Young in Years, Old in Crime

1828 Map of Van Dieman's Land

My great-grandfather Charlie Jacques (1869-1938) brought his family to Canada in 1907. He was born in Keighley, Yorkshire but moved with his mother and siblings to Sutton, Surrey after the death of his step-father. Charlie was likely named after his uncle, Charles Jacques (1822- ?), but apart from a baptism at Keighley I knew little about Charles. I could find no burial, no marriage, and he doesn't appear in any census records. Recently, however, I stumbled across the following article that appeared in the Bradford Observer on 12 July 1838:

BRADFORD COURT HOUSE
Young in Years, Old in Crime.— Charles Jaques, seemingly about 14 years of age, and who states himself to be the the son of a gardener at Keighley, and Harper Broomhill Nichol, about the same age, cart driver, of Halifax, were brought up charged with robbing Mary Liversedge, the wife of William Liversedge of Horton, on Saturday night last, in the Market Place in this town. It appeared that complainant on Saturday night was by the side of a wheelbarrow purchasing some gooseberries, for which she paid with copper, and she then had a purse in her pocket containing seven half crowns, and a gold wedding ring. Almost immediately she missed her purse and seeing a boy slip round the barrow, and made his way into the crowd, she felt convinced that he had robber her of her purse. She could not, however, see him again. On Monday morning she renewed her search and found her ring, which had been sold on Saturday night. In the meantime, however, from information received by the Constables, two boys (the prisoners) had been taken into custody on Saturday night in a lodging house, and by a clear and direct train of evidence, the robbery has been brought home to the two boys. In order that the ends of justice may not be frustrated, and that no undue prejudice may be excited against the prisoners, whose trial must necessarily immediately take place, we forbear giving even an outline of the evidence. Jacques has been twice previously committed from this town, for a robbery at Mr. Monkman's, the tobacconist, and another at Mr. Beddoes, for which last he was convicted, and endured three months' imprisonment, and only left the House of Correction on Saturday, the 23rd of June, and came into Bradford on Friday last. Nichol has been frequently convicted from Halifax, and is well known to the bench of sessions.

The article opened a floodgate of information. Charles, the son of David Jacques (1793-1831) and Elizabeth Corlass (1794-1856), was baptised at Keighley, Yorkshire on 7 Jul 1822.  In the 1822 Baines Directory entry for Keighley, David Jacques appears under the heading Gardeners, Nursery and Seedsmen as "Jacques Dvd. (dealer in British wines) Spring gardens." David was born on Belle Isle in Lake Windermere where his father had been gardener to John Christian Curwen (1756-1828).

On July 14, 1838 at the Bradford Sessions, Charles Jacques, aged 15, and Harper Broomhill Nichol, aged 16, were convicted of stealing a velvet purse containing seven half crowns and a gold ring. They were sentenced to be transported for seven years. The Court noted that Charles had a previously conviction for felony dated 2 Apr 1837.

Euryalus Towing the Royal Sovereign

Charles and Harper were received at the prison hulk Euryalus on August 22, 1838. Euryalus, moored in the Medway at Chatham in Kent, had been converted to a hulk for boys about 1825. Conditions were brutal. Convicts performed manual labour and were forced kept below desks for 23 hours a day. Gang violence and physical abuse from the guards were common.

The prison hulk register for Euryalus shows that Charles could read and write, and had been once convicted and once imprisoned. 

Before she became a prison hulk, HMS Euryalus had a storied history. Named after one of the Argonauts, she was a 36-gun frigate that was launched in 1803 and decommissioned in 1825. Euryalus saw service during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. At the Battle of Trafalgar, Euryalus engaged the French fleet while towing the badly damaged Royal Sovereign. After the death of Admiral Nelson, Adminal Collingwood transferred his flag from Royal Sovereign to Euryalus. During the War of 1812, Euryalus was present at the bombardment of Fort McHenry. This bombardment inspired Francis Scott Key to write a poem that later became the words to the Star-spangled Banner.

Between 1804 and 1853, the British Government transported about 76,000 convicts to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). Charles and Harper were two of 170 convicts transported on the barque Pyramus which departed England on November 16, 1838. The Pyramus arrived at Hobart in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) on 24 Mar 1839. after a voyage of 122 days  

Conduct Record for Charles Jacques
Source: Libraries Tasmania CON32-1-4

Tasmania’s convict records are part of the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register and can be assessed through Libraries Tasmania. Of particular interest are the conduct records (CON 31, CON 32, CON 34) and the descriptive lists (CON18) in which Charles was described as 16 years old, four feet eight and a half inches tall, with brown hair and blue eyes.

For the first few years of his sentence Charles was assigned to various work gangs or to a free settler in a form of indentured servitude. He was not, however, a model prisoner. His conduct record shows numerous infractions for which he was brutally punished. In August 1839 he was "absent from his work without leave," and spent six days in a cell on bread and water. Later that month he was given 24 lashes for "misconduct." Over the next three years he was punished for absconding, insolence, insubordination, and for stealing a shirt. In July 1841 he was "returned to government, his master not requiring his services," and was at the Launceston prisoner's barracks later that year.

The Ploughing Team, Port Arthur
Source: State Library Victoria

In September 1842, while at Hobart, his sentence was extended by 18 months for absconding. That November he was sent to the Port Arthur penal settlement. In November 1844 he received 25 lashes for "smoking and refusing to give up the pipe." The following March he was given "three months hard labour in chains" for possessing tobacco. Two incidents of absconding in 1845 resulted in an additional twelve months hard labour in chairs. In January 1846 he was given 36 lashes for "idleness and insolence." In May 1846 his sentence was extended again by 18 months for gross insubordination. He was described as "being a most turbulent character,"

Charles was described as "being of most turbulent character," but on July 5, 1848, after a decade spent as a prisoner, Charles was given his certificate of freedom.

In contrast, Harper Broomhill Nichol's conduct record shows few infractions, and he was freed at the end of his seven year sentence.

Tasmanian convicts are often untraceable once they were freed. Many left Tasmania for South Australia, changed their names, and generally kept a low profile. One possibility for Charles is a marriage between Charles Jacques and Jane Evans that occured at Kooringa in South Australia on 20 Aug 1849. Kooringa was the location of the Burra Burra Cooper Mine. The following April, Robert Jacques was born, named after his uncle Robert Evans who had witnessed his parents marriage. Jane, born about 1831, and her brother had arrived in South Australia from Swansea, Wales in October 1848. What became of Charles, Jane and their son afterwards is not known.