Prisoner Charles J. GARFORTH said he would make Superintendent Adolarious H. BOYD pay dearly, 1875

C. J. GARFORTH, constable, musician, husband and prisoner
A. H. BOYD, prison officer Port Arthur penal establishment
Mary Ann LARKIN, bounty emigrant: marriage and children

The photograph of Charles Garforth by T. J. Nevin 1875



Recto image and numbers:
Prisoner Charles Garforth, the name also spelt as Garfitt and Garfoot per M S Elphinstone 2, 1848.
Photographed by government contractor Thomas J. Nevin at the Hobart Gaol before the trial while the prisoner was under remand, January 1875.

This carte-de-visite was acquired by the QVMAG in the 1930s from the estate of collector John Watt Beattie who salvaged 300 or so mugshots taken for police by T. J. Nevin, 1870s, from police records, criminal rap sheets and photo books.The number "174" was inscribed on the mount below the image when listed as part of Beattie's collection at the QVMAG in the 1970s-1980s. It was not one of the 50 or so mugshots removed from Beattie's collection in 1983 which were exhibited at the Port Arthur Heritage Site and returned to the TMAG in Hobart instead of being returned to Beattie's 1900's original collection in Launceston.



Verso inscriptions:
Top left: QVM: 1985: P: 0111 (black and white copy reproduced from sepia cdv at the QVMAG in 1985)
Sideways on right: 18..? : 78: 22 (very faint date archived at QVMAG )
Sideways on right: QVM FILE NO. 147 | 283 over 7 (in stamp box listed in 1970s for exhibition)
In centre, and below: inscription dates from 1900s by Beattie et al for sale and display:
"283 / Charles Garfitt/Garfoot/Garforth per M. S. Elphinstone 2 (1848)
Taken at Port Arthur 1874"
Source: Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania
Link: https://collection.qvmag.tas.gov.au/fmi/webd/QVMAGweb

Charles Garforth's history with A. H. Boyd
The Hobart Town Advertiser on Saturday 28 June 1862, page 2 reported that the Municipal Council had received a letter from Mr. Boyd announcing that John Garforth had been appointed a constable. But just two months later, in August 1862, Adolarious Humphrey Boyd was advising the Mayor's Court to fine Charles Garforth for being drunk on duty, and recommended his discharge from the constabulary.

1862: Boyd v. Garforth



Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Friday 8 August 1862, page 8

TRANSCRIPT

MAYOR'S COURT.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 7TH. BEFORE the Right Worshipful the Mayor and Mr. Alderman Risby.
BOYD V. GARFORTH.
This was an information against Charles John Garforth, a constable of the City Police, charging him with misconduct in being drunk on his beat, on the 3rd instant.
The defendant, a respectable looking young man, pleaded guilty, when Acting-Serjeant Vaughan explained the particulars of the case.
The Mayor said that he regretted to see so respectable a young man in his present position. He had only been recently received into the force, and ought to have behaved better. However, His Worship had only one duty to perform, as the regulations were strict and peremptory.
The defendant was fined 10s., with a recommendation to be dismissed from the force.

Source: Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Friday 8 August 1862, page 8
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8809470

1870: clerk at Port Arthur penal establishment
Despite A. H. Boyd's call for Garforth's dismissal from the constabulary in 1862, he must have acquitted himself well in Boyd's estimation to have gained employment as a clerk in the Port Arthur penal administration by 1870. Garforth's musical ability on the piano ensured his attendance at important functions presided over by A. H. Boyd, suggesting a relationship at a personal level had developed which would account for Garforth's bitter reaction to Boyd's loss of trust in him at trial in 1875 when he accused Garforth of embezzlement.



Page119: Colonial Penal Establishment, Port Arthur
Clerk, C. J. Garforth,, Walch's Tasmanian Almanac
Created/Published Hobart, Tas. : J. Walch & Sons, 1870-[1971]
National Library of Australia, (1870).
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2898240000

1871: Charles Garforth plays the piano at official event

TRANSCRIPT

PRESENTATION at PORT ARTHUR-The officers of the penal establishment Port Arthur, assembled on Tuesday evening last, the 12th instant, at the public reading room, for the purpose of presenting an address and testimonial to Mr James Lawson, head keeper of the Insane Depot, previous to his retirement from office. The pleasing ceremony was preceded by some music, Mr Garforth presiding at the piano. The Civil Commandant, A. H. Boyd, Esq., lead the address, which he prefaced by expressing the gratification he felt in being able to bear public testimony to the excellence of Mr Lawson's character, and further stated that he really believed he had never met with a more upright and conscientious officer in the whole course of his experience - an eulogium which all present felt to be as well merited as it was graceful and appropriate. The address and reply will be found in another column. The testimonial consisted of a handsome tea service, which will remind Mr. Lawson, when far away, of the many years he has spent in the care of the unfortunate, and of the esteem and friendship of those he leaves behind. Music and singing were continued till about 10 o'clock, the Rev. W. Fitzgerald, Mr. J. L. Hill, and others taking part, and a most agreeable and pleasant evening was spent. Mr. Boyd proposed the health of the guest of the evening, which was responded to most heartily, and briefly, but feelingly, acknowledged.

Source: THE MERCURY. (1871, December 16). p. 2.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8868654

1875: Garforth threatens Boyd in court
Employed as a clerk at the Cascades prison for females, Charles Garforth was charged in the City Police Court with the theft of £10, a charge he claimed his employer, prison superintendent Adolarious Humphrey Boyd, had confected, for which Garforth swore he would make Boyd pay dearly.

TRANSCRIPT

CITY POLICE COURT.
Thursday, January 14th, 1875. Before the Police Magistrate. ...
STEALING MONEY.- Charles John Garforth was charged with stealing £10, monies belonging to the Queen.

D. C. M'Guire stated that the prisoner had been under remand for embezzlement, but that charge had been withdrawn, and one of petty larceny substituted.

