Trio of soldiers go on the attack
When a gang of Fort George soldiers went on a drunken rampage one winter's night in 1849, it spelt the end of their life in Guernsey and the start of a new one - in the penal colonies of Australia. Stephen Furniss tells the story
When a gang of Fort George soldiers went on a drunken rampage one winter's night in 1849, it spelt the end of their life in Guernsey and the start of a new one - in the penal colonies of Australia. Stephen Furniss tells the story IT WAS a cold, dark and wet night on Sunday 25 February 1849 as 38-year-old Henry Giffard, his wife Elizabeth and nine-year-old son Henry junior left St John's Church around 8pm to walk back to their home at Bedford Farm near the Braye du Valle in St Sampson's.
The route they took encompassed Les Banques before leaving the coast at the Halfway and walking over St Clair Hill and along the high road (Route Militaire) towards L'Ancresse.
They were about 100 yards from the turning that led to their house when, coming towards them through the dark, they saw three soldiers dressed in forage caps and redcoats.
As the soldiers drew in line with them, one of them stepped forward and stood straight in front of Henry. He blocked his way and asked for money to buy drink.
Henry remonstrated with him. 'You should not stop people in that way on the road,' he said.
But the soldier was having none of this.
'Halt!' he called to his two companions, who immediately joined him.
Henry brushed past the soldiers and made to escape but stumbled in the dark and fell. But, shockingly, the soldiers made no move to help him. Instead they held him tight and began to hit him.
Fearing for his safety and that of his family, Henry asked what they were hitting him for.
'Give us your money,' demanded the soldiers.
Henry gave them everything he had on him, which came to 10 shillings (50p) or more, but he had the foresight to slip his valuable gold watch into one of his boots under the cover of darkness.
Elizabeth had quickly sent her son on to the farm but had stayed herself to help her husband, whereupon one of the soldiers attacked her.
The ensuing melee lasted almost 15 minutes and the couple received numerous bruises, cuts and vicious blows. At one point both they and all three soldiers were on the ground. 'Murder! Murder!' called Elizabeth at frequent intervals.
Their clothes became torn, muddy and bloodied before at last Elizabeth said, 'Thank God, I hear footsteps, there's somebody coming.'
Mercifully, one of the soldiers called out to Elizabeth's assailant, 'Don't do anything to disgrace a soldier,' whereupon his colleagues ceased their attack and instructed the Giffards to 'run home for your lives'.
Once safely at Bedford Farm, Henry sent a servant to fetch Peter Le Page, constable of the parish of St Sampson's. Le Page was not at home, having left a little before 9pm to tour the public houses around St Sampson's Harbour.
Once he returned and was made aware of the atrocity, he set out with a small lantern by way of the Salt Pans towards the road leading from St Clair to L'Ancresse. The night continued very dark and it was raining heavily. At first he went towards the Vale Church but then turned back and walked towards St Clair.
As he neared the Salt Pans he thought he heard a noise. On investigating, he discovered a drunken soldier leaning against the hedge.
'What are you doing there?' he demanded.
'None of your business,' slurred the soldier and aimed a blow at him.
The constable sidestepped and the soldier fell to the ground. As he rose, Le Page gave him a blow with a stick and knocked him down again.
The events which had resulted in this serious attack on the Giffards had begun at Fort George between 5pm and 6pm that evening. Three soldiers, Michael Digan, John Winfery and 20-year-old John Navin, had absconded from the barracks. Digan and Navin were originally from Ballyboy and Risagh, both in King's County, Ireland, while Winfery hailed originally from Nottingham. So unruly were these three men that they were on the eve of being discharged from the 16th Regiment, garrisoned at the fort.
Those discharged from the army were given their military clothing and the government left it optional as to whether they remained in Guernsey or had their fares home paid to them.
Those who preferred to have their passage paid were seen off on the steamer by the quartermaster-sergeant, but it seems a number returned to the island with a little money not used up for their onward journey in England.
Presumably familiar with the island and not keen to return to their former civilian lives, they remained on the island until crime, poverty or disease overtook them.Digan, Winfery and Navin met a fellow soldier, Michael Keenan, near the Town Church shortly after absconding from Fort George. All four went to Marley's public house on the Vale Road and had some drink. Keenan remained at Marley's but later returned along Les Banques to the Prince Albert, where the three soon joined him. More drink was consumed before Digan, Winfery and Navin departed. Keenan set off for the Queen's Tavern towards the Vale, where he remained for about an hour. He then returned to Town and went to a brothel at the corner of Paris Street.
Meanwhile, the three absconders had reached a public house called the Vale Tavern, which was near the Vale Church and kept by a John Short. They arrived at 7.30pm and ordered half a pint of gin and a pint of beer. Short asked them to leave once they had consumed the alcohol and they said they would if he would take a glass of wine with them, which he did.
Short managed to get them to leave at about 7.50pm and bolted the door after them.
Earlier, at 6.30pm, Thomas Falla, a 46-year-old fisherman who lived near the Vale Church, had set off towards Town, where he met 37-year-old Peter De Jersey near Ville Baudu.
They walked as far as Les Banques, where they turned back on account of the bad weather. Walking back along the Route Militaire, they came across the three soldiers, who asked them the time. De Jersey said he believed it to be about 8.30pm and the soldiers asked them for sixpence for a pint of liquor. De Jersey refused and one of the soldiers struck him in the eye. He lost his hat but made his escape, running towards Town, while the two other soldiers at first hit and then searched Falla. When they discovered he had only one penny and three doubles on him, they returned his money and set off towards Town.
