The distinctive middle name of William Moorhouse Stoney led me to first one, then several more, criminal records. The first was an account of a trial that took place at The Old Bailey on 27th October 1819. William Moorhouse Stoney was indicted “for unlawfully, and by false pretences, obtaining three [£1] Bank notes, and 40 s. from John Campbell , with intent to defraud him thereof”. It seems that the defendant promised to obtain a position for John Campbell as a Tide-Waiter at The Custom House, in return for £30. He received £5 as a first instalment and spent, in his own words, “ten days in going backwards and forwards”, but John Campbell decided enough was enough and called the police to take him in charge. William Moorhouse Stoney was found guilty of fraud, and sentenced to seven years’ transportation.
The indictment
and following trial were also reported in the newspapers of the time, found in
the British Library Newspaper Collection at FindMyPast. The
Morning Advertiser of 16 October 1819 reported on the preliminary hearing
that led to the Old Bailey Trial:
A few days earlier, on 11 October, the Hampshire Chronicle used some rather more picturesque terms in its account, describing William Stoney as ‘a well known character’, and the prosecutor, John Campbell, as ‘fresh from “The land o’ cakes”’ [Scotland].
These and other newspaper accounts use
the name William Stoney, without a middle name. The first use of William
Moorhouse Stoney appears part-way through the trial process, on 27 October
1819.
I was unsure
whether this was the same man, a widower, who married widow Mary Ann Rowney
six years later, the parents of 3xgreat grandmother Catherine Alice Stoney. If
he were transported to Australia in 1819 for seven
years, how did he appear again in London by 1825?
His story
gradually unfolded as more records became available. In the Newgate Calendar
of Prisoners on 27 October 1819 (Ancestry), he is listed as awaiting
transportation for seven years, convicted of fraud. The record of 15th
December 1819 gives us a physical description, more information relating to his
age and place of birth, his trial and sentence:
The full
record is at Ancestry, derived from The National Archives (The
National Archives Series PCOM2 Piece number 193 Record set England & Wales,
Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935).
The extract above shows that he was 5ft 11
½” tall, with dark complexion, dark hair and hazel eyes and being ‘stoutish
made’, and born at Kettlewell, Yorkshire, in 1778 (age 41), occupation Grocer. The
full record gives the full name of Willm Moorhouse Stoney and shows that
he was brought into custody on 20th October 1819, tried on 3 November, convicted
and sentenced to seven years transportation, and discharged from Newgate Prison
on 15th December 1819 to be held on the Prison Hulk Retribution
at Sheerness.
According to the Victorian Crime &
Punishment site, Prison
Hulks were ships that were decommissioned and put to service as floating
prisons. Retribution (formerly HMS Edgar) was
originally built around the same time as William Moorhouse Stoney was
born and saw service in The American Revolutionary, French Revolutionary and
Napoleonic Wars before being turned into a Hulk in 1814, five years before William
Moorhouse Stoney was imprisoned there.
The Hulk Registers at The
Digital Panopticon provide more information on the Hulks and the records
now available.
So far, the name(s), age, place of birth
and occupation (Grocer) appeared to fit with what I knew of Catherine Alice Stoney’s
father from later records. But I still didn’t know how he came to be freed
before his sentence was complete, and how he found himself in London rather
than Australia.
Further records were released at FindMyPast showing
the digitised
letter granting the King’s Pardon to William Stoney, amongst others,
and signed by the famous Robert Peel himself on the King’s behalf. It reads:
“Whereas the
following persons are now under sentence of transportation on board the
Retribution convict hulk at Sheerness, they having been convicted of felony at
the times and places hereafter mentioned viz ... William Stoney at the Old
Bailey, November 1819 ... we in consideration of some favourable circumstances
humbly represented unto us in their behalf, are graciously pleased to extend
our Grace and mercy unto them and to grant them our free pardon for the crimes
of which they stand convicted. Our will and pleasure therefore is that you
cause them, the said .... William Stoney [and 11 others] to be discharged out
of custody and for so doing this shall be your warrant. Given at our court at
Carlton House the 4 day of September 1823 in the fourth year of our reign. To
our trusty and well beloved John Henry Capper Esq Superintendent of convicts,
and all others whom it may concern. By his majesty's command, Robert Peel.”
So, William Moorhouse Stoney, formerly a Grocer from Kettlewell, Yorkshire, convicted at The Old Bailey of fraud in October 1819 and transferred to the Prison Hulk Retribution on 3rd December 1819 awaiting transportation, appears to have served four years’ of his sentence on the Hulk, and then been freed by the King’s Pardon. Nearly three years later, on 26th December 1825, he married Mary Ann Rowney, widow, and had two children with her, including my 3xgreat grandmother Catherine Alice Stoney.
But there were more
puzzles to come, as I uncovered more potential records from his life before imprisonment,
and later financial troubles.
For the sources mentioned in bold, see blogpost: MyRoots: Lesly's family history: Sources and resources: A quick view
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