Name of Military Court, Mauritius, 1854

[crisGloss]

Hi

I am seeking the name of the court which would have convicted an ancestor of mine of insubordination and desertion from the military, in Mauritius, in 1854. His convict record in Australia says he was semi-literate and "Army?". It seems he was 33 and his wife was 23 when he married! It is a major challenge to confirm his birth place and date, because he seems to hide it! I wonder why?

Apparently Colonial Office records stayed in the colony.

"Bolton's Mauritius Almanac, and Official Directory", by W. Draper Bolton, 1851, says the 5th Regiment of Foot (Northumberland Fusiliers), the 12th (East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot, the Royal Artillery and the Royal Sappers and Miners were there in 1851. The 12th were involved in the earlier taking of Mauritius, in 1810; and the current CO was "Colonel-General Robert Meade".

The Almanac says each Regiment except the Sappers was represented at the main Barracks, at Port Louis, and at Fort Adelaide. Royal Sappers and Miners were at the Caudon, Port Louis. A Military Hospital was also located in Port Louis, which suggests that the Military Prison would be there too, for convenience.

A British Hanzard entry records:
[HC Deb 20 November 1893 vol 18 c1275 1275 § Admiral FIELD (Sussex, Eastbourne)]

"...attention has been called to the Report of the Inspector of Military Prisons, July, 1893, respecting the Military Prison at Port Louis, Mauritius... and that of the chief warder in charge of the same...wherein it is shown to be situated on a low-lying site in a malarious climate, and to have various sanitary defects; that the health of the warders has been extremely bad, two having been invalided, eight assistant warders sent into hospital, and the only remaining warder has been 59 days sick and unfit to return to duty, all attributable to the quarters allotted for their use, which consists of only one room on ground surface, and no convenience for cooking..."

http://
hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1893/nov/20/port-louis-military-prison[/INDENT]
It describes the Tribunals of Justice on the Island as the Court of Appeal of the Courts of Assize, the Court of First Instance, the Vice Admiralty, the Court of the Commissioners for offenses committed on the High Seas, the Supreme Court, and Magistrate Courts.

It also refers to the "President of a Court Martial", but does not name the court.

Does anyone know the name of the court which would have tried him; other than simply "Military Tribunal", and/or the name of the prison?

Uhh. Why did it have to be Mauritius?!
Chris

[Lesley Robertson]

Hi

I am seeking the name of the court which would have convicted an ancestor of mine of insubordination and desertion from the military, in Mauritius, in 1854. His convict record in Australia says he was semi-literate and "Army?". It seems he was 33 and his wife was 23 when he married! It is a major challenge to confirm his birth place and date, because he seems to hide it! I wonder why?

Apparently Colonial Office records stayed in the colony.

"Bolton's Mauritius Almanac, and Official Directory", by W. Draper Bolton, 1851, says the 5th Regiment of Foot (Northumberland Fusiliers), the 12th (East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot, the Royal Artillery and the Royal Sappers and Miners were there in 1851. The 12th were involved in the earlier taking of Mauritius, in 1810; and the current CO was "Colonel-General Robert Meade".

The Almanac says each Regiment except the Sappers was represented at the main Barracks, at Port Louis, and at Fort Adelaide. Royal Sappers and Miners were at the Caudon, Port Louis. A Military Hospital was also located in Port Louis, which suggests that the Military Prison would be there too, for convenience.

A British Hanzard entry records:
[HC Deb 20 November 1893 vol 18 c1275 1275 § Admiral FIELD (Sussex, Eastbourne)]

"...attention has been called to the Report of the Inspector of Military Prisons, July, 1893, respecting the Military Prison at Port Louis, Mauritius... and that of the chief warder in charge of the same...wherein it is shown to be situated on a low-lying site in a malarious climate, and to have various sanitary defects; that the health of the warders has been extremely bad, two having been invalided, eight assistant warders sent into hospital, and the only remaining warder has been 59 days sick and unfit to return to duty, all attributable to the quarters allotted for their use, which consists of only one room on ground surface, and no convenience for cooking..."

http://
hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1893/nov/20/port-louis-military-prison

It describes the Tribunals of Justice on the Island as the Court of Appeal of the Courts of Assize, the Court of First Instance, the Vice Admiralty, the Court of the Commissioners for offenses committed on the High Seas, the Supreme Court, and Magistrate Courts.