Falla, frightened and knocked about, reached the Vale Tavern and knocked at the door, saying: 'For God's sake open the door.'
John Short let him in and found Falla in a terrified state. After about 15 minutes there was another knock and Short opened it to find De Jersey standing there, out of breath, frightened, hatless and with a black eye. He had made a circle in the dark and returned to the scene of the attack to look for his hat. Unable to find it he made for the tavern.
Meanwhile, the full horror of the attack became apparent to Mr and Mrs Giffard once they were safely home. Henry's face was severely bruised and scratched, both eyes were black and he was unable to see out of one for days. His lip was cut on the inside and bled for some time. He had two or three bruises to the head and legs.
Attended to by Dr Mauger, he was confined to bed for two or three days. Poor Elizabeth fared no better. Her clothes were covered in dirt, she was bareheaded and her hair was loose and hanging about her shoulders. She was bruised from head to foot, especially on her arms, and under Dr Mauger's care she was confined to bed for three days.
Henry had also sent a messenger to Town who notified his brother-in-law, Duniere Sheppard, of the outrage.
Sheppard sent special constables R Webb and John de Putron to the scene of the crime and they soon found Peter Le Page near the Salt Pans with the apprehended soldier Digan, who they took to the Vale Castle.
Sheppard also sent a messenger to Fort George and the office on guard sent out a picquet in search of the missing soldiers.
No doubt familiar with the garrison soldiers' favourite haunts, the picquet soon caught up with Navin at the house of ill-repute in Paris Street. Michael Keenan was still there and John Navin was very drunk. His clothes were torn and he was covered in blood. John Winfery had been sent out in search of gin and the picquet was able to apprehend him as he returned to Paris Street. Both men were taken to Fort George.
The evidence against the three soldiers was very strong. When searched, Navin was found to have a lace veil belonging to Mrs Giffard. He also had one shoulder knot missing from his coat which, it transpired, she had ripped off and kept during the assault. Various items of clothing and accessories belonging to all parties were found the next day at the scene of the crime.The prisoners were tried at The Royal Court on Saturday 28 April 1849 and all pleaded not guilty. Navin chose Advocate Tupper as his defence, Digan Advocate Falla and Winfery Advocate MacCulloch.
The soldiers' defence largely consisted of their contention that they were drunk and did not know what they were doing.
Advocate Tupper argued that the offences charged against Navin, if proved, were the effects of drunkenness and that he and his companions were simply endeavouring to get money for the purpose of buying drink. The attacks were not premeditated and he pleaded for leniency, as Navin had told his companions not to do anything to disgrace a soldier, and had assisted Mrs Giffard in making her escape.
In summing up and passing sentence, the Bailiff concluded that the only punishment suitable for the offences was transportation to a penal colony. The feeling was that this should act as a deterrent to others, for the island was plagued with a number of bad characters who had been discharged from the army and unless a severe example was made it would remain impossible for the people of Guernsey to feel any security for life or property.
John Winfery and John Navin were both sentenced to transportation for 10 years each, and Michael Digan 15 years.
On Wednesday 8 August 1849 the three prisoners left for England on board the Dispatch under the charge of Stephen Martin, deputy sheriff, and Stephen Barbet, the keeper of the prison.
All three were destined to be transported to Australia, as prisoners rather than as convicts, who were those sentenced to penal servitude (hard labour).
Winfery, Digan and Navin were taken to Millbank Prison in London. Most awaiting transportation were kept on hulks moored on the Thames, before the advent of the prison which stood roughly where the Tate Gallery stands today.
The transportation of convict ships was often despatched twice a year, at the end of May and the beginning of September, to avoid the dangerous winters in the southern hemisphere.
Convicts were housed below decks and often further confined behind bars. In many cases they were restrained in chains and were allowed on deck only for fresh air and exercise. Conditions were cramped and they slept in hammocks. Cruel masters, harsh discipline and scurvy, dysentery and typhoid resulted in a huge loss of life.
By the late 1840s, after several Australian settlements had been established, the transports often stopped off at Gibraltar, a port in the West Indies, South America, the Cape of Good Hope and at any one of the Australian penal settlements.
Navin was transported to Western Australia along with 208 other male convicts aboard the Mermaid, which left England on 30 December 1850.
Winfery was transported along with 291 other male convicts aboard the Pestanjee Bomanjee for Van Diemen's Island (Tasmania) on 16 April 1852. It is not known what happened to Digan.
Records tell us that Navin was shipped further upon arrival at Fremantle on the Fergus to an unknown destination. His occupation in Australia was listed as 'ploughman', a far cry from being a soldier in the garrison at Fort George.
The sentence of transportation was abolished in 1857, but those convicted for penal servitude could still be sent to Australia until 1868.
The Royal Court in Guernsey sent several felons for transportation to Australia, including the following:
James Richels, 1848, seven years; Richard Collins, 1849, seven years; Daniel Morris, 1850, 10 years; Henry Pope, 1852, 14 years; William Curran, 1853, life; Joseph Warren, 1854, 14 years; Aimable Du Perousel, 1856, 10 years; Frederick Surget, 1856, 10 years; Timothy Kelly, 1856, life; Nicolas Melluish, 1863, 10 years.
Since those transported had served their sentence, very few returned to England or Ireland and it is their descendants who now contribute in part towards the great and productive nation Australia has become.
