Australia's Convict Heritage - Auction 278
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| Lot | Symbols | Description | Estimate (AUD) | |||
| 38 | D | Manuscript convict record (on vellum) concerning THOMAS JONES (tried at Lancaster, 22nd October 1832), transported to Van Diemen's Land for housebreaking. The record indicates that he arrived in July 1833. Amongst his later crimes was bushranging in New South Wales, for which he was confined in 1835 to Port Arthur, "at the Governor's pleasure". Single folio leaf. | $300 - $500
sold for $480 | |||
| 39 | D | Manuscript convict record of Charles Stonaird, tried at Hereford Assizes (Aug.1834) and transported for life to Van Diemen's Land, where he arrived in March 1835. The record incorporates details of Jean Lapsley (tried at Glasgow and transported for 7 years), combined with their petition to marry, with testimonials addressed to the Governor, Sir John Wilmot, who granted permission the marriage. (4 folio sides). | $200 - $300
sold for $280 | |||
| 40 | D | Manuscript free pardon, dated April 1837 (on vellum) for John Newland, a free settler who had arrived in New South Wales in 1818, tried and convicted at Bathurst in February 1837 (cattle stealing) and sentenced to transportation for life. The pardon is signed at Government House, Sydney, by the Governor, Sir Richard Bourke, with embossed paper seal. | $200 - $300
sold for $1250 | |||
| 41 | D | Sept.1838 manuscript health report clearing female convict, Harriet Davey for transportation to Australia. Signed by William Rattenbury, Surgeon to the Borough Gaol, Plymouth. | $100 - $200
sold for $300 | |||
| 42 | D | 1842 manuscript document (4 folio sides), with wax seal, convicting one Moutonsander, an Indian, of the crime of arson on the island of MAURITIUS, and sentencing him to seven years' transportation, almost certainly to Australia. The document is in French, apart from a quotation from the British Penal Code. | $200 - $300
sold for $150 | |||
| 43 | D | July 1845 Certificate of Freedom granted in Hobart to Owen Taylor, with a physical description of the ex-convict and details of his date of arrival (1839) and sentence (7 years). On vellum; faults. | $150 - $200
sold for $260 | |||
| 44 | D | A folio containing 5 documents which record crimes committed (1845 - 1848) by convicts while on probabtion in the Richmond area of Van Diemen's Land: Sept.1845 record of sentence on convict George Patterson for "stealing a Gate, value 2/-"; Sept.1845 document recording various charges including "supplying tobacco to a prisoner on a road gang"; Sept.1845 record of sentence upon James Baker, caught "playing cards in Mr Burgesses public house"; Jan.1846 letter regarding James Barry and Isabella Watson "caught in a Disorderly House near Richmond"; Oct.1848 document regarding the case of a convict named Butcher "receiving an axe stolen from the Jerusalem Probation Station." Also, an 1888 Will from Franklin, Tasmania. (6 items) | $400 - $500
sold for $500 | |||
| 45 | D | Manuscript petitions dated March & April 1850, on behalf of Samuel Shaw (convicted Sydney, May 1842) transported to Van Diemen's Land for 14 years. The petitions addressed to Sir Charles Fitzroy are for a remission of sentence on the grounds of long good conduct and also in consideration of the differences in prescribed penalties between New South Wales and VDL. (1 folio side & 2 folio sides). (2 items) | $200 - $300
sold for $320 | |||
| 46 | ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) |
CONVICT-ERA RELICS FOUND AT "THE COMMANDANT'S COTTAGE", GRANTON, TASMANIA in the early 1960's
A Convict Shirt, c1830s Cotton, with a button at each wrist and two buttons at the neck. Some mildew stains and a small area of fabric lost at lower right. This blue/black and white striped cotton shirt was excavated from the inter-wall cavity on the western side of the cottage. The shirt has been stamped "B.P.C." at left upper front and is the only known intact example (with this insignia), of the most common garment issued to convicts. [The only other example, of almost identical design, was discovered in 1980 under the floorboards during excavation of the Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney.] The shirt is of square cut design with straight set sleeves, and gussets at tension points. Although many thousands of convicts were transported to Australia between 1788 and 1840, it is not surprising that virtually no articles of convict clothing