During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the United Kingdom was undergoing unprecedented changes in its industrial and agricultural industries. These revolutions saw large numbers of working people become unemployed and desperate to financially support themselves and their families, due to the large scale mechanisation of jobs previously done my manual labour. The enclosure of more rural common grounds and the end of tenant farming, displaced large numbers of persons who had previously been able to work the land and be some-what self-sufficient on a small plot of their own within the larger estates. Mass migrations of these unemployed and often homeless persons to the larger urban and industrial centres of the United Kingdom contributed to the social upheaval of general society.
The expanding British Empire was also a significant world power in military terms. Britain “ruled the seven seas” with an impressive fleet of warships and dominated a large proportion of the global trade in a wide variety of merchandise. Entities like the Honorable East India Company (HEIC) not only had their own sail trading vessels, but also their own private army with which to provide the security required to ensure corporate and financial success. At this time, Britain was also allied with several European countries in the French Revolutionary Wars against Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte.
The social and economic fabric of society in England, and more particularly London, also experienced major changes to the way crime and criminals were perceived, administered and dealt with in terms of incarceration and punishment. By the end of the 18th century, Britain had two hundred and twenty crimes that were punishable with the death sentence. 1
It was into this melting pot of late 18th century civilisation, that a family welcomed a new child named John Tagg.
Social and Family Life
John was possibly the son to John snr and his wife Jane, who was born at the Lying-In Hospital, Brownlow (now Endell) Street, Holborn on 2nd, and baptised on the 8th August 1782. 2
& 3
The hospital is described as -
... originally established in Brownlow Street, in 1749, .... It is the oldest lying-in hospital in London. It is solely for affording medical and surgical treatment to married women, who are either admitted into the hospital as in-patients, or are attended at their own homes. 4
What personal or family circumstances invited John to partake of criminal activities is not clear or known and in 1800 he finds himself "on the other side of the law" at the Old Bailey.
John served his punishment at the Cold Bath Fields House of Corrections and Debtors prison.
In 1811, Cold Bath Fields House of Corrections and Debtors prison with six classes of both male and female inmates; had a Gaoler, retained on 400l. per year plus fees; a Task-Master and Store Keeper; a Clerk; ten Turnkeys; two Watchmen; a Chaplain and a Surgeon. The Gaoler at the time of John's incarceration, was a Thomas Aris, whose son was also employed in the facility. The prisoners had a daily food allowance of : a one pound loaf of bread; one pint of gruel for breakfast; one quart of beef broth with oatmeal, celery, onions leeks, pepper and salt for dinner every second day; and on the other alternate days, six ounces of meat for dinner in place of the broth. Family or friends could also supply the inmates with any kind of provisions available. The facility, as well as the dormitories, had a garden area which was cultivated and sown with different vegetables by and for the use of the prisoners themselves. A well within the complex provided water for general use and the ablutions of the prisoners. The kitchen was equipped with two cast-iron boilers for prisoners cooking use; and prisoners would be employed in -
- White-washing and painting the prison.
- Washing and mending the prisoner's linen.
- Making and mending their clothes and shoes.
- Carpenter's and smith's work for the gaol.
- Making rope and spun-yarn, and spinning tow.
- Knotting yarn, and picking oakum.
- Working in the garden, and at the water engines.
- Sweeping and cleaning the prison
- Attending as nurses to the infirm and sick.
Prisoners could earn money for their work, and were able to retain one-sixth or two-pence in each shilling for their labours. The majority of the inmates would be housed in a large dormitory of (originally) 366 cells; each one only 8 feet 3 inches long and 6 feet 3 inches wide. Occupants were provided with a wooden bedstead, straw-in-ticking bed, one blanket in summer; two in winter and a rug each. They would also attend church for prayers and a sermon on Sundays, and have prayer sessions twice more each week.5
Whilst serving his first sentence in the House of Correction, the Cold Bath Fields prison, John may have been involved in a riot, possibly even being one of the ring-leaders; and the subsequent report by one of the Prison Committees, gives an insight into the prison conditions and the food provided for the prisoners.
