Badger escape

Last updated March 05, 2024

The Badger escape occurred in July 1833 when twelve convicts in the British penal colony of Van Diemen's Land (modern-day Tasmania) used the government schooner Badger to escape to Macau, China. Most of the convicts involved were experienced seafarers who had been appointed to man the vessel soon after their transportation. For this, the colonial press accused the government of extreme negligence, and also called for the removal of lieutenant-governor George Arthur. In The History of Tasmania (1852), John West wrote that, of all the escapes from Van Diemen's Land, "never was the government more culpable, or the prisoners less so, than in the instance of the Badger".^[1]

Background

The Badger escape plot likely originated with convict George Darby, a former Royal Navy lieutenant who served at the Battle of Navarino under Lord Cochrane.^[1] In 1830, he was convicted of stealing from the York House Hotel in Bath and sentenced to transportation for life to Van Diemen's Land. While in confinement at Plymouth, he met master mariner William Philp, due to be transported for life for blowing up a sloop with gunpowder in Penzance harbour. The pair, believing they were to be sent on the same ship, laid a plot to seize it, but were found out. Philp subsequently ended up on the Argyle while Darby was transported on the William Glen Anderson. The surgeon superintendent of Darby's ship received a warning that he was a "dangerous man" who would, "in all probability, be the means of inducing a mutiny ... unless vigilantly watched".^[2] Indeed, Darby plotted a mutiny during the voyage with the intention of running for the American coast, where he claimed he had considerable treasure.^[1] Another convict on board, the notorious Ikey Solomon, thwarted Darby's plot by alerting the surgeon superintendent, who, upon arrival in Hobart in November 1831, told lieutenant-governor George Arthur.^[1] In consequence, Arthur warned Darby that he would "suffer all the law could inflict" if he tried to escape.^[1]

Meanwhile, several convicts on the Argyle had been found guilty of attempting to murder its commander, Captain Stavers, in order to "piratically take away the ship". Although the ship's surgeon superintendent testified that Philp seemed to be in on the conspiracy, he did not receive punishment.^[3]

Escape from Hobart

Despite Darby's mutinous conduct, as well as repeated warnings about his character, he was appointed as signal man at Mount Nelson, and subsequently made an assistant to the water bailiff, which allowed him to select the crews for various government vessels. Such a position also afforded him an opportunity of knowing the respective qualifications of Hobart's crewmen, a significant minority of whom were convicts.^[1]^[2] By July 1833, one of the government's schooners, the 25-tonne Badger, had been manned entirely with convicts, including Philp. A "fast sailer"^[1] and "well fitted out for a long voyage",^[4] the Badger was used to ship provisions from Hobart to military outposts and penal stations around Van Diemen's Land, notably Port Arthur.^[5] In early July 1833, she was freighted with provisions, muskets, ammunition and nautical instruments, and set sail for East Bay Neck military station.^[4] Darby signaled that the schooner had arrived, but she never put in. Days later, Darby, the Badger and her crew were reported missing.^[1] All twelve convicts on board were "used to the seafaring life" with the exception of John Roberts, a clergyman who had recently been transported to the colony.^[5]

Aftermath

When word leaked that the missing Badger had been left solely in charge of convicts, there were immediate calls in the press for the removal of lieutenant-governor Arthur,^[6]^[2] and that he be "surcharged to the amount of the value of the Badger, and for the stores she had on board".^[2]

The authorities supposed that the Badger had set out for New Zealand, by then notorious for its population of runaway convicts.^[5]^[7] A number of ships were dispatched to the Tasman Sea to hunt down either the Badger or the Frederick —another Vandemonian ship stolen by convict pirates—or what the Colonial Times called "needles in a stack of hay".^[8] Their searches proved fruitless.^[9] While The Austral-Asiatic Review declared that the "miserable men ... will assuredly all perish" at sea,^[10]The Independent surmised that, owing to their characters and nautical experience, they would make for South America.^[11]

The Badger escape, like the futile Black Line, remained a point of reference for critics of lieutenant-governor Arthur. In a sarcastic response to a speech in which he said he had introduced "a more efficient Prison Discipline" in Van Diemen's Land, one journalist cited the circumstances of the Badger as "indisputable proof" of his claim.^[12] Critics also reported "without astonishment" that one of the vessels sent in pursuit of the Badger, the cutter Charlotte, had a crew mostly comprising convicts.^[8]^[13]

