Prisoner John FITZPATRICK and/or John Fitzgerald 1867-1885

Convict transportation records and prisoner aliases 1840s
Key penal discipline documents tabled in the Tasmanian Parliament 1870s

The Mugshot
Two copies of this photograph are extant. Nowhere does the error of the ship's name written on the verso of this mugshot- viz. Ld Lyndoch 2 - appear on the transportation records for prisoner John Fitzpatrick. From T. J. Nevin's original uncut photograph and duplicates (usually 4) produced for Hobart Gaol records in 1874, to the format of a single carte-de-visite in a buff mount printed for distribution to regional and intercolonial police on the prisoner's discharge, it was incorrectly inscribed verso by later archivists when selected for display as an artefact of Tasmania's penal history during the tourism boom years of the 1890s -1930s.



John Fitzpatrick per Lord Auckland 2 - not Lord Lyndoch 2 - was 52 years old when T. J. Nevin photographed him on being received at the Hobart Gaol during transfer of several dozen prisoners under remand and sentence between July 1873 and August 1874 from the derelict Port Arthur prison.  There may exist a mugshot taken on the arrest in 1880 of a younger prisoner called John Fitzgerald whose name John Fitzpatrick used in 1870 as an alias - or not, given the destruction of prison records during the Joseph Lyons era of government in the first decades of the 20th century. Fifteen year old John Fitzgerald arrived at Hobart on the same ship, the Lord Auckland 2, in August 1846 as 21 year old John Fitzpatrick.

The TMAG copy
This copy of the mugshot of prisoner John Fitzpatrick per Lord Auckland 2 was salvaged from the Sheriff's Office Hobart Gaol (Tasmania) by John Watt Beattie in the early 1900s for display at his convictaria museum in Murray Street, Hobart. The original photograph of the prisoner was taken for police records by commercial photographer and government contractor Thomas J. Nevin in the years 1873-74. It was numbered "218" verso by Beattie et al decades later with the prisoner's name "John Fitzpatrick". Two factual errors were then added regarding (a) the name of the ship on which John Fitzpatrick was transported to Hobart, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in 1846 - it was the Ld Auckland 2, not the Ld Lyndock 2 [sic Lyndoch] and (b) where and when Nevin took the photograph. It was not taken at Port Arthur in 1874; it was taken for the Colonial government and Hobart Municipal Police Office on prisoner John Fitzpatrick's transfer to the Hobart Gaol in 1873-1874, and most likely reprinted from the same negative on his discharge in 1876.

The number on the recto of this copy -"182" - was written in 1983 when it was removed from John Watt Beattie's collection at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston. It was among 50 or more similar mugshots taken by T. J. Nevin in the 1870s to be included in an exhibition at the former Port Arthur prison 60 kms south of Hobart. At the close of the exhibition this mugshot and the other fifty (50) or so were not returned to Beattie's collection at the QVMAG (see the list of those missing here). It was deposited instead at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart where it remains and was scanned for this weblog in 2015.



Prisoner John Fitzpatrick
Location and date: Hobart Gaol and Police Office 1874-1876
Photographer: Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923)
Recto inscription: "182"; verso inscription "218"
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Ref: TMAG Q15613



Verso inscriptions:
Left margin, vertical: "6 months escaping prison, 22 Jan [/] 86 "
Numbered - 218 -
"John Fitzpatrick
per Ld. Lyndock 2nd [sic Lyndoch]
(Taken at Port Arthur 1874)"
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Ref: TMAG Q15613.back

The NLA copy
This is a clean cdv copy (below) of the original 1874 photograph in a buff mount of prisoner John Fitzpatrick which was donated by Dr Neil Gunson to the National Library of Australia, Canberra, in the 1960s and correctly attributed to photographer Thomas J. Nevin on accession. It was sourced from government estrays, possibly from remainders offered for sale which were associated with intercolonial travelling exhibitions of convictaria on board the fake convict hulk, Success of the 1890s, to which John Watt Beattie contributed photographs, manuscripts and artefacts from his "Port Arthur Museum" located in Murray Street, Hobart. Beattie used a synoptic version of the Supreme Court trials and Hobart goal records such as the Parliamentary Papers (below) to make a selection of the more notorious criminals for display in his museum, and those are the photographs which are now extant, transcribed with a generic date "1874" and the label "Port Arthur" to cater to the tourist's fascination with Tasmania's history as a British penal colony, a complement to the publication date of Marcus Clarke's serial and bestselling novel, "For the Term of His Natural Life", 1870/1874 and the films based on the novel which followed in 1907 and 1929.

1960s-2007: NLA catalogue record





The verso of this copy carries the same errors regarding the ship and date and place of capture as the verso inscription of the TMAG/QVMAG copy, minus the vertical inscription with the date 1886, indicating clearly that it was either copied earlier from the only copy held at the QVMAG, or it was one of the four duplicates which Nevin would have produced from his glass negative at his one and only sitting with the prisoner in 1874 at the Hobart Gaol.



