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James Howcutt – transported to
Tasmania
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In early 19th century England,
over 200 offences were subject to capital punishment. In most of the less serious
cases, the death sentence was commuted to transportation overseas. James
Howcutt was one of those affected. James was baptised at Brixworth in
1806, the fourth of ten children of Thomas and Elizabeth (Martin) Howcutt.
During James' youth, his family suffered reduced circumstances. When his
older children were born, Thomas had been a farmer but by 1815 was described
as a butcher. He seems to have sold most of his land by the end of 1825.
James himself made a living in various ways. One source describes him as a
farmer and ploughman, but his convict record in Tasmania indicates that James
had worked as a carrier with his brother and father. As we shall see later,
he probably also poached. Among those convicted at the
Northampton Assizes that commenced on 3 March 1827 were Edward Blunt, James
Howcutt and William Smith. Their ages were given as 20, 20 and 21
respectively, presumably calculated as at the time of the offences or the
initial indictments. The culprits had been charged with breaking into the dwelling
house of Edward Walton of Brixworth and stealing some of his property - a
silver watch, silk handkerchief, two cotton handkerchiefs, a pocket knife,
two curtain rings and two tickets. The Northampton Mercury contains a
detailed report of the case. [1] The three men were charged that they had
carried out the crime on Sunday night, 29 October 1826. Edward Walton, a
labourer residing at Brixworth, set off for the Methodist chapel at about
5.30 pm, leaving his daughter and her children in the house. They later
followed him to the chapel. On his return, Edward saw a hurdle raised to the
chamber window and on going upstairs, found the drawers burst open and things
scattered about the room and spotted with blood. The window was broken off
its hinges and there was blood on the window frame and door tree. Edward's widowed daughter, Mary
Pearson, testified that before leaving the house she had examined the windows
and locked the door. Samuel Clements, a labourer at whose
house Blunt lodged, said that he had seen the prisoners together in the
morning and afternoon of the day of the robbery. Blunt went home in the
evening a few minutes past eight o'clock. After taking his supper, he said
that he had cut his finger with a knife. The wound was on top of the knuckle
of the right hand and, on the witness expressing surprise that he should have
cut it with a knife, he said that he had done it with a crust of bread.
Clements went to Walton, who brought a constable to the Clements' house and
searched Blunt. Two curtain rings and two pieces of paper were found on him. On 15 November, Clements met
Howcutt - who said he wanted to see him - in Sheep Street, Northampton.
Clements enquired about a report that was current of his carrying the hurdle
to Walton's window. He replied that, if he got out of this, he would never do
the same any more. A constable was sent for and Howcutt was taken into
custody. He said that he had left home on the night of the robbery and had
not returned. Mr William Tomalin, Clerk to the
Magistrates, was present at the examination of the three prisoners and said
that the declarations were made voluntarily. Sentences of death were recorded
but the penalties for all three were commuted to transportation for life. A
petition for his term of transportation to be reduced was submitted to the
Home Secretary by James while he was languishing in Northampton Gaol. It
speaks poignantly of his plight: "It
having been the unhappy lot of your Lordship's Petitioner to be found guilty
of a Crime at which his heart revolts and for which he at this moment is
overwhelmed with grief admits his Guilt with the sincerest Contrition and
Remorse - Not only on Account of the Punishment and Disgrace that must await
himself but also for the Stigma that will indelibly be cast upon his innocent
Family and Friends." James
requested that his punishment be mitigated to allow him "at some future
Period of Time to return to his afflicted Family and Friends". James signed
the petition in a literate hand but such faint pencil that it is not readily
reproduced. His plea was supported by the following who stated that they had
known James for several years: - Edward Walton (the prosecutor), Joseph
Richardson (constable), John Wood, Langton Freeman, John Bradshaw, James
Cooke, James Kightley, Thomas Allom, Thomas Allum yong, John Martin, James
Gammage, Thomas Burgess, Wm Ward, Robert Holt Baker, Wm Potter and John
Knight. Most, if not all, of these were inhabitants of Brixworth and some
were fairly close relatives. The
petition does not claim previous good character for James; his convict record
in Tasmania states that he had already been convicted for stealing a rabbit.
