This was my final assignment for my Diploma of Family History at the University of Tasmania. The purpose of the essay was to argue whether Joseph's experience was typical or atypical. Please excuse my referencing, some of which is fairly cumbersome. I'm not sure that he was particularly naughty, in some ways he was just unlucky and even cocky or impulsive.
Joseph Dickinson was tried at the Old Bailey on 14
September 1826 charged with stealing laundry from a wash-house valued at 16
shillings, and was sentenced to seven years, transportation.[1] He
served almost five years of this sentence onboard the hulk Justitia moored on the Thames at Woolwich, until being pardoned on
10 February 1831.[2]
Almost three years later he was tried and convicted at the Westminster Peace
Session on 30 January 1834 for stealing a writing box valued at £1 and again
sentenced to seven years transportation.[3] He
arrived in Sydney in August 1834, after a four month voyage on the Surry.[4] This
essay will examine Joseph’s life within the convict system, comparing it with
data gathered for the same time period and related to convicts from the same
native place as him. It will consider health, height, literacy and occupation
as well as characteristics, behaviour and recidivism to confirm that his experience
was both typical and atypical.
Convicts native to London or Middlesex, as Joseph was, had
access to a better diet, particularly if they had a craft or trade giving them
a steadier income.[5]
They were also surprisingly shorter on average than their contemporaries from
less urban places.[6]
Living in an urban area also increased their levels of literacy.[7] Joseph’s
health was described as good while serving his previous sentence on board the Justitia, and as a plasterer he likely
had an income allowing him a balanced diet when he was free, which will have
stood him in good stead.[8] By
the 1830s more was beginning to be understood about the prevention of
conditions like scurvy, and John Smith, Superintendent Surgeon on board the Surry reported an uneventful voyage with
no serious medical issues, despite his initial concerns about overcrowding
onboard.[9]
Recent data gathered by the University of Tasmania
indicates that the mean height for convicts arriving in Van Diemen’s Land, who
gave their native place as Middlesex, was 5’ 5”.[10]
Joseph was 5’ 4” at his arrival in Sydney, the majority of his contemporaries
on the Surry were between 5’ 4” and
5’ 6”, and included in that cluster were most of the sixty-one who gave their
native places as London, Westminster or Middlesex.[11]
It would be expected that being a Londoner with a trade,
Joseph would be literate.[12] Of
the sixty-one from Middlesex or London on board the Surry, he was one of the forty-two who could read and write, another
eight could read and just eleven were illiterate.[13]
In regard to health, height and literacy, Joseph was typical of convicts
arriving in the colony with a native place of London or Middlesex.
Joseph was noted as having several tattoos on both arms.[14]
Since these were first documented on his arrival in Sydney, it is unclear
whether they were obtained in custody or before his arrests. The initials “EC,
heart pierced with two darts” on his right arm were likely a reference to
Elizabeth Costellow who had been arrested with him in 1826 and subsequently
transported.[15]
The identity or significance of “E NEWMAN” is a mystery, but other tattoos
including stars, anchors, fish, rings on his fingers were common amongst those
on the Surry with him; not just those
from Middlesex.[16]
For the Middlesex group on the Surry
it is difficult to determine whether being tattooed was typical or atypical as
it was evenly divided.[17]
Londoners were also among the least likely to admit to
having prior offending.[18]
Joseph admitted a previous offence and that he had served one month, although
he had spent close to five years on the Justitia.[19]
Since he received a pardon for his first offence in 1826 he may have felt it
did not need to be declared, or perhaps his answer was influenced by the way
the question was posed. He may have been inferring that he had already served
about one month of his current sentence before being transferred from Newgate
to the hulk Leviathan prior to
boarding the Surry.[20]
For whatever reason, declaring that he had a previous conviction makes him
atypical based on his native place.