It was only a couple of months after his release from prison for his first offence, that John found himself once again "in front of the beak," again at the Old Bailey. John Tagg, as a 19 year old at the time of his second Old Bailey trial in 1801, was described as 5'5", dark complexion, brown hair and hazel eyes and possibly a native of the parish of St Giles, Middlesex. 6
From his second trial details at the Old Bailey and without further background details on his family or social situation or details on any other offences he may have committed, it is difficult to classify him as a serial offender. It seems possible that his general life circumstances may have been behind his pilfering, although for his second offence, he was tried with an accomplice, which might suggest it was an "organised" theft purely to fence the item and gain a financial advantage. As this was John's second offence, and for which a conviction was often seen and used as an "automatic" sentence of transportation and after his second trial on April 15th, he was probably held in Newgate prison. The "old" Newgate prison was severely damaged by fire by the Gordon rioters in June of 1780 and subsequently rebuilt. Howard, the philanthropist, writing in 1784, gives a favourable account of the Newgate of 1779.
"The cells," says Howard, "built in old Newgate, a few years since, for condemned malefactors, are still used for the same purpose. There are upon each of the three floors five, all vaulted, near 9 feet high to the crown. Those on the groundfloor measure full 9 feet by near 6 feet; the five on the first storey are a little larger (9½ feet by 6 feet), on account of the set-off in the wall; and the five uppermost still a little larger, for the same reason. In the upper part of each cell is a window, double grated, near 3 feet by 1½. The doors are 4 inches thick. The strong stone wall is lined all round each cell with planks, studded with broad-headed nails. In each cell is a barrack bedstead. I was told by those who attended them that criminals who had affected an air of boldness during their trial, and appeared quite unconcerned at the pronouncing sentence upon them, were struck with horror, and shed tears, when brought to these darksome, solitary abodes. 7
John was delivered on board the La Fortunee hulk in Langstone harbour on 20 August 1801. 8
Conditions were very poor, and during 1802, an enquiry was conducted into the state of both prisoners and hulk ships; not only in Langstone harbour, but also Portsmouth Harbour and the Thames river. The report on the condition of the convicts was not very "glowing" -
Overseas Travel
John sailed below decks on the 52 Gun HMS Calcutta, captained by Daniel Woodriff, on 24th April 1803 from Spithead accompanied by the transport ship Ocean under the Command of Captain Mertho. By this time, John had already served two years and nine days of his seven year sentence, and his earnings from government work whilst on board the hulk prison ships had possibly earned him a total of ... l. ... s. ... d. ; two-thirds of which would be available to John upon his attaining his freedom. 9
John arrived in VDL in the very early years prior to 1810, when there are very few surviving conduct or other convict records. Like his transported colleagues, John had his particulars recorded for perpetual historical prosperity in one of the many hundreds of registers of the mighty British Empire of the 18th and 19th century. 10
Hunter Island One of the first major public works projects assigned to the convicts was to construct a stone causeway joining the island to land. Today this area now has wharf buildings on it.
In the centre of this cove is a small island, connected with the mainland at low water, admirably adapted for the lands and reception of stores and provisions… The Ocean and Lady Nelson are lying within half a cable’s length of the shore in nine fathoms. (David Collins, 1804)
Sailing Career
Like others of his Calcutta "forced Immigrant" colleagues, John made his way north after gaining his ticket-of-leave and conditional or free pardon at the expiration of his seven year sentence, and joined the new and growing whaling, sealing and trading industry aboard several ships based out of Sydney, even returning to Hobart and Port Dalrymple in VDL on at least two occasions.
The Cumberland, Colonial Vessel, being about to depart for the Derwent, all Persons having Claims on Mr William Stewart, Master of the said Vessel, are requested to present the same forthwith. CLAIMS AND DEMANDS. THE following Persons being about to depart the Colony, requests all Claims and Demands against them, to be presented for Payment immediately:— In the Cumberland, John O'Neal, John Tagg, Charles McMahan, Edw. Williams, C. Le Fevre, T. Burn, Christopher Risaskey, S. Meredith, C. Meredith, P. McGuire, L. Drennan, B. Cook, James Neuth, John Parry, J. Marsden, a boy. 12
There are a further seven similar notices in the Sydney newspapers where John crewed on various vessels between 1811 and 1824.
