Issuing Demands and Threats and Striking Deals

Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish; Quinlan, Michael

doi:10.1007/978-981-16-7558-4_6

Hamish Maxwell-Stewart⁴ &
Michael Quinlan⁵

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Economic History ((PEHS))

354 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter explores a hitherto unconsidered aspect of collective action by convict workers, tacit bargaining and the issue of demands often backed by threats. This activity was extensive and covered a wide range of issues including the provision of wages, allowances, rest-breaks or shortened hours of work and better rations. Surviving court records describe instances where masters challenged practices that convicts considered customary. The chapter argues that most masters conceded to the demands of their unfree workers in the interests of preserving labour relations. For their part, convicts preferred such tacit negotiations to the ‘official channel’ of lodging a formal complaint before a magistrate, as attempts to prosecute masters were rarely successful and usually resulted in reprisals.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

eBook: USD 16.99; Price excludes VAT (USA)

Softcover Book: USD 119.99; Price excludes VAT (USA)

Hardcover Book: USD 119.99; Price excludes VAT (USA)

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

1.
Sydney Gazette, 1 March 1822.
2.
Sydney Gazette, 1 March 1822.
3.
Dillon, M. (2008) Convict Labour and Colonial Society in the Campbell Town Police District, 1820–1839, PhD thesis, University of Tasmania, 135.
4.
M.L., Tas Papers 270, Hobart Benchbook, 4 November 1839.
5.
Monitor, 13 January 1840.
6.
Meredith and Oxley, ‘Contracting Convicts’, 48–49.
7.
Colonial Times, 15 May 1846.
8.
Walsh, B. (2007) Heartbreak and Hope, Deference and Defiance on the Yimmang: Tocal’s Convicts 1822–1840, PhD thesis, University of Newcastle, 235–236.
9.
Sydney Gazette, 13 December 1826.
10.
See Quinlan, M. (2018) The Origins of Worker Mobilisation: Australia 1788–1850, Routledge, New York; Quinlan, M. (2020) Contesting Inequality and Worker Mobilisation: Australia 1851–1880, Routledge, New York.
11.
M.L., Tas Papers 237, New Norfolk Benchbook, 24 November 1835.
12.
M.L., Tas Papers 290, Oatlands Benchbook, 29 October 1836.
13.
M.L., Tas Papers 2, Richmond and Brighton Benchbook, 25 May 1837.
14.
Emsley, C. (1987) Crime and society in England 1750–1900, Longman, London, 103–124.
15.
AONSW., Reel 2723 Port Macquarie Benchbook, 30 April 1829.
16.
M.L., Tas Papers 290, Oatlands Benchbook, 2 January 1835.
17.
AONSW., Port Macquarie Benchbook, 29 December 1831.
18.
M.L., Tas Papers 291, Oatlands Benchbook, 24, 27 December 1841.
19.
AONSW., CY366 Liverpool Benchbook, 28 January 1826.
20.
Robbins, W. (2001) The Management of Convict Labour Employed by the New South Wales Government 1788–1830, UNSW PhD thesis, 34–37.
21.
M.L., Tas Papers 196, Hobart Benchbook, 24 March 1818.
22.
T.A., CSO1/1/305 7319, correspondence Lakeland to Montagu 29 August 1829.
23.
Leslie Fergusson, per Minerva, Police No. 38, T.A., Con 31-1-13.
24.
AONSW., Reel 2682, Liverpool Benchbook, 28 January 1833.
25.
Monitor, 31 March 1832.
26.
Monitor, 31 March 1832.
27.
Sydney Gazette, 11 January 1831.
28.
M.L., Tas Papers 291, Oatlands Benchbook, 10 January 1840.
29.
M.L., Tas Papers 291, Oatlands Benchbook, 17 March 1841; Tas Papers 238, New Norfolk Benchbook, 27 March 1840.
30.
M.L., Tas Papers 2, Richmond and Brighton Benchbook, 11 December 1835.
31.
M.L., Tas Papers 256, Campbell Town Prisoner Records and Sentences, 30 May 1835.
32.
M.L., Tas Papers 291, Oatlands Benchbook, 19 December 1839.
33.
M.L., Tas Papers 291, Oatlands Benchbook, 25 August 1841.
34.
Chief Police Magistrate Matthew Forster, T.A., POL 481, Tasmanian Archive.
35.
T.A., Longford Benchbook, 2 July 1836, LC362-1-3.
36.
William Rogers, per York (2), Police No. 833, T.A., Con 31-1-37.
37.
Hindmarsh, ‘Yoked to the Plough’, 203.
38.