Joseph was not the only plasterer on board the Surry, but he was the only one from
London, and the entry was annotated as “good”.[21] Although
there were other tradespeople amongst the sixty-one from Middlesex, many had
less skilled occupations; farm/errand and pot boys, grooms, farm servants and
horsedealers.[22]
In regards to having a trade, Joseph appears to be atypical, but this may have
worked in his favour as he was the only convict assigned from the Surry to Terence Murray.[23]
Murray, a retired Irish army officer, and his son Terence Aubrey
Murray held land grants in Argyle, Goulburn and Lake George.[24]
Joseph remained in Goulburn for his entire sentence.[25] He
does not appear in newspapers or gazettes for any misdemeanours, although
Murray does have several entries relating to some of his assigned shepherds
absconding.[26]
This would suggest that Joseph’s good behaviour while on the Justitia continued in the colony, similarly,
most convicts settled well into their indentured life.[27]
Joseph received his Ticket of Leave in 1839 and Certificate
of Freedom in 1841.[28] He
remained in the Goulburn, Lake George, Monaro and Queanbeyan area working as a
plasterer and raising a small family.[29] There
are no official records of his first marriage or the baptisms of his three
children, however the marriage certificate of his daughter Sarah offers some
clues to place his marriage to Ann Blackman between 1841-1845.[30] Both
he and Ann were in their thirties at this time, which would make the family
seem typical by comparison.[31]
Joseph’s only known confinement in the colony came in 1850
when he was sentenced to two months hard labour at Goulburn Gaol, seemingly a
result of breaching conditions placed on him after concerns were raised for the
welfare and treatment of his wife.[32] Newspapers
detail occasional foolish behaviour rather than criminal, and court appearances
as a witness or defendant.[33] He
continued to work as a plasterer until his death in December 1878.[34] Although
Joseph’s prior record may have given him a higher propensity to continue
reoffending, evidence does not show convicts from London or urban areas making
repeated appearances for colonial offences.[35]
In conclusion, after studying the available data,
researching Joseph Dickinson’s interactions and criminal and colonial records
and creating a dataset for the voyage of Surry,
it is clear that his experience and attributes were both typical and atypical.
Some of these outcomes have been unexpected, but many will have assisted him throughout
his sentence and helped him assimilate into society post sentence.
[1] Old Bailey Online, 'Joseph Dickinson,
Elizabeth Costellow.',
https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18260914-289-defend1572&div=t18260914-289#highlight,
Accessed 27 May 2018.
[2] Ancestry, Hulk Justitia Prison Hulk
Registers and Letter Books for Joseph Dickinson, 'UK, Prison Hulk Registers and
Letter Books, 1802-1849 [database on-line].', Home Office; Convict Prison
Hulks: Registers and Letter Books; Class HO9, Piece 8, Original data: Home
Office: Convict Prison Hulks: Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849. Microfilm,
HO9, 5 rolls. The National Archives, Kew, England. Accessed 25 August 2018.;
Ancestry, Criminal Register Joseph Dickinson Middlesex 1826, England
& Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 [database on-line], Home Office: Criminal Registers, Middlesex and
Home Office: Criminal Registers, England and Wales; Records created or
inherited by the Home Office, Ministry of Home Security, and related bodies,
Series HO 26 and HO 27; The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey,
England. Accessed 25 August 2018.; Findmypast, Hulk Justitia Quarterly Returns
for Joseph Dickinson, 'Home Office: convict hulks, convict prisons and criminal
lunatic asylums, quarterly returns of prisoners', HO8 Home Office: convict
hulks, convict prisons and criminal lunatic asylums, quarterly returns of
prisoners, The National Archives, Kew, England. Accessed 8 September 2018.; Sydney
Living Museums, 'Convict Hulks', https://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/stories/convict-hulks,
Accessed 6 September 2018.
[3] London Metropolitan Archives to Claire
Becker, email, 9 May 2018, original in author's possession.; Digital
Panopticon, 'Joseph Dickinson', https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/search?from=0&e0.type.t.t=root&e0._all.s.s=joseph+dickinson,
Accessed 27 May 2018.; Digital Panopticon, 'Joseph
Dickenson',https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/search?e0.type.t.t=root&e0._all.s.s=joseph%20dickenson,
Accessed 27 May 2018.; Ancestry, Convict Record Joseph Dickinson, New South
Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842 [database on-line]. New South
Wales Government. Annotated printed indents (i.e., office copies). NRS 12189,
microfiche 696–730, 732–744. State Records Authority of New South Wales,
Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia. © the Crown in right of the State of New
South Wales and is used under licence with the permission of the State Records
Authority. Accessed 27 August 2018.
