Robert COATES, born 01/04/1836, Leeds

[BAC3]

Hello,

This gentleman's father and mother were Charles COATES and Mary COATES (nee HOOK) and he had 4 brothers and sisters.   His mother died in 1845 and father re-married (Hannah GREENWOOD) and a further 5 half-brothers and half-sisters were added from 1848.

His last spell in prison (Parkhurst) ended after 5 years when he was awarded an early release on 04/01/1854, stating he was going to join his friends in Liverpool??   The original sentence was 7 years transportation but commuted.    And no further sighting   He does not appear to have
re-offended.

Can anyone help with details after 1854 please.

Thank you,

BAC3

[Milliepede]

Have you looked for a marriage?  He was a young man in 1854 and may well have married before the 1861 census.

[Milliepede]

There's a Robert who is a publican right age with a wife Mary in Birkenhead 1871 but his birthplace shown as Bentham - don't know if that is near Leeds.

[BAC3]

Good Morning Milliepede,

This could be interesting........there are "Bentham's" in Yorkshire (one in the Leeds area??) and then there is the Liverpool connection!!   Marked as definite potential for more research.

BAC3

[arthurk]

Looking at this as an outsider, I'm wondering if you might be looking at two different people here.

First, if the chap in Parkhurst did a full 5 years, he would have started his sentence in or before Jan 1849. The one born Apr 1836 would then have been only 12 years old, and even in those harsher times, I have doubts as to whether one so young would have gone to Parkhurst - let alone being sentenced to 7 years transportation. However, crime and punishment don't figure largely in my own tree, so I'm prepared to be corrected on this.

Second, Bentham in Yorkshire isn't very near Leeds. The best way to describe it is as a stop on the railway between Settle and Carnforth, and while there probably were direct trains then as now, it must be around 50 miles away (I haven't checked exactly).

[BAC3]

Hello arthurk,

Thank you for your post.........I had intended replying earlier to mention that I have scrubbed the 1871 Census reference in that the same chap "freely" appears in the 1851 Census and thus disqualifies himself from being the Parkhurst Prison inmate.

One of the youngest admitted to Parkhurst Prison between 1838-1864, the period it only imprisoned juvenile offenders, was 9 years of age.   Robert Coates had previous convictions dating back to 07/07/1846 when he was only 10 and spent 9 months in prison for a Counting House breaking.  The saddest case in that Parkhurst Prison period was John GAVIN, sentenced to 10 years transportation at Warwick Sessions on 20/10/1840, removed from Parkhurst Prison to Western Australia on 19/06/1843 and hanged for murder on 06/04/1844.  The early Victorian era was indeed harsh!!!

For the moment,

BAC3

[arthurk]

OK, I stand corrected. I'd no idea Parkhurst had been a juvenile establishment, but your explanation and the other examples certainly corroborate what you have of your man up to 1854.

So, with Bentham out of the picture, what next? If he did make it to Liverpool, he could have signed on as a sailor and gone literally anywhere in the world....

[BAC3]

I have tried all Indexes, including military, merchant service etc., except, sadly, the pending tray