John Fitzpatrick, per Ld. [i.e. Lord] Lyndock 2,[sic] taken at Port Arthur, 1874.
Part of collection: Convict portraits, Port Arthur, 1874.
Gunson Collection file 203/7/54.
Title from inscription on reverse.
Inscription: "218"--On reverse.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-142913116

The National Library's recent confabulation of a photographer attribution to the Port Arthur commandant A. H. Boyd which appeared on their catalogue notes in 2010 for their collection of 80 or so "Convict portraits, Port Arthur, 1874" is a corporate perversity. Put simply, it is corrupt librarianship to abject their original and correct attribution to T. J. Nevin in the 1960s-1980s simply to appease those few in the 1990s photohistory cohort (Reeder 1995, Long 1995, Clark 2010) who sought personal gratification and career advancement through baseless speculation about a possible attribution to the non-photographer A. H. Boyd. Despite all factual and freely available historical evidence testifying clearly to Thomas J. Nevin as the original accredited and contracted photographer in historical documents held within the NLA as well as at the Archives Office Tasmania (and there are a dozen more of his mugshots held by the State Library of NSW), and having discovered none whatsoever in the last 20 years that proves in any way their fantasy about A. H. Boyd, the NLA still has his attribution visible on some of their catalogue entries.

Records tabled in Parliament 1870 and 1874
Early 20th century archivists and exhibitors of these extant mugshots (1930s-1950s) used the two key parliamentary documents of 1870 and 1874 (below) when deciding which prisoners' photographs to select and display from the collections held at the QVMAG, the TMAG, the NLA and the Tasmanian Archives Office. Those old early selections have persisted as groups of mugshots to be exhibited whenever required by a gallery, museum, library or even publisher right up to the present (e.g.Sideshow Alley: Thomas Nevin at the NPG Canberra exhibition 2015).

1870: Port Arthur
In this list of prisoners under sentence and funded as Colonial convicts (as distinct from Imperial funded convict) which was submitted to the Tasmanian Parliament by James Boyd, Civil Commandant, Port Arthur (not to be confused with his successor A. H. Boyd), on 30th September 1870, the only prisoner listed with the name John Fitzpatrick was transported on the Lord Auckland, not the Lord Lyndoch. In 1870 John Fitzpatrick was 45 years old and serving a sentence of five (5) years imprisonment.

The name "John Fitzgerald", his alias when arrested in January 1870, does not appear in this 1870s list tabled in Parliament, nor does the ship "Lord Lyndoch" appear next to Fitzpatrick's name. By 1880, an "old man" called John Fitzgerald was arrested for developing counterfeit moulds. He was sentenced to five years, but was he John Fitzpatrick or John Fitzgerald? Both had arrived on the Lord Auckland 2 in 1846. Had John Fitzpatrick reverted to his former alias, "John Fitzgerald" or was this offender a different person whose real name was Fitzgerald but whose mugshot seems not to have survived? The Launceston Examiner's report referred to him as "an old man" in 1880, recorded by police as 51 years old, per Ld Auckland, born therefore ca. 1829 (see section POLICE GAZETTE records below).



Name: Fitzpatrick, John
Ship: Lord Auckland
Age in 1870: 45
Sentence: 5 years imprisonment

1870 - Tasmania
Convicts. Paupers and Lunatics at Port Arthur
Return to an Order of the House dated 8th September 1870 (Mr. C. Meredith)
Laid upon the Table by the Colonial Treasurer, and ordered by the House to be printed October 13, 1870

See ADDENDA 1 below for the full document
Source: https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/PPWeb/1870/HA1870pp128.pdf

1874: Hobart Gaol
This is the document which provides the most interesting evidence of where those prisoners whose mugshots have survived were employed when officially listed as inmates of the Gaol and House of Corrections for Males, Hobart Town during the years 1873 and 1874. There are several dozen names of prisoners in this list whose mugshots are currently extant that were taken by Thomas J. Nevin at the Supreme Court and Hobart Gaol while these men were still under remand or sentence at Hobart, especially those with longer sentences processed in 1873 and earlier. Most of these prisoners would have been photographed, their mugshots discarded, lost, stolen or destroyed. Those which are extant can be found on this site. To find the photograph and more details of prisoners' criminal careers on this list, use this site's Complete Archive on front page, and Search Box in sidebar.

Try these Rogues Galleries in the first instance.

Rogues Gallery: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Collection
Rogues Gallery: the QVMAG prisoner photographs collection
Rogues Gallery: the National Library of Australia collection

Pages 5-7
Nominal Return of all Prisoners whether under Remand or Sentence, in the Gaol and House of Correction for Males at Hobart Town, on the 8th December 1874.







[From left to right]
Age: 52
Name of Prisoner: Fitzpatrick, John
Offence for which imprisoned: Receiving
Date of Sentence: 13.1.70 [1870]
Extent of Sentence: 5 years
How employed on 8th December 1874: Gang labour
Remarks as to Character: Indifferent.

TASMANIA.
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.
PENAL DISCIPLINE
REPORT OF COMMISSION.
Laid upon the Table by the Attorney-General, and ordered by the House to be printed, August 10, 1875.