It also refers to the "President of a Court Martial", but does not name the court.

Does anyone know the name of the court which would have tried him; other than simply "Military Tribunal", and/or the name of the prison?

Uhh. Why did it have to be Mauritius?!
Chris

Have you searched the National Archives catalogue? http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Most military stuff seems to turn up there.

Lesley

[crisGloss]

Thanks Lesley

I had been to The National Archives before, but this time I used a different tactic, which got me to the Queensland Government's Digital Library/British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 [http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/info/fh/convicts] This contained information not contained in Western Australian Convict Records [at Fremantle Gaol website]; namely:

"Convicted at Mauritius, Port Louis General Court Martial for a term of 10 years. Penal Servitude 16402".

I do not know what the number means...a case number?

There were convicts from Scotland and Ireland and overseas locations on my ancestor's ship to Western Australia, including a court martialed soldier from Malta, and one from Quebec. So it was the practice to round them up to England; then send them to Australia.

Now I am looking to find the trial record and also how he got back to England.

Thanks
Chris

[harfin]

Hi
You may be able to get some help from the current National Archives of Mauritius.

I haven;t been in touch with them for a year or so but the last time I did make contact the details were:

NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Development Bank of Mauritius Complex
Petite Riviere,
Mauritius

Tel. 233-4469/233-7341. Fax 233-4299
e-mail: arc@mail.gov.mu

They certainly held a fair amount of details about my sister-in-law's forbear and his movements and even the records of a court case her g.g.grandfather was involved with.

Good luck
Alan

[crisGloss]

Thank you Alan
I had emailed the Mauritius Prisons Service without reply; so now I know better. I will follow your suggestion.

Regarding Enforcement of the Court Sentence
For those who have been following this journey I have discovered that convicts sent first to Britain, to await their transportation to the colonies, experienced the "Hulk System", which was quite humane. The hulks were large vessels without masts which had been line-of-battle ships or frigates, fitted up for the reception of male convicts sentenced to be transported. These floating prisons were moored near a dock-yard: "so that the labour of the convicts could be applied to the public service".:

"It will be hardly credited that there are usually about 3000 men in this country thus employed".[1834]

They were then sent out in gangs to work on shore, guarded by soldiers.

"A correct chronicle is kept of the conduct of each individual , and the captain, jointly with the chaplain, has the privilege of recommending annually a certain number as fit objects for a mitigation of punishment; so that it very frequently occurs that a convict sentenced to seven years transportation, only serves three and a half or four years"
www.
hotkey.net.au/~jwilliams4/hulks34.htm

The type of record available is demonstrated in the Tasmanian Catalogue of Fische
www.
aigs.org.au/tasmaniaff1.htm#CON

There were two "out stations" [of the hulk system] under British Government control at Bermuda (1829-1864) and Gibraltar (1842-1870) and two hulks stationed in Ireland at Cork and Dublin under part Irish administration (1823-1838).

"From 1847 to 1858 there was a Managerial Committee [for the Hulk System], which was chaired by Joshua Jebb, [sic] this was concerned with all Prisons. "
www.
hotkey.net.au/~jwilliams4/hulks.htm

"The hulk system was eventually discontinued in 1856, the Woolwich hulks being the last to be closed. The remaining convicts were transferred to [newly opened] Chatham Gaol".

Chatham gaol was opened in 1856 ("Crime, Punishment, and Reform in Europe"
by Mary Anne Nichols, Louis A). My ancestor was transported to Australia in 1858; so he may have been held for at least part of the time in Chatham goal.

Other "public works [convict] prisons" in use at the time included Portland -- opened 1949, Dartmoor --modernised in 1850, Portsmouth 1852.

"The work within the new prisons included labour on naval docks, quarrying and in agriculture..." ("Crime, Punishment, and Reform in Europe" by Mary Anne Nichols, Louis A)

Photo of Woolwich Hulks & Clothing Worn by Convicts on Woolwich Hulks
[IMG]www.
royal-arsenal.com/convicts.html/convdress.jpg[/IMG]
www.
royal-arsenal.com/convicts.html

Chris

[harfin]

I will follow your suggestion.