The prisoner pleaded not guilty,

Adolarius Humphrey Boyd deposed that he was superintendent at the gaol for females at the Cascades. The prisoner was engaged at that establishment as under-gaoler and clerk. On the last day of last month, witness gave him £l to complete certain moneys which had to be paid into the Treasury. The prisoner had moneys in hand before that. Witness gave him distinct instructions to pay the money into the Treasury on that or the following day. The sum that prisoner had been entrusted with was in all about £10. On Monday, the 4th instant, the prisoner quitted the establishment without leave, and did not return until the following Saturday evening. In consequence of information received, witness broke open the private drawer in prisoner's room, in presence of the matron and Mr. Seagar; there was no money there, only the two empty money bags. On the morning following the prisoner's return he was given into custody. Witness did not see him. The cheque which witness gave prisoner was one that had been received from Dr. Turnley, and was for £1. It was the business of the prisoner to have paid the money at once into the Treasury, as he received it for no other purpose; he had no authority from witness to convert the money to his own use.

In reply to the prisoner, Mr. Boyd stated that he had heard the reason why the prisoner left the establishment, which he mentioned, but as it was only hearsay, it could not be received as evidence. Mr. Boyd said the prisoner had served under him at Port Arthur ; he never had cause to doubt his honesty; there, nor was he ever absent from duty. Never had cause to doubt prisoner at the Cascades prior to this.

George William Fletcher deposed he was clerk in the Treasury, and it was his duty to receive moneys paid in there for the revenue. Did not know the prisoner ; he did not at the end of last month pay any money to witness on account of the Cascades Establishment. The last money paid in on account of the Cascades was on the 30th December, when Mr. Service paid in £24 8s. 10d. If the prisoner had stated that he had paid money into the Treasury about that time, he had stated that which was not true.

Mr. Boyd was recalled, and said that the money paid in by Mr. Service had nothing whatever to do with the prisoner ; it was for the washing account. Mr. Service was the collector of that money, and paid it in monthly.

Elizabeth Turner deposed that she was the wife of John Turner,and resided with him at the Dennison Hotel, Macquarie-street. Knew the prisoner, and remembered him coming to their house on the 30th December. That was the first time he had been there. He asked witness to lend him some money, and witness let him have £8 10s. Prisoner did not say what he wanted the money for ; he promised to repay the amount by seven o'clock that same evening, and he came about eight and repaid the money. It was in notes, gold, silver, and a cheque for £1. Did not have any conversation with prisoner about the cheque ; prisoner told witness it was Dr. Turnley's, but witness did not look at the signature. Witness afterwards paid the cheque to Mr. Biggins, collector for Mr. Walker, the brewer.

To the prisoner : The prisoner told witness he wanted the money because his wife was near her confinement, and be wanted to get some necessary articles. He told her that he could get the money. elsewhere, but he had not time to go to the wharf. The prisoner repaid witness four sovereigns, three £1 notes, a cheque for £1, and 10s. in silver, and said that he brought back the money untouched, except as to 20s. in silver, for which he had substituted a cheque for £1.

District Constable Bellany deposed that he apprehended the prisoner at the Cascade Factory on Sunday morning last. Told him that he was charged with embezzling money belonging to the Queen. The prisoner in reply, said it was quite a mistake ; he had paid the money into the treasury, and Mr. Midwood took it there. He further said that he would make Mr. Boyd pay dearly for this.

This was the case for the prosecution.

The prisoner, in defence, said that on the Monday he left his house from private motives, He could not say he left the establishment ; but from a domestic disagreement he had with his wife, in consequence of a letter sent to him by one of the female warders, he went away and returned on the Saturday evening. With respect to the cheque which Mrs. Turner spoke about, if he did wrong in paying it to her, he did it innocently. It was not his duty personally to pay money into the treasury ; it was usually sent down by a messenger. On the 30th ult., on the day the late Sheriff paid his last visit, he (the prisoner) was very busy, and put the money into an open box for the messenger to take, should he (the prisoner) be absent ; but he had so much to do that day that he never thought of looking to see if the messenger had taken it or not. The prisoner, called the following witnesses :-

Walter Scott deposed he was the messenger at the Cascades. Remembered the morning of the 30th ult., when the late Sheriff was there. Went to town about 1 o'clock, after getting some letters from prisoner, who took them out of the box. Returned about three o'clock, and went again to town between then and four o'clock, but did not find any letters in prisoner's box at that time. In the morning, prisoner gave witness all the letters that were in the box.

Thomas Todd deposed he was gatekeeper at the Cascades. Knew that every one had access to the office at the Cascades whether the clerk was there or not. Witness used to be in the office about six hours a day. There were two women employed about the offices to clean them out, and no one remained about the offices but those women while they were being cleaned out.

To the Bench: There was a desk in the office, which was kept by the prisoner under lock and key ; it was found locked after he left.

The Police Magistrate : In 1865 you were charged with a similar offence and committed for trial, receiving a sentence of four years' penal servitude, is that so ?

The prisoner : It is, your Worship, but since that time I have endeavoured by all means in my power to regain my character.

The Police Magistrate said the magistrates could have no doubt whatever as to their duty in this case. The evidence against the prisoner was so clear that any jury in the world would convict him upon it. The prisoner was entrusted with money for the special purpose of paying into the Treasury; but that money had not been paid into the Treasury, and had never been accounted for, and it was quite evident that the prisoner had converted the £1 cheque to his own use. It seemed impossible for the magistrates to do otherwise than convict the prisoner of the charge made against him. He was one of those clever men who seemed to be devoid of all principle, and when placed in positions of trust could not resist the temptation to convert money entrusted to him by fears for this was the second time he had done it. If the magistrates had chosen to commit the prisoner to the Supreme Court he would have received a heavier sentence than it was in their power to impose. As it was, the prisoner would be sentenced to two years' imprisonment with hard labour.

Source: CITY POLICE COURT. (1875, January 15). The Mercury, Hobart p. 2.
Link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8934680

Garforth's Court and Prison Records 1865-1878
Name:Garford, Charles
Record Type:Convicts
Also known as:Pollock, John
Ship:Antipodes
Remarks: Free to colony. Tried Hobart Oct 1865
Index number:80430
Record ID:NAME_INDEXES:1394413
Archives Office of Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON37-1-10$init=CON37-1-10p273
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON94-1-1

ALIAS 1865 John Pollock
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON37-1-10$init=CON37-1-10P273
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON94-1-1$init=CON94-1-1P338
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON94-1-1$init=CON94-1-1P339



Recorded as John Pollock, alias Charles Garforth
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
Link:https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON37-1-10$init=CON37-1-10p273



Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON94-1-1 Image 338, p. 157

Charles Garforth, the name used as his real name by police in later convictions,is listed as his alias here, and John Pollock is the name under which he was sentenced to 4 years for larceny on 24 October 1865, per ship Antipodes, and sent to Port Arthur, arriving there on 10 November 1865. This is an error corrected in red ink: although John Pollock is still listed as his name, and Charles Garforth as his alias, the note in red states he was free to to the colony. The note also states he was discharged to the private service of Mr. Will Todd.