Discovery in Macau

The fate of the Badger remained a mystery in Australia until Captain Rees, of the merchant vessel Lord Amherst, reported in August 1834 that the convicts had been found alive in Macau, China. When Rees was there, he met a party of self-described "shipwrecked seaman" who had initially reached Manila before being brought up to Macau by a Spanish vessel. Later on, the commander of the convict transport Argyle, Captain Stavers, arrived at Macau on his ship the Mermaid. He recognised Philp "as a runaway convict from Van Diemen’s Land, having brought him out from England"; at least two others "were also identified by other persons as being runaways from the same place".^[14] An investigation confirmed that the "seamen" matched descriptions of the twelve absconders in a copy of The Sydney Herald found at Macau, and the vessel which had wrecked at Manila "[corresponded] in every respect with that of the Badger".^[14] Nonetheless, the Portuguese authorities refused to interfere, saying there was "not sufficient proof", and the men having been well-behaved in Macau, they could not imprison them.^[14]

Rees reported that four of the men subsequently escaped to America aboard a vessel, while Philp and the other seven "remained unmolested" at Macau. Before leaving for Sydney, Rees offered Philp a passage there, but he politely refused, saying "he did not wish to go so far southward".^[14]

Related Research Articles

Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania used by the British during the European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. A British settlement was established in Van Diemen's Land in 1803 before it became a separate colony in 1825. Its penal colonies became notorious destinations for the transportation of convicts due to the harsh environment, isolation and reputation for being inescapable. Macquarie Harbour and Port Arthur are among the most well-known penal settlements on the island.

The Black War was a period of violent conflict between British colonists and Aboriginal Tasmanians in Tasmania from the mid-1820s to 1832. The conflict, fought largely as a guerrilla war by both sides, claimed the lives of 600 to 900 Aboriginal people and more than 200 British colonists. The near-destruction of the Aboriginal Tasmanians and the frequent incidence of mass killings have sparked debate among historians over whether the Black War should be defined as an act of genocide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macquarie Harbour Penal Station</span> Former convict colony on Sarah Island, Tasmania

The Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, a former British colonial penal settlement, established on Sarah Island, Macquarie Harbour, in the former colony of Van Diemen's Land, now Tasmania, operated between 1822 and 1833. The settlement housed male convicts, with a small number of women housed on a nearby island. During its 11 years of operation, the penal colony achieved a reputation as one of the harshest penal settlements in the Australian colonies. The formal penal station is located on the eight-hectare (twenty-acre) Sarah Island that now operates as a historic site under the direction of the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service.

The West Coast of Tasmania has a significant convict heritage. The use of the west coast as an outpost to house convicts in isolated penal settlements occurred in the eras 1822–33, and 1846–47.

The history of Australia from 1788 to 1850 covers the early British colonial period of Australia's history. This started with the arrival in 1788 of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson on the lands of the Eora, and the establishment of the penal colony of New South Wales as part of the British Empire. It further covers the European scientific exploration of the continent and the establishment of the other Australian colonies that make up the modern states of Australia.

Between 1788 and 1868 the British penal system transported about 162,000 convicts from Great Britain and Ireland to various penal colonies in Australia.

Musquito was an Indigenous Australian resistance leader, convict hunter and outlaw based firstly in the Sydney region of the British colony of New South Wales and later in Van Diemen's Land.

HMCS Integrity was a cutter built by the Colonial Government of New South Wales in 1804. She was the first vessel ever launched from a New South Wales dockyard and carried goods between the colony's coastal settlements of Norfolk Island, Newcastle, New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land and Port Jackson. In 1804 she took part in a series of voyages to Van Diemen's Land with the aim of founding a colony at Port Dalrymple, the site of the modern settlement of George Town, Tasmania.

Charlotte Badger was a former convict who was on board the Venus during a mutiny in Tasmania in 1806. Taken to New Zealand, she was rescued by Captain Turnbull of the Indispensible, and eventually she returned to Sydney. In the intervening centuries, a number of writers have contributed to the fiction that she took an active role in the mutiny and she became known – erroneously – as Australia's first female pirate.

Andrew Bent was a printer, publisher and newspaper proprietor, active in Australia. He established the first successful newspaper in Tasmania, was the first Australian newspaperman to print a newspaper free from government control, and the first Australian printer to be imprisoned for libel.

Asia was a 410-ton merchant brig built at Shields in 1817. During her career she made one voyage for the British East India Company (EIC), and one transporting convicts from England to Van Diemen's Land. She is last listed in 1833 and may have wrecked late that year.

Andromeda was built in Sunderland, England in 1819. Initially she made one voyage to India, sailing under a licence from the British East India Company. She then started sailing to Australia, carrying voluntary and involuntary migrants. She made four voyages transporting convicts: one voyage to Van Diemen's Land and three to New South Wales. She continue to trade, primarily to Australia. Her last voyage was to Ichaboe Island. She was last listed in 1847.