See ADDENDA 2 below for the full document
Source: https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/PPWeb/1875/HA1875pp49.pdf

Dozens of names in these lists can be found on the versos of prisoners' photographs held in the NLA, TMAG and QVMAG collections. In a recent publication sponsored by the National Library of Australia titled Exiled: The Port Arthur Convict Photographs (Edwin Barnard, NLA 2010), John Fitzpatrick's photograph and transportation details appear on page 205:



From the NLA collection of "Convict portraits, Port Arthur, 1874"
Page 205: Exiled: The Port Arthur Convict Photographs (Edwin Barnard, NLA 2010
Prisoners George Fisher, John Fitzpatrick, James Foley, William Forster, Thomas Francis
Photo © KLW NFC 2013
Read more in this article here.


Police Gazette Records
John Fitzpatrick per Ld Auckland 2, 42 years old, native of Dublin, 5'4" in height, dark brown hair, Free in Servitude (FS) was tried at Kempton (Tas) on 9 February 1867 for larceny. He was sentenced to six months at the Hobart Gaol on 9 February 1867 and discharged on 9th October 1867.

1867: sentenced to 6 months



Source: Tasmania Information for Police (weekly Police Gazette)

1870: convicted 5 years
Three years later John Fitzpatrick per Lord Auckland 2 was using an alias "John Fitzgerald" when he was arrested for feloniously receiving and sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment. Or did the police just confuse him with the 15 year old John Fitzgerald who also arrived at Hobart on the same ship?



Source: Tasmania Information for Police (weekly Police Gazette)

1876: convicted 6 months



Source: Tasmania Information for Police (weekly Police Gazette)

John Fitzpatrick per Ld Auckland, 52 years old, was convicted at New Norfolk for larceny, sentenced to six months. He was 52 years old when convicted, photographed on sentencing by government contractor T. J. Nevin on being received at the Hobart Gaol and House of Correction for Males, Campbell Street.

1876: discharge 7 years
John Fitzpatrick per Ld Auckland 2 had received an addtional two years to his sentence of five years for prison offences by the time of his discharge in February 1876. He was listed as 54 years old on this record.



Source: Tasmania Information for Police (weekly Police Gazette)

When John Fitzpatrick was discharged from two months' respite at the Invalid Depot, Launceston, in 1879, the name of his ship was erroneously recorded as "Lady Auckland".



John Fitzpatrick, Invalid Depot, Launceston FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1879
Source of all police gazette notices: Tasmania Information for Police (Police Gazette) J. Barnard, Gov't printer

1880: Fitzgerald or Fitzpatrick?



Source: LONGFORD. (1880, June 26). Launceston Examiner p. 3.
https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38259736

TRANSCRIPT
LONGFORD. (From our own Correspondent.) An old man named John Fitzgerald was taken into custody last night by Mr Superintendent East and Constable Hall upon a charge of uttering counterfeit shillings. He had succeeded in passing three or four during the last four days to several shopkeepers on the township, and when arrested had another in his purse. He had only recently taken up his residence upon Primrose Hill, where, upon search being made this morning, his "working plant" was discovered. He was brought up at the Police Office this morning, and remanded until Monday, when there is no doubt the charge will be clearly proved against him. June 25.
Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899), Saturday 26 June 1880, page 3
John Fitzgerald, aged 51 years, charged base shillings to Richard Groves, Jamos Allen, and Jacob Bond, on the I8th, 21st, and 22nd June last.

1880: In his own words:John Fitzgerald at trial
Launceston Examiner, Friday 27 August 1880, page 3
https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38261920