Chris

I meant to have cautioned you about the length of time to reply - Mauritius seem to have a different concept of time. Don't expect speed, urgency, prompt etc - it's not in their vocabulary!

Alan

[Terry Reeves]

It was a military matter so he would have been tried by the military (hence Courts Martial) and not a civil court. The regimental muster books and pay rolls, if they still exist, would note his absence from duty and why and what his punishment was.

Terry Reeves

[crisGloss]

Hi everyone

Thanks so much for your input .

It has been a great journey already! I think I have reached the point now where to access trial records, regimental muster books and pay rolls I will need a service-for-fee provider, which so far I have done without. I am working on getting credits through WAGS, Perth WA.

[1] I will also be working on getting info from Chatham Goal records about his possible stay there. The National Archives Research Guide to finding info about convicts (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/c...5.htm&lBack=-1) says quarterly returns of convicts in prisons and hulks, 1824-76, are found in HO 8 .

Finding how you get this info is my next task....

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Summary of Information Thus far

James Joseph Glossop, father George, mother Mary Walsh; suspected born 1825 in Greasbrough, Rotherham District, Yorkshire -- looking for corroboration that this is him, as birth date of suspect conflicts with convict record. Possibly member of the 12th (East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot during 1853 [because I know this Regiment was at Mauritius in 1851]. James was court-martialed at Port Louis, Mauritius by General Court Martial, in 1854 [http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/info/fh/convicts]. He was transported from Plymouth in August, 1858 on the Edwin Fox (http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/info/fh/convicts), and arrived in Fremantle on November 20, 1858.

Colonial Records suggest that under the "Hulk System", he could have spent time on the following floating prison ships, awaiting deportation:

vessel: Warrior 1840-57 Woolwich

vessel: Defence 1850-57 Portsmouth/Woolwich

Quarterly returns of convicts in prisons and hulks, 1824-76, are found in HO 8

The hulk system was eventually discontinued in 1856, the Woolwich hulks being the last to be closed. The remaining convicts were transferred to [newly opened] Chatham Gaol.
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[2] I am waiting for a reply from Mauritius National Archives on the trial record.

I may have to move this to another sub-forum.

Thanks again.
regards to all
Chris G

[crisGloss]

Summary of Information Thus far

James Joseph Glossop, father George, mother Mary Walsh; suspected born 1825 in Greasbrough, Rotherham District, Yorkshire -- looking for corroboration that this is him, as birth date of suspect conflicts with convict record. Possibly member of the 12th (East Suffolk) Regiment of Foot during 1853 [because I know this Regiment was at Mauritius in 1851].

Colonial Records suggest that under the "Hulk System", he could have spent time on the following floating prison ships, awaiting deportation:

vessel: Warrior 1840-57 Woolwich

vessel: Defence 1850-57 Portsmouth/Woolwich
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Found out at Library:
[1] The Reserves Battalion of 12th Regiment of Foot also left Mauritius in 1851!
That leaves the Royal Artillery and the Miners and Sappers; the latter did recruiting in Yorkshire abt 1850 and were in Mauritius in 1851. They [inter alia] built canals and used boats [see Forum on Smiths for "puddler?"]
[2] His father's occupation, as well as James' [at age 15], was "coal miner".
[3] By 1847, the hulk ships were mainly only used for invalid convicts or those too weak to be a problem. So period 1855--1858: if they were strong their were put in the public works prisons ; mainly in Chatham Prison [source: p198: "The English Prison Hulks";W. Brand-Johnson; 1957]

Chris

[harfin]

Sorry Chris I meant to also add that at least one army person that I am aware of (it being the chap I had occasion to contact the Mauritius Archives over), was in a "regiment" that wasn't actually en bloc in Mauritius.

My chap was in the Commissariat Staff Corps (later to develop into the Royal Army Service Corps) when he went there, but there is no reference I found to state that the CSC were actually in Mauritius. My chap subsequently was assigned to what I assume was the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and worked as an pretty lowly administrator within the British Administration in Mauritius.

He was there from around 1854 or 1855 and many years later retired back to the UK

Good luck
Alan