[4] Ancestry, Convict Record for Joseph
Dickinson.; Findmypast, Hulk Leviathan Quarterly Returns for Joseph Dickinson,
'Home Office: convict hulks, convict prisons and criminal lunatic asylums,
quarterly returns of prisoners', HO8 Home Office: convict hulks, convict
prisons and criminal lunatic asylums, quarterly returns of prisoners, The
National Archives, Kew, England. Accessed 8 September 2018.; Free Settler or
Felon, 'Convict Ship Surry 1834',
https://www.jenwilletts.com/convict_ship_surry_1834.htm, Accessed 6 September
2018.
[5] Dr Kristyn Harman 'Convict Diets and
Food Production' in Hamish Maxwell-Stewart ed., Module Four, Chapter Three: Convict Diets and Food, HAA Convicts in
Context, 2018.; Hamish Maxwell-Stewart 'Real Wages of Southern Building
Craftsmen, 1750-1800' in Hamish Maxwell-Stewart ed., Module Three, Chapter Two: Height and Native Place, HAA Convicts in
Context, 2018.
[6] Hamish Maxwell-Stewart 'Adult Male
Convict Height (Aged 21-50) by Year of Birth’ in Hamish Maxwell-Stewart ed., Module Three, Chapter Two: Height and Native
Place, HAA Convicts in Context, 2018.
[7] Hamish Maxwell-Stewart 'Sentencing
County by Literacy and Proportion of Convicts Reporting Agricultural Skills’ in
Hamish Maxwell-Stewart ed., Module Three,
Chapter Two: Age and Occupation, HAA Convicts in Context, 2018.
[8] Harman 'Convict Diets and Food
Production'.; Maxwell-Stewart 'Real Wages of Southern Building Craftsmen,
1750-1800'.; Findmypast, Hulk Justitia Quarterly Returns for Joseph Dickinson.
[9] Katherine Foxhall, Health, Medicine,
and the Sea: Australian Voyages, c.1815-1860, Chapter 4, Manchester University
Press, Manchester, 2012.; Maxwell-Stewart 'Adult Male Convict Height (Aged
21-50) by Year of Birth'.; Hamish Maxwell-Stewart 'Convict Voyages' in Hamish
Maxwell-Stewart ed., Module Four, Chapter
One: Convict Voyages, HAA Convicts in Context, 2018.; Ancestry, UK Royal
Navy Medical Journals, Surry, 'UK, Royal Navy Medical Journals, 1817-1857
[database on-line].', Original data: Admiralty and predecessors: Office of the
Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and predecessors:
Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and
Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal
Marines, Coastguard, and related bodies. The National Archives. Kew, Richmond,
Surrey. Accessed 27 May 2018.
[10] Hamish Maxwell-Stewart
'Mean Height by County of Birth and Proportion of Convicts Reporting
Agricultural Skills’ in Hamish Maxwell-Stewart ed., Module Three, Chapter Two: Height and Native Place, HAA Convicts in
Context, 2018.
[11] Ancestry, Convict Record for Joseph
Dickinson.; Ancestry, Convict Indent Surry 1834, New South Wales, Australia,
Convict Indents, 1788-1842 [database on-line]. New South Wales Government.
Annotated printed indents (i.e., office copies). NRS 12189, microfiche 696–730,
732–744. State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South
Wales, Australia.© the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales and is
used under licence with the permission of the State Records Authority. , Accessed
27 August 2018.
[12] Maxwell-Stewart 'Sentencing County by
Literacy and Proportion of Convicts Reporting Agricultural Skills’.
[13] Ancestry, Convict Indent Surry 1834.
[14] Ancestry, Convict Record for Joseph
Dickinson
[15] Old Bailey Online, 'Joseph Dickinson,
Elizabeth Costellow’.; Ancestry, Convict Record Elizabeth Costellow, Australian
Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868
[database on-line]. Home Office: Convict Transportation Registers, (The
National Archives Microfilm Publication HO11), The National Archives of the UK
(TNA), Kew, Surrey, England. Accessed 12 September 2018. Ancestry, Convict
Record for Joseph Dickinson.
