Elizabeth Townley - Preece - Batt, Convict “Cadet” 1847

BIRTH & BAPTISM

If Elizabeth was 15 at her trial she should be born 1831 or late 1830. Possibilities - or records just missing? Name:	Elizabeth Richards 

Birth Date: 24 Sep 1832
Gender: Female
Event Type: Baptism
Father: William Richards
Mother: Mary Ann Nichols
Baptism Date: 16 Oct 1832
Baptism Place: Tavistock, Devon, England
Denomination: Wesleyan

First name(s) Eliz'th Marsh
Last name Richards
Birth year 1832
Baptism year 1832
Denomination Anglican
County Devon
Baptism place Tiverton
Mother's first name(s) Sarah
Father's first name(s) Edward
Archive South West Heritage Trust
Birth date 06 May 1832
Father's occupation Carrier
Residence Tiverton

CENSUS 1841
Salterton, Woodbury, St Thomas, Devon, England
William Danvers Male 80 1761 Devon, England
Sarah Godfry Female 50 1791 Devon, England
Anna Godfry Female 15 1826 Devon, England
Sarah Godfry Female 11 1830 Devon, England
Joseph Godfry Male 8 1833 Devon, England
Allice Richards Female 35 1806 Devon, England
Elizabeth Richards Female 10 1831 Devon, England
Susan Lang Female 20 1821 Devon, England
Joseph Hyatt Male 8 1833 Devon, England
Margaret Hyatt Female 2 1839 Devon, England
[This might be Elizabeth age 10yrs living with her mother, both probably farm servants.]

OR Kentismoor, Kentisbeare, Tiverton, Devon, England

William	Richards	Male	-	-	Devon, England 

Ann Richards Female 40 1801 Devon, England
Harriet Richards Female 12 1829 Devon, England
Eliza Richards Female 9 1832 Devon, England
William Richards Male 4 1837 Devon, England
James Bess Male 13 1828 Devon, England
[Elizabeth still with her family in 1841? William was a farmer, so probably not sending his daughter out as a farm servant, although one never knows for sure]

CRIME & CONVICTION
Name: Elizabeth Richards
Age: 15
Estimated birth year: abt 1831
Date of Trial: 25 Jul 1846
Trial Year: 1846
Location of Trial: Devon, England
Sentence: Death

Western Times 1 August 1846
THE LAMMAS ASSIZE ARSON AT TIVERTON ELIZABETH RICHARDS, 15, was charged with setting fire to Lower Pitt Farm, Tiverton, on the 5th June last. There was another charge against the prisoner for firing Higher Pitt Farm, on the 6th June. [There follows a long report of the trial which sounds very like Elizabeth may have been made a scapegoat. Even the judge wseemed sympathetic] The Jury returned a verdict of guilty, accompanied by a strong recommendation to mercy on account of her youth. There was a second indictment, charging her with setting fire to the house of Roger Ellis, at Tiverton, onthe 6th July last. Mr Tyrrell, on the part of the prosecutors, also strongly recommended the prisoner to the mercy of the Court.

North Devon Journal 6 August 1846 DEVON COUNTY ASSIZES Elizabeth Richards, 15, was convicted chiefly on her own confession, for having set on fire the property of her master, Mr. Venner, of Lower Pitt farm, Tiverton, on the 5th June last.--- Sentence of death recorded. [The sentence must have been commuted because Elizabeth was finally sentenced to 15 yrs] It is interesting that only one of the two serious charges was dealt with. Perhaps because one was an inevitable death sentence so they just saved time. Both full articles are now in Elizabeth's docs, along with a third one.

Elizabeth would have been kept in gaol or in the hulks until a ship-load of convicts was collected and a ship leased for the voyage.

CONVICT RECORD
I am transcribing Elizabeth's convict record because they don't download properly.

Tried at Devon Assize 25th July 1846, for arson in a dwelling house. Gaol report - 1st conviction. Single slated this offence. Setting fire to a house belonging to my master. Surgeon's report -very good.

