Prison Hulks
Floating decommissioned ships were used extensively in the late 18th century to relieve the pressure on British prisons. These were not the ships used to transport the prisoners across the seas but were indeed unseaworthy floating prisons. They were often used to house prisoners prior to transportation to the penal colonies.
The AJCP has extensive records about these hulks housed in a great variety of Departmental files as well as in County records. It may well be that your ancestor was imprisoned on one of these hulks whether or not he/she was eventually transported.
Home Office records include convict prisons and registers of prisoners in hulks on Chatham, Woolwich, Devonport, Portsmouth, as well as transportation lists, number of convicts by year and colonies to which they were sent.
There is a great deal of general correspondence such as these letters of request from prisoners aboard the hulks. The appalling conditions aboard made transportation appear to be a desirable alternative.
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| https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-728097330 |
I am a young man of twenty two years of age, by trade a bricklayer...............
he goes on to relate his conviction to transportation for stealing a Game cock and rather than asking for pardon petitions
to be taken out of this floating hell, and sent in the next ship to Botany Bay. I am lame from a fall but stout and robust, and every day go thro' laborious work. I have three times had the Gaol fever which is another reason for my importunity.
Convict Prisons
The huge collection relating to the hulks is inside the Prison Department and Inspectorate Fonds of Home Office files.
Series HO 8. Convict Prisons, 1824 - 1869Quarterly list of prisoners in British prisons and hulks giving name and details of age, offence, and convictions, surgeons' reports, and behaviour.
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| https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-728075871/findingaid?digitised=y#nla-obj-728108515 a snip from the extensive list of files |
Prison Commission
From the Prison Commission, lists of prisoners aboard hulks are available across the years 1837 - 1855. |
| https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-727851581/findingaid#nla-obj-727852920 |
A search in the Treasury Records finding aid for the word hulk reveals there are accounts of expenses of keeping convicts on board the prison hulks.
If you had an ancestor committed to a hulk you may well find these are just some of the many records to browse for your ancestors.
Additional related reading: ‘Colleges of Villainy’ – Life Onboard the Prison Hulks
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