William Boggis -
SCARBOROUGH
- this story is under review by Membership Team
Sometime during 1782 William Boggis was arrested with
William Hubbard for stealing a bed sheet valued at three
shillings. Boggis was recorded as being a sailor. He
was confined in cells at the House of Correction until
both men were brought in chains to the Old Town Hall in
the Market Place of Kingston-upon-Thames, County Surrey,
to appear before the Court of Quarter Sessions in
January 1783. Both were found guilty and sentenced "to
be publicly whipt of the cats tail between 12 and 2 on
Saturday the 22nd February from the County Gaol to St
Thomas' Hospital and discharged."
They were remanded to appear before the Surrey Summer
Assizes on 24 March 1784 accused of a felony, a serious
offence which carried the death penalty if the theft was
accompanied by violence, intimidation or house-breaking;
their death sentenced was commuted on 24 March 1784 to
transportation to America for seven years. On 8 April
1785, aged 18, both men were transferred to the
hulk Censor anchored at Woolwich.
On
2 March 1787 Boggis and Hubbard were amongst 210
shackled prisoners loaded on wagons that travelled to
Portsmouth; they were assigned to the ship
Scarborough, one of the 11ships of the First Fleet.
On 6 March 1787 the two men were among 186 transportees,
manacled in pairs, who crossed in lighters to be
imprisoned in the hold of the Scarborough which
Phillip had designated as an all-male ship to carry the
most hardened criminals. Boggis was 21 years of age at
the time of the departure of the First Fleet from
Portsmouth on 13 May 1787, by which time he had been
incarcerated for more than 4 years.
Most convicts were in reasonable health when the 11
ships dropped anchor at Botany Bay. Parties of convicts
were immediately landed to cut grass for the livestock –
not green and lush but dried brown by the hot summer
sun. As Botany Bay did not have a plentiful water
supply Phillip explored north to Port Jackson where he
found a fine harbour with flowing water. He immediately
gave orders that the Fleet relocate and , on Saturday 26
January 1788, Phillip and his officers landed at Sydney
Cove and declared this land for England. At dawn the
following day, convicts from the Scarborough were
disembarked and began felling trees and dragging away
logs; or pitching tents; or bringing up such store as
were more immediately wanted.
On 2nd August 1788 Boggis was
arrested for gambling for a knife and sentenced to
“Fifty lashes on the bare back with … Nine Tails”. Only
a month later he was “accused by Lydia Munro of wanting
to have connexion (sic) with her against her will”. He
was found guilty and sentenced to receive 100 lashes.
The Court met again on 20 September when Boggis
convinced the magistrates that Lydia Munro was
considered a prostitute by other convicts. He was
acquitted, a notation stating “Afterwards forgiven”.
To
relieve the Colony’s food shortages, Governor Phillip
had established a government farm at Rose Hill to grow
fresh produce. Boggis was sent there to work in the
fields where he and other convicts were required to turn
over one-tenth of an acre per day, tilling the soil with
a hoe. On 14 July 1789 he appeared before the Court at
Rose Hill charged with the crime of entering a hut for
which he received the sentence of 200 lashes. He
appeared again before the Court at Sydney Cove on 25
July charged with “… entering house … with the intent to
commit a felony”. Boggis was found guilty of “stealing
… shirt – to receive one hundred lashes on his bare
back, at Rose Hill – to work with an iron on his leg –
to wear a label with the word Thief painted on it – and
made fast on his cloathing [sic]”. A further notation
was made that, having received 200 lashes at Rose Hill,
the Justices did not think it proper to impose any
further punishment considering the time his labour would
be lost to the public good.
Starvation in the Colony was imminent. Phillip sent
Captain Hunter to Cape Town for fresh supplies; the
Sirius circumnavigated the globe and returned to
Sydney on 9 May 1789 with a maximum cargo – the first
supplies in 18 months. Within 6 months the situation at
Sydney Cove was again critical – rations were so meager
that people lacked the energy to work; clothes were in
shreds, no one had shoes.
Boggis appeared before the magistrate on Wednesday 7
October 1789, charged with stealing a jacket and comb.
He claimed that he did not commit the robbery, and that
he was not out of his house that night. A witness
corroborated that Boggis “was with him from the close of
the evening” and this was sufficient for William to be
discharged.
