HEMSLEY, Richard, Born 10/11/1836, Leeds, West Yorkshire

[BAC3]

Hello,

The above appears to have enlisted after June 1857 and following being sentenced to 4 years Penal Servitude on 7th December 1858 was formally discharged on the 21st April 1859.   I have tried to find details of his military service but failed.   He was designated "Soldier" when sentenced.

His parents were William and Harriet HEMSLEY, residents of Leeds.

I wonder if someone could kindly help with those details?

Thank you,

BAC3

Update:   A newspaper report of his trial states he was  a Private in the 19th Regiment around the Heavitree district of Exeter.

[Andy J2022]

I think it's fair to describe him as a career criminal. He was convicted of stealing fowls at the age of 15 and sentenced at Leeds Quarter sessions on 19 March 1852 to be transported for 7 years, although he appears to have actually served his sentence in several prisons in England due to his age. He was released on licence on 26 May 1857. He was then convicted at Exeter Assizes  (as you have mentioned) on 7 Dec 1858 of larceny and sentenced a further 4 years which he served in Exeter jail followed by Pentonville and Millbank. He was discharged at the end of his sentence on 6 Dec 1862 and was said to be returning to his parents home at North Town End, Grafton St, Leeds.
He was then once more convicted of larceny at Maidstone Quarter sessions on 20 July 1865 and again sentenced to 7 years.
There are various records detailing his time in prison on FindMyPast, and these have physical descriptions of him (4 ft 8 in at the age of 15 and 5ft 4½in in 1858; quite a few scars). His trade was as a plasterer like his father. He seems to have behaved himself in prison with only a few minor infractions of the rules.
I've found no trace of his attestation into the 19th Foot  (The Yorkshire Regiment). There is a marriage in Leeds of a Richard Hemsley in the first quarter of 1863 to either Sarah Jane Wray or Elizabeth Waiwright. However his Pentonville prison record in 1865 records him as single.

[Comberton]

1863 marriage is Richard Hemsley to Elizabeth Wainwright, both age 23. Richard and his father William were both plasterers.

ADDED
His residence Grafton Street

[BAC3]

Good Morning,

Thank you for all the details.

I should add that Richard HEMSLEY was eventually transported to Western Australia where, reportedly, he died in 1892.   Sadly, unearthing his enlistment details has not been possible, although there is sufficient information to support his being a soldier for a short period.

BAC3

[Andy J2022]

I think it is entirely possible that he was released early on licence from his first sentence on the condition that he joined the Army, given that this occurred straight after his release from prison. There was a big recruiting push at the time following the war in Crimea and the need to reinforce the garrison in India after the Mutiny. However if that was the reason, it didn't have the desired effect of reforming him.

[BAC3]

He was actually discharged from Portland Prison as a Ticket of Leave on the 12th June 1857, the Licence having been granted by the Home Office on the 25th May 1857.

Your thought that his enlistment was a condition of his early release is probably correct.

BAC3