The “Ticket of Leave” system in the colony allowed convicts who had
served part of their sentence to take up paid work with allocated
employers. The practice was rigorously
regulated and misbehaving Ticket of Leave men often found themselves before the
courts.
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| Ticket of Leave |
Some Ticket of Leave men found it difficult to discard old habits when given even limited freedom.
TICKET-OF-LEAVE SUSPENDED.-At-the Police office,
yesterday, John Wilkinson, holding a ticket-of-leave, was placed at the bar,
and underwent an examination before the Magistrates touching a charge that had
been brought against him for having attempted to break into the premises of Mr.
Thornton, on Thursday week last. -After a severe reprimand from the Police
Magistrate, his ticket-of-leave was taken from him, and he was informed it
would be recommended that it should be cancelled.[1]
Others found it difficult to suffer the yoke of regular employment.
BREACH OF THE MASTERS AND SERVANTS' ACT. -At the
Police-office, yesterday, a man named Matthew Hatton, holding a
ticket-of-leave, and employed as an Innkeeper at Mr. Barker's station on the
Logan River, appeared before the Bench to answer the charge preferred against
him of disobedience of orders, neglect of duty, and threatening the life of the
overseer, on the 22nd instant. The Bench ordered the defendant to be mulcted of
the wages due to him, and, at the request of Mr. Barker, his agreement was
cancelled.[2]
In June 1847, strange goings-on were afoot at a house in Kangaroo Point
in Brisbane.
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| Early View of Kangaroo Point, Brisbane |
A Skulk[3].
- At the Police-office, on Tuesday, a man named Owen Malkin, a ticket-of-leave
holder, was placed at the bar, charged with being unlawfully on the premises of
Mr. Edward Lord, at Kangaroo Point, on the night of the 14th inst.
Mr. Lord stated that about ten o'clock, Mrs. Fletcher,
who with her family were at present residing in his house, were about retiring
to rest, and had gone to her bedroom, when she immediately returned in a state
of great excitement, and informed him that one of her daughters had discovered
a man under the bed.
He immediately went into Mrs. Fletcher's room, and found
the prisoner doubled up under the bed. Mr. Lord then pulled him out, and pushed
him off the premises. A constable was sent for, and directed to search the
Point for the prisoner, who was shortly afterwards found standing by the fire
at the brick-kiln, about a mile distant from Mr. Lord's house. [4]
The motive behind this bedroom outrage was soon made known by the
interloper himself. It seems he was
previously an employee of the widow’s late husband, and he meant to seek revenge
for his mistreatment.
He was immediately taken into custody, and on his way to
the lock-up made allusion to the late Mr. Fletcher, saying that "he
triumphed over him." He also said that Mr. Fletcher had caused him to be
flogged, and that he had told him he would come to poverty himself, and that
now his words were verified. The prisoner, moreover, was heard to say that he
would "triumph" over this night, and would have his revenge. The
prisoner was perfectly sober at the time.[5]
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| The Death Notice of Mr. Fletcher (The Moreton Bay Courier 2 January 1847) |
Apparently the convict had been frequenting the house for some time, ingratiating himself with the dog so that he could skulk about the house without the canine alerting the household.
Mr. Lord also informed the Magistrates that about ten
days ago the prisoner applied to him to rent a farm, and that he went with him
to the Rev. Mr. Hanly, who was to be his witness to the agreement. He was constantly coming to his house under
the plea of getting the lease signed, until at length he was obliged to tell
him that he did not like his coming about the house so frequently, and he was
desired to keep away.
His object in visiting the house, in the opinion of Mr.
Lord, was that he might become acquainted with the dog. The room, in which the
prisoner was found, is at the extreme end of the verandah, up one pair of
stairs, and when pulled out from under the bed, he had a heavy stock whip in
his hand.
Unable to offer any defence to the court, the skulk was soon on his way
back to Sydney Gaol, minus his Ticket of Leave.
The prisoner made no defence, but stated that he was
totally ignorant of the transaction. The Bench deeming him to be a rogue and a
vagabond, sentenced him to six months' imprisonment, with hard labour, in the
Sydney Goal, and stated that his ticket-of-leave would be recommended to be
cancelled.[6]
© K. C. Sbeghen,
2012.
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