To
counter the starvation threatening the Colony Governor
Phillip transferred as many convicts as possible in
Sirius and Supply. Early on Saturday 6 March
1790 the ships departed for the sub-colony on Norfolk
Island where Philip Gidley King was
Lieutenant-Governor. Among the convicts on board was
William Boggis. By 13 March 1790 the Captains sighted
the island but, because of inclement weather, moved the
ships round to the more sheltered Cascade Bay, where all
convicts were disembarked by 17 March.
Gales then forced the ships to retreat to safety several
miles off shore until the flag at Kingston signaled the
all-clear to land. Unloading commenced and by mid
morning the Supply was unloaded. The Sirius
then moved in and the crew loaded boats with cargo and
the oarsmen rowed to shore. A strong riptide and
blustery winds suddenly threatened the ship; Captain
Hunter maneuvered frantically but the Sirius was
driven stern-first on the jagged reef. All accessible
provisions were removed from the hold and secured to the
gundeck for discharge onto the tenders; provisions were
hauled along a hawser; casks, bedding, sea chests, boxes
and anything salvageable were jettisoned to float across
the reef ahead of the heavy surf. Unloading continued
until 28 March when a huge swell threatened to break up
the ship. All available convicts, including Boggis,
were kept busy gathering the flotsam that littered the
beach, spreading it out in the warm sun and transferring
the dried goods to the Store Yard.
Among the orders from Governor Phillip delivered to
Lieutenant-Governor King was his recall to Sydney in
order to carry reports to England with a desperate plea
for urgent dispatch of store ships. Phillip appointed
Major Ross as Lieutenant-Governor during King’s
absence.
Unknown to Phillip, drought had struck Norfolk Island.
With the population increased to 498, they had only
enough provisions for 14 weeks, even at half rations.
Ross imposed severe food rationing; anyone caught
stealing food would be sentenced to death. Salvation
came with the arrival of the migratory “mutton birds”
that nested on Mount Pitt. Late each afternoon a large
party went up the mountainside to collect eggs and
capture the birds as they returned to their nesting
burrows.
Three hungry months dragged by in Sydney before the flag
at South Head was raised signaling the arrival of a ship
– it was the Lady Juliana – not the long-awaited
storeship, but a transport of female prisoners. A
convict disembarking from the Lady Juliana on 11
June 1790 was Elizabeth Smith. She had been tried at
Old Bailey Sessions, Middlesex Assizes on 11 July 1787
and sentenced to 7 years transportation for the theft of
a watch, a pair of stone knee buckles, a silk
handkerchief and a crown piece. Elizabeth Smith was
held in Newgate Gaol until 12 March 1789 when she
boarded the Lady Juliana in irons, riveted not
locked – her age was recorded as 39.
On
20 June the Justinian sailed into Sydney laden
entirely with provisions and everyone went on full
rations. Six days later the first of the Second Fleet
ships, Surprize, entered the harbour, only days
ahead of the Neptune and Scarborough.
Many prisoners were either ill, had died of starvation,
ill-treatment or disease. The sudden increased populous
brought an urgent need of housing so Phillip ordered the
transfer of most of the women convicts from the Lady
Juliana onto the Surprize. Elizabeth Smith
was one of 157 women and 37 male convicts who sailed on
1 August 1790 for Norfolk Island.
Within a month William Boggis and Elizabeth Smith were
working in close proximity, he with the convicts
clearing ground and planting Indian corn, while she was
among the women who were pulling up the blight-stricken
corn and replanting, or picking off plagues of
caterpillars, digging and carting potatoes, or
establishing the flax business.
When his 7 year term expired in March 1791 Boggis had
been given a 10 acre grant of land overlooking Ball’s
Bay. It was a difficult block as only 2 acres were
level, a small portion of which was cleared, but with
the benefit of a road kept in good repair for emergency
boat landings. By 1 July 1791 he had two acres and 120
rods cleared for cultivation and had been given a piglet
to rear.
Elizabeth Smith was assigned to housekeep and work for
William. A daughter to born to them on 3 February 1792
also named Elizabeth. By October 1793 they had
cultivated seven acres, of which only four ploughed
easily. The remaining three acres were steep and
suitable only for animal forage. By 2 November that
year the family was “independent of Government Stores
for animal food.”
Lieutenant King returned to Norfolk Island in November
1791 to be reinstated as Lieutenant-Governor. William
was one of a group of settlers who made recommendations
to King concerning prices for their produce, the nature
of fines and the means of increasing production; also on
29 September 1793 William was 38th of 90
signatories to a resolution regarding de facto
relationships of a year or more which held that, on the
death of a male member, the woman was to be considered a
widow and entitled to benefit from a settlers’ fund –
they recommended that widows of settlers should receive
aid in the form of payment of fares to Europe or
America.