1873: 8 years for housebreaking
Court Records
Archives Office of Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/SC32-1-9$init=SC32-1-9P184
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/AB693-1-1$init=AB693-1-1_103
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/SC32-1-9$init=SC32-1-9P185
Imprisoned for 8 years
Garfoot, Charles
Record Type: Court
Status: Free by servitude
Trial date: 18 Feb 1873
Place of trial: Hobart
Offense: Housebreaking and larceny
Verdict: Guilty
Prosecutions Project ID: 113654
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1521254
Resource: AB693-1-1 1873
SC32-1-9 Image 163
SC32-1-9 Image 164
The Prosecutions Project



Police gazette, 28th January to 3rd February 1873: Charles Garfoot, free in service, was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment for housebreaking.



1875: Garforth alias Pollock

REPORTS OF CRIME
8 January 1875

WARRANTS ISSUED, AND NOW IN THIS OFFICE.

HOBART TOWN.—On the 8th instant, by William Tarleton, Esquire, J.P., for the arrest of Charles J. Garforth, alias Pollock, charged with having, on or about the 4th instant at Hobart Town, fraudulently embezzled the sum of twelve pounds fourteen shillings and four pence, the property of the Tasmanian Government.

Description. About 45 years of age, 5 feet 9 inches, high, dark eyes, dark hair, black grizzly whiskers, thin features, smart appearance, a clerk. Formerly employed as constable and clerk at Port Arthur, and lately as clerk at Cascades, a Yorkshireman.

Source: POL 709/1, Archives Office of Tasmania

So what happened next? Did Garforth carry out his threat to make Boyd pay dearly?
Charles Garforth/Garfitt was discharged from the Hobart Gaol on 28 August 1878. Two years later, on 14 December 1880, he was tried again at the Supreme Court Hobart for breaking and entering a dwelling. He was discharged from the Hobart Gaol on 12 December 1885. Presumably, his threat to make A. H. Boyd pay dearly for a betrayal of trust as he saw it, which sentenced him to two years' hard labour in 1875 on Boyd's testimony, did not eventuate, at least not in the public domain. Charles Garforth was certainly not the first to express hatred of A. H. Boyd, nor indeed the last. A. H. Boyd was despised by the public throughout his career - as administrator of the Orphan School where he was dismissed for misogyny (1864), as Commandant of the Port Arthur Penitentiary where he was forced to resign for embezzlement of Public Works funds (1873), and as a short-lived administrator of the Cascades Asylum for Paupers where he was again reviled by staff and feared by inmates (1875-1877) - evidence of which proliferates in Parliamentary Papers seeking his dismissal, and in newspaper articles of the day decrying his bullying of staff and misuse of public funds. He died while drunk in a fall from his horse at Franklin (1827-1891). But he lived on the hopes of his descendants who wished to bring him up from history smelling of roses in the 1980s with an "artist photographer" attribution of the so-called "convict portraits, Port Arthur" (NLA ). Those original mugshots were correctly recognized and authenticated, of course, as the work of government contractor Thomas J. Nevin until Boyd's apologists sought his redemption. No photographs by A. H. Boyd are known or extant: he did NOT photograph prisoners, nor indeed anyone or anything in any other genre (Kerr & Stilwell, 1995).

Marriage and children

1861: arrival of Mary Ann Larken (var. Larkens, Larking)
Mary Ann Larking arrived at Hobart, Tasmania on 26 October 1861 on board the bounty ship Antipodes with 102 other female immigrants. She married Charles Garforth in June 1862.



Arrival of 103 female immigrants on the Antipodes
Mercury Monday 21 October 1861, page 2

TRANSCRIPT

SHIPPING.
ARRIVED.
October 19.-Antipodes, barque, 593 tons, G. Croot, from London, the 11th July, with general cargo. Cabin passengers, - Mrs. Croot, Capt. Harries, Mr. Dinham, M.R.C.S., and 103 female immigrants in the intermediate and steerage. Agent, McNaughtan and Co.

Name: Larking, Mary Ann
Record Type: Arrivals
Arrival date: 26 Oct 1861
Ship: Antipodes
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1469883
Resource: CB7/12/1/10 p201-202
Archives Office of Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/37508688-5c26-45f0-ab79-10426a040992

1862: Marriage to Mary Ann Larken (var. Larkens, Larking)
Charles Garforth was 32 years old, a bachelor and a policeman when he married 22 year old bounty immigrant Mary Ann Larken at New Town on 26 June 1862.



Garforth, Charles John
Record Type: Marriages
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Spouse: Larken, Mary Ann
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Date of marriage: 26 Jun 1862
Registered: Hobart
Registration year: 1862
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:862131
Resource: RGD37/1/21 no 216
Archives Office Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/RGD37-1-21$init=RGD37-1-21P122

1862: birth of daughter Mira
Charles Garforth's occupation was listed as seaman when the birth of this child, Mira Catherine, was registered by a friend in September 1862.

.

Name: Garforth, Mira Catherine
Record Type: Births
Gender: Female
Father: Garforth, Charles
Mother: Larkins, Mary
Date of birth: 10 Sep 1862
Registered: Hobart
Registration year: 1862
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:966964
Resource: RGD33/1/8 no 5444
Archives Office Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/RGD33-1-8$init=RGD33-1-8-P270J2K

1864: birth of son John
Charles Garforth was listed as a mariner of Warwick St Hobart when his son John Garforth was born on 9 October 1864.



Garforth, John Edward
Record Type: Births
Gender: Male
Father: Garforth, Charles John
Mother: Mary, Ann
Date of birth: 09 Oct 1864
Registered: Hobart
Registration year: 1864
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1064763
Resource: RGD32/1/4 no 5878
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/RGD32-1-4$init=RGD32-1-4P44

1866: son and daughter admitted to Orphan School
A daughter Catherine Garforth (b. 10 Dec. 1863), and a son John Garforth (b. 9 October 1864), were admitted to the Queens Orphan Schoool on 1 st June 1866, application made by their mother Mary Ann Garforth, address Goodwin Court, Molle St. Hobart.



