry Shropshire
John Hatton Lodger aged 15, Scholar b.Liverpool

Lodging with others, with Thomas Jones, bootmaker and wife Jane.

She appears (dont take my word for it though) to be the only real candidate, assuming James birth was in 1819, he had already left home in 1841, and that she was still alive when he left England. A David Hatton died in 1853 according to the GRO index, in Liverpool. Please dont treat all this as gospel - it is just an approximate lead HOPEFULLY in the right direction, based on what you have said. Its assuming an awful lot.....

[Jan1954]

1841: David senior is a weaver.

[Ann65]

Thanks for that clarification Jan :)

[Janno]

Thank you Terry, you have given me much to think about.

Janno