Searching for convict offences records

[alansbax]

Hi.. I am from Australia and I have 4 convicts in my family tree history, I was wondering does anyone know where or how I can find out about why they were convicted, one was a horse thief and sentenced to death but was commuted to transportation to Australia, he eventually became a chief constable in the rum Corps, my great great great great grand parents were both convicts and met and married here in Australia, He got 14 years and she 7. I cannot find out what offences they committed, Probably stealing bread lol. the other convict got 14 years as well, no idea there neither. I do know the courts they were convicted in and the dates. I also know the ships they came out on and the dates. Just the offences I have no idea about.Thanks:

[christanel]

Hello
I have given your post a thread of its own so it doesn't get lost amongst Megan's thread The convicts of Mangles.
It is still in the Australia forum.
I can't look any further at the moment but I am sure others will be along to help soon.
Would you like to give us your convicts names and any other information you have about each one which will help in the search?

Christina

[christanel]

State Library of NSW guide to Trial & court records https://guides.sl.nsw.gov.au/content....01&sid=3283052

[Megan Roberts]

There are loads of records on line. Some of which are very detailed, and some of which are not. So the Criminal Registers which list the offence such as "larceny" or "horse stealing" etc.

If they were tried at the Old Bailey in London then those trial records are on line and whilst many of the trials were horrifying short - just a couple of lines long - you would at least know a little more.

If you can find a Calendar of Prisoners on line that will give a lot of information - not all locations are covered.

If you want to tell us their names and dates of offences or the information you have I will have a look for you.

[alansbax]

Thank you Christina, the names are Joseph Bingham, Convicted at York, sent by convict ship the "England" in 1832. Mary Ann ford convicted in Middlesex and sent by convict ship the William Bryan in 1833, George Alfred Wilson, Convicted in scotland and transported on the convict ship the Bengal,1836, and George William Bell, But I bhave all of Bells records.
The convict Joseph Bingham met and married the convict Mary Ann Ford in Australia, they were my Great Great Great Great grandparents.
Alan

[Megan Roberts]

JOSEPH BINGHAM 1832 YORK
Epiphany Session for the West Riding of the County of York – was actually tried at Doncaster on 11 Jan 1832
Larceny, before convicted of felony (i.e. this wasn’t his first offence) : 14 years
Sent to the prison hulk, the Cumberland arriving on the 25th of January 1832 (based on my knowledge of another project I am working on he was probably sent to York Castle after being convicted and transported from there to the prison hulk)
Born about 1808 – crime: stealing wearing apparel (clothes) – sent to Van Diemens Land 26 March 1832
Occupation: “cutler”, born: Sheffield, illiterate, convicted 4 times before; transported before! Character disposition connexions & formed course of life very bad.
Height 5ft 5 ½ins
Father a razor smith in George Street, Little Sheffield

Ancestry has a data set entitled “Yorkshire, England Quarter, Session Records, 1637-1914”. If you search for Joseph Bingham you should get 9 hits. If you select the one dated 31 Dec 1832 Wakefield it is actually the trial in January in Doncaster (don’t ask). My guess is that the four entries in the 1820s are him. These are the Indictment Books and they can be a bit hard work reading but are well worth while. The verdict appears first above the trial.

[Megan Roberts]

Mary Ann Ford was convicted at Clerkenwell Quarter Sessions (in the heart of London if google it) of Larceny March 1833.
She was born 1811

I presume that she went to Tasmania as well, but she doesn’t seem to have been on prison hulk record which is the source of most of the information for Joseph Bingham.

I am not familiar with Tasmanian records but I think you need to look for the equivilant of “New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842 (State Archives NSW; Series: NRS 12189; Item: [X635]; Microfiche: 703)”. This is effectively the convict ship’s surgeons list of all the convicts of his ship and tells you where they came from and what they did. The Surgeons where in charge of the convicts, not the ship’s captains.

[Megan Roberts]

George Wilson (no Alfred) aged 17 was convicted on 8 Jan 1836 in Glasgow of theft and sentenced to be transported for 14 years and sent to the prison hulk Justitia at Woolwich and then to NSW on 27 July 1836.

I believe that some of the Scottish records can be accessed on line
https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/
but I haven’t had any experience of doing that.


The prison hulk Cumberland's records offer by far the most insight their convicts lives, which is why there is so much more information about Joseph Bingham.

[Megan Roberts]

Joseph Bingham
July 1822 – Larceny – 1 months imprisonment
Apr 1823 – larceny – 6 months imprisonment
July 1824 – larceny – 2 months imprisonment & whipped
Oct 1824 – larceny – 7 years

1824 Convicted at Sheffield of stealing a looking glass
Prisoner No 1317 on board Dolphin Hulk – I think he spent 12-18 months on this hulk first of all.
Prisoner No 147 on board hulk Weymouth in Bermuda
Returned to England leaving Bermuda 1 March 1831

So his first "transportation" was to Bermuda.

Prison hulks were stationed at both Bermuda and Gibraltar and some convicts passed their sentences there, but Bermuda in particular was consider a particular hard choice, because neither convicts nor crew / guards fared well in the climate. However, your Joseph isn't the first one that I have found who didn't learn their lesson from going to Bermuda, and he was also a cutler from Sheffield. His name was William Reynolds and he would have been on the Weymouth at the same time as your Joseph, and his gaoler's report when he was being transported for the second time says that he was "connected with a dangerous gang of criminals in Sheffield". I wonder if they were in the same gang?

[Dundee10]

Joseph Bingham, Convicted at York, sent by convict ship the "England" in 1832. Mary Ann ford convicted in Middlesex and sent by convict ship the William Bryan in 1833

As Megan has found, both Joseph BINGHAM and Mary Ann FORD were transported to Tasmania and you will find all their convict records digitised online on the Tas Archives website.

https://linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.a.../en_AU/names/?

Mary Ann's marriage to William HENSON was approved and took place in 1837.

Perhaps you have the wrong people here. Your couple married in NSW in 1853, is that right?

I see that their son Charles was born after civil registration commenced and that birth certificate should give you places of birth and ages for both Joseph and Mary Ann.