Garforth, Catherine
Garforth, John
Record Type: Health & Welfare
Description: Application for admission 1 June 1866; father Charles Garforth or Pollock, mother Mary Ann Larkins
Property: Queen's Orphan School
Record ID:NAME_INDEXES:1473490
Resource:SWD26/1/9 Image 291 (5 pages)
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/SWD26-1-9$init=SWD26-1-9P292

1871: unnamed female birth
An unnamed female child was born to the couple and registered on 24 March 1871. Charles Garforth's occupation was listed as constable, Port Arthur. The birth was registered by an aunt of the child, Isabella Downes.



Garforth, Given Name Not Recorded
Record Type: Births
Gender: Female
Father: Garforth, Charles
Mother: Larkin, Mary Ann
Date of birth: 15 Feb 1871
Registered: Tasman
Registration year: 1871
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:931332
Resource: RGD33/1/49 no 1668
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/83ba670a-ee45-42df-9cfb-1d5455204a8e

1873: unnamed male birth
An unnamed male child was born to the couple while still working at Port Arthur as a clerk.



Garforth, Given Name Not Recorded
Record Type: Births
Gender: Male
Father: Garforth, Charles John
Mother: Larkin, Mary Ann
Date of birth: 20 May 1873
Registered: Tasman
Registration year: 1873 Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:942719
Resource: RGD33/1/51 no 1729
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/a85d62fc-191e-472c-9a09-20319cd8e076

1875: son John admitted to Boy's Home
A son, John Edward Garforth, was born to Charles Garforth and Mary Ann Larken [sic] on 9 October 1864. In 1875, the ten year old child was admitted to the Kennerly Boys Home because his father, 44 years old, was serving a two year prison term for larceny. The child was discharged to his mother on 1st September 1876.



Archives Office Tasmania
Garforth, John Edward
Record Type: Health & Welfare
Age: 10 years, 4 months
Father: Garforth, Charles John Mother: Garforth, Mary Ann
Father occupation: Steward
Property: Kennerley Boys Home
Admission dates: 05 Feb 1875
File number: 50
Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1777095
Resource: NS6493-1-1_052
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/NS6493-1-1$init=NS6493-1-1_052

1875: birth of Lucy
Lucy was born in April, three months after her father was imprisoned in January 1875. His occupation was listed as clerk. 



Name: Garforth, Lucy Henrietta
Record Type: Births
Gender: Female
Father: Garforth, Charles John
Mother: Mary, Ann
Date of birth: 12 Apr 1875
Registered: Hobart
Registration year: 1875 Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:976728
Resource: RGD33/1/11/ no 1132
Archives Office of Tasmania
Link: https://stors.tas.gov.au/RGD33-1-11$init=RGD33-1-11-P611

1875: Mary Ann Garforth and Richard Kirby
With her husband Charles Garforth serving two years at the Hobart Gaol, sentenced in January 1875, his wife Mary Ann Garforth  was residing at Elphinstone Street, Hobart by August 1875 in a house with garden, stores, sheds and stables owned and occupied by Richard Kirby. Charles Garforth was released with remission of his two year sentence on 13 November 1876. On 14 December 1880 he was tried again at the Supreme Court Hobart for breaking and entering a dwelling.  He was discharged from the Hobart Gaol on 12 December 1885.



Source: TASMANIA. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
VALUATION OF PROPERTY. HOBART TOWN AND LAUNCESTON.
REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS.
Laid upon the Table by Mr. Chapman, and ordered by the Council to be printed, August 10, 1875.
Source: Parliament of Tasmania
Link: https://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/36149/lc1875pp43.pdf

RELATED POSTS main weblog

• Prisoner Charles GARFORTH/GARFITT and the QVMAG
• Posts filed under The Port Arthur Convicts Commission
• Poster of Thomas Nevin's convict photographs 1870s
• Julia Clark: A Question of Stupidity & the NLA

Prisoner James ROGERS forges into the leap year 1868

Being bissextile, it was the year James Rogers learnt that making his own addition to a £1 note passed at the Help Me Through The World Hotel for a pint with his mate Fred Foster would subtract eight years from his life lived free from incarceration.

1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1868th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 868th year of the 2nd millennium, the 68th year of the 19th century, and the 9th year of the 1860s decade. As of the start of 1868, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1868

The Mugshot



Prisoner James ROGERS (1825-1899)
Police mugshot taken by T. J. Nevin of James Rogers at discharge from the Port Arthur prison
Date: 23 -27 May 1874
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Ref: Q15597



Verso: Prisoner James ROGERS (1825-1899)
Police mugshot taken by T. J. Nevin of James Rogers at discharge from the Port Arthur prison
Date: 23 -27 May 1874
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Ref: Q15597

The number inscribed recto on the mount - "136" - was an archivist's number which was shown to be one of dozens of  missing mugshots when the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, compiled a list of their holdings of these prisoner mugshots in the 1980s of all those donated from the estate of convictarian John Watt Beattie in 1930. Those that were missing - including this one of James Rogers - were removed in 1983 from the QVMAG and taken down to the Port Arthur prison heritage site for an exhibition,and never returned. They were deposited instead at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, along with another fifty (50) or more taken by Thomas Nevin in the 1870s, which were collected by John Watt Beattie in the 1900s, and are still held there today. See this collection by Nevin acquired as copies for this website in 2015 from the TMAG.

The inscription on the verso - Taken at Port Arthur 1874" - is usually factually incorrect, bearing little relation to the date and place of photographic capture and/or the criminal history of its sitter. Most of those extant were taken in Hobart at the Supreme Court, the Hobart Gaol and the Mayor's Court, Hobart Town Hall. The inscription was uniformly applied as so much touristic spin on the versos of  hundreds of these police photographs in buff oval cdv mounts, originals of which, taken by Nevin in the 1870s, were salvaged from the Hobart Gaol and Sheriff's Office. They acquired heritage value as penal history artefacts to be exhibited and offered for sale in the early 1900s, at John Watt Beattie's "Port Arthur Museum" located in Hobart, and for inclusion in travelling convictaria exhibitions associated with the fake convict hulk Success in Sydney, Melbourne, Hobart, Adelaide etc.