The Cyprus mutiny took place on 14 August 1829 in Recherche Bay off the British penal settlement of Van Diemen's Land. Convicts seized the brig Cyprus and sailed her to Canton, China, where they scuttled her and claimed to be castaways from another vessel. On the way, Cyprus visited Japan during the height of the period of severe Japanese restrictions on the entry of foreigners, the first ship from Australia to do so.

The Frederick escape was an 1834 incident in which the brig Frederick was hijacked by ten Australian convicts and used to abscond to Chile, where they lived freely for two years. Four of the convicts were later recaptured and returned to Australia, where they escaped the death sentence for piracy through a legal technicality.

Cyprus was a brig launched at Sunderland in 1816. The colonial government in Van Diemen's Land purchased her in 1826. In 1829 as she was transporting convicts from Hobart Town to Macquarie Harbour Penal Station, some of the convicts seized Cyprus. They sailed her via Japan to Canton, where they scuttled her.

The Cooking Pot Uprising or Cooking Pot Riot was an uprising of convicts led by William Westwood in the penal colony of Norfolk Island, Australia. It occurred on 1 July 1846 in response to the confiscation of convicts' cooking vessels under the orders of the Commandant of the penal settlement, Major Joseph Childs.

Norfolk Island twice served as a penal colony, from March 1788 to February 1814, and from 1825 to 1853. During both periods the government in the Colony of New South Wales transferred convicts that had been brought to Australia on to the island.

Tiger was launched in America in 1813 and apparently captured on her maiden voyage. Captain Lewellyn purchased her in prize and initially she sailed between England and the Mediterranean. Under new ownership in the early-1820s, she started trading with New South Wales and India under a license from the British East India Company (EIC). She is last listed in 1833.

HM Colonial brig Prince Leopold was launched in 1815, or earlier, as Rosetta. The government in Van Diemen's Land (VDL) purchased her in 1818 to serve the settlements. She then carried timber other supplies, and transferred both prisoners and soldiers between VDL and Port Jackson, and to and from Maria Island. In July 1831 the government sold the brig. Her new owners named her Mary Elizabeth, or Mary and Elizabeth. She was wrecked on 30 May 1835 at Port Sorell, Tasmania.

Captain Duncan Mackellar was a sea captain and, subsequently, a colonial settler of New South Wales, Australia, with his nephew, Duncan Mackellar, Junior (1795—1838). Both are associated with the early days of Braidwood.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 West, John (1852). The History of Tasmania Volume 2. Henry Dowling. p. 222.
1 2 3 4 The Colonist and Van Diemen's Land Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser (13 August 1833), p. 2
↑ Colonial Times (7 September 1831), p. 3
1 2 The Colonist and Van Diemen's Land Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser (6 August 1833), p. 3
1 2 3 Colonial Times (30 July 1833), p. 3
↑ The Colonist and Van Diemen's Land Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser (30 July 1833), p. 3
↑ The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (18 September 1830), p. 2
1 2 Colonial Times (18 February 1834), p. 6
↑ Colonial Times (24 September 1833), p. 2
↑ The Austral-Asiatic Review (20 August 1833), p. 3
↑ The Independent (10 August 1833), p. 2
↑ The Independent (15 March 1834), p. 2
↑ The Colonist and Van Diemen's Land Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser (18 July 1838), p. 2
1 2 3 4 The Sydney Herald (28 August 1834), p. 2

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[west-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 West, John (1852). The History of Tasmania Volume 2. Henry Dowling. p. 222.

[adv-2] 1 2 3 4 The Colonist and Van Diemen's Land Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser (13 August 1833), p. 2

[3] Colonial Times (7 September 1831), p. 3

[agri1-4] 1 2 The Colonist and Van Diemen's Land Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser (6 August 1833), p. 3

[ct1-5] 1 2 3 Colonial Times (30 July 1833), p. 3

[6] The Colonist and Van Diemen's Land Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser (30 July 1833), p. 3

[7] The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (18 September 1830), p. 2

[ct2-8] 1 2 Colonial Times (18 February 1834), p. 6

[9] Colonial Times (24 September 1833), p. 2

[10] The Austral-Asiatic Review (20 August 1833), p. 3

[11] The Independent (10 August 1833), p. 2

[12] The Independent (15 March 1834), p. 2

[13] The Colonist and Van Diemen's Land Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser (18 July 1838), p. 2

[syd-14] 1 2 3 4 The Sydney Herald (28 August 1834), p. 2

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