Robert
Bathe: what was stolen?
This is the story of a young man, Robert
Bathe, who, in a little over three years, had left his rural home in Wiltshire,
joined the army, got married, was involved in the Great Exhibition of 1851, and
was posted to Australia with his wife. There he died within a few months of his
arrival, when still not quite 30 years old.
While at the Crystal Palace, he was
accused of theft and had to spend 42 days in prison. The question is: What did
he steal?
Acknowledgements
Before
Pea-Bee starts this tale, he must thank Diane Oldman and her excellent
www.sappers-minerswa.com website,
and
Christine Garvin, a descendent of George and Mary Ann
Bartlett. Both Diane and Christine have been very generous with information and
scans of documents. My thanks also go to Rob Clark, who undertook a search of
the Muster Rolls at the National Archives for me
Family
Robert Bathe
was the youngest of the six children born to William and Patience Bathe, farm
labourers of Elcombe tithing in the parish of Wroughton, Wiltshire. He was
baptised in the parish church on 22 June 1823
.
His father died when Robert was between six and seven years old
, after
an illness that had lasted for over a year
, while
his mother died almost 10 years later, at the end of 1840
.
In June 1841, Robert, then aged about 18, was working as an agricultural
labourer in Uffcott
, a
neighbouring hamlet, just over 2 miles south of Elcombe.
Although there were Bathe aunts, uncles and cousins still living in
Wroughton parish, Robert’s immediate family were widely scattered by this time.
His eldest sister, Mary, had married a Swindon stone mason, George
Bizley, in 1834
,
but his other siblings were still unmarried in 1841: two sisters were in
service together in the house of a brewer in Marlborough, Wiltshire
; another
sister was in service in the household of the vicar of Cotgrave, Nottinghamshire
;
Robert’s only brother, William, had been recruited as a constable in the
Metropolitan Police’s R Division when it was expanded to include Woolwich and
Plumstead in January 1840
.
Over the next decade, London, and in particular the Woolwich area,
attracted other members of the family. William was quite settled there: he had
married Mary Barber at St Luke, Charlton, on 4 November 1844
,
had started a family, and lived in Plumstead
; his
youngest sister Sarah came to Plumstead and met James Sorrell, a coachman, whom
she married at St Nicholas, Plumstead, on 28 September 1850
with
one of William’s police sergeant colleagues acting as a witness. William, too,
was a sergeant by this time: he had been promoted in 1848
.
Robert also came to Woolwich, but as a private in the Corps of Royal Sappers
& Miners.
Military
Robert Bathe
enlisted in the Corps of Royal Sappers & Miners at Portsmouth on 9 May 1849
and two days later was one of five new recruits transferred from Portsmouth to
the Corps’ main depot in Woolwich where he remained until 1 August. He was then
transferred to Chatham and there posted to the recently-formed 22nd Company on
1 November
.
He remained with 22nd Company for the rest of 1849, throughout 1850 and
into 1851
,
although in September 1850 he was recorded as being in hospital. The Company
remained in Chatham until February 1851 when it was posted to Kensington to
assist at the Great Exhibition. The unit moved from Chatham on 8 February as
reported in
The Kentish Independent
that day:
“Captain
Gibb’s Company, (the 22nd,) will proceed this day from Chatham to the Crystal
Palace, in Hyde Park. They will be conveyed from Chatham to Woolwich by the
Railway, and thence to Hungerford
[*]
per steam packet.”
However, six days before the posting, on 2 February, Robert Bathe had
married Mary Ann Coleman Pearce,
at St Mary Magdalene, the parish church of Gillingham,
a neighbouring parish to Chatham.
On
their marriage certificate it was stated that both Robert and his father
William were stone masons, but William’s profession on the marriage
certificates of three of Robert’s siblings was either that of gardener (2) or
simply labourer (1).
Being only six years old when his father died, Robert may not have known his
father’s trade and may have learnt his craft from his brother-in-law, George
Bizley.
Little is known about Mary Ann’s early life: the 1851 census puts her
birth in Portsea in about 1828
,
but there are discrepancies in other documents concerning her father’s name –
Lewis or Joseph – and the spelling of the surname – Pearce or Pierce
.
