Scindian is widely considered the first convict ship

Convict ship

The term convict ship is a colloquial term used to describe any ship engaged on a voyage to carry convicted felons under sentence of penal transportation from their place of conviction to their place of exile.-Colonial practice:...

 to transport

Penal transportation

Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...

 convicts to Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

.

A barque

Barque

A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...

 of 650 tons, Scindian was constructed at Sunderland, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1844 and named after the India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n Scindia dynasty. It left Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 on 4 March 1850 under the command of Captain James Cammell and surgeon-superintendent

Surgeon-superintendent

A surgeon-superintendent was the official on board a convict transport ship and ships transporting indentured labour, with overall authority in all non-nautical matters....

 John Gibson, and docked at Fremantle

Fremantle, Western Australia

Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

 on 1 June 1850 after a voyage of 89 days. The vessel carried 275 people to Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

 including 75 male convicts and 163 pensioner guards. Among the passengers were a number of convict officials including Comptroller General of Convicts

Comptroller General of Convicts (Western Australia)

The Comptroller General of Convicts was the head of the convict establishment in Western Australia.The office existed from 1850, when Western Australia first became a penal colony, until 1872, four years after penal transportation to Western Australia had ceased.-History:Western Australia's first...

 Edmund Henderson

Edmund Henderson

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edmund Yeamans Walcott Henderson KCB was an officer in the British Army who was Comptroller-General of Convicts in Western Australia from 1850 to 1863, Home Office Surveyor-General of Prisons from 1863 to 1869, and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London...

 and Superintendent of Convicts Thomas Hill Dixon

Thomas Hill Dixon

Thomas Hill Dixon was the first Superintendent of Convicts in Western Australia. Together with his superior, the Comptroller General Edmund Henderson, he created a reforming, humane convict regime for Western Australia...

. Also on board was 10-year old George Throssell

George Throssell

George Lionel Throssell, CMG was the second Premier of Western Australia. He served for just three months, from 15 February 1901 until 27 May 1901 during a period of great instability in Western Australian politics....

, a son of a pensioner guards, who later became the second Premier of Western Australia

Premier of Western Australia

The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...

.

The arrival of the convicts was a surprise to many of the Swan River Colony

Swan River Colony

The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...

 settlers, as Western Australia had petitioned for convicts but had not yet received a reply when Scindian arrived. As no preparations had been made for their arrival, the colony had no jail capable of housing so many convicts. This had been anticipated, and only convicts with a record of good behaviour had been sent. The convicts were initially housed in the warehouse premises of the harbourmaster

Harbourmaster

A harbourmaster is an official responsible for enforcing the regulations of a particular harbour or port, in order to ensure the safety of navigation, the security of the harbour and the correct operation of the port facilities.-Responsibilities:Harbourmasters are normally responsible for issuing...

, which is now the Esplanade Hotel. Shortly after the arrival, work began on the building of a Convict Establishment prison, now Fremantle Prison

Fremantle Prison

Fremantle Prison is a former Australian prison located in The Terrace, Fremantle, in Western Australia. The site includes the prison, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, tunnels, and prisoner art...

.

Scindian sank off the cost of Rio Marina

Rio Marina

Rio Marina is a comune in the Province of Livorno in the Italian region Tuscany, located on the Elba Island.-History:The first traces of settlements in the area date to the 15th century...

, Elba

Elba

Elba is a Mediterranean island in Tuscany, Italy, from the coastal town of Piombino. The largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, Elba is also part of the National Park of the Tuscan Archipelago and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 on 3 November 1880.

Scindian is widely considered the first convict ship to arrive in Western Australia, because it was the first to arrive after Western Australia became a penal colony

Penal colony

A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...

. A number of ships did bring Parkhurst apprentices

Parkhurst apprentices

The Parkhurst apprentices were juvenile prisoners from Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight, sentenced to "transportation beyond the seas" and transported to Australia and New Zealand between 1842 and 1852...

 to Western Australia between 1842 and 1849, and while these were not considered convict ships by the Western Australian authorities, they were classified as such in English records.

List of Scindian passengers

Passengers on Scindian included Thomas Hill Dixon

Thomas Hill Dixon

Thomas Hill Dixon was the first Superintendent of Convicts in Western Australia. Together with his superior, the Comptroller General Edmund Henderson, he created a reforming, humane convict regime for Western Australia...

, Edmund Henderson

Edmund Henderson

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edmund Yeamans Walcott Henderson KCB was an officer in the British Army who was Comptroller-General of Convicts in Western Australia from 1850 to 1863, Home Office Surveyor-General of Prisons from 1863 to 1869, and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London...

 and George Throssell

George Throssell

George Lionel Throssell, CMG was the second Premier of Western Australia. He served for just three months, from 15 February 1901 until 27 May 1901 during a period of great instability in Western Australian politics....

. A full list is provided below.