TRANSCRIPT
SUPREME COURT, LAUNCESTON
CRIMINAL SESSIONS.
THURSDAY, August 26.
Before His Honour Mr Justice Dobson.
The Crown prosecutions were conducted by the Solicitor-General, Mr R. P. Adams UTTERING. John Fitzgerald, aged 51 years, was charged with having in his possession a mould for making counterfeit coin. The prisoner pleaded, not guilty. The following jury were empanelled: Messrs D. Burke (foreman), T. Watson. J. Coulson, ,Vm. Brown, D. Lucas, R. Mead, J. l'OClemon, Chas. Lucas, J. Lansdell, F. Reid, C. Box, John Smith. James East, Superintendent of Police at Longford, deposed that he went to prisoner's hut in company with Constable Hall; the hut was situate at Primrose Hill; witness went to the hut in consequence of complaints having been made about persons receiving bad money ; when witness went to the hut he told prisoner that he was suspected of passing bad money; prisoner denied the fact; witness then asked if he had any money, which he denied ; witness then said he should want to see; prisoner then handed the purse produced to witness, which contained 6s in good money, and in another compartment was some bad money; the coin produced was one; prisoner said he must have taken it from Mr Cooper; prisoner was then arrested; Constable Hall, who was present at the hearing of the case against the prisoner, has since left the colony ; on the way to the watchhouse prisoner said that he had done no more than any other person would have done when taking a bad shilling, try to pass it to someone else.
Detective-Sergeant Wilson deposed that he knew Constable Hall of the Longford Police, and last saw him on the 17th of July, when he left by the S.S. Mangana, for Melbourne ; Hall said that he had been suspended for neglect of duty, and was going to George Town to see a friend; a warrant had been issued for his apprehension ; on the return of this steamer witness was informed that Hall went to Melbourne.
Henry S. Hutchinson, Council Clerk at Longford, deposed that he took the evidence of Constable Hall at the hearing of the case against the prisoner at the Longford Police Court; the prisoner had an opportunity of cross-examining Hall.
The deposition of Constable Hall was here read, which stated that he had found a plaster of Paris mould, a tin pannikin, and some ointment at the prisoner's house. Mr Hutchinson, re-examined, deposed the mould bore the impress of a shilling; he also produced the plaster of Paris, as well as a box of ointment, which is used to brighten shillings with; the counterfeit coin resembles a genuine coin. David Allen, a baker in Longford, deposed that he went to prisoner's hut with Constable Hall ; two coins were found in the plates of the wall by witness, which were handed to Hall; they were like the coins produced; Hall found a bit of metal in the fireplace amongst the ashes ; these resemble the pieces produced.
James Cooper deposed that the prisoner was in his employment about the 24th June last, and had been so for about nine days; witness sold him a pound of plaster of Paris a day or two before that; prisoner did not then say what he wanted the plaster of Paris for, but afterwards said that a man on the Cressy-road wanted some and asked him to get some ; the plaster of Paris was folded up in a bag like the one produced; witness never gave prisoner a bad shilling.
Richard Groves Taylor deposed that he was a storekeeper at Longford, and recollected the prisoner coming to his shop and tendered in payment a shilling, which witness afterwards found to he bad ; witness handed the shilling back to prisoner, who said that he had got it from Dickenson, the butcher; witness had taken a bad shilling the night previous.
Thomas Dickenson, a butcher, deposed that he never gave the prisoner a bad shilling, and had no knowledge of his dealing at his shop.
This closed the case for the prosecution.
The prisoner here read his statement, which stated that when he took the cottage he found a couple of tin pannikins, one of which contained some metal ; he asked Mrs Stapleton, a next door neighbour, if she knew anything about them ; she said she did; prisoner afterwards found a shilling, which turned out to be bad; prisoner afterwards heard that some more bad shillings were found, but he could solemnly declare that he knew nothing about them.
Ann Stapleton, a prisoner at present undergoing a'sentence in the female House of Correction, deposed that she did not recollect the prisoner making any statement about finding some tin pannikins or saucepans in the house.
His Honour having summed up, the jury retired, and after a brief absence returned into Court with a verdict of guilty.
SENTENCES. ... John Fitzgerald, convicted of having a mould in his possession for the making of counterfeit coin, on being asked if he had anything to say why judgment should not be passed upon him, said that he knew nothing about the mould being in the hut when he went to live there. His Honour said the prisoner had been found guilty of having a mould for the making of counterfeit coin in his possession, and he had no hesitation in saying that he considered the jury had arrived at a just conclusion, when it was taken into consideration that only just before to the prisoner had purchased some plaster of Paris, which no doubt had been used in the making of the moulds. Passing bad money was a most serious offence, as it often robbed both poor people and shopkeepers, who took it in exchange for their goods. The sentence of the Court would be five years' Imprisonment.

Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas. : 1835 - 1880), Thursday 26 August 1880, page 3

1880: arraigned for casting counterfeit coin


Source: Tasmania Information for Police (weekly Police Gazette)

Charged as "John Fitzgerald" per Lord Auckland, 51 yrs old. The Launceston Examinerstated confidently that "there is no doubt the charge will be clearly proved against him."

1885: discharged to Invalid Depot



Source: Tasmania Information for Police (weekly Police Gazette)

John Fitzgerald, 65 yrs old, 5'4" tall, per Ld. Auckland was discharged from the Hobart Gaol on 23 May 1885, tried at the Supreme Court, Launceston on 26 August 1880, sentenced to 5 years for having a mould for making base coin. Scar across left fingers, face slightly pockpitted, scar centre forehead. Residue of sentence remitted.



Source: Tasmania Information for Police (weekly Police Gazette)

No. of Authority, 29. John Fitgerald per Ld Auckland was discharged from the Invalid Depot, New Town, Hobart on 14 July 1885.

An ex-prisoner called John Fitzpatrick died at the Invalid Depot, Launceston, on 11 January, 1888 of senility. He was supposedly 74 years old, which would indicate he was born ca. 1814, and if it was the same man who was transported per the Lord Auckland 2 in 1846, he would have been 32 years old on arrival, which does not tally with his age as 52 yrs at 1874 and an arrival date of 1846, .

Another ex-prisoner called John Fitzgerald, a tanner, died of senility at the New Town Charitable Institution, Hobart on 22 August 1894, age 66 years, born Ireland, which would indicate he was born ca. 1828. Since none of these records confirm one way or another who the real John Fitzpatrick was when his name was printed in the 1870 Port Arthur list tabled in Parliament as a 45 year old colonial prisoner serving 5 years imprisonment, and therefore born ca. 1825, and again in the December 1874 Hobart Gaol list of inmates tabled in Parliament as a 52 year old prisoner of indifferent character serving 5 years for receiving, sentenced 13 January 1870, and employed in gang labour, born therefore ca. 1822, accurate conclusions about this prisoner's transportation records remain elusive. But given the circumstances under which photographer Thomas J. Nevin was commissioned to provide the Colonial government with mugshots of over 200 prisoners who were transferred to the Hobart Gaol from the Port Arthur prison between July 1873 and August 1874 (see ADDENDA 2 below), with the addition of others extending into the 1880s, the most likely contender would be the prisoner called John Fitzpatrick who was transported on the Lord Auckland 2, arriving at Hobart in 1846, 21 years old, b. ca. 1822-1825.

