Bermuda Prison Hulks

[MelC23]

Hi Everyone, this is the first time I have posted on RootsChat  :-) I am currently researching an ancestor, Henry Cookman b 1817 who was transported to Bermuda in around 1842-1843. Does anyone know if convicts were transported on the actual hulk and in which case my ancestor would have been on Prison Hulk Tenedos? Or could they have been possibly transported on other vessels and ended up on one of the several hulks stationed at Bermuda?
Thanks for the help.

[horselydown86]

Welcome to Rootschat,

While I don't know anything specifically about transportation to Bermuda, by definition a hulk is no longer a sea-going vessel.  They were frequently obsolete warships which had the masts cut down to about one-third of their proper height; the rigging was removed and often extra buildings were constructed on the decks.

See the attached photo of prison hulks at Woolwich.

Your man would most likely have reached Bermuda on a convict transport (also often an old warship but still in sea-going state).

[giggsycat]

Hi Mel

My ancestor was transported to Bermuda 10 years after yours.

He was sent to the Convict Ship 'Edward' 29/12/1852
Left England on the 'Edward' 23/01/1853
Arrived Bermuda 25/02/1853
Kept on the 'Medway' Convict Hulk from 30/06/1853 until April 1861
Left Bermuda 10/04/1861 on the 'Sir George Seymour'
Arrived Falmouth, Cornwall 11/06/1861

He had been transported for life, but once the new Naval Dockyard was completed there was no other work on Bermuda for the prisoners to do.

Another prisoner convicted of the same crime also went to Bermuda on the 'Edward' and was on 'Medway'. In October 1853 he was on the 'Tenedos' which was a Hospital Ship. He died on 14/10/1853 after contracting Yellow Fever.

A third one suffered the same fate and died 07/10/1853 on the Tenedos.

This information came from a book by Averil Kear called 'Bermuda Dick'.
He was my ancestor, Richard Kear.

Giggsy

[suds]

My wife lived and worked in Bermuda at The Royal Naval Dockyard and has some books about the history of The Royal Naval Dockyard.

Selected Items from ‘The Andrew and the Onions – The Story of The Royal Navy in Bermuda – 1795 to 1975 by Lt Commander Ian Stranack
Page 134 Annex 1b; a chronological synopsis of the development of Bermuda Naval Base
1823, October Antelope hulk brought first 300 convicts plus 20 RN Officers and 393 other ranks.
1824, More convicts arrived
1825, Royal Oak hulk arrived for use as victualling hulk
1826, Dromedary hulk arrived
1827, Convict hulk, Coromandel, (ex-Malabar II) arrived in Bermuda
1828, Weymouth hulk arrived
1843, Tenedos hulk arrived
1843 – worst yellow fever outbreak 1047 ill, 114 died
1844, Thames hulk arrived
1848, Medway hulk arrived
1851, convicts moved into new quarters on Boaz Island (600)
1861, all convicts accommodated on Boaz Island
1863, all remaining 136 convicts shipped to UK in April

In “The Story of Bermuda and her People” by W.S. Zuill, it says “of the convicts who came to Bermuda, all who survived returned, except one, a Mr Facy, who went into the livery stable business.
I understand, from my wife, that prisoners who died of yellow fever were buried in a particular section of The Royal Naval Dockyard. She thinks their names are noted
Suds

[suds]

Picture

[MelC23]

Thanks for the information. Henry did contract Yellow Fever in 1843 but was only affected mildly and recovered. I would love to find out more about how he was transported and indeed what became of him after his sentence had ended (although I know that this may be impossible!).

[majm]

Hi there Mel,

Welcome to RootsChat.

Some time ago now, I posted the following live links on a thread on one of the other boards.  I hope you find some interesting things in the background info they link to.

We need to remember that Britain also sent convicts to Bermuda.   

http://convictvoyages.org/expert-essays/convicts-in-Bermuda 

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=531876.0

http://sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/stories/convict-hulks

JM (in NSW, Australia)

[ShaunJ]

The 1839 convict registers of the Leviathan hulk at Portsmouth list a Henry Cookman, aged 21, convicted at Salisbury of stealing cheese. Is that him ? Transported to Bermuda, Aug 22 1839.

[ShaunJ]

The ship that transported convicts from the Portsmouth hulks to Bermuda in late August 1839 was the Boadicea.