M.L., Tas Papers 323, Richmond Benchbook, 14 February 1833.
39.
John Collins, per Red Rover, Police No. 1200, T.A., Con 31-1-7; James Harris, per Surry, Police No. 982, Con 31-1-19 and T.A., Longford Benchbook, 2 April 1836, LC362/3.
40.
Copy of Despatch from Lieutenant-Governor Sir John Franklin to Lord Glenelg relative to the present system of Convict Discipline in Van Diemen's Land. Note G Testimonials by Messrs. Backhouse and Walker, British Parliamentary Papers, XLII(1837–8), 32.
41.
23 November 1836, T.A., LC 362/3.
42.
As quoted in Hindmarsh, B., ‘Yoked to the Plough’, 165.
43.
M.L., Tas Papers 270, Hobart Benchbook, 1 August 1839.
44.
Lempriere, T. (1954) The Penal Settlements of Early Van Diemen’s Land, Royal Society of Tasmania, Launceston, 27–51.
45.
Roberts, D. (2017) Masters, Magistrates and the Management of Complaint: The 1833 Convict Revolt at Castle Forbes and the Failure of Local Governance, Journal of Australian Colonial History, 19, 70.
46.
Cornwall Chronicle, 11 May 1839.
47.
Sydney Monitor, 19 December 1836.
48.
M.L., Tas Papers 278, Launceston Convict Superintendent Letterbook, correspondence 23 May 1831.
49.
M.L., Tas Papers 323, Richmond Benchbook, 19 February 1833.
50.
Daniel Newman, per Caledonia, Police No. 94, T.A., Con 31-1-29; William Sarjent, per Bengal Merchant, Police No. 914, Con 31-1-38 and Robert Heath Hall, per Asia (IV), Police No. 783, Con 31-1-19.
51.
Joseph Peck, per Indefatigable, Police No. 4, T.A., Con 31-1-34; Marier Tickner, per Indefatigable, Police No. 5, Con 31-1-42; James Dagger, per Ruby, Police No. 8, Con 31-1-9; Joseph Hoare, per Pilot, Police No. 62, Con 31-1-18; William Bradley, per Kangaroo, Police No. 37, Con 31-1-1; Benjamin Gibbs, per Union, Police No. 3, Con 31-1-13.
52.
William Jackman, per Lady Castlereagh, Police No. 40, T.A., Con 31-1-23.
53.
Benjamin Gibbs, per Union, Police No. 3, T.A., Con 31-1-13.
54.
Correspondence Drabble to Lakeland 1 May 1827, T.A., CSO1/1/2450.
55.
Hendriksen, G. Liston, C. and Cowley, T. (2008) Women Transported: Life in Australia’s Convict Female Factories, NSW Parramatta Heritage Centre/University of Western Sydney, 15–24.
56.
Launceston Benchbook, 14 September 1833, T.A., LC346-1-15.
57.
M.L., Tas Papers 238, New Norfolk Benchbook, 24 October 1839.
58.
Margaret Gordon, per Henry, Police No. 54, T.A., Con 40-1-3.
59.
Jane Walker, per Cadet, Police No. 708; Mary Ann Smith, per Tory, Police No. 817, T.A., Con 41-1-18, 17 April 1851. Alice Lakeland and her husband were appointed overseers at Ross (a joint husband & wife appointment) on 7 February 1851, see Blue Book for 1851 CSO50/2.
60.
Fanny Jarvis, per Westmorland, Police No. 142, T.A., Con 40-1-6.
61.
Jane Hill, per Tory, Police No. 727, T.A., Con 41-1-18, 22 April 1852.
62.
James Edwards, per Bussorah Merchant, Police No. 250, T.A., Con 31-1-9.
63.
Alfred Caesar Joy, per Juliana, Police No. 122, T.A., Con 31-1-23.
64.
William Hopper, per Phoenix, Police No. 420, T.A., Con 31-1-18.
65.
William Barker, per Asia 3, Police No. 1011, T.A., Con 31-1-1, 21 May 1833.
66.
Frost, L. (2001) Eliza Churchill Tells …, in Frost, L. and Maxwell-Stewart, H. eds. Chain Letters: Narrating Convict Lives, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 79–90.
67.
M.L., Tas Papers 238, New Norfolk Benchbook, 4 February 1840.
68.
Robson, L. (1966) Fenton, Michael (1789–1874), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 371.
69.
James Smith, per Katherine Stewart Forbes, Police No. 1525, T.A., Con 31-1-39.
70.
Thomas McCormick, per Bussorah Merchant, Police No. 1037, T.A., Con 31-1-6.
71.
Diary of James Cubbiston Sutherland, 23 October 1824, T.A., NS 61/1.
72.
Frost, L. (1999) “Singing and Dancing and Making a Noise”: Spaces for Women, University of Tasmania Occasional Paper 52, 1–20.
73.
Mary Conroy, per Kinnear, Police No. 930, T.A., Con 41-1-19; Margaret Casey, per Cadet, Police No. 961, Con 41-1-21; Mary Robertson, per Baretto Junior, Police No. 543, Con 41-1-27; Elizabeth Bartley, per St Vincent, Police No. 1018, Con 41-1-25.