Description: Trade, Country servant; height, 4ft7 and 3/4 ins; age, 19 yrs; complexion; fresh; head, round; hair, brown; visage, oval; forehead, high; eyebrows, brown; eyes, grey; nose, small; mouth, wide(?); chin wide (?); native place, Tiverton. Marks, none. From Tiverton, Devonshire. Embarked - in "Cadet" and departed London 9 September 1847, voyage no. 290. Sentence15 years, commutation from death. Arrived 2 January 1848. Period of Gang Probation: 6 months. 3rd class 30/6/1848, in Anson. Offences & Sentences - August 4th 1848, ???, absent without leave. Sentence 6 days cells. June 23 1851 Married to John Townley. 10/8/1852, I think this might say she was in service to someone called AC Smith, but pretty obscure. August 1853, Ticket of Leave granted. October 10 1854 - ?????. 14/8/1855 - Pardon appeal. Station of Gang: Anson [Anson was a 1,870 warship which arrived in Hobart in 1844, landing 499 male convicts. After disembarking her "cargo" she was refitted as a prison and towed to Prince of Wales Bay, Risdon, near Hobart, where she was moored. The Anson hulk was used to house female convicts from 1844 in an attempt to alleviate the overcrowding at Cascades Female Factory as more female convict ships arrived. Once the convicts had served their 6 months probation, they were hired into service as probation pass-holders. The Anson was broken up in 1850]

Protestant, reads.

Permission to Marry: 3 June 1851. As a serving convict Elizabeth (arrived "Cadet") was required to request permission to marry John Townley, now freed by servitude from his 7 year sentence. Elizabeth has many years yet to serve. See docs

MARRIAGE
Elizabeth Richards ("Cadet") marries John Townley, a freed convict 23/6/1851. She was 22 yrs old. See docs

Colonial Times 9 March 1852
PORT OFF LAUNCESTON --- Departures March 3.-- Sea Witch, schooner, 216 tons, G Pryde, for Melbourne. Passengers---Mr WL Edwards, Mr R Reynolds, Mrs Reynolds, and 64 in steerage.
[John Townley was one of the 64 in steerage -- Sea Witch usually carried cargo, so not a comfortable journey in the hold] The newspaper does not list steerage passengers, but as a former convict, he was recorded by the convict department leaving in "Sea Witch". Tas. has the records in their archives.

In March 1852, John sails to Victoria in "Sea Witch", leaving Elizabeth, now aged 23 yrs, with 3 small children. We cannot know the circumstances of his leaving, but he certainly seems to have abandoned her, and is not to be found in Victoria or elsewhere. As former convicts their lives were fairly closely monitored, and the convict department knew that John was leaving Tasmania. Elizabeth is still serving a long sentence and would certainly have been denied permission to leave Tasmania.

August 1853: Elizabeth ("Cadet") is granted her first Ticket of Leave. This means she is no longer sent out as an assigned servant, but able to seek work independently. It also means the government is not supporting her. She has three infant Townleys to support. See docs

DISCUSSION

There is a genealogy site for Elizabeth that claims she remarried twice, to a) Jonathon Preece and had 4 children, then b) to James Batt with no children. These might be descendants with private knowledge of Elizabeth's life after surveillance by the convict system, but corroborating evidence to support these claims is challenging. The problems include Elizabeth's existing marriage barring another without proof of John Townley's death; the presence of more than one Elizabeth Richards, although not apparently in Hamilton; a confusion of names; no newspaper reportage under any of the names used; and absence of conclusive documentation eg that includes the name of her convict transport (Cadet), or DoB or age, or birthplace.

The decisions taken rest upon the assumption that Elizabeth repudiated John Townley and returned to her maiden name, in a small community called Hamilton in the midlands of Tasmania where everyone knew each other, and there was a significant community of convicts and former convicts. The convict department still referred to her as Elizabeth Richards, so perhaps it was easy for her to continue living as Elizabeth Richards. I have no evidence for any other Elizabeth Richards or Townley living in Hamilton at the time, just an absence of corroborating evidence entirely.

I have tracked Jonathan Preese/Preece/Priest through the official records, and I think there is enough consistency to be assured he is the man who left Hereford, England as Jonathan Preese the Younger. Jonathan Priest has no existence independent of the two birth records for children born to Elizabeth Richards, which are clearly misspellings of the name. There is no marriage for Elizabeth Richards and Jonathan under any of the variations of his name, so it is probable they lived in what we would call a de facto relationship. Outside the official records, these people barely exist, although the newspapers might not yet be digitised for that area.

