To set the scene our speaker, Jeremy Clarke, read the passage about Prison Hulks from the 2nd instalment of Dickens’ Great Expectations, published in 1860 which included the title of his talk, ‘A Wicked Noah’s Ark’.
Born in Portsmouth Dickens first came to live in Chatham at the age of 5 when his father, John Dickens, was employed as a clerk in the dockyard pay office. In the course of his duties John Dickens regularly visited the Hulks; often with his young son Charles. Jeremy showed maps of the Medway indicating where the Hulks had been moored and their proximity to places where Dickens had lived. Consequently, Prison Hulks along the River Medway would have been a familiar sight to Dickens throughout his life.
Prison Hulks entered history during the era of the Revolution and the Napoleonic wars (1793 – 1815). During this time, the British forces captured a large number of soldiers not just French and American but also Danish and other nationals. But as numbers grew there was nowhere to hold them all. Nevertheless, we did have a large number of non-seaworthy ships moored and decaying on various water ways. These hulks were gutted to become floating PoW camps with the top deck as barracks for the guards. To start with soldiers but as they were needed for the war the Militia took over the task. PoW slept in hammocks in the former gun decks and, much to their disgust, were given convict uniforms embellished with broad arrows to indicate their status. But if they had money they were allowed to buy and wear their own clothing.
As more prisoners were captured the Hulks became overcrowded and hammocks had to be slung in tiers above one another. At which level you slept, and how good your diet, was determined by how much money you had. Many PoW made items and sold or bartered them to locals for fresh food. Locals being allowed to sail out to the PoW Hulks. The PoW’s diet was supposed to be equal to that given to British soldiers. However, by the time it had passed through several hands on the way to them it was being diminished and this became the cause of great unrest. Prisoners of War were very active in seeking their rights.
PoW officers were not included in the arrangements for the men and were not accommodated on the Hulks. They were allowed to dress as they wished and on their word of honour, were allowed parole. Jeremy showed a parole form of the era which officers signed as a promise to act honourably whilst a prisoner of war.
After the war the PoW Hulks were put to use for Convicts especially those awaiting transportation. The Poor Laws had made provision for transportation to North America. Upon arrival they would be auctioned off in a type of slave market arrangement being indentured to work for a Master for 7 years. After the War of Independence this route was no longer permissible and Convict were transported to Australia. Jeremy showed several documents tracing a convict’s passage from a Prison Hulk to the ship transporting him to Van Diemen's land and had also found Australian records from Port Arthur of what happened after he arrived. Some Convicts served their entire sentence of transportation on a Prison Hulk whilst others if they were trouble makers were immediately sent off to Australia. But those who were well behaved could find themselves freed if their crime was not too serious and especially if the Hulk became too overcrowded.
By the mid-19th century, Prison Hulks on the Medway were long gone.
Jeremy said that the Guildhall Museum Rochester has a Hulk display which is currently the museum’s most popular exhibit.
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Report by Tricia Baxter