Transported records to VDL
The Archives Office of Tasmania holds three different transportation records, which appear to conflate or confuse prisoners called John Fitzpatrick and John Fitzgerald, all arriving at Hobart on the same date, 25 August 1846 and on the same ship, the Lord Auckland 2. One record is for a prisoner who was 40 years old in 1846 on arrival named John Fitzpatrick (no. 19043); another named John Fitzpatrick (no. 19036) who was 21 years old in 1846, and yet another named John Fitzgerald (no. 19037) who was 15 years old on arrival in 1846. The confusion between these three men stems from the apparent coincidence that a 21 yr old named John Fitzpatrick and a 15 year old named John Fitzgerald both arrived at Hobart on the Lord Auckland in August 1846, and that the older man John Fitzpatrick, photographed by Nevin, used the alias of John Fitzgerald to confuse police when convicted at the Supreme Court, Launceston, in 1870.

This record for the 21 year old John Fitzpatrick, transported for 7 years, carries the mysterious note:
"Again Transported Vide Misc. 8 Nov.26 73". 



Fitzpatrick, John
Record Type: Convicts
Employer: Cahill, Joseph: 1857
Additional identifier: 1
Property: Port Arthur Penal Station
Departure date: 19 Apr 1846
Departure port: Dublin
Ship: Lord Auckland (2)
Place of origin:Dublin,
Voyage number: 270
Remarks: Application to bring out family GO33/1/70 p576
Police number: 19036
Index number: 23639
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1392320
https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-82$init=CON33-1-82P54


This conduct record (below) indicates further offences and sentence for convict (no. 19037) "John Fitzgerald" in 1868, 1879, and 1880. Some of John Fitzgerald's employment and criminal activities are listed on this document, including duties as a hospital wardsman in 1855.



Name: Fitzgerald, John
Record Type: Convicts
Property: Port Arthur Penal Station
Departure date: 19 Apr 1846
Departure port: Dublin
Ship: Lord Auckland (2)
Place of origin: Kilkenny
Voyage number: 270
Police number: 19037
Index number: 23540
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:139221
Link:https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-82$init=CON33-1-82P55


Addenda 1:
1870 Tasmania
Convicts. Paupers and Lunatics at Port Arthur
Return to an Order of the House dated 8th September 1870 (Mr. C. Meredith)
Laid upon the Table by the Colonial Treasurer,
and ordered by the House to be printed October 13, 1870
Source: https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/PPWeb/1870/HA1870pp128.pdf


Cover and pages 3-7

Pages 6 and 7


Source: https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/PPWeb/1870/HA1870pp128.pdf

Addenda 2
(No.49) 1875.
TASMANIA.
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.
PENAL DISCIPLINE. REPORT OF COMMISSION.
Laid upon the Table by the Attorney-General, and ordered by the House to be printed, August 10, 1875.

List of offences of male prisoners, Hobart Gaol, December 1874: Superior Courts



List of offences of male prisoners, Hobart Gaol, December 1874: Inferior Courts



Pages 3 and 4



Pages 5 and 6



Page 7



(No.49) 1875.
TASMANIA.
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.
PENAL DISCIPLINE. REPORT OF COMMISSION.
Laid upon the Table by the Attorney-General, and ordered by the House to be printed, August 10, 1875.
Source: https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/tpl/PPWeb/1875/HA1875pp49.pdf


RELATED POSTS main weblog

In a party mood: prisoner Michael LYNCH (as Horrigan, Harrigan or Sullivan), Christmas Eve, December 24th 1881

Indecent assault charges under the Act of 1863
Court martial with transportation and DD branding

Sixty-five (65) year old cook, Michael Horrigan (or Lynch, Harrigan and Sullivan), transported as Michael Lynch per Waverley (1) in 1841, was feeling festive on Christmas Eve, 24th December 1881. He celebrated by breaking into the residence of Alexander Denholm junior at Forcett, south-east of Hobart near Sorell, helping himself to a gold watch and some very fancy clothes. In a party mood, and probably dressed to the nines in Denholm's tweeds, he then sought out and made amorous sexual advances to Robert Freeman.



Prisoner Michael LYNCH alias HORRIGAN, HARRIGAN and SULLIVAN
Photographer: Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923)
Date and Place: Hobart Supreme Court March 1882
Black and white copy of sepia print printed in cdv mount
Verso indicates alias, crime, date of transportation, photo or archival no. 466 etc
QVM:1985:P:89, QVMAG Collection, Launceston, Tasmania

This prisoner's proper or real name was Michael LYNCH alias Horrigan and Sullivan, according to the police gazette notice on his arraignment at the Supreme Court Hobart, 7 March 1882. The archivist who wrote his name on the verso on this black and white copy used the later spelling of the alias "Harrigan" which was recorded by the police gazette notices of 1884 and 1885.