27 August 1861: James Preese is born to Elizabeth Preese formerly Richards, and Jonathan Preese, at Hamilton. See docs Jonathan is also a convict, and I will add his convict records. Jonathan died as a youngish man, in the lunatic asylum, and Elizabeth was left alone again with several children. Jonathan's name is Preese in his convict records, but recorders in Tasmania seem to use Preese, Preece and Priest interchangeably. In Hereford he was Jonathan Preece the Younger, his father also being Jonathan Preece and well known to the local magistrates.Perhaps an issue of their English accents all being different, and many/most of the early convicts and settlers being illiterate and so unable to spell their names for recorders.  This, and the location of the births to Elizabeth Richards/Preese/Preece/Priest, and the marriage of Elizabeth Priest to James Batt all in Hamilton, are the basis for the acceptance of these 'marriages'  being recognised as those of Elizabeth Richards/Townley. It seems that Elizabeth never left Hamilton where there was a significant community of freed convicts, so she had some sort of support system and probably work. 

A marriage certificate shows James Batt, shepherd, widower, marrying Elizabeth Priest, widower on 12 July 1870 at Hamilton, Tas. Jonathan has died and Elizabeth would have been 41 yrs old and perhaps, now, free to marry. I will add the marriage record. It is certainly the right location, and John Townley might well have died or been presumed to have died. The community of former convicts could easily have had gossip about John and his doings in Victoria, including his death. James Batt died at Hamilton Tas. in 1877.

Copied from FROM VDL FEMALE CONVICTS DATABASE

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Exeter and Plymouth Gazette - Saturday 01 August 1846

ARSON. Elizabeth Richards was indicted for having, on the 5th of June, at Tiverton, set fire to a farm house, called Lower Pitt Farm. Abraham Venner, the occupier of Lower Pitt Farm, under Mr. Haydon, stated that the prisoner had been in his employ twelvemonth on Whitmonday. On the 4th of June there was alarm of fire in rummage-chamber over the back kitchen. It was not possible for the oven to set fire to that. The next morning, about 10 o'clock in the forenoon, fire was discovered over the oven. The third fire was discovered over the back kitchen; and the fourth fire was there also. All these fires were carefully extinguished. No place communicated with the oven that could have caused these fires. There had been fires in the kitchen, but that could not have caused it either. On the 5th he engaged Robert Ellis and Henry Beer to watch the premises. About 11 o'clock called them in to take some refreshment, and told the prisoner to go out and watch the while. She went out; but hearing somebody in the other part of the house, he called out, “Lizzy, what are you doing there;" and she answered him. Witness had ordered her to watch outside the back kitchen, being the oven end of the house, but she appeared to have gone to the other end of the house. The prisoner answered him saying, "What sir?" and shortly afterwards called out, "There is a light in the tallet, -I think there is fire in the tallet." The tallet was at that end of the house where the prisoner had gone. Cross-examined:-At the time of the fire, witness, his wife, and the prisoner were in the house. The children had been sent away to sleep at another house, for fear the fire should break out. The height of the roof was about five feet from the ground. The girl was sometimes employed in the fields, she had never lighted peat to witness's knowledge; but in lighting the fires in the house, Congreve matches were used. Elizabeth Venner, wife of the last witness, stated that in the afternoon of the 5th, Mr. Haydon and Mr. Anstey came to the house. The children were in the house, the eldest was 6 years and the youngest was 15 months old. At that time the prisoner was in the court, to milk. When Mr. Haydon and Mr. Anstey were gone, witness went out into the court, and sent the prisoner into the house; very shortly after this she saw smoke, and ascertained that there was a fire in the back chamber; the haymakers were called, and the fire put out. He had no quarrel with the girl: but had chidden her because she had staid out one night when she had a holiday, and had threatened her with month's warning if she did it again. Thomas Haydon of Castle Barton, Tiverton, stated that he rented the premises of Mr. Heathcoat. Venner rented a dairy of him; he inspected the premises on the 5th of June; there was not the least sign that the oven had communicated fire to the thatch upon its outside. He saw the back-chamber fire also, it was not possible for the oven to have caused it. The back-chamber fire must have been caused from within the room, as there was no sign of fire from outside. About six o'clock he went to the place again, with Mr. Anstey, in whose office the premises were insured. When they left, there was no fire about the place, and Mrs. Venner was going out into the court to milk. The wind wouldn't carry any fire to the tallet end of the house from the other end the house. Mr. Thomas Anstey, of Tiverton was called to corroborate Mr. Haydon's testimony. James Dart was at work for Mr. Haydon on the 6th of June last. He saw the four fires just before he left the place about ten o'clock,-he went to the tallet to take down two scythes he had there,-he took no light with him, nor was there any light there. Robert Catford Haydon, of Chettiscombe, Tiverton, said he saw the prisoner in custody on the day after the fire. He charged her with the crime, which she denied. He asked her if she had a pocket on-she said she had none on, she had left it in the orchard. Witness and his brother Thomas Catford Haydon watched the prisoner by turns until policeman Harford came. Thomas Catford Haydon corroborated this statement. Edward Harford, inspector the Tiverton police, took the prisoner in custody on the 6th of June. On searching her he found a pocket which he told her to take off, which she did. He found in it a Congreve match, a piece of greasy rag, twopence, a piece of comb, and a small key. On taking her to the station, he noticed marks of sulphur on her skin and on her chemise, there was also a smell of sulphur. The prisoner made him a statement. Mr. Cox asked him whether he offered any inducement. This the witness denied. The prisoner said the witness told her if she would confess she did it, he would let her go home. The witness persisted in his denial. The prisoner told him she had two Congreve matches, that she lighted one and set fire to the straw over her head, and she hoped witness would forgive her. She added that she found the matches by the orchard gate. Witness never put any question to her. When the prisoner was before the Magistrates, she said she was so frightened that she didn't know what she said. The Judge said that was not down the depositions,- it ought to have been taken down by the Magistrate's Clerk. Henry Beer, one of the men employed by Venner to watch the premises on the night of the 5th of June, corroborated the statement of the first witness. Beer, in continuation, stated that there was public path through the courtlage in front of the house; and if any person had been on the other side of the house to that where he and the rest were watching, he could not have been seen by them. Mr. Cox had concluded his defence for the prisoner, when a person came forward from the gallery to give evidence on the prisoner's behalf, stating that she was a near neighbour of the girl's mother. Mr. Cox, however, told the woman that the prisoner was much obliged to her, but she wouldn't be wanted. The Learned Judge summed up with great care. The Jury found the prisoner Guilty, but recommended her to mercy on account of her age. Mr. Tyrrell said there was another indictment, but no evidence would be offered. -Sentence was deferred. Elizabeth Richards who cried bitterly and said she was sworn falsely against was adjudged to have Sentence of Death recorded against her. His Lordship added that the recommendation of the Jury and the prosecutor would be forwarded to Her Majesty, and he would do every thing he could to further that appeal.