On this occasion, however, Thomas J. Nevin was on site at the Port Arthur prison, 60 kms south of Hobart on the Tasman Peninsula when James Rogers was discharged from there on 27th May 1874. Nevin's several trips to Port Arthur under the auspices of the Port Arthur Surgeon-Commandant Dr Coverdale in 1874 commenced more than a fortnight earlier, on the 8th May, 1874, in the company of a prisoner whom he had photographed with the alias William Campbell but who was executed at the Hobart Gaol in 1875 with the name Job Smith. Thomas Nevin was in the process of photographing the prison inmates and updating police records against aliases, physical descriptions, and convict shipping records at Port Arthur when the birth of his son Thomas James Nevin jnr, was registered at Hobart on the 26th May 1874 by his father-in-law, master mariner Captain James Day. As a widower, Captain Day was residing at the Elizabeth Street photographic studio with his daughter Elizabeth Rachel and son-in-law Thomas when not at sea. His grandchild Thomas James Nevin jnr, (1874-1948) was born at his father's studio, the City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town, on the 16th April, 1874 and given the exact same name as his father but because Thomas Nevin snr was still at Port Arthur during May working with Dr Coverdale, it was Elizabeth Nevin's father, Captain Day, who signed on the 26th May 1874 the registration of the birth as the informant. It was the only birth registration of all his seven children that Thomas Nevin snr did not personally sign as informant.

Convict Record of Arrival at Hobart, 1852
James Rogers was tried at Birmingham on 12th July 1849 for stealing monies. He was sentenced to seven years, arriving at Hobart on 9th December 1852 on board the Lady Montague. Details on this record show he was 27 yrs old, a lamp maker by trade, 5ft 7in tall, and literate, with a speech impediment. According to this record, he was convicted twice - Again convicted Vide Misc. No. 2725 and again No. 8 No. 2885 - was written across this page.



Prisoner James ROGERS, arrived Hobart per Lady Montague on 9th December 1852
Archives Office Tasmania Ref: CON33-1-110_00231_L

Forging a Fiver: press accounts
When James Rogers was convicted of uttering a forged note in February 1868, and sentenced to 8 yrs, he was about 43 years old. The press paid close attention to this case, reporting on the court's decisions and witness depositions almost daily during February. Lavington George Roope's deposition in particular demonstrated how the Bank of Australasia one pound note, similar to the Victorian one below,  was modified by James Rogers when he tried to pass it off as a fiver.



Above: A rare 1866 Bank of Australasia one pound note issued at Warrnambool, Victoria. The Bank of Australasia Tasmanian issue of the one pound note would have been very similar.

It is likely to be a proof used for the bank archives and was probably contained in a vault for decades upon decades....One pound in the mid-1860s would be directly comparable to $325 in 2015 money.... The note was produced by the Bank of Australasia on September 14, 1866. It reads: “a promise to pay the bearer on demand one pound here or at Melbourne.”

Source: Rare 1866 Warrnambool pound note for sale

Wednesday, 26th February 1868
UTTERING A FORGED BANK NOTE - James Rogers and Frederick Foster were charged on the information of Detective Morley with having on the 21st February inst feloniously uttered a forged bank note for £5 with intent to defraud.
On the application of the informing officer they were remanded to next day.

Source: The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954)  Wed 26 Feb 1868  Page 2  LAW.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8850753

Thursday, 27th February 1868
UTTERING FORGED BANK NOTES - James Rogers and Frederick Foster were charged on remand with having uttered forged notes of the Bank of Australasia.

On the application of Detective Morley the prisoner Foster was discharged, there being no evidence available against him.

Lavington George Roope deposed : I am a clerk of the Bank Of Australasia, in Hobart Town. The note produced is a £1 note of our bank which has been altered to a £5 note. In the right hand corner the figure 1 has been erased and the word "Five" has been written in. One of the numbers has also been erased in two places. The O and part of the N in the body of the note have been erased, and an F and an I have been substituted. The letter S has been added to the word pound. The word " at" has been erased in the body of the note. The words one pound in the left hand bottom corner of the note have been erased, and the words five pounds have been written in in old English letters. In the genuine £5 notes these words are in old English letters. The letters O and part of the N printed in green across the note have been erased, and the letters F and I have been substituted, making the word " Five". I can trace the erasures in most places but not distinctly in the large letters.

John Hutchinson deposed : I am cashier at the Commercial Bank in this town. I know Timothy Troy now present. I recollect his coming to the bank last Monday morning to make a deposit. A five pound note attracted my attention. It was originally a £1 note, and now purports to be a £5 of the bank of Australasia. I called Mr. Troy's attention to this circumstance, and asked him where he got it. I cautioned him, took the number of the note,and forwarded information to the police. Troy then left the bank.

Alderman Cook here took his seat on the Bench. The prisoner in the last case was removed a time from the Court.

UTTERING FORGED BANK NOTES.-The hearing of the previous case was then resumed.

Timothy Troy, licensed victualler, deposed ; I keep the Help me through the World hotel in Liverpool-street. I remember the prisoner coming to my house between nine and ten in company with Frederick Foster now present. The prisoner called for a pot of beer, which I served him with. He paid me 6d. for it. Afterwards the prisoner asked whether I could change a bank note, saying that if I could he would have some more drink. I said " Oh, yes, I will change it." He then called for another pot of beer, and I served him with it. He then gave me the note and I brought him down 19s. 6d. change. Prisoner said, " I gave you a five." I got a candle, brought the note back and four other notes, and said, " you are right, it is a five." I then gave him the remainder of the change. That was the only £5 note I remember having in my possession for months. The men had some more drink after that, and the prisoner paid for it. I think they went away together. They both came again on the Monday night, and had some drinks. The prisoner paid for them with a £1 note. I said, " is this another five ? " He, said not, but you can have another if you like, and putting his hand in his pocket produced another note. I gave him change of the £1. The men went away together again. On the following Monday morning I went to the Commercial Bank to pay in some money. I handed the deposit to Mr. Hutchinson. I told him I had got it on the previous Friday night. Mr. Hutchinson called my attention to the note, and told me it was a £1 note altered to a £5 note. I went to the shop where the man was working to see him, Mr. Swain's foundry, and not finding him their I handed the note over to Detective Morley. The note produced is the same. The prisoner has been several times at my place-not very often.

