William Nibbs - Part 3
Transportation to Van Diemen’s Land

For most of the Swing prisoners sentenced to transportation, their first port of call was one of the Prison Hulks on permanent moorings at the port of departure.   Here they were held for days to months awaiting allocation to a ship.   William was received from Aylesbury prison aboard the Hulk "York" at the port of Portsmouth on the 9th March 1831.

The Swing Rioters or Machine Breakers came out to Australia aboard three vessels; 136 rioters on the "Eleanor" to New South Wales, 224 on the "Eliza" and 98 aboard the "Proteus", both to Van Diemen's Land    William KNIBBS arrived in Hobart Town, VDL in 1831 on the third and smallest contingent, the "Proteus".

Information of interest - The Machine Breakers were viewed differently from that of common criminals, in that the authorities and the public thought they were generally decent men, skilled and hardworking, whose crime was to only try to get better working conditions.   During the voyage, they were not required to wear the normal convict garb and were not under lock and key at all times, being given free access of the ship frequently.  

By 1831 the Assignment System for handling the arrival of convicts was in place.   This system involved the convicts, upon their arrival, being assigned to landowners, farmers and businessmen, who undertook to clothe and feed their assignee to a regulated standard.   Government's Public Works Department always took first pick of any new convicts, and the VDL (Van Diemen's Land) Company received second choice.   The remainder were then allocated out to the public.

The Governor of VDL at this time was Governor George ARTHUR, a staunch supporter of convict transportation.   In England, there was mounting concern and criticism of transportation system as an unjust and overly cruel form of punishment.   Governor ARTHUR took a keen interest in the Machine Breakers, unfairly using them as examples to vindicate his views.   The Machine Breakers were not your average convicts, they were protestors not criminals and were less likely to re-offend.   Skilled and experience convicts would offer a far greater contribution to society than the common criminal and were therefore more likely to do well in the future.   His use of these convicts to promote the success of the transportation system was misleading giving false results as to the effects of transportation.

Arrival in Van Diemen’s Land

Upon each convict's arrival in Australia their description was recorded, being the only form of identification, the authorities had.   Photographs did not come into the system until the 1860's.   A conduct record was kept for each convict documenting any misdemeanours, assignments and relevant details during their term of imprisonment.

Unfortunately, William resented being held prisoner as all his escape attempts would indicate.   Harsh penalties were imposed on him - chains, solitary confinement and the lash.    The final two punishments had the desired effect on William, i.e.  a clean slate for the final fourteen months of his sentence.

William Received His Free Pardon (No. 159) 5th April 1836.

Note: Between 1835 and 1837, free pardons were granted to many of the transported Swing Rioters.  More tolerant views in England prevailed, linked in part to the enactment of The Reform Act of 1832