Lieutenant-Governor King was a benign and thoughtful
leader. He provided a school to educate children and
train them to be useful citizens and founded an orphan
school for the protection of young girls who had lost or
been neglected by their parents. Late in 1795 King
became dangerously ill, recovering sufficiently to
return to Sydney and thence to England to regain his
health. Administration of the Island was left under the
command of Lieutenant-Governor Foveaux and officers of
the New South Wales Corps.
The second Governor of NSW, Captain John Hunter,
confirmed William’s land grant on 31 December 1796 and
from that date William had to pay a high annual quit
rent of 10 shillings, probably because he was among a
list of settlers who indicated having enough credit to
leave the Island.
In
the summer of 1797-8 the wheat crop failed and the
community relied on crops stored from previous years.
Because of food shortages Elizabeth and her child were
back “on stores” and dependent on the Government.
Drought gripped the Island again in 1799; the maize crop
failed; the flocks of mutton birds had been decimated
and did not return on their annual migration. Ill
health plagued the population.
Prosperity dissipated and hence the
depressed state of life on the Island convincing William
that he should pay for a passage to Sydney on one of the
government vessels that visited the Island. In 1794,
William’s previous occupation is recorded as “Sailor” (3)
so once back in Sydney, he may have joined the crews of
British and American whaling ships that intermittently
used Port Jackson as a depot and called at the Island
for wood, water, and provisions (if they could be
spared). Shipmasters and mates were willing to take on
any able-bodied man as an extra hand, without asking
questions. They were not obliged to pay wages to
stowaways and could compel them to work, putting them in
irons if they refused or became unruly.
In the “List of Residents of Norfolk
Island 1788-1814” (4)
William is listed as leaving the Island in October 1796,
though the notation indicates “after dated noted”.
Sometime between the years of 1797 and 1801, William
left Norfolk Island, knowing he was leaving his family
unprovided for and dependent on the authorities for
their survival. On his desertion William’s farm did not
become the property of his abandoned family but reverted
to the Government for re-granting to Luke Normington (5)
and back-dated to 1796– if the Island records are
correct (recordings were sporadic and confusing). Mother
and daughter had to leave the farm and, according to
government ruling, school-aged daughter, Elizabeth, was
now regarded as an orphan and therefore eligible to
enter the Island Orphanage. Her name was not in the
island records when they recommenced in 1802, by which
time she was a pupil at the Female Orphan School in
Sydney.
William is listed with William Hubbard as
being back in Sydney and located on “Rented Land on the
Northern Boundary”(6).
The last record of William Boggis was in the “Colonial
Register of Arms”, which listed him as being in
possession of a gun and living at Brickfield Hill in
April 1802. Registered guns were issued to capable
settlers to supplement Government Stores by hunting the
plentiful kangaroos and wallabies that roamed the
outskirts of Sydney. After this date William disappears
without a trace.
After this date William disappears, but his family lives
on through his daughter, Elizabeth.
By Gillian Doyle, descendant.
Extracts from the book:
Where Honour Guides the Prow
by Elisabeth Curtis (deceased) & Gillian Doyle, 1988 ©
Now a rare book, limited copies are available from:
Gillian Doyle Contact by email:
gdoyle2851@gmail.com
14/3/13
Extra sources:
(1)
On page 2, Treasury Papers AJCP Reel T1/636 Reel 3550 –
an account of expenses in conducting convicts from
Woolwich to Portsmouth by Townsend & Sing.
Web:
http://www.heavenandhelltogether.com/?q=node/247
(2)
Page 535 entry
entitled Smith, Elizabeth (c1749-1820), The Second
Fleet – Britain’s Grim Convict Armada of 1790, by
Michael Flynn, reprinted 1993.
(3)
“Previous Occupations of Norfolk Island Residents
(as recorded 1794 for 83 People). Page 60, of The
Forgotten Generation of Norfolk Island and Van Diemens
Land by Reg Wright.
(4)
Page 191 of Raymond Nobb’s Norfolk Island and
its first settlement 1788-1814), based on the
references quoted on page 190. The reference also notes
that William was married.
(5)
Page 68, Table 7, Proprietors of Allotments at
Norfolk Island 1796, Lot 15, 10 acres, occupier Luke
Normington, compiled from the sources quoted on the back
endpaper of The Forgotten Generation of Norfolk
Island and Van Diemens Land, by Reg Wright
(6)
Muster of 1800-1802 (List 6: "list of
persons" c1801).
|