London Daily News 01 August 1846

Arson. -Elizabeth Richards, aged sixteen, was indicted for having, on the 5th of June, at Tiverton, maliciously set fire to the dwelling-house of Abraham Vennan. It was proved in evidence that the prisoner had been for a period of twelve months at the service of the prosecutor. On the 4th of June last, no less than four fires occurred in different parts of the prosecutor’s dwelling, but no serious damage occurred. On the 5th of June the prosecutor employed people to watch the premises, and at 11 o’clock at night it was discovered that a portion of the thatch of an out-house was in flames. Alarm was given, but the premises were in a short time entirely destroyed. Suspicion attached to the prisoner from the circumstance of her having been the first to notice the fire, and also from the fact of her having been recently reproved by her mistress for remaining out all night on an occasion when she had received a holiday. When the girl was taken into custody, a Lucifer match and a piece of greasy rag were found in her pocket, and the portion of her dress was marked with sulphur. When the constable was taking her before the magistrates she said, “I hope you will forgive me - I lighted a Lucifer match and set fire to the straw above my head” - The Jury found a verdict of Guilty, and recommended the prisoner to mercy on account of her age. In this recommendation the prosecutor joined. There was another indictment against the prisoner for a similar offence, but no evidence was offered. Mr Baron Platt ordered a judgment of death to be recorded, but intimated that the recommendations of the prosecutor and the jury would be mentioned in the proper quarter.

North Devon Journal 06 August 1846

Elizabeth Richards, 15. was convicted, chiefly on her own confession, for having set on fire the property of her master, Mr. Venner, of Lower Pitt Farm, Tiverton, on the 5th June last - sentence of death recorded.

Criminal Register (Schedule showing trial, conviction & sentence) Found Transportation Register (Manifest of convicts on board transportation vessel) Found Prison Register (Prison following conviction up to transportation) Found - She is 15, single, can read, a servant, tried for arson on a dwellling house, persons being therein, death commuted to 15 years, never previously in prison, received from Exeter 17 Sept 1846 and removed to Cadet 28 August 1847.