Frederick Foster, deposed : I am an iron moulder residing in Upper Liverpool-street. I know the prisoner. He has been a fellow work-man of mine for the last six years. He came to the gate of my house last Friday night. He said, " Will you go and have a drink of beer?" I said " Yes." We went to the house of the last witness, Troy. We had a pot of beer and the prisoner paid for it. We had another pot of beer, and the prisoner tendered something similar to a note. Mr. Troy went away, was absent a short time, and then came back with 19s. 6d. which he put on the counter. The prisoner said " It was a £5 note I gave you," Troy said, "Was it, Rogers, I am very near sighted." He also said to his daughter, "Light me a candle, Mary Ann." He then took the candle and went up stairs to the box, as I supposed. In a short time he came back with a note in his hand, and said, " All right, Rogers, it is a £5 note." He gave it to his wife, who looked at it, and said, " Oh, yes, Rogers, it is a £5 note." The mother gave it to her son, who was sitting behind her, and he looked at it and said, " Oh, yes, it is a £5 note." The son gave it back to his mother, and I saw no more of it. Mr. Troy gave Rogers the balance of the note, deducting the price of the pot of beer. Rogers then paid for another pot of beer, had a drink out of it a then left me there. I went with the prisoner to Troy's on the following Sunday night. We had some more drink there. Rogers paid for it with what I believe to have been a £1 note. There was nothing said that I remember about £5 notes at that time. The prisoner was not at work after dinner time last Thursday. He had not been discharged to my knowledge. I don't think he had been. I did not see any more money with the prisoner on the Friday or Sunday than the £5 note and the £1 note. I think the prisoner's wages were 5ds 6p a day. I knew no other means that he had making money beyond his trade. He has been in the habit of earning a few shillings in the beer-engine way, and in repairing pipes and the like, in over hours work. He is a brass-founder. He worked for anyone who would give him a job. I never saw him write. I know he used to put down his time for Mr. Swain on a Saturday.

At this stage the prisoner was remanded to Friday next, to afford the police time to make some further enquiries,

The Court then rose.

Source: The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954)Thu 27 Feb 1868 Page 2 LAW.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8850771

Saturday, 29th February 1868
LAW.
POLICE COURT.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28TH, 1867.
BEFORE the Stipendiary Magistrate.

UTTERING A FORGED BANK NOTE - James Rogers was brought up on a charge of uttering a forged promissory note on the Bank of Australia.

The prisoner was the same man who was examined on a similar charge on Wednesday last, and who was then remanded for the production of further evidence.

Edward Daniel Swan, a clerk of the Bank of Australasia deposed that the note produced was a £1 note of the Bank to which he belonged which had been altered as to resemble a £5 note. It was presented to him by Mr. Barclay, a clerk of the Commercial Bank, to be unchanged. When it was recognised as a forgery Mr. Barclay took it away.

Mary Linton deposed : I am a married woman residing with my husband Samuel Linton, a shoemaker. I know the prisoner, who has been in the habit of coming to my shop to make purchases. About 8 o'clock last Saturday evening week he came and bought things to the amount of 19s.6d., which he paid in silver. He came again between 9 and 10 o'clock to exchange a coat he had bought from me the same evening for another worth more money. He gave me what appeared to me to be a £5 note. Not having change myself I went into Mrs. McLaren's to procure it. She said she had not change. She handed the note to my daughter, who goes on errands for her, to go out for change, my daughter went and returned with the change to my shop and I handed it to the prisoner. I believe the change was four notes and £1 in silver. My husband refused to let the prisoner have the coat, and the prisoner then went away. The prisoner was dressed in working clothing when he came to make the first purchases that evening. I don't think I should know the note presented by the prisoner to me. The note produced is like it.

Mary Ann Linton, daughter of the last witness, deposed : I am 12 years old. On Saturday night week last, my mother came to Mrs. McLaren's for change of a note. Mrs. McLaren had not change, and she gave the note to me to get change at Mr. Sherwin's. Mr. Sherwin changed it for me, giving me four £1 notes, and £1 in silver. I gave the change to the prisoner in my mother's shop. My mother and father were present at the time.

John Thomas Hutchinson deposed : I am cashier of the Commercial Bank. I know Mr. Sherwin now present. He came, to our bank on the 20th instant to make a deposit. I counted the money over in his presence. There were two £5 notes in it, one of which attracted my attention. It was on the Bank of Australasia, and just such another as that now produced. The other was I think on the Bank of Van Diemen's Land. I saw there was some peculiarity in the Bank of Australasia note, but I told Mr. Sherwin I could not see what it was. I did not take the number of the note at the time. I took the note intending to look into it, but being, I think, past 3 o'clock at the time, and being very busy, it entirely slipped my memory. Next day it went up in the usual course by the exchange clerk to the Bank of Australasia to be exchanged. It was Mr. Barclay who look it. He brought it back immediately afterwards. In consequence of what he told me I said, " That is the note I took from Mr. Sherwin last night; take it back to him at once." I saw no more of it after that.

William Sherwin deposed : I am a butcher carrying on business in Liverpool-street. I know the little girl, Mary Ann Linton, now present. On the evening of last Saturday week she came to my place for change of a £5 note.  I looked at the note against the gas-light, but could not detect anything wrong in it. I don't remember noticing what bank it was on, I changed it, and the girl went away with the change. I don't exactly remember what the change was, but I gave her some silver I know. I cannot say positively that the note produced in the same, but I have every reason to believe it is. I put the note with my other money. There was only one other £5 note amongst the money, and that was on the Bank of Van Diemen's Land. I took it to the Commercial Bank with the other money on the following Thursday.

His Worship the Mayor here took his seat on the Bench. Witness continued: I handed the notes to Mr. Hutchinson. I saw him looking at tho note I took from the girl. I asked what he was looking at? He said "Nothing particular. but I thought it looked rather queer." I asked if it was right, and he said, " Yes. it would pass". I then left the bank. Next day young Barclay brought me up the same note I paid, and which I received from the girl Linton. Barclay said he wanted me to change the note because it was a forgery, I gave him another  note for it. I handed the note to Mr. Propsting."

Police Superintendent Propsting deposed : I know Mr, Sherwin, the last witness. On Friday last he gave me the bank note note now produced.