74.
Mary Ann Robertson, per Cadet, Police No. 488, Con 41-1-21; Mary Ann Robinson, per Elizabeth and Henry, Police No. 407, T.A., Con 41-1-11; Mary Johnson, per Earl Grey, Police No. 379, Con 41-1-26; Jane Williams, per Earl Grey, Police No. 854, Con 41-1-26; Elizabeth Anderson, per Elizabeth and Henry, Police No. 231, Con 41-1-17.
75.
Mary Fogerty, per Lord Auckland, Police No. 407, T.A., Con 41-1-20.
76.
William Rosnell, per Circassian, Police No. 857, 21 February 1837, T.A., Con 31-1-37 and Elliston’s Hobart Town Almanack and Ross’s Van Diemen’s Land Annual 1837.
77.
Sydney Herald, 28 March 1833.
78.
M.L., Tas Papers 323, Richmond Benchbook, 14 February 1833.
79.
T.A., LC247-1-25, Hobart Benchbook, 17 June 1854.
80.
Thomas Davis, per Argyle, Police Number, 693, T.A. Con 31-1-10.
81.
Thomas Green, per Enchantress, Police No. 917, T.A. Con 18-1-6.
82.
AONSW., CSO, Petition from Female Convicts Arrived per Canada for Remuneration for Beef Rations which they Agreed to Forgo on the Voyage on Account of Shortage of Water.
83.
Records Office NSW CSO petition of prisoners of Bathurst re tea and sugar ration Reel 6065 4/1798 P165.
84.
Henry Williams, per Surrey, Police No. 132 T.A., Con 31-1-45; John Knight, per Recovery (NSW) Woodlark (VDL) Police No. 178, Con 31-1-27; Charles Lewis, per Commodore Hayes, Police No. 264, Con 31-1-27; Thomas Cummings, per Maria, Police No. 322, Con 31-1-6; Thomas Lawton, per Dromedary (NSW) and Anne (VDL), Police No. 88, Con 31-1-27; Richard Biggs, per Morely, Police No. 606, Con 31-1-1.
85.
HRA, III, VIII, n. 683, pp. 971–973 and Eddy, J. (1969) Britain and the Australian Colonies 1818–1831: The Techniques of Government, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 48 and 57–59.
86.
Joseph Clark, Thomas Bird and James Cock to Joseph Hume Esq., May 1828, HRA, III, VIII, pp. 618–621; Chief Justice to Lieutenant-Governor, 12 September 1829 and Clark, Bird and Cock to House of Commons, May 1828, HRA, III, VIII, pp. 616 and 620.
87.
M.L., Tas Papers 323, Richmond Benchbook, 22 January 1833.
88.
M.L., Tas Papers 325, Richmond Benchbook, 24 June 1833.
89.
T.A., LC247-1-1 Hobart Benchbook, 18 August 1821.
90.
Sydney Gazette, 28 May 1827.
91.
Sydney Gazette, 1 June 1827.
92.
AONSW., Reel 664, Berrima Benchbook, 27 December 1833.
93.
The Colonist, 28 August 1838.
94.
Sydney Gazette, 20 October 1840.
95.
Colonial Times, 2 September 1834 and 9 September 1834.
96.
T.A., LC375-1-1, New Norfolk Benchbook, 27 October 1834.
97.
Monitor, 18 May 1831.
98.
T.A., LC83-1-6, Campbell Town Benchbook, 4 April 1842.
99.
Sydney Herald, 29 August 1831.
100.
See for example T.A., LC375-1-2 New Norfolk Benchbook, 14 November 1838.
101.
Hirst, J. (2008) Freedom on the Fatal Shore, Black Inc, Melbourne, 125.
102.
Monitor, 13 January 1840.
103.
AONSW., Berrima Benchbook, 3, 29 April 1826; The Australian, 15 April 1826.
104.
AONSW., Berrima Benchbook, 29 May and 17 August 1826.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

School of Humanities, Arts and Social Science, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia
Hamish Maxwell-Stewart
School of Management, Business School, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Michael Quinlan

Authors

Hamish Maxwell-Stewart
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Michael Quinlan
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hamish Maxwell-Stewart .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Maxwell-Stewart, H., Quinlan, M. (2022). Issuing Demands and Threats and Striking Deals. In: Unfree Workers. Palgrave Studies in Economic History. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7558-4_6

Download citation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-7558-4_6
Published: 12 January 2022
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-16-7557-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-16-7558-4
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics