William Westwood
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William Westwood (1820 - 1846)

William "Jacky Jacky" Westwood
Born in Essex, England, United Kingdommap
Son of and [mother unknown]
[sibling(s) unknown]
[spouse(s) unknown]
[children unknown]
Died at age 26 in Norfolk Island, Australiamap
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Profile last modified | Created 23 Feb 2014
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William Westwood aka Jacky Jacky was a Convict and Bushranger, he was often referred to as a gentleman bushranger because of his dress and respect for his victims. He got the nickname Jackey Jackey from the aboriginal people.[1]


Biography

William Westwood was a convict after the Third Fleet.
William Westwood was an Australian Bushranger

Convict

William Westwood was the eldest child of James and Ann Westwood and was born on 7 August 1820 in Manuden, Essex England.

On 10 March 1835 William and Benjamin Jackson, both aged fourteen, appeared at the Essex Lent Assizes in Chelmsford charged with highway robbery. They were accused of stealing a bundle of clothes from Ann Saunders on the road near Manuden. William was found guilty and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment with hard labour in Chelmsford Gaol. Benjamin Jackson was sentenced to be whipped and discharged.

Released from gaol in 1836, William was soon in trouble again. On 3 January 1837 William aged 15 together with James Bird aged 21 appeared at the Essex Quarter Sessions in Chelmsford. They were both were charged with stealing a coat belonging to John Rickett that he had left in a stables in Manuden overnight. They were arrested by Constable Charles Moss. At their trial, Bird was acquitted but William was found guilty and, because this was his second offence, [1]sentenced to transportation for 14 years.

On 2 February 1837 William was delivered to the prison hulk 'Leviathan in Portsmouth Harbour where he was held before being transferred to the ship Mangles which sailed for NSW on 18 March 1837 he arrived in Sydney, Australia, on 9 July 1837 he had several tattoos on his arms and a scar on his face.

In Australia

When William Westwood arrived in Australia as a convict, he was only sixteen years old. He was sent out to work on a farm as a convict servant. He was very cruelly treated, being whipped for even the most minor mistakes or offences. The overseer mistreated Westwood, not providing sufficient food and clothing. He tried to run away from his employer on more than one occasion, but each time was recaptured, beaten, and then put back to work. After stealing wheat, Westwood was sentenced to six months working on the roads in a chain gang on 19 April 1838, once again escaping and being caught Westwood publicly received 50 lashes on 4 February 1839.

Bushranger

From September 1840 Westwood escaped[2]again now known as Jacky Jacky he roamed the Southern District, he escaped capture by going to his mountain hideouts.He stole horses, money, clothes, provisions and arms, but never hurt his victims and was courteous towards women. On one occasion he held up the mail, took £200 and spent a month in Sydney, staying at a hotel in George Street he was remembered as the gentleman bushranger.He was captured twice but escaped both times A sign was posted across Australia calling for him to be caught dead or alive but even the promise of reward did not seem to tempt anyone.

He teamed up with a man called Curran, but this didn't last too long. Jacky Jacky was well liked by the old stationhands, who found him polite, kind and well behaved towards them, even later, when he became a bushranger. Curran on the other hand behaved brutally especially towards women. When Curran assaulted and raped the wife of a farmer whose place they had robbed Jacky Jacky threatened to shoot him for this, then took his horse, rifle and ammunition and abandoned him , Curran was sentenced to death and hanged in Berrima Gaol in September 1841.

Cockatoo Island Prision

Early in January 1841, Jacky Jacky was captured by a party of five civilians and was tried at Berrima on 15 April 1841 Westwood was tried for robbery with firearms and stealing a mare, and was sentenced to transportation for life although in chains, he escaped from the Stonequarry (Picton) lock up on the way to Sydney and hid up a tree the Australian commented that the cool intrepidity and daring of this man is astonishing . . . he is moreover well-dressed, assumes all disguises. He was once again caught and was held in the prison on Cockatoo Island Port Jackson.

Port Arthur

While at Cockatoo Island, he and twenty five other convicts attempted to escape by swimming to the mainland, but the gang were followed by the police in their boat and all captured, he was then shipped to Port Arthur on the "Governor Phillip", on the way Jackey Jackey once again tried to escape from the ship's hold and take over the ship not long after arriving at Port Arthur he escaped, but after nine days starvation on that inhospitable place, he was captured but one of the convicts who had escaped with him, Frank Bailey, had been shot. Twelve months later he again escaped to the mainland, but was again captured and placed in Hobart Town gaol on the 4 September 1845 he was tried in the Hobart Supreme Court for robbery, 'being armed whilst illegally at large'. As he had not harmed anyone the death sentence was commuted to transportation for life to Norfolk Island.

Norfolk Island

In February 1844, Major Joseph Childs had taken over the command of the convict prison settlement at Norfolk Island. Joseph Childs ordered the removal of the prisoners tins and knives, and other utensils for cooking their food the next morning 1 July 1846, [3]Westwood led a mutiny and killed an overseer Stephen Smith and three constables before being overpowered by the military. In the condemned cell he was befriended by the religious instructor Thomas Rogers who encouraged him to write (or dictate) an account of his life. Sentenced to death with twelve others (including another notorious bushranger Lawrence Kavanagh) for killing John Morris, a constable, Westwood was hanged on 13 October 1846. Before he was executed, William Westward declared that some of the men, including Kavanagh were innocent of murdering John Morris, and this was reported in the Australian. Although he was in communion with the Church of England he was buried in unhallowed ground. Westwood had written to his parents, sending them a lock of his hair, and also to a clergyman Sir, out of the bitter cup of misery I have drank from my 16th year,—ten long years—and the sweetest draught is that which takes away the misery of a living death; . . . all will then be quiet--no tyrant will then disturb my repose I hope


Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 Convict records - William Westwood, one of 310 convicts transported on the Mangles, 18 March 1837.
  2. Article - The Truth 17th Febuary, 1935 Bushrangers — Noted and Notorious 'Jacky Jacky,' the Gentleman Bushranger Final Brutal Outbreak In Norfolk Island
  3. Article - Norfolk Island Mutiny led by Gentleman Bushranger - The Melbourne Argus 19th Jamuary 1957

See also:

  • NEWS FROM THE INTERIOR From our Correspondents. GOULBURN. Capture of Jacky Jacky (1841, January 21). The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842), p. 2. Retrieved August 9, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12867460
  • JACKY-JACKY. (Letter written by Jacky-Jacky just previous to his execution) (1846, November 25). Launceston Examiner (Tas. : 1842 - 1899), p. 6 (MORNING). Retrieved August 9, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36246929

William Westwood's Autobiography in 4 parts, by "Peutetre" (Thomas Rogers):







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