Detective Morley deposed that on Monday last in consequence of information received he went with Detective Tickers to the prisoner's place in Campbell-street. He found prisoner in the yard, and apprehended him for uttering forged bank notes. He said nothing. Witness took him up stairs to a room, and told him he would search it. After witness had been searching for about five minutes prisoner said, " You'll not find any notes'." Vickers was afterwards turning over some rubbish in a corner when prisoner said, "You will find no thing there but some screws belonging to me." I then saw Vickers find a bunch of skeleton keys. I brought the prisoner to the watch-house. On searching him there found two £1 notes in his right sock, two half-crowns in his left sock, and £1 and some silver in his pocket, making a total of £3 15s. 12 1/2d. Two hours prior to the prisoner's apprehension I received from the witness Troy's bank note purporting to be for £5, which Mr. Troy marked and took tho number of in my presence.

The prisoner was then committed for trial.

Source: The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954) Sat 29 Feb 1868 Page 4 LAW.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8850795

Wednesday, 8th July 1868
SECOND COURT.
BEFORE His Honor Sir Francis Smith.
ARRAIGNMENTS,
James Rogers pleaded guilty to uttering a promissory note, knowing it to be forged.

Source: The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954) Wed 8 Jul 1868 Page 2 LAW INTELLIGENCE https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8853247

Thursday, 9th July 1868
SENTENCES.
James Rogers, convicted on his own confession of uttering, was sentenced to be imprisoned for eight years.

Source: The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954) Thu 9 Jul 1868 Page 3 LAW INTELLIGENCE.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8853260

The sentence at the Supreme Court, Hobart, was recorded in the Police Gazette in this notice:


Source: Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police, J. Barnard, Gov't Printer

At the criminal sittings of July 1868 at the the Supreme Court, Hobart, James ROGERS, per Lady Montague, Free in Servitude, was sentenced to eight (8) years for  uttering a forged order. Several other prisoners convicted on this date were later photographed for police records by Thomas J. Nevin at the Supreme Court, the Hobart Gaol and Mayor's Court during incarceration and on discharge, and again if a repeat offender. James Rogers' further convictions - if any - prior to his death in 1899 - will be added in this space if discovered from primary sources.

Along with James Rogers in the above list of those convicted in this month of July 1868 are at least nine more men, all recalcitrants, whose photographs are also included on this website. Commercial photographer Thomas J. Nevin was the government contractor for this purpose at the commencement of  legislation in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania from February, 1872:

William (Emmanuel) BLORE cattle stealing, 8 years
James BRADY uttering a forged cheque, 8 years
William CLEMO carnally assaulting a child under 12 years, 7 years
James GEARY stealing a cow, 6 years
William HALL uttering a forged order, 8 years
Charles WARD alias HAYES burglary, 7 years
William WELLHAM larceny 8 years

At the Hobart Gaol & Port Arthur Prison
Prior to sentencing in 1868, James Rogers was convicted and imprisoned at the Hobart Town Gaol in 1855 and 1856 for stealing monies, a watch and house breaking. This document shows his earnings from arrival at Port Arthur on 16th August 1868 as a result of the eight year sentence:



James Rogers, Folio 177
Port Arthur Conduct register 1868-69
Archives Office Tasmania
Ref: CON94-1-1 Image 378

Discharged, 27th May 1874
James Rogers was discharged from the Port Arthur prison during the week ending 27th May 1874. He was 48 years old, FS (free in servitude) according to the notice published in the weekly police gazette. He was photographed by Thomas J. Nevin in the previous week, as per regulations, between 23rd May and the date of discharge, 26th May 1874, from the Port Arthur prison. Had Nevin still been in Hobart before that date he could have registered the birth of his son, Thomas James Nevin jr, born on the 16th April, 1874 to his wife Elizabeth Rachel Nevin at their studio, the City Photographic Establishment, 140 Elizabeth St. Hobart Town,  in April. But because of his government contractor commitments to photograph prisoners and update records, he was detained at Port Arthur, 60 kms south of Hobart. His father-in-law, (his wife Elizabeth's father) master mariner Captain James Day, signed the birth registration of Thomas James Nevin jnr as informant instead, the only birth registration of all his seven children that Thomas Nevin snr did not personally sign as informant.



Source: Tasmania Reports of Crime for Police, J. Barnard, Gov't Printer

In all probability, James Rogers committed further offences well into his senior years, and when or if the primary documents are located, they will be added. He seems not have married nor, it would seem, did he leave the colony of Tasmania, dying as a pauper at the New Town Charitable Institution at the relatively healthy old age of 74 yrs, give or take the onset of senility, registered here as the cause of death.

Death, 28th July, 1899
James ROGERS, male, 74 yrs old, laborer, born in England, died of senilis at the New Town Charitable Institution,  once the Queen's Orphan School which closed in 1879.



James Rogers, 28th July 1899
Deaths in the district of Hobart, 1899:
Archives Office Tasmania
Ref: 007368138_00548

RELATED POSTS main weblog

• Rogues Gallery: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery Collection
• Thomas Nevin's glass plates of prisoners 1870s
• Prisoner William Ryan wholesale forger at the TMAG
• Prisoner Cornelius Gleeson
• Carnal knowledge of children convictions 1860s-1880s
• Rogues Gallery: the QVMAG Collection

Rogues Gallery: the QVMAG prisoner photographs collection

THOMAS J. NEVIN 1870s
JOHN WATT BEATTIE 1916



Prisoner SMITH, William per Rodney 3
QVMAG Collection
Photographer: Thomas J. Nevin 1874
Verso stamped with Nevin’s Royal Arms government contractor stamp

These police mugshots taken by police and commercial photographer Thomas J. Nevin in the 1870s-80s at the Port Arthur prison, the Hobart Gaol (assisted by his brother Constable John Nevin) and the Hobart Municipal Police Office (Mayor's Court, Hobart Town Hall) are held in the John Watt Beattie Collection at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania. Most are Nevin's originals and duplicates produced in vignette carte-de-visite format; some were reproduced from Nevin's glass negatives by Beattie for sale and exhibition in Hobart at his museum and in Sydney at the Royal Hotel in conjunction with convictaria from the fake prison ship Success (1916). An exhibition of these photographs by T. J. Nevin was held at the QVMAG in 1977.