[16] Ancestry, Convict Indent Surry 1834.;
David Kent, ‘Decorative Bodies: The Significance of Convict Tattoos’, Journal of Australian Studies, Volume
21, Issue 53, 2009, pp.78-88. Ancestry, Convict Record for Joseph Dickinson.
[17] Ancestry, Convict Indent Surry 1834.
[18] Hamish Maxwell-Stewart 'Prior
Conviction Rates by Density of Population in County of Conviction’ in Hamish
Maxwell-Stewart ed., Module Three,
Chapter Two: Age and Occupation, HAA Convicts in Context, 2018.
[19] Ancestry, Convict Record for Joseph
Dickinson.; Ancestry, Hulk Justitia Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books for
Joseph Dickinson.; Findmypast, Hulk Justitia Quarterly Returns for Joseph
Dickinson.
[20] Findmypast, Hulk Leviathan Quarterly
Returns for Joseph Dickinson.; Ancestry, Criminal Register Joseph Dickinson
Middlesex 1834, England & Wales, Criminal Registers,
1791-1892 [database on-line], Home Office: Criminal Registers, Middlesex
and Home Office: Criminal Registers, England and Wales; Records created or
inherited by the Home Office, Ministry of Home Security, and related bodies,
Series HO 26 and HO 27; The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey,
England. Accessed 25 August 2018.
[21] Ancestry, Convict Record for Joseph
Dickinson.; Ancestry, Convict Indent Surry 1834.
[22] Ancestry, Convict Indent Surry 1834.
[23] Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia,
Settler and Convict Lists, 1787-1834 [database on-line], Home Office: Settlers
and Convicts, New South Wales and Tasmania, (The National Archives Microfilm
Publication HO10, Pieces 1-4, 6-18, 28-30), The National Archives of the UK
(TNA), Kew, Surrey, England. Accessed 27 August 2018.; Ancestry, Muster Record
for Joseph Dickinson 1837, New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict
Musters, 1806-1849 [database on-line], Home Office: Settlers and Convicts, New
South Wales and Tasmania; (The National Archives Microfilm Publication HO10,
Pieces 5, 19-20, 32-51); The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey,
England, Accessed 2 May 2018.; Ancestry, Convict Indent Surry 1834.
[24] C.D. Coulthard-Clark, ‘Gables, Ghosts and Governors-General - The
Historic House at Yarralumla’, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1988, pp. 1-42.; Australian
Dictionary of Biography, 'Murray, Sir Terence Aubrey (1810-1873)',
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/murray-sir-terence-aubrey-2498, Accessed 27
August 2018.; 'Winderradeen', Sydney
Morning Herald, 6 April 1935, p.16.
[25] Coulthard-Clark, ‘Gables, Ghosts and Governors-General - The Historic House at
Yarralumla’.; Ancestry, Muster Record for Joseph Dickinson 1837, New South
Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849 [database on-line],
Home Office: Settlers and Convicts, New South Wales and Tasmania; (The National
Archives Microfilm Publication HO10, Pieces 5, 19-20, 32-51); The National
Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England, Accessed 2 May 2018.; Ancestry,
New South Wales, Australia, Settler and Convict Lists, 1787-1834.; Australian
Dictionary of Biography, 'Murray, Sir Terence Aubrey (1810-1873)'.; Ancestry,
Ticket of Leave Joseph Dickinson, 'New South Wales, Australia, Tickets of
Leave, 1810-1869 [database on-line].', ©The Crown in right of the State of New
South Wales and is used under licence with the permission of the State Records
Authority. Accessed 25 August 2018.; Ancestry, Certificate of Freedom Joseph
Dickinson, 'New South Wales, Australia, Certificates of Freedom, 1810-1814,
1827-1867 [database on-line].' Original data: New South Wales Government. Butts
of Certificates of Freedom. NRS 1165, 1166, 1167, 12208, 12210, reels 601, 602,
604, 982-1027. State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South
Wales. Accessed 27 May 2018.