A note on the outside of the document describes his character from the Gaol
as "Bad", so it is not surprising that the petition was refused. Northampton
goal, where James was held around the time of his trial, was situated on the
north side of Angel Lane (now Angel Street). It had been built in 1792-4 and had
room for 140 criminals and 30 debtors. In 1815, a report by officials of the
City of London on prisons throughout England noted that at Northampton there
was plenty of water and good wash-houses and drying ground. Criminal
prisoners had a pound and a half of bread and gruel daily, potatoes and broth
three times a week and eight pennyworth of meat on Sunday. A similar regime
was probably still in place when James was held there. [2]
James
Howcutt appears on the muster for 30 June 1827 of convicts on board the hulk
"Leviathan" in Portsmouth Harbour. [3] His "bodily state"
was then described as good and his behaviour as orderly. Australian records state
that he was also kept on the hulk "York" at some stage before
leaving England. [4] When he was transported, James was described as 5 feet
3¾ inches tall with brown hair and blue eyes. He had 9 shillings and 2 pence
to take with him when he left England. On 17
August 1827, James and his two accomplices were among 200 convicts who set
sail on the Convict Transport "Asia" (523 tons), bound for Van
Diemen's Land, as Tasmania was then called. The ship was a wood barque of 523
tons and had been built in Calcutta in 1814. Its Master was Henry Ager and
the Surgeon was George Fairfowl. The
Surgeon's journal mistakenly records the ship as "Eliza" but, from
other records in the Public Record Office and the schedule of transports in
"The Convict Ships 1787-1868" by Charles Bateson, it definitely
relates to the "Asia". Fairfowl joined the ship at Deptford on 26
June, the guard embarked on the following day and by 8 August it had reached
Spithead where the convicts came on board. The
full complement of the ship was:
As one
might expect, the convicts were mainly quite young:
Their
sentences, marital condition and literacy were as follows:
George
Fairfowl described his charges: - "They
came on board with the general character of being the most desperate and most
intractable set of villains that ever left the hulks at Portsmouth, and I
received many well meaning but to me needless cautions to be on my guard
against their machinations. A few days I knew would suffice to establish
order and regularity. The discipline of a ship carried on with firmness and
temper soon reduces the spirit of the most turbulent. .....When
received on board they were mustered and inspected a second time, and a bed,
pillow and blanket marked with the respective man's number, delivered to each.
They were then divided into messes of six, they themselves choosing their
comrades, berthed in their sleeping places and suitable mess articles were
delivered to each mess....." The
convicts' leg irons were taken off as soon as the ship had fairly cleared the
land. For much of the day, the prisoners had to remain on deck - “.... by
this means gambling, quarrelling and other irregularities below, where they
were out of sight, were prevented." During the night, a patrole of six
men had to sit up in four-hour shifts and was responsible for any
irregularities during its watch. The sentry at the hatchway saw that it was
on the alert. Divine service was performed every Sunday when the weather
permitted. In
addition to godliness, arrangements were made for cleanliness. The hands and
face were washed every morning. On Sundays and Thursdays, the neck, legs and
feet, and when the weather was mild and warm the whole body once a week. The
convicts were shaved every Wednesday and Saturday at least. Clean shirts were
put on every Sunday and Thursday and stockings when worn; clean trousers
every Sunday. Six pints of water per day were allowed out of the tropics and
within the tropics an extra pint in the evening.