- Governor Bligh - 1812 13
John is listed as free, a Sawyer and residing at Windsor, NSW in the 1814 Census and Population Housing book 14
- Somersetshire - 1814 15
- Bligh - 1815 16
- Campbell Macquarie - 1815 17
- King George - 1818 18
- Governor Bligh - 1819 19
- John Palmer - 1819 20
John is listed as a Labourer in the NSW 1819 Census and Population Housing book 21
Details included in the records vary depending on the muster, but you may find the following:
name
conviction
details
on or off stores (state provisions)
children (ages, born in colony or not)
ship of arrival
master of ship
free or convict
employment/employer
John may have taken a break from seafaring, as he is listed with a conditional pardon (CP) and as a householder in Sydney in the 1822 muster. 22
In 1822, district constables were ordered to visit each house and farm before a muster and record details that the muster could then be verified against. The District Constable's notebook (#3 - 1822) shows he is living in Gloucester Street, Parramatta (Baulkham Hills), 23
and sharing a house with Joseph Morley per ship Surprize in Second Fleet, 24
his second wife Hannah Railton, a convict per ship Speke in 1808; their children Ann, Jane, Elizabeth, Joseph jnr and Anthony; Mary Gosling, convict per ship Lady Julianna and widow of Joseph's cousin Joseph (Joe) Morley, convict per First Fleet and a convict servant, Joseph Banks per ship Coromandel in 1820.
It may have been a case of "... birds of a feather, flocking together ..., " as those who had been in and through the convict system would have had similar experiences, and would have been able to relate to each other with greater ease.
Prior to departing on her next voyage, the schooner Samuel had returned to Sydney from a sealing cruise with a valuable cargo and a passenger, Mr. James Stewart. 25
John is shown again as being a crew member of a sealing and whaling vessel -
- Samuel - 1824 26
For the Captain Mr Dawson and some of the crew, this next voyage was to prove fatal -
Postscript. We stop the Press to announce the arrival this morning from the seal fishery, of the schooner Samuel, belonging to house of Riley and Walker. She brings the melancholy intelligence of the massacre at Cook's Straits, New Zealand, by the natives, of the master of that vessel (Mr. Dawson), and six of his men ; further particulars of which lamentable event are deferred till next week. [Thursday Morning.] 27
A more fuller account of the tragedy is reported the following week -
THE SCHOONER SAMUEL.—The following is the account of the recent massacre at New Zealand, which we have received from an undoubted source :—On the 27th of July the Samuel, having been carried there by contrary winds, came to an anchor in Cook's straits, which separate the two islands of New Zealand, and were employed for a day or two in procuring water, &c. the most friendly terms existing between the natives and the crew. On the 31st of the same month no misunderstanding had arisen, which induced the master, Mr. John Dawson, and five seamen, viz. John Clurty, George Jewlyn John Harris, John M'Laughlin, and another, with whose name we are unacquainted, to go on shore quite unsuspicious and unarmed. They had scarcely touched the ground, when, without a moment's warning, the savages rushed upon our ill-fated countrymen, and presently butchered them with their massive clubs ! Thus have we presented to us another awful admonitory instance of the ferociousness of these barbarians, and the great caution at all times necessary to be observed in intercourse with them. The remaining crew of the Samuel were naturally struck with consternation and- horror at the deplorable event which happened before their eyes; and they immediately weighed for this Port. It is a fact too well authenticated, that these people are utterly regardless of human life, looking on their enemies and slaves as lawful food, and as much obnoxious to be slaughtered, as, in our opinion, a sheep or a bullock. 28
A request was made to admit John to the General Hospital in Sydney -
Colonial Secretarys Office
19th January 1825
Sir,
I am directed by the Governor to have the honour to request that John Tag [sic] by the Calcutta, may be received into the General Hospital.