[26] Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia,
Police Gazettes, 1854-1930 [database on-line], Original data: New South Wales
Government. Police Gazettes. Series 10958, Reels 3129-3143, 3594-3606. State
Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia.
©the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales and is used under licence
with the permission of the State Records Authority. Accessed 1 June 2018.; 'Principal
Superintendent of Convicts' Office 11 October 1836, New South Wales Government Gazette, 12 October 1836, p.782.
[27] Findmypast, Hulk Justitia Quarterly
Returns for Joseph Dickinson.; Ancestry, Hulk Justitia Prison Hulk Registers
and Letter Books for Joseph Dickinson.; Principal Superintendent of Convicts'
Office 11 October 1836, New South Wales Government Gazette, 12 October 1836,
p.782.; Hamish Maxwell-Stewart 'Career Criminals' in Hamish Maxwell-Stewart
ed., Module Five, Chapter Two: Career
Criminals, HAA Convicts in Context, 2018.
[28] Ancestry, Ticket of Leave Joseph
Dickinson.; Ancestry, Certificate of Freedom Joseph Dickinson.
[29] NSW Registry of Births Deaths &
Marriages, 'Births, Deaths and Marriages Search,
https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search?1, Accessed
27 May 2018.; NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages, 'Registry
Records', http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/Pages/family-history/registry-records.aspx,
Accessed 27 May 2018.; Death Certificate of Ann Dickinson, died 3 May 1870,
Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages New South Wales, 5595/1870.; Marriage
Certificate of Sarah Ann Dickinson and Alexander McIntyre, married 27 October
1862, Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages New South Wales, 2903/1862.
[30] NSW Registry of Births Deaths &
Marriages, 'Births, Deaths and Marriages Search’.; NSW Registry of Births
Deaths & Marriages, 'Registry Records'.; Death Certificate of Ann
Dickinson, died 3 May 1870.; Marriage Certificate of Sarah Ann Dickinson and
Alexander McIntyre, married 27 October 1862.
[31] Death Certificate of Ann Dickinson,
died 3 May 1870.; Death Certificate of George Joseph Dickinson, died 4 December
1878, Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages New South Wales, 9197/1878.; Hamish
Maxwell-Stewart 'Marriage, Migration and Family Formation' in Hamish
Maxwell-Stewart ed., Module Five, Chapter
One: Marriage, Migration and Family Formation, HAA Convicts in Context,
2018.
[32] Ancestry, Gaol Entrance Description
Book Joseph Dickinson 1850, 'New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and
Entrance Books, 1818-1930 [database on-line].', Original data: State Archives
NSW; Roll: 855. Accessed 27 May 2018. 'Queanbeyan, Police Intelligence', Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle
Advertiser, 2 March 1850, p.6.
[33] ‘Queanbeyan, Before Henry Hall and G.F
Palmer Esqrs.' Goulburn Herald and County
of Argyle Advertiser, 6 April 1850, p.6.; 'Local Intelligence, Police
Court, Drunkards', Golden Age, 28 May
1863, p.2.; 'Local Notes And Events', Queanbeyan Age and General Advertiser, 30
Jun 1864, p.2.; 'Local Notes And Events, Court of Petty Sessions, Obscene
Language', Queanbeyan Age and General
Advertiser, 19 January 1865, p.2.; 'Local and District News, Curious
Circumstance', Queanbeyan Age, 28
March 1872, p.2.; 'Bungendore, Court of Petty Sessions', Queanbeyan Age, 17 June 1874, p.2.; 'Queanbeyan Police Court,
Forgery and Uttering', Queanbeyan Age,
22 August 1874, p.2.; Queanbeyan Quarter Sessions', Queanbeyan Age, 24 October 1874, p.2.; Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia,
Police Gazettes, 1854-1930.
[34] Death Certificate of George Joseph
Dickinson, died 4 December 1878.; 'Dreadful Suicide. - Inquest', Queanbeyan Age, 7 December 1878, p.4.
[35] Maxwell-Stewart 'Career Criminals'.
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