On 7
December, the "Asia" arrived at Hobart. The guard and 198 surviving
convicts were landed one week later, two prisoners having died at sea. European
settlement of Tasmania had begun in 1803. The indigenous population at that
time probable numbered around 5,000 to 10,000. During the next few decades
they suffered greatly from diseases from which they had no immunity and
conflict with far better-armed settlers. It was in the years before and after
James’ arrival that the Aboriginal population was driven from their hunting
grounds and the few survivors deported to Flinders Island. The bulk of the
Europeans who arrived in Tasmania in the first part of the 19th
century were prisoners transported from England. As late as 1847, just over
50% of the total population of the island were convicts or former convicts
and less than 20% were free emigrants. [5] James
was to remain in Tasmania for at least 24 years. In the convict returns for
1830, he is shown as being assigned to Mr G. Brooks. This person may have been
the George Brooks who was allocated 500 acres of land in Abergavenny parish
on 4 May 1824. By assignment a convict was given into the care of a
particular settler who had to provide food and clothing; in return, the
convict had to work for that person. On 5 July 1831, James was still assigned
to "G Brookes" when he was admonished for neglect of duty and
leaving his master's premises without leave. At the
end of 1832, James was recorded as "Constable"; it is evident from
later records that this was his job rather than an employer's name. By the
end of 1833, he was engaged on public works. On 11 April 1834, James was
accused of neglect of duty in allowing George Hawkins and Daniel Ellis to
escape from his custody. He was admonished and returned to his task, "it
appearing that the prisoners escaped handcuffed and without any gross
carelessness of the part of the Constable". James'
next offence appears on 5 November 1834 when, still employed as a constable,
he was accused of being drunk and in neglect of his duty, for which he was
fined 20 shillings. On 28
April 1835, James was one of a group of 32 convicts who were granted a
"ticket-of-leave". [6] This was granted at the Lt. Governor's
discretion for good behaviour. It freed recipients from most of the restrictions
of being a convict; they could own property and work for wages. In the
mid-1830s, about 10% of the convicts in Tasmania had a ticket of leave, but
this could be withdrawn for misconduct. Presumably because of his new
status, James resigned from the Police with effect from 30 June 1835. [7] On 23
September 1835, James was accused of fraudulently embezzling about three
bushels of barley worth 15 shillings, the property of his employer George
Dudfield. He was committed for trial at the Quarter Sessions and sentenced on
26 October to four years' hard labour in the “Bridgewater Chain Gang",
which was employed north of Hobart in quarrying stone, breaking it and
carting it to the causeway across the Derwent River, whilst fettered in iron
chains. However, on 12 November, the Lieutenant Governor ordered James to be
restored to his ticket of leave with absolute remission of the sentence that
had been passed upon him. On 17 November, James was assigned to public works. James
was working for "Morley" when, on 20 June 1839, he was convicted of
disorderly conduct and sentenced to one month hard labour and to be removed
from the district in which he had been living. On 2 July, he went to
Cleveland District and on 22 May 1840 to Norfolk Plains. In
December 1841, James is recorded as being employed in the "Cleveland
Party" - perhaps this relates to a small settlement called Cleveland
that is about 30 miles to the south of Launceston. Norfolk Plains is on the
east and west banks of the South Esk River - also to the south of Launceston. On 11
November 1842, James was found guilty of a breach of the Police Act and fined
ten shillings. Further misconduct resulted in admonishment on 29 December in
the same year. Despite
these lapses, James received a conditional pardon on 18 October 1843. The
condition attached to such pardons was usually that the person did not return
to the United Kingdom. The last entry on James' convict record notes that his
conditional pardon was extended on 27 July 1852.
The
first major discovery of gold in Victoria took place in 1851. By mid-1853,
about 60,000 gold diggers, plus their families, congregated on the Victorian
goldfields, including 23,000 at Bendigo. A petition, complaining about a number
of matters including the licence fee of 30 shillings a month, was presented
by miners on 1 August 1853. Amongst the 5,000 to 6,000 signatures on the
petition was that of James Howcutt. This is the most recent record that has
so far been found of James. No evidence has been found of him marrying,
fathering children or dying in England or Wales, so James probably spent the
rest of his life in Australia. As far as is known, he has no descendants. Notes [1] “Northampton
Mercury”, 10 March 1827, page 2, column 4. [2] “History of the
county buildings of Northamptonshire” by Christopher A Markham (Northampton 1885), pages 19-22. http://www.archive.org/stream/historycountybu00markgoog#page/n45/mode/2up
(accessed 6 September 2016). [3] HMS Leviathan was originally a 74-gun
vessel, launched in 1790. It took part in the Battle of Trafalgar. In 1816,
it was converted into a prison ship and survived until 1848 when it was sold
and broken up. [4] HMS York was a 74-gun third rate vessel
of 1,743 tons that had been launched in 1807, took part in the capture of
Martinique and saw service in the Mediterranean before being converted to a
prison hulk in 1819. She performed this role, holding up to 500 prisoners at
a time, at Gosport and London until it was broken up in 1854. [5] “History of
Tasmania’s population 1803-2000”, Australian Bureau of Statistics. [6]
"The Launceston Advertiser", 7 May 1835, page 4, column 2. [7]
"The Launceston Advertiser", 21 May 1835, page 4, column 5. |
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