have survived. Clearly, they were not considered items to be prized and preserved. A Convict punishment shoe, stitched leather with multiple iron studs in the soles, c1830s The sides have been deliberately cut away so that the leg irons would cut into the ankle of the unfortunate convict wearing the shoe. Also found in the vicinity of the cottage and in the grounds: Government issue candle holder, metal, with impressed broad arrow mark. (12cm high) Oil-burning lamp, metal with original convex magnifying lens and the original oil burner with wick. (16.5cm high) The front hinges opens to access the oil tank and wick. This lamp is an early example of the "Bobby Dazzler" type which was issued to police. Can be carried by hand or clipped over belt. Waisted iron axe head with impressed crown over broad arrow. 21.5cm wide, 14.5cm high. With wooden shaft (77cm), possibly non-contemporary. A pair of handcuffs, each with portion of impressed "FROGGATT WARRENTED WROUGH IRON" and "75". A brief history of the cottage and the circumstances of the discovery of the shirt (and a pair of leg-irons which are now in the Old Watch House and Gaol) can be found in "From Black Snake to Bronte = Heritage Buildings of the Derwent Valley in Tasmania: Sketches and Commentaries (1807 - 1914)" by John Trigg, drawings by Audrey Holiday. [Holliway Publishing, Bellerive, 1988]. See pp.18-19. The vendor has provided the following background and details (edited) written by her father, Charles Arthur Halmkin, who made the original find: For several years after the first white settlers arrived in Hobart their only way of crossing the Derwent river was by boat. In the late 1820's it was decided to build a causeway and bridge at a point about half way between Hobart and New Norfolk, about 12 miles away. It was to connect Granton on one side of the river to Bridgewater on the other. Bridgewater was on the road being built (using convict labour) to Launceston. The river at this point (Granton-Bridgewater) was about one mile wide. It was decided to use convict labour for the project and a settlement, which included police barracks, supervisors cottages and a hospital, was built. Work started on the causeway in 1830 as a punishment job for the convicts. Each convict wore leg irons which had a chain connecting one leg iron through a belt, to the other leg iron. This chain could be shortened or lengthened by the supervisor depending on the degree of discomfort required. As a further punishment the sides of a convict's shoes were cut away so that the leg irons would cut into the flesh around his ankles. [See item 2]. The convicts had to transport rock in whellbarrows from a quarry on the Granton side of the river to the causeway. It took six years to complete the causeway. In 1836 the authorities decided against building a bridge and for several years a manually operated punt was in use. Not much was recorded about the six years work on the causeway but one doctor, who travelled from Hobart to New Norfolk made a record in his diary about the appalling conditions that existed. Over the years some of the buildings have disappeared but the barracks, the hospital building and one of the cottages remain. It was in this remaining cottage that the convict shirt [item 1] and shoe [item 2] were found. In the 1960's the cottage was vacant and in a bad state of repair. The then owners (including the vendor) obtained permission from the Tasmanian Government to renovate it. A condition of the permit was that any changes were to be approved by an architect on behalf of the National Trust. The roof was unsafe and had to be replaced. When it was removed it exposed the tops of the walls which were about two feet thick. They consisted of two layers of stone with a cavity in between. Most of this cavity had been filled with rubble but in one space, the convict shirt was found. It was rolled up tightly, which no doubt helped to preserve it. As it was in the cavity and under the roof timber it must have been deliberately placed there during construction, dating it to about 1830. The shoe was found under the old floor when the original floorboards were replaced. The other items comprising this lot were not found during the renovation of the cottage but were found in the area of the cottage at different times. VIEWING BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. (6 items) |
$200,000 - $250,000
sold for $225000 | |||
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