Once transferred to Kensington, most of the company were in Kensington
Palace barracks but Robert was one of a handful of married men who had lodgings
in the local area and did not live in the barracks. On census night 30 March 1851,
Robert and Mary Ann were at 2 Charles Place, Kensington
.
The sappers performed engineering duties during construction
and throughout the course of the Exhibition. They were responsible for security
at the gates and crowd control, examining goods at customs, receiving and
arranging entries, guarding the fire engines, monitoring ventilation, cleaning,
maintenance of structures as required, and were to take everything down again
after closure.
The
men who took part in the Great Exhibition were granted an award (which varied
according to their contribution) and a medal. However, Robert’s name does not appear in the
list of awards made at the end of the Exhibition.
According to T W J Connolly’s ‘History of The
Corps of Royal Sappers & Miners’: “The number of men sent to the Exhibition
from September 1850 to December 1851, reached a total of 274 of all ranks.
Sixty-eight of the number reaped no advantage from the grant [ie the medal
and associated award]. Of these, twenty-four had been removed to
head-quarters for slight irregularity, two deserted, two did not participate on
account of indolence, thirty-three were only three weeks at the exhibition
before it closed, and the remainder, seven men, were removed after short
periods of employment, in consequence of illness.”
Robert had to forego any award himself because,
on 1 August 1851, he was found guilty of theft from the Exhibition at a
court martial held at Woolwich.
Fall from grace
Full details of Robert Bathe’s crime have not been discovered but,
besides forfeiting any award for his services at the Crystal Place, he also had
to serve a term of imprisonment.
The muster rolls of the Royal Sappers & Miners reveal some details and
are shown in Appendix I.
He spent three days in the guard room at Kensington Palace towards the
end of July and then another five days in the guard room in Woolwich before his
trial. Originally sentenced to 112 days with hard labour, 70 days were remitted
by order of the commandant. This was because, in the opinion of the judge
advocate general, the first charge was illegally drawn up, and the finding and
awarding of the sentence should have been only on the second charge. Robert was
held in the guard room at Woolwich after his trial until 12 August, presumably
while the judge advocate general considered the case, and then spent the rest
of his sentence – until 11 September – in a garrison cell at Woolwich
.
Apart from Robert, the names and the offences of the 24 Sappers who, according to Connolly, “had been
removed to head-quarters for slight irregularity” are not known. No report of
Robert’s offence came be found, but there is a brief mention as an aside in a
newspaper report which concentrated on an officer accused of embezzlement. This
appeared in The Durham Chronicle on
22 August and was described as “From our Special Correspondent” who gave his
address as “ – Club” St James’s Street, London:
Wednesday Night, 20th August 1851
It
was yesterday determined that the Exhibition should close on 11th October,
without any ceremonial taking place. Its success has been complete, and the
only officials who have disgraced themselves by ill conduct since its opening
have been, strange to say, the military, the petted of the Commissioners. The
only officials arrested for robbery have been two sappers and miners, and the
only case of embezzlement which has occurred is that of one who calls himself
an officer and a gentleman; who at all events holds her Majesty’s commission,
and who was placed over the civilians in the money taking department, and who
was perpetually preaching up the necessity of the observance of the strictest
integrity. This worthy was caught by the detective police last week in the act
of transferring a handful of silver from the counter to his own coat pocket…
Nothing more is said about the two sappers.
To Australia
After his
release, Robert remained at Woolwich, although nominally on the strength of
22nd Company which was still in Kensington
.
On 1 October, he was transferred to 20th Company, then preparing to sail for
the Swan River Settlement in Western Australia, where they were to be employed
in various infrastructure projects. A large detachment of 20th Company had sailed
on 10 September aboard Anna
Robertson, a troop and migrant carrier. That ship arrived on 18
December and the 65 Sappers aboard joined five others who had been in the
colony since the previous year.
A second detachment, under command of Lt William
Crossman RE, comprising two sergeants, two corporals and a 2nd corporal, 24
privates (including Robert Bathe, mason) and a bugler, were to follow aboard
Marion.
This ship was contracted to carry 280 convicts from the prison hulks moored at
Woolwich, Portsmouth, and elsewhere, and the sappers were to act as guards on
the passage to Swan River, “where they will serve out their full period of
military service with the view ultimately of becoming settlers.” With this in
mind, 15 wives of the Sappers (including Mary Ann) and 17 children were also
aboard
Marion when she set sail
.