Verso inscription:
"Michael Horrigan or Sullivan -
F. S. [Free by servitude]
Waverly (Irish) 13.8.41.
12 Months
466"
Ref: QVM:1985:P:89
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania.
Earlier accession numbering (at top of verso) shows the date 1958.

This police photograph was numbered "466" when inscribed verso, either by police for inclusion in the Hobart Gaol Photo Book and criminal rap sheet in 1882 on the prisoner's incarceration, or by later archivists at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery on accession from the Beattie Collection for exhibition at various dates and venues between 1934 and 1983. This black and white copy was made at the QVMAG in 1985 from the sepia original for reasons best known only to the QVMAG.

The complainants, December 1881
Michael Lynch raided Alexander Denholm jnr's dressing room on Christmas Eve 1881 to steal his fine clothes, gold watch and fob chain. Denholm appears to have been an easy target. He published warnings to trespassers in the press warning them he had laid poison at his property, Woodside, Forcett.



Andrew Denholm, warning to trespassers
Notice in Mercury, 2 Sept 1882

Alexander Denholm had interests in the importation of agricultural machinery. He was also the licensee of the White Hart Hotel at Bothwell by 1884.



Andrew Denholm
Agricultural equipment brought into Sorell
Notice in Mercury 20 January 1880.

Who was Robert Freeman, the other complainant with a case against Michael Horrigan/Lynch? He brought charges of indecent assault resulting in a 12 month sentence against Horrigan. Robert Freeman's name was recorded in the Supreme Court Rough Calendar at Horrigan/Lynch's trial on 7 March 1882 but nothing was published in the press which named him as the victim of Horrigan's assault on December 24, 1881. He may have been a local Sorell lad, 21 years old, son of a labourer, who died in 1883 of a chronic abscess. If so, he would have been 19 years old at the time of Horrigan's intent to commit a homosexual act. Such acts were deemed illegal and incarceration or even death were  the only outcomes for the offender.



Deaths in the district of Sorell 1883
20 May, 1883 - Robert Freeman, 21 yrs old, son of labourer, chronic abscess
Archives Office of Tasmania Names Index RGD35-1-52P189

The Act to consolidate and amend the Legislative Enactments relating to Offences against the Person. [31 July, 1863] was presumably the Act under which Michael Horrigan/Lynch was charged. It  stipulated severe punishments ranging from death, imprisonment for life, and  imprisonment for ten years, dependent on proof of complete penetration of the [male] person. It appears, therefore, that insufficient proof was mustered agains Michael Horrigan/Lynch at trial in the Supreme Court, Hobart, on 7 March 1882 to warrant a severe sentence for indecent assault. He got off with a light sentence of 12 months' incarceration at the Hobart Gaol on the grounds of "intent".

An Act To Consolidate And Amend The Legislative Enactments Relating To Offences Against The Person, (27 Vic, No 5) 31 July, 1863

Unnatural Offences .

Sodomy.
59 Whosoever shall be convicted of the abominable crime of Buggery, committed either with mankind or with any animal, shall suffer Death as a Felon.

Attempt to commit an infamous crime.
60 Whosoever shall attempt to commit the said abominable crime, or shall be guilty of any assault with intent to commit the same, shall be guilty of Felony, and being convicted thereof shall be liable to be imprisoned for Life.

Indecent assault upon a male person.
61 Whosoever shall be convicted of any indecent assault upon any male person shall be liable to be imprisoned for Ten years.

27° VICTORIlE. No 5. 43
Carnal knowledge defined.
62 Whenever, upon the trial of any offence punishable under Carnal knowledge of this Act, it may be necessary to prove carnal knowledge, it shall not be defined necessary to prove the actual emission of seed in order to constitute a carnal knowledge, but the carnal knowledge shall be deemed complete upon proof of penetration only.

READ the FULL ACT here {pdf}
An Act To Consolidate And Amend The Legislative Enactments Relating To Offences Against The Person (27 Vic, No 5) Austlii Database.

The revised NSW Crimes Act No. 40 of 1900, items 79-81, still maintained severe penalties for indecent assault on a male. Under this Act the offense committed by Michael Horrigan would have incurred a sentence of five years:
Indecent assault on male
81. Whosoever commits an indecent assault upon a male person of whatever age, with or without consent of such person, shall be liable to penal servitude for five years.


Act No. 40, 1900.
An Act to consolidate the Statutes relating to Criminal Law. [31st October, 1900.]
Link: https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/pdf/asmade/act-1900-40

ASSAULT as ENTERTAINMENT on Christmas Eve
Horrigan's assault on Robert Freeman might have escaped the notice of the press but the Hull-Calder contretemps certainly did not. It was reported with relish on Christmas Eve, Saturday, the 24th December 1881, by the Hobart Mercury and Launceston Examiner. They rose to the occasion with a thrilling account of the assault between two gentlemen of the highest standing in Hobart society: Hugh Munro Hull and James Eerskine Calder.