Forty prints of 1870s Tasmania prisoners in three panels
Original prints of negatives by T. J. Nevin 1870s
Reprints by J. W. Beattie ca. 1915
QVMAG Collection: Ref : 1983_p_0163-0176

These forty photographs in three frames were listed for sale in Beattie’s Port Arthur Museum Catalogue (1916) as item no. 69:

69. Three Frames containing 40 photographs taken at Port Arthur, showing types of Imperial Prisoners there.

See these articles:

• Exhibition held in 1977 at the QVMAG.
• John Watt Beattie and the Nevin family legacy
• Thomas Nevin's glass negatives of prisoners 1870s 

At least fifty more of these prisoner photographs from the 1870s which were originally held in the QVMAG collection were removed in 1983 for an exhibition at the Port Arthur heritage site and not returned, deposited instead at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart. Only 72 cdvs of the much larger donation from Beattie's estate in the 1930s are now extant at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston. Click here to view the TMAG collection digitised for KLW NFC Imprint (2015). The majority of the prisoner photographs held at the QVMAG and the TMAG bear a pencilled number on the front. Those numbers appearing as missing prisoner photographs on the QVMAG lists of 1-300 convict cdvs which were originally archived at the QVMAG in Beattie’s collection had been physically removed from the QVMAG collection in 1983 by Elspeth Wishart for a display and exhibition at the Port Arthur Heritage Site.

The list of the Beattie collection with missing numbers (received here in 2005):







The list of the remaining 72 Tasmanian prisoner “portraits” in the Beattie Collection 2005 (QVMAG)
The numbers pencilled on the right show those which were removed in 1983 and taken to Port Arthur for an exhibition, but were returned to the TMAG and not the QVMAG .
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2005

BLACK & WHITE copies, QVMAG collection:



William Humphries


Ephraim Doe


Thomas Fleming



Bewley Tuck



William Yeomans



George White alias Nutt



Joseph Grahame



John Merchant



Nathan Hunt



William Burley



John Kerswell



Charles Petts



Henry Singleton (aka Richard Pinches)



John O'Brien



James Jones (aka Brocklehurst)



Michael Dwyer



James Saunders



Henry Roberts



William Welham



James Connolly



William Clemo



John Gould



Michael Harrigan or Horrigan and Sullivan, transported as Michael Lynch



William Turner



Thomas Saunders



Charles Dawnes (correct spelling is Downes)



Richard Corbeth



William Forster (aka Charles Brown)



James McNally



William McKay or Ross



Alexander Woods



James Todd



John Finlay



William Curtis - reconvicted as John Curtis, manslaughter 1856



Edward Ray



William Baker



William Marsden



John Funt



James Foley



Emmanuel Piper



George Neill aka Neale



Peter Killeen



William Walker



James Page



Charles Garforth/Garfitt



John Donovan



Thomas Harrison


Thomas Jackson



Charles Clifford



Charles Steventon



J. W. Blanchfield



Thomas Page



William Hansbury



Michael Murphy



John Brown



John Barnes



Stephen O'Brien



Richard Cosker or Cocker



Charles Rosetta



James Morgan



Patrick Grant



Thomas Kelly



Philip Aylward



George Robinson



William Smith per Gilmore 3



John Williams



William Woodley



Henry Broadmore



William Dunn



Peter Perry

THE FORTY ORIGINAL PAPER PRINTS from the three panels:









































Photos courtesy of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery 2015.
Copyright © KLW NFC 2015 ARR

These same original 1870s prints were copied at the QVMAG in the 1980s as black and white photographs, considerably cleaned of scratches and cracks.

Chris Long's long con
Amateur historian Chris Long spent a few weeks at the QVMAG in Launceston in 1985 re-photographing as black & white prints the 40 uncut cdvs of prisoners taken by Nevin in the 1870s  (those on the three panels, example above), fogging out cracks and scratches on the sepia originals in the process for reasons only known to himself, since they serve no purpose, unless he single-mindedly decided to muddy their provenance as Nevin's, and their primary function as police mugshots, in order to cover up his stupid error in proclaiming that Nevin didn't take the photos, contradicting historical evidence and the experts in the field, and that they were taken by the Commandant at Port Arthur, A. H. Boyd,  never before heard of as a "photographer" by anyone for the simple reason he wasn't one. No photograph of prisoners or of any other subject in any genre was ever attributed to the non-photographer A. H. Boyd prior to Chris Long's long game of gambling his reputation on this silly claim. Chris Long's impulse as usual was to satisfy his personal need to imprint his own fantasy on primary historical documents until the facts about them all but disappear under his gifted amateur touch (gifting  himself and grifting others in the process). The originals of the 40 uncut cdvs had been removed from the prisoners' Hobart Gaol rap sheets of the 1870s by John Watt Beattie and pasted in three panels for exhibition and sale in 1916.

A selection of the QVMAG collection of these mugshots was exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW in 1976 and at the QVMAG in 1977 as the work of Thomas J. Nevin . All of the prisoners in the photographs mounted as cdvs had been named by that date - some incorrectly - by archivists either for the 1934 exhibition in memory of John Watt Beattie and his convictaria collection, or by the curatorial staff there in 1958, in 1977, in 1983-5, and 1991 - dates which appear either on the versos or in the accession sheets of public institutions which received Nevin's originals, Nevin's duplicates, or Beattie's copies. The Archives Office of Tasmania holds similar images, both originals and copies, and some are of unidentified prisoners, although the same man in the same print is identified in the QVMAG collection. All men pictured in the mugshots held at the National Library of Australia in Canberra - and many picture the same men as those listed in the QVMAG collection and in the National Library's collection - were identified on accession in 1962, 1982 and 1985, including the identity of the photographer T. J. Nevin, indicating clearly that the NLA received its collection from Tasmania.

The prints below are Chris Long's cleaned-up black & white reprints from Nevin's 1870s sepia prints which Beattie had pasted in three panels, and which Long reproduced in 1985 at the QVMAG, their purpose known only to Long himself. Most of these prisoners have been identified. With some patience, the prisoners in these reproductions at the QVMAG (1985) can be identified by collating the sepia uncut originals (1870s) with the original carte-de-visite prints inside oval buff mounts (1870s-1880s) held at the QVMAG,  TMAG, and NLA, leaving a bundle who remain unidentified.