Contemporary newspaper reports give a rather confused account of the
ship’s movements and who was to be on board. One even suggested that she would
“land the greater part of her convicts at Gibraltar, and will take on board an
equivalent number there, who will obtain tickets of leave on arriving at the
Swan River settlement. The Marion
will, on leaving Gibraltar, proceed to Bermuda, and after leaving a number of
the home convicts there, will take on board an equivalent number to receive
tickets of leave on landing at the Swan River settlement”. This seems a rather
garbled statement and there is no evidence that Marion ever went to Bermuda.
Basically, Marion
was fitting out at Deptford from
early October and then sailed down river to Woolwich where, first, the
detachment of 20th Company boarded, followed by the convicts from the Thames
hulks, Warrior and Justitia. She then sailed to Portsmouth,
where she took on aboard prisoners from the York
and Stirling Castle hulks. At
Portland Roads, more convicts came aboard and the ship waited for dispatches
before eventually departing for Australia on 2 November.
The various newspaper reports are shown in Appendix II, while the most
accurate account is probably that given by the Surgeon-Superintendent of the
vessel, Frederick W Le Grand, in his report after the ship had arrived in
Australia
.
The
Marion, Male Convict Ship, arrived at
Woolwich from Deptford on 21 October 1851, and received on board the Guard,
consisting of the Lieutenant of Engineers, 30 Sappers, 15 women and 17 children
also a Convict Warden, for Swan River Establishment, his wife and 7 children,
making a total of 72 Persons
[†].
On the following day 159 Males Convicts were embarked and on 23 October the
ship sailed, and on 25 October arrived at Spithead, when 71 Prisoners were
received. From thence she proceeded to Portland and having taken on board 50
Convicts, making the Total number 280, she finally sailed on 2 November for
Swan River. The whole of the Guard with their families, the Convicts, and other
Persons on board, were in excellent health, and with a few exceptions were
either young or in the prime of life…
[‡]
The Ship arrived at Swan River on 30 January, and by 7
February all were discharged in good health, with the exception of One
Convict…sent with Chronic Bronchitis to the Hospital.
FW Le Grand
Surgeon Superintendent
A Perth newspaper, Inquirer,
published the following announcement on 4 February 1852:
The
“Marion” from London
On
Friday last, the Marion, 684 tons,
Alexander Bissett, Commander, arrived at Fremantle, having on board 279
convicts (the original number was 280, one died on the passage,) of which 161
are entitled to received tickets-of-leave. She also conveyed 30 Sappers and
Miners, with their wives (15), and children (19, two of whom were born during
the voyage). The following are the officers:- Surgeon Superintendent, Assistant
Surgeon LeGrande, Lieut Crossman (in charge of Sappers and Miners) Mr Crawley
(religious instructor,) and a convict warder, wife and seven children. Total
number of souls exclusive of crew, 355.
Illness
Within two
months of his arrival in Australia, Robert Bathe reported sick. He was recorded
as sick in both the March and April muster rolls for his unit and then, by May,
he had been admitted to the military hospital in Fremantle where he stayed
until October
.
Just eight months after arriving in Australia, on 3 October 1852, Robert died and was buried in Fremantle.
He was 29 years old.
Two
different causes of death are given in the records – his army record talks of fever,
his burial record of consumption. Given the length of stay in hospital, it is
likely he was suffering a chronic illness such as consumption, although it is
possible that he also contracted a fever that hastened the end.
The widow’s tale
Robert and Mary Ann
had never had any children, but on 22 July 1854 Mary Ann Bathe married another
Sapper, Private George Bartlett,
who had also arrived on Marion in
January 1852, and they were to have five children before George died in 1867.
The
oldest two Bartlett children – George and Emily – were both born in
Western Australia (on 4 July 1855 and 7 May 1858 respectively)
but when they were still very young, the family returned to
England on
the Lord Raglan in January 1860,
and a year later, both children were to die within a few days of each
other. They were both buried in Gillingham, Kent – George on 20 January, Emily
on 1 February 1861
.
Mary Ann
was pregnant when she arrived back in the UK and twins Charles and Thomas were
born on 29 June 1860 in Camberwell, George’s own place of birth.