EXTRACT
TASMANIA. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.) HOBART, Dec. 23. At the Police Court, before Mr Tarleton, P.M., and Mr W. P. Green, J.P., Mr H. M. Hull charged Mr J. E. Calder with having unlawfully assaulted and beaten him on the 12th inst. Mr Calder pleaded not guilty, Mr Bromby appearing for him. Mr Hull deposed that on the day named, at about ten o'clock in the morning, he was proceeding to his office, when he was met by the defendant, who walked up hurriedly, and said, " Are you the writer of the letter in the Launceston Examiner signed 'Older Chum ?' " I retorted by asking him if he was the writer of the letter in the same paper reflecting upon me. Instead of replying to me he said, "I'll teach you; there, take that," and dealt me a violent blow on the side of the head with his open right hand ; I felt stunned for a moment by the violence of the blow; when I recovered I did not return the blow, as I thought it unseemly for an old magistrate of five-and-twenty years' standing to be seen fighting in the public street with a man twice his size; I told him I should summon him for assault, when he came towards me as if to repeat the blow, at the same time calling out something which I was too deafened by the blow I had received to hear distinctly; ... etc etc
Read the rest of this story here:
CITY POLICE COURT. (1881, December 24). The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), p. 3.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9003832
TASMANIA. (1881, December 24). Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899), p. 2.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38229710

Supreme Court Record 1882

ROUGH CALENDAR (Supreme Court Hobart, 1882)



Michael Horrigan aka Harrigan and Sullivan, transported as Michael Lynch
Sentenced on 7th March 1882 to 12 months for indecent assault (homosexual act)
Supreme Court Rough Calendar Ref: GD70-1-1
Archives Office Tasmania

TRANSCRIPT
ROUGH CALENDAR [Supreme Court Hobart ]

Name and Age
Harrigan, Michael alias Sullivan alias Lynch
Committed
7.1.82
Received
10.1.82
Age 68 - 65

Number and Ship
Waverley (1) (ticked)

Original Sentence
(double ticked)

Condition & Date
F.S [free in servitude]

Plea
N.G. [not guilty]

Before whom Tried
C. J. [Chief Justice]
7/3/82

What Committed for
For that the said Michael Horrigan as Sullivan as Lynch did at Belmont in the Municipality of Sorell in this colony of Tasmania on the 24 Day of December 1881, unlawfully assault one Robert Freeman with intent feloniously, wickedly, and against the order of nature to carnally know the Robert Freeman, and perpetrate the abominable crime of Buggery.

For that the said Michael Horrigan as Sullivan as Lynch did at Forcett in Tasmania 1881 feloniously break and enter the dwelling house of Alexander Denholm Jnr there situate and then and there did feloniously steal take and carry away 1 Dark Blue Albert Coat, 1 Black Paget coat, 1 pair Tweed Trousers, 2 Tweed Vests, 1 Gold Watch and 1 Gold Albert Guard of the goods and chattels of Albert Denholm Junior of Forcett aforesaid

What Indicted for
Same

Result of Trial
Found Guilty of Indecent Assault

Sentence and Date
12 Months Imprisonment 7/3/82

Police Gazette Records

1879
On the 6 September 1879, Michael Lynch was arrested as Michael Sullivan and sentenced at the Police Office Glenorchy to six months for larceny. See this conduct record listed under the name Michael LYNCH. https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-12$init=CON33-1-12P181

1881
Details of the robbery at Andrew Denholm's property with description of suspect:



TRANSCRIPT
SORELL MUNICIPALITY
HOUSEBREAKING
BETWEEN 1 and 7 pm on the 24th instant the dwelling of Alexander Debnholm at Forcett was feloniously broken and entered, and the following propeerty stolen therefrom : - 1 blue fashionable coat; 1 black Paget coat, both nearly new; 1 pair light tweed trousers; 2 ditto vests; the property of Alexander Denholm, jun. 1 gold watch, No. 55738, W. H. Hill  & Sons makers; 1 gold twist Albert guard, with plain gold bar, value £20; the property of and identifiable by Robert Buchanan. A man of the following description is suspected: - 55 years of age, 5 feet 10 or 11 inches high, dark complexion, dark to grey hair inclined to curl, dark to grey whiskers, shaved on chin, medium build, supposed Irish, stated he was a cook; dressed in clean white mole trousers, straw hat, black pilot or saque coat; carried an untanned opossum-skin rug, a white bundle, and a red bundle. Supposed to have gone towards Clarence or Richmond.
Source: VOL. XX. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1881. No. 1171.
Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police Information Only, J. Barnard Govd't printer.



TRANSCRIPT
Vide Crime Report,1881, page 205
Denholm's robbery - Michael Horrigan, alias Sullivan, alias Lynch, has been arrested by Supt Anderson, of the Sorell Municicpal Police, and charged with the offence. None of the property has been recovered.
Source: VOL. XXI. FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 1882. No. 1172.
Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police Information Only, J. Barnard Govd't printer.

1882
In March 1882 Michael Horrigan, proper name Lynch as Sullivan was 65 years old when arraigned for indecent assault and sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment at the Hobart Gaol.



