Free Settler or Felon
Convict and Colonial History




Convict Ship Lady McNaughten - 1835


Embarked 305 men (5 re-landed)
Voyage: 125 days
Deaths 2
Surgeon's Journal - No
Previous vessel: Mary Anne arrived 26 October 1835
Next vessel: Warrior (from Calcutta) arrived 20 November 1835
Captain George Hustwick
Surgeon George Ellery Forman
Follow the Irish Convict Ship Trail
Convicts and passengers of the Lady McNaughten identified in the Hunter Valley region

Some of these prisoners may have been held in Kilmainham gaol prior to transportation. The following description of Kilmainham Gaol is from The picture of Dublin: or, Stranger's guide to the Irish metropolis By Curry, William, jun. (1835)

Kilmainham prison 1836 - The picture of Dublin: or, Stranger's guide to the Irish metropolis By Curry, William, jun. (1835)

Departure

The Lady McNaughten departed Dublin on 23 June 1835 with 300 prisoners.

Free Passengers

Passengers included Mr. Michael Brown, clerk of works, Sydney, Mrs. Brown and four children under twelve years


Military Guard

Lieutenant Francis Plaistow Trapaud and G. Baumgartner, 28th regiment, twenty-nine rank and file of the 28th regiment, eight women and twelve children.

Surgeon George Ellery Forman

Although the surgeon's journal is not available, George Forman's attitude towards the prisoners on the voyage of the Eden five years later gives an insight into methods that were probably used on this voyage.

He remarked in his journal on the voyage of the Eden in 1840:

The system of management of the convicts differed little in that I had adopted on former occasions.... ventilation and cleanliness forming the chief features while the formation of cheerfulness and the affording of all possible occupation to the convicts was practised as much as circumstances would allow; the results were on the whole satisfactory.

Port Jackson

The Lady McNaughten arrived in Port Jackson on 30 October 1835 with 298 male prisoners. Five men had been re-landed in Dublin - James Tallant, Michael Cannon, Richard Mapother, James Smith (alias Arnold) and William Healy; and two had died at sea - Patrick Brady and Thomas Feehan. Another three men died in Sydney Hospital in the weeks after arrival - James Molloy, Patrick Kelly (alias Doyle) and Patrick Monks.

Convict Indents

The convict indents reveal information such as name, age, education, religion, marital status, family, trade, offence, when and where tried, sentence, former convictions, physical description, and colonial information e.g., tickets of leave, pardons, certificates of freedom and deaths.

Boy Convicts

There were some very young prisoners on the Lady McNaughten.....

Owen Fox and Richard Rourke were both 16 years old;
John Molloy, John Flinn, John Hendrick and John Collins were all 15;
Thomas Flinn, Thomas Guinness and Michael Shannon were 14;
John Rourke was 13; and the youngest John Fitzsimmons, and John Maginnis(alias Patrick Morgan) were only 12 years old.

Crimes

Crimes committed by the convicts were mostly various forms of theft but there were also men who had committed rape, violent assault and manslaughter. There were those who had been transported for administering unlawful oaths and fire arms offences.....

Michael Dowling from Kildare and Edward Coggins and John Fullit from Sligo and four men from Kings Co., were transported for fire arms offences.

Five former soldiers were transported as convicts. All had been sentenced in Dublin for desertion or insubordination. One, Samuel Anderson from Antrim had been punished for a previous offence with 600 lashes.

Departure

This was the only voyage on which this ship was used as a convict transport. She departed for Valparaiso late November 1835 and returned to the colony in 1837 with 444 immigrants, fifty four of whom died of fever and another thirteen in quarantine after arrival including the doctor.

Marquis of Huntley 1835 Recovery 1836 Charles Kerr 1837 Westmoreland Norfolk Backwell England John Barry Susan Waterloo Moffatt Strathfieldsaye Portsea Lady McNaughten Convict Ships 1835 - 28th regiment guard

Notes and Links

1). At Wexford Assizes, Darby McEvoy was sentenced to 7 years transportation for perjury before Baron Foster at the previous assizes. Patrick Byrne and Patrick Larkin were found guilty of burning a dwelling house..Belfast Newsletter 17 March 1835

2). Hugh Duffey, an old offender, for stealing several articles, the property of John Sloan, at Belfast, on 18th February. This prisoner was also indicted for stealing several articles, the property of Clotworthy Sterling, at same time and place. The prisoner pleaded guilty to both indictments, and was sentenced to seven years' transportation....Thomas Flinn, for stealing a shawl, the property of Rebecca Rollston, at Belfast, on 27th March; guilty. The prisoner was a boy about 14 years of age, but had been several times convicted of a similar offence; he was sentenced to seven years' transportation. - Belfast Newsletter 14 April 1835

3). Dublin - The following prisoners who had been convicted at the present commission were sentenced as follows: Michael Lawless for stealing wearing apparel; seven years' transportation.. Richard Burrowes and Samuel Heath for stealing some military stores and weapons; seven years' transportation; William Burke for the highway robbery of Colonel Cator; sentence of death recorded. Previous to the passing of the sentence, when asked had he any observations to make to the court, the prisoner said that he thought there were circumstances in his case which he hoped would entitle him to the merciful consideration of the court. He had been induced to commit the crime to which he had pleaded guilty by want; and had abstained from taking Colonel Cator's watch, or more money than a few shillings, when he might have done so. We have learned that the application of Mr. Justice Burton to the government on behalf of James Lee, has been successful, and that his sentence has been commuted from that of death to transportation for life. - Freemans Journal 13 April 1835

4). John Jones who arrived as a prisoner on the Lady McNaughten was a compatriot of poet Francis MacNamara. Together they roamed the bush with three other men Edward Allen, William Thomson and William Eastwood near Campbelltown, New South Wales in the early 1840's. They were all captured in 1842 and sent to Van Diemen's Land..

5). Convicts and passengers of the Lady McNaughten identified in the Hunter Valley region.

6). Convict Ships to NSW in 1835

7). George Forman was also employed as surgeon on the convict ships Platina in 1837 (to VDL) and Pyramus in 1839 (to VDL)..

8). Convict ships bringing detachments of the 28th regiment included the Lady McNaughten, Recovery, Charles Kerr, Westmoreland, Marquis of Huntley, Norfolk, Backwell, England, John Barry, Susan, Waterloo, Moffatt, Strathfieldsaye, Portsea, William Jardine and the Bardaster(VDL)

9). Soldiers of the 28th regiment stationed in Newcastle and Maitland

10). 28th Regiment (North Gloucestershires) 1831. List of Officers