Later that year, George Bartlett received his Army discharge (after serving for
almost 12 years) and in October 1860 took up a position as Assistant Warder at
Chatham Prison.
Clearly
not happy back in England, the Bartletts decided to return to Western Australia
and George applied for a position with the Convict Establishment: he was
appointed Assistant Warder, on a salary of £54 a year, from 1 November 1862.
George, Mary Ann and the twins travelled to Gravesend where they embarked on
the Palestine for the voyage to Fremantle, arriving on
14 January 1863.
Once again, Mary Ann was pregnant during the voyage and had another
child, James, who was born in Western Australia on 31 July 1863.
As a warder, George was in charge of various convict working parties. At
Fremantle Prison in August 1866 he was seriously assaulted by a prisoner and on
27 July 1867 he died of heart disease; the surgeon’s opinion being that it had
been caused by internal injuries sustained in the attack by the prisoner.
Widowed for a second time and with little more than George’s outstanding wages
and a sum of £15 from a compassionate fund, Mary Ann ultimately moved to Collingwood,
one the inner suburbs of Melbourne, with her sons in December 1871 after
failing to qualify for a land grant.
Both the twins married – Thomas in 1883
and Charles in 1888
– but their younger brother James died unmarried, aged 21, in 1884.
Both the twins had four children, but all four of Thomas’s died in infancy (and
his wife when she was only 27),
while Charles’s family flourished, living into their 60s or 70s. Thomas did
marry a second time – in 1903
– but died two years later.
Mary Ann died on 10 January 1909 in Bendigo, Victoria.
Appendix I
Muster Roll details of
Robert Bathe’s detention
WO 11/130: 1851-52: 19th to 22nd Companies and Detachments July muster
roll
Prisoner in Guard room awaiting
trial.
Prisoner awaiting trial in Guard
room at Kensington Palace from 23 to 26 July Subsisted at 6d a day – In Guard
room at Woolwich 27 to 31 July 1851 & Subsisted @ 4¾d a day
WO 11/130: 1851-52: 19th to 22nd Companies and Detachments August
muster roll
Tried by a Garrison Ct Martial 1
August 1851 & sentenced to 112 days imprisonment, 70 days of which were
remitted by order of the Commandant. Imprisonment began 1 August & will end
10 September 1851. Prisoner in Guard room after trial 1 to 12 August &
Subsisted @ 4¾d a day – In Garrison cells 13 to 31 August Subsisted for
which period will be charged next month
Note in the August muster roll
It appearing that the 1st charge,
according to the opinion of the Judge Advocate is illegally drawn up, and the
finding and awarding of the sentence, should be only on the 2nd charge, the
Commandant remits seventy days of imprisonment with lard labor, and the
Prisoner Private R Bathe Royal Sappers & Miners to undergo the remainder of
the sentence in one of the Garrison cells.
Sigd J Downman, Lt General,
Commandant
a true copy, J Walpole, Brigade
Major
WO 11/130: 1851-52: 19th to 22nd Companies and Detachments September
muster roll
Tried by a Garrison Ct Martial 1
August 1851 & sentenced to 112 days imprisonment, 70 days of which were
remitted by order of the Commandant, a copy of which remission appeared in last
month’s MR & Pay List. Imprisonment began 1 August and ended 10 September
1851. Subsisted in Garrison cells from 13 August to 10 September @ 5½d
a day as per Provost Sergeants’ statement with pay list
WO 86/6 Judge Advocate General's Office: district courts martial registers,
home and abroad 1848-1851
Recorded 19 August 1851
Pte Robt Bathe RS&M, court martial held at Woolwich, date held 1 August, charged with Theft at Great Exhibition. Sentence: 112 days HL 70 days remitted
Appendix II
Newspaper References to the Start
of Marion’s Voyage to Swan River 1851
Deptford
Dockyard 7 Oct
At the tier [?misprint for pier], the ship Marion,
fitting for the conveyance of 280 convict to Perth, Western Australia
Kentish Mercury, Saturday October 11 1851
The Marion, hired convict ship, Surgeon Superintendent Le Grand, has
arrived off the Royal Arsenal to take on board male convicts for the Swan River
Settlement, and they will receive tickets of leave on their arrival in that
colony. A detachment of the Royal Sappers & Miners, from headquarters, at
Woolwich, will embark at the Royal Arsenal on Friday next to do the duties of a
convict guard during their passage to Swan River, where they will serve out
their full period of military service with the view ultimately of becoming
settlers.
