Henry Singleton

By Keira Humphrey

Port Arthur
Port Arthur Penal Settlement named in honour of Lt-Governor George Arthur began life
in 1830 as a punishment-oriented timber station. With the progressive addition of
further industries, tailored for heavy and light labour, Port Arthur held a key position
within the colony's judicial system until its closure in 1877.
Replacing Macquarie Harbour and Maria Island as the primary source of secondary
punishment, Port Arthur's 47-year operation was due largely to its geographical
isolation and the availability of natural resources. Chief among these was timber, and
harvesting was carried out until the 1870s. Scattered outcrops of sandstone and
dolerite provided other materials for construction, tracts of land stretching back from the
cove providing agricultural and farming land for supplementing rations.


Port Arthur Guards
- 1866
Port Arthur
Henry Singleton
The person who I am basing my Australian story on is an English
convict called Henry Singleton. After stealing some shirts Henry
was sentenced to 7 years transportation to the Penal Settlement of
Port Arthur. Henry was thought to be a bad character, constantly
in trouble for refusing to work, being dirty and disobedient, talking
and having money improperly in his possession, insubordination
and using threatening language. He received many short sentences
of hard labour or solitary confinement. Even though he was sent to
Port Arthur in 1842 he still continued to refuse work, and to be
disobedient, and as a result of these behavioural problems he
continued to be sent to solitary confinement. Ultimately Singleton
wasnt a very pleasant character to be around.
Conviction & Transportation
Crime: Stole some shirts, 5 pigs, attempted
robbery
Convicted at: Lancaster Salford General Sessions
Sentence Term: 7 years
Ship The Surrey
Departure Date: 16
th
March, 1842
Arrival Date: 17
th
November, 1842
Place of Arrival: Port Arthur, Van Diemen's Land
(Tasmania)
Passenger Manifest: Travelled with 253 other convicts
After a short period of freedom, Henry was tried again in 1860 for stealing five
pigs, and sentenced to four years at Port Arthur. Free once again, he then broke
into a building to steal and was sent back to Port Arthur for five years. Henry
never seemed to learn from his mistakes, this then resulting in him having to
spend 30 days in the Punishment Cell.
Conviction & Transportation
Here is the conduct record of Henry
Singleton, transported under the name
Richard Pinches, convicted of stealing
linen in 1844 and transported per the
Surrey for 7 years.
After becoming free by servitude he
committed another offence (stealing 5
pigs) and was sent to Port Arthur in 1860.
In the picture on the left hand side you
can clearly see Henrys name written out
and the offence he committed.
Convict Work
Of all the laborious occupations some convicts were forced to carry out during their time at
Port Arthur, timber-getting was to be the most punishing, yet also the most profitable. From
the very early days of settlement gangs of convicts cut timber from the bush surrounding the
settlement. The saws of the convicts supplied a steady stream of building materials to fulfil
the needs of works both on and off the peninsula.
The trees were enormous, much larger than the ones we find today. When felled, a sawpit
was dug under or near the log, so that it could be cut up into smaller lengths of wood. Two
convicts used a pitsaw (see left) to cut the wood. One convict (the 'Top Dog') stood on top
the log, whilst the other (the 'Bottom Dog') worked in the pit at the other end of the saw. His
job was extremely uncomfortable, as his eyes and ears filled with sawdust.
When the log was cut into a rough beam, a gang of up to 50 convicts, nicknamed the
'centipede gang', hefted the great weight upon their shoulders and carried the timber back to
the main settlement. Here, in larger sawpits constructed near the water, the timber was cut
up into the planks, beams, boards and spars needed for building.
Since Henry was an absolute
nuisance to have around the
settlement, he was always given
work like the timber getting. He was
also often one of the centipede
gang.
Convict Life
In the mid-1830s only around six per cent of the convict population were
'locked up', the majority working for free settlers and the authorities around the
nation. Even so, convicts were often subject to cruelties such as leg-irons and
the lash. Places like Port Arthur were well known for this. Convicts sometimes
shared deplorable conditions. Unfortunately in Singletons case he wasnt a
free settler. Henry described the working one day after a day of difficult:
We have to work from 14-18 hours a day, sometimes up to our knees in cold
water, 'til we are ready to sink with fatigue... The inhuman driver struck one,
John Smith, with a heavy thong.
Obviously the convict life was far from luxurious, from hard labour, to rationed
food anyone would gladly take the opportunity to escape from Port Arthur.

Did you know?
After thinking long and hard Henry was contemplating a solo
escape. He had got hold of a set of keys; drunken warders gave
them to him so he could let them back into the Prison when they
were incapable, and he made his own set. But his nerve failed him,
and he handed the keys in. He was not punished but the warders
involved were sacked. By 1875 he was free with a ticket of leave.
After two more offences, larceny and a burglary that earned him 14
years imprisonment, he disappears from the records. By then he
would have been 65 years old.

Henry had the choice to leave Port
Arthur, after creating the keys. Funnily
enough he decided to stay.
Talk to an Expert
To find out more information on the Henry Singleton I was studying I decided to email the People form Port
Arthur to see if they could provide me with any extra information. Within 2 hours of sending my email I had
a response filled with great information. They were totally friendly and open to receive more emails from
me.
Bibliography
Port Arthur Historic Sites - Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority -
http://www.portarthur.org.au/index.aspx?id=12657 Monday, 17th, March,
2014
Convict Records -
http://www.convictrecords.com.au/convicts/singleton/henry/63107 -
Monday, 17th, March, 2014
Trove, National Library of Australia -
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/36489117?q&versionId=46987133
Wednesday, 19th, March, 2014
Tasmania Government - LINC Tasmania-
http://catalogue.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/item/?id=PH30-1-3248 - Wednesday,
19th, March, 2014
National Library of Australia - http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-vn4270249 - Friday,
21st, March, 2014