Trove, 24th February 1886
Septimus Thompson, a stowaway on board the Lavinia, was arrested by order of Captain Vallentine,
and a summons was subsequently applied for charging him with assaulting the cook. It appeared, however, that the man had worked on the passage by order of the captain, and the bench thought that under those circumstances the charges had better be withdrawn and explained to Capt. Vallentine that his proper course would have been as soon as he discovered the stowaway to have had him put on diet sufficient to support him till arrival at Fremantle and then without delay to have given him into custody. The man had no doubt been wrongly arrested seeing he had worked on the passage, and the better way would be for the captain and cook to withdraw the charge. After
some further conversation the accused was dismissed.
Did he turn up in New South Wales, perhaps? There is a record of a Septimus Thompson in Sydney in February 1896 convicted of stealing a cheque. However this man was sentenced to two years hard labour so perhaps it's a different person with the same name if you say your man died in Melbourne in 1897.
Bev
