Rochester Guildhall Museum
A Recording of this talk was broadcast on Wednesday 5th November at 10am (UK)
Jeremy started his talk by saying that the Medway Prison Hulk display at Rochester’s Guildhall Museum is currently the museum’s most enjoyed exhibit, according to visitor surveys.
But prison ships are not a recent creation as there have been prison ships almost as long as there have been prisons. Although, they were used in the time of Elizabeth I they are not just a British invention. Several countries like France would sentence convicts to the Gallies. That is: they were sentenced to be chained to a bench on a war ship to row it into battle.
Medway Prison Hulks, were used for two purposes; War and Transportation. But not at the same time. They first entered history on the River Medway during the Napoleonic wars (1793 – 1815). During this War, the British forces captured not just French but other soldiers from other nations fighting on the French side such as American, Danish etc.
Enemy officers were given parole, that is they gave their word of honour not to escape and signed a parole form to that effect, Jeremy showed a photo of a parole form in the museum’s collection. The parole form assigned officers to a town where they could live freely but were bound not to exceed the limits of the place assigned to them on their parole form. There were several parole towns in the country.
The regular soldiers, no word of honour for them, as they were locked up to prevent them from returning to the conflict. A large detention centre was built at Peterborough specifically to house POWs. But as the War went on and the numbers of captured enemy soldiers grew it was nowhere big enough and so the government ordered retired ships moored at Portsmouth, Thames and Medway to be gutted to house the PoWs. The ships were dismasted, their guns removed and the windows barred especially on the gun deck in place of the open gun ports. The stern was where the guards were housed and there was no bars on the stern windows.
Jeremy showed a painting of HMS Brunswick painted by a French PoW in which he pointed out how the PoWs were housed. Prisoners slept in hammocks on the lower decks. There were metal chimney for the boilers, washing fluttering across the main deck whilst prisoners were exercising guarded on the stern deck. First by British soldiers but as more were needed at the front they were replaced with the local Militia.
At the start of the Napoleonic War the French government took responsibility for the PoWs and the PoWs were managed by French Agents with diplomatic status. But as the war wore on relations became strained between Britain and France and the PoWs were handed over to a British contractor. Jeremy showed another painting by a French PoW which had speech ribbons in French coming from the men which summed up much of their thoughts and complaints.
The contractor provided Prison uniforms with arrows which caused much indignation amongst the PoWs as they protested that they were not convicted criminals. Some had money and were allowed to buy civilian clothing. Jeremy showed several pictures of artifacts in the museum’s collection that were made by the prisoners to sell. Several paintings some quite amateurish. But one artifact was a marvellously detailed model of ship with ropes made of hair. There was also a figure of a weaver with a working loom. Some of these items were obviously made by a team and required more light than there would have been in the lower decks. Jeremy said indicated that some of the PoWs must have been allowed out of their quarters or even off the hulks to make or paint them.
The PoWs were in groups for food rations which were same as that given to British soldiers. But it passed through various hands along the supply chain and arrived less in amount and goodness than when it started out. In the picture Jeremy pointed out a prisoner cooking. Meat would have been cooked together for individual groups and was tagged so it could be returned to the right group.
American ships were captured as the war started and the men were held separately from the French and left much to themselves. The confinement was incredibly boring and the Americans did not make any items like their French counterparts did. Instead, the kept up their education. Anyone of their number with a skill, such as a language would start a class for the others. After the War Captain Hutchinson published a memoir which, Jeremy said, is fairly balanced about the British treatment of the American PoW.
Living so close together the PoWs were open to diseases such as cholera and Jeremy said most of those who died in captivity were buried on St Mary’s Island and in later years, as the land was redeveloped, the remains of have been found. They are now all reburied in the former churchyard of what is now the St George’s Centre.
After the Napoleonic Wars the Hulks were used for convicts awaiting transportation. Transportation had been increasing from the time of Elizabeth I when convicts were transported to North America. Typically, female convicts awaiting transportation were held in a prison and not on the Hulks.
Upon arrival in North America convicts would be auctioned off similar to a slave market. They were indentured to work for a Master for the years of their sentence, mostly 7 years. After the American War of Independence transportation to America was no longer permissible. Convicts were then transported to the Penal Colonies in Australia and Tasmania, or Van Diemen’s Land as it was originally called. Upon being sentenced all convicts would be ironed or shackled they had to earn, by good behaviour, the reward of having the chain removed which connected the shackles. As they continued to behave well one shackle would be removed.
Jeremy said the criminal justice system is a good resource to get more information about ancestors than the parish registers and census supply. He showed documents tracing one convict’s passage from the court at Maidstone where he had been convicted, then a record of him joining a Prison Hulk whilst awaiting a ship to transport him to Van Diemen's land. Then a record from the ship on which he was transported. Then the Register of Arrival in Australia and the Conduct Book recording punishments at Port Arthur, penal colony in Tasmania. Jeremy showed a picture of Port Arthur when it was a penal colony it looked a beautiful place to serve your sentence. Although, the convicts were worked so hard that they didn’t have time to enjoy the scenery
At first boys were locked up with the men but eventually boys were segregated. The first Boys Hulk was HMS Bellerophon moored at Sheerness. Boys were expected to work making clothes and stayed on board the entire time, unlike the men who went ashore to work often road rebuilding.
Jeremy said there were also records of Petitions to the Home Secretary by families to get boys sentences reduced from transportation. Families knew that if the boys went they were unlikely to ever see them again.
In the mid-19th century transportation declined as changes were made to the criminal justice system. There was a huge building program for new prisons to replace shipboard confinement. Transportation had never been as cheap as the Government had expected. By the late 1840s all the Prison Hulks on the Medway were gone.
Jeremy recommended a book, The Hanging Tree by Dick Gately about capital punishment. Although, out of print it but might be available in antiquarian bookshops.
About the speaker: Dr Jeremy Clarke is Education Officer for Medway Council’s Heritage Team. He gained his PhD at the University of Kent and has been in museum education for over 19 years.
Report by: Tricia Baxter