Horrigan, Michael, proper name Lynch, as Sullivan , 65 years old, ship Waverley 1, F. S. Indecent assault 12 months. He was discharged on 5 February 1883.
See this record: https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-12$init=CON33-1-12P181

1884


No. of Authority 117
Michael Harrigan [sic] per Waverly spent a month from 16 June 1884 to 10 July 1884 as a pauper at the Invalid Depot in Hobart.

Source: Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police, J. Barnard Govd't printer

1885


Source: Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police, J. Barnard Govd't printer

Employed as a cook in Hobart, Michael Harrigan [sic] , native of  Ireland, 71 years old, 5 ft 10 inches tall, was convicted of larceny at New Norfolk (north of Hobart) on 4th February 1885. Because of his various aliases, his prior convictions probably eluded the police gazetteer and were not recorded. He died at the New Town Charitable Institute, Hobart, on 3 May 1894 and was buried as Michael Horrigan, cook, 83 years old. The Archives Office of Tasmania holds his death record at : - https://stors.tas.gov.au/RGD35-1-14p136j2k

Transportation Records



Details on this record show Michael Lynch was single, could read, his religion was Roman Catholic, and had one brother James living in London, and two sisters Johanna and May. Desertion and branding DD. The Archives Office of Tasmania holds this record at : - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON14-1-9$init=CON14-1-9P33



Records show that Michael Lynch, born ca. 1816 at Cork, Ireland, had served 4 years with the 22nd Regiment when he deserted for nine days. He was court martialled at Dublin on 10 September 1840 and transported for fourteen years on the Waverley 1, departing Kingston, Ireland on 25 April 1841, arriving via Bahia after 140 days at sea, at Hobart on 12 September 1841 with 176 male convicts on board. He was sent to the Longford Probate Station, Tasmania, to serve 18 months with pastoralist Edward Archer. See this appropriation record: https://stors.tas.gov.au/NI/1413162



Physical description details on this record (many are illegible) include - :
Laborer, 5'9", 23 years old, fresh complexion. oval head, black hair, no whiskers, medium height forehead, black eyebrows, brown eyes, long nose, medium mouth, mediem chin, native place Cork. Remarks: Pockpelles [?] has been a soldier branded DD on left side Crown flag harp and crown bugle 22 Reg't FR 7 stars half moon JHS? on ? right arm and hand 2 rings on fingers right hand cross Nil? Sun PW N? on left arm and hand. See this record:  https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON18-1-29P35

Branded "DD" for desertion
Michael Lynch was branded DD, court martialled as a deserter from the 22nd Regiment. When another prisoner, James Brady was discharged in late January 1874 with the residue of his sentence remitted, the police gazette ( p. 16 January 1874) noted that that he was Free to the Colony (FC) and that he was tattooed with the letter "D" on his left breast: he was a military deserter, one of several prisoners bearing the deserter tattoo who were photographed by Thomas J. Nevin, including prisoner Denis Doherty, made famous by Anthony Trollope's visit to the Port Arthur prison in 1872.



Mark of a Deserter (Army Medical Services Museum), in Chapter 3 of Hilton, P J 2010 ,
"Branded D on the left side" : a study of former soldiers and marines transported to Van Diemen's Land: 1804-1854
PhD thesis, University of Tasmania:
Link: https://eprints.utas.edu.au/17678/2/Hilton_Thesis.pdf



Barnard, Simon Convict tattoos : marked men and women of Australia.
Melbourne, Vic. The Text Publishing Company, 2016.
Website: https://www.simonbarnard.com.au/product/convict-tattoos/

RELATED POSTS main weblog

Australia's FIRST MUGSHOTS

PLEASE NOTE: Below each image held at the National Library of Australia is their catalogue batch edit which gives the false impression that all these "convict portraits" were taken solely because these men were transported convicts per se (i.e before cessation in 1853), and that they might have been photographed as a one-off amateur portfolio by a prison official at the Port Arthur prison in 1874, which they were not. Any reference to the Port Arthur prison official A. H. Boyd on the NLA catalogue records is an error, a PARASITIC ATTRIBUTION with no basis in fact. The men in these images were photographed in the 1870s-1880s because they were repeatedly sentenced as habitual offenders whose mugshots were taken on arrest, trial, arraignment, incarceration and/or discharge by government contractor, police and prisons photographer T. J. Nevin at the Supreme Court and adjoining Hobart Gaol with his brother Constable John Nevin, and at the Municipal Police Office, Hobart Town Hall when appearing at The Mayor's Court. The Nevin brothers produced over a thousand originals and duplicates of Tasmanian prisoners, the bulk now lost or destroyed. The three hundred extant mugshots were the random estrays salvaged - and reproduced in many instances- for sale at Beattie's local convictaria museum in Hobart and at interstate exhibitions associated with the fake convict ship Success in the early 1900s. The mugshots were selected on the basis of the prisoner's notoriety from the Supreme Court trial registers (Rough Calendar), the Habitual Criminals Registers (Gaol Photo Books), warrant forms, and police gazettes records of the 1870s-1880s. The earliest taken on government contract by T. J. Nevin date from 1872. The police records sourced here are from the weekly police gazettes which were called (until 1884) Tasmania Reports of Crime Information for Police 1871-1885. J. Barnard, Gov't Printer.