Morning Advertiser, Thursday October 16 1851
Convicts
for Swan River – The Marion,
hired transport, now off the Royal Arsenal, takes on board 300 male convicts
for the Swan River settlement. On their arrival there, they receive a
conditional pardon; a number of Sappers and Miners accompany them as a guard,
and as soon as their period of military service expires, they become settlers
in that colony. The vessel takes her departure this day (Saturday)
Kentish Mercury, Saturday October 18 1851
The Marion, hired convict ship, Surgeon-Superintendent Le Grand, has
arrived off the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, to take on board male convicts for the
Swan River settlement, and they will receive tickets of leave an their arrival
in that colony. A detachment of the Royal Sappers and Miners from head-quarters
at Woolwich embarked yesterday, to do the duties of a convict guard during
their passage to Swan River, where they will serve out their full period of
military service, with the view ultimately of becoming settlers.
Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle, Saturday October 18 1851
Deptford
Dockyard 21 Oct
Sailed: The Marion convict ship for Woolwich to receive convicts
Kentish Mercury, Saturday October 25 1851
Royal
Sappers and Miners – The remaining portion of 20th Company of Royal
Sappers and Miners left the garrison for Swan River on Tuesday last under the
command of Lieutenant Crossman, Royal Engineers. They embarked on board the
“Marion” convict ship, and are to act as a convict guard on board that vessel
during the voyage.
The Kentish Independent, Saturday October 25 1851
The Marion, male convict ship, Surgeon-Superintendent Le Grand, Mr
Bisset, master, had taken on board a number of convicts from the Warrior and Justitia convict-ships at Woolwich, and will take out to Gibraltar
250 convicts from the different places where they are kept in the country. The
Marion will land the greater part of her convicts at Gibraltar, and will take
on board an equivalent number there, who will obtain tickets of leave on
arriving at the Swan River settlement. The Marion will, on leaving Gibraltar,
proceed to Bermuda, and after leaving a number of the home convicts there, will
take on board an equivalent number to receive tickets of leave on landing at
the Swan River settlement. 1 Sergeant, 1 Corporal, 1 trumpeter, and 28 privates
of the Royal Sappers and Miners, under the command of Lieut. Crossman, Royal
Engineer who goes out in the Marion as a Convict guard.
Bell’s New Weekly Messenger, Sunday October 26 1851
Deal
Oct 24
Arrived from the River and
sailed, the Marion, for Swan River
Morning Chronicle, Saturday October 25 1851
The Marion, hired convict ship, arrived at Spithead this morning, from
the Thames, to embark prisoners from this port, Cowes, and Portland, for Swan
River
Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette, Saturday, October 25 1851
Portsmouth
Oct 26
The Marion convict-ship arrived yesterday from the river to embark
prisoners from this port, Cowes, and Portland, for conveyance to Swan River
The Shipping and Mercantile Gazette, Monday October 27 1851
Portsmouth
Oct 28
The Marion convict ship embarked at Spithead on Monday from the Echo government tug the prisoners for
transportation from the York and Stirling Castle hulks in this harbour.
The Shipping and Mercantile Gazette, Wednesday October 29 1851
Portsmouth
Oct 27
Sailed Marion for Portland and Swan River
Morning Chronicle, Wednesday October 29 1851
Portland
Roads Oct 31
In the roads – The Marion convict ship, waiting for her
despatches.
The Shipping and Mercantile Gazette, Saturday November 1 1851
Portland Roads Nov
2
Sailed – The Marion
(convict ship) for Swan River
The Shipping and
Mercantile Gazette, Monday November 3 1851
National Archives WO 86/6 Judge Advocate General's Office: district courts
martial registers, home and abroad 1848-1851
* Hungerford
Pier, by present-day Charing Cross station
[†] Le
Grand did not mention the religious instructor, Crawley, but included him in
the total number of people
[‡] Le
Grand neglected to mention in his summary the one convict who died during the
passage although that person was included in the individual case notes