I have the Honor to be Sir,
Your obedt. Servant,
F. Goulburn.
James Bowman Esq. Principal Surgeon of the Territory. 29
The Sydney General Hospital built from 1811 to 1815, was also known as "The Rum Hospital", as it was built with funds generated by the sale of rum spirits by the contractors Blackcell, Riley and Wentworth. 30
John is listed as a fisherman in Sydney in the 1825 muster. 31
He would have attended at the Sydney Police Station on 11 October 1825 to have his details recorded. 32
John died at the considerably young age of forty-seven years 33
and was buried in the cemetery of St Philip's Anglican Church on 4 May 1830. 34
Did his treatment and poor diet during his incarceration in the UK prisons and hulks, contribute to his subsequent time spent in the Sydney Hospital and possible early demise ?.
- 1Wikipedia - Bloody code
- 2England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970. Piece 0063: Holborn, British Lying-In Hospital, Endell Street: Births and Baptisms, Vol 2, 1770-1788, Entry #15057 - Ancestry Online
- 3England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 - FamilySearch database, reference - John Tagg, 08 Aug 1782 FHL microfilm 0916633 (RG8)
- 4Thornbury, Walter. St Giles-in-the-Fields - Old and New London: Volume 3. Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1878, p 197-218 - British History Online
- 5NEILD, James Esq. State of the Prisons in England, Scotland and Wales. pp 142-146. Nichols and Sons, London 1812. Online - archive.org
- 6Tipping, Marjorie - Convicts Unbound: The Story of the Calcutta Convicts and Their Settlement in Australia. Viking O'Neil, Penguin Books Australia (1988) page 315
- 7Thornbury, Walter. "Newgate ." Old and New London: Volume 2. Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1878. pages 441-461. British History Online. Viewed 12 May 2016
- 8 Home Office: Criminal Registers, Middlesex, England and Wales; The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England. Class: HO 26; Piece: 7; Page: 122. Ancestry Online. Viewed 29 April 2016
- 9The Hulks at Woolwich. Oxford Journal 1832
- 10TAHO : Con 22/1/2 page 442 Online.
- 11Painting by G P Harris, 1804. Mitchell Library, Sydney. Hunter Island, Sullivan's Cove.
- 12Classified Advertising - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 19 October 1811: page 3
- 13Classified Advertising - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 15 August 1812: page 1
- 14New South Wales, Census and Population Books, 1811-1825 [database on-line]. Ancestry Online
- 15Classified Advertising - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 19 November 1814: page 2
- 16Classified Advertising - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 22 April 1815: page 1
- 17Classified Advertising - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 10 June 1815: page 1
- 18Classified Advertising - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 21 March 1818: page 2
- 19Classified Advertising - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 29 May 1819: page 2
- 20Classified Advertising - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 10 July 1819: page 2.
- 21New South Wales, Census and Population Books, 1811-1825 [database on-line]. Ancestry Online
- 22New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849, Class: HO 10; Piece: 36. Ancestry Online
- 23New South Wales, Census and Population Books, 1811-1825 - District Constables notebook No 3. [database on-line]. Ancestry Online
- 24Family details - Australian Royalty
- 25Classified Advertising - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 8 April 1824: page 2
- 26Classified Advertising - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 15 April 1824: page 3
- 27Postscript - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 23 September 1824: page 3
- 28Shipping News - The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842) 30 September 1824: page 2
- 29New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Papers, 1788-1856, Series: NRS 937; Reel Number 6014; 4/3513 p.286. Ancestry Online
- 30Laila Ellmoos, Sydney Hospital and Eye Hospital, Dictionary of Sydney 2008, Online
- 31New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849, Class: HO 10; Piece: 20. Ancestry Online
- 32Biographical Database of Australia : General Muster List of New South Wales 1823, 1824, 1825 Edited by Carol J Baxter, Published by Australian Biographical and Genealogical Record, Sydney 1999. Online
- 33NSW : Death Certificate 9055/1830 V18309055 2C
- 34NSW : Death Certificate 111/1830 V1830111 14 - Named as John TEGG - by ship 'Calcutta'
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