Convicts

Name	Convict number	Age when sentenced	Crime	Trial place	Trial date	Sentence
William Bailey	75	21	House breaking	Central Criminal Court	1848	14 years
James Baker	48	48	Stealing towels	Exeter	1847	14 years
George Barker	39	23	Pick pocket	Yorkshire Assizes	6 March 1847	15 years
James Baxter	32	25	Violence & striking superior officer (Army)	Corfu	1847	14 years
Francis Best	73	32	House breaking	Worcester	1847	15 years
John Bradbury	66	24	Rape	Chester	1848	20 years
Samuel Brakes	26	35	Burglary	Peterborough	1848	15 years
William Branson	3	33	Sheep stealing	Leicester	1848	15 years
Arthur Bristow	51	31	Grievous bodily harm	Kingston-on-Thames	1848	15 years
Reginald Bristow	50	27	Grievous bodily harm	Kingston-on-Thames	1848	15 years
Joseph Brown	45	41	Stealing oats & drapery	Boston Sessions	June 1847	14 years
Charles Burgess	38	34	House breaking	Maidstone	1846	14 years
Solomon Burkett	19	46	Burglary	Peterborough	1848	15 years
William Carter	8	25	Horse stealing	Worcester	1847	15 years
James Cox	53	38	Stealing a watch	Dorset	1847	15 years
John Davies	52	32	Rape	Swansea	1848	15 years
Robert Dawes	35	28	Sheep stealing	Swaffham	1847	14 years
Samuel Diggle	58	39	Burglary	Liverpool	20 March 1847	15 years
John Dobson	36	31	Pick pocket	Stafford	1847	14 years
William Drake	42	25	House breaking & stealing money	Newport	1847	15 years
Robert Eley	14	23	Stealing a copper funnel	Durham	1848	14 years
Thomas Faulds	22	23	Robbery with violence	Glasgow	1847	14 years
Thomas Fletcher	18	24	Robbery with violence	Lancaster	1848	15 years
Thomas Hargreaves	31	30	Stealing crockery	Portsmouth	1847	14 years
Thomas Hart	55	23	Burglary	Cambridge	17 March 1848	15 years
James Hatton	69	29	Rape	Liverpool	1847	20 years
Thomas Hirst	10	26	House breaking	York	1847	15 years
Robert Holder	40	26	Robbery	Portsmouth	1847	15 years
Samuel Jackson	16	36	Robbery with violence	Chester	0	15 years
Luke Jeffry	56	26	Stealing money	Cambridge	1848	15 years
John Jermyn	6	24	Rape	Norwich	1848	15 years
William Johnson	70	30	Firing stacks	Stafford	1847	20 years
Richard Jones	41	38	Warehouse breaking	Reading	1847	15 years
Allan Lancaster	57	35	Breaking out of gaol & stealing	Knutsford	1848	14 years
John Larcombe	4	30	House breaking	Dorchester	1848	15 years
William Loveridge	34	29	Arson	Aylesbury	1848	15 years
Alexander Matthieson	44	28	House breaking	Glasgow	1847	21 years
James Morris	49	43	Counterfeiting coin	Central Criminal Court	1847	15 years
John Morris	67	24	Rape	Winchester	1848	15 years
George Oliver	65	28	Robbery with violence	Chester	1848	15 years
James Osborne	62	23	House breaking	Worcester	1848	15 years
John Osborne	72	30	Horse stealing	Sleaford	6 January 1848	15 years
John Patience	2	30	Burglary	Dorset	1848	14 years
George Phillips	30	33	Absent & violence to superior officer (Army)	Bury	1847	14 years
Matthew Porteous	20	53	Theft	Edinburgh	28 February 1848	14 years
George Postins	17	17	House breaking	Worcester	0	20 years
Charles Pye	59	28	Burglary	Chelmsford	1847	15 years
James Rackham	43	48	Receiving stolen goods	Chelmsford	1848	14 years
Thomas Rutledge Raine	63	24	Pick pocket	York	6 March 1847	15 years
John Raison	64	24	Assault & robbery	Lincoln	6 March 1847	15 years
John Rampling	46	27	Striking superior officers (Army)	Newcastle	1847	14 years
George Richardson	71	39	Attempting to strike superior officer (Army)	BARBADOS	1848	14 years
Thomas Robinson	68	24	Burglary	Maidstone	1847	14 years
Thomas Rodrigues	24	27	Manslaughter	Liverpool	1847	15 years
Samuel Scattergood	1	36	Sheep stealing	Leicester	9 March 1848	15 years
James Smith	9	26	House breaking	Worcester	1848	15 years
John Smith	33	19	Arson	Chelmsford	1848	15 years
Samuel Smith	37	28	House breaking	Warwick	1848	15 years
William Smith	13	25	House breaking	Worcester	1848	15 years
Edward Spillett	12	32	Manslaughter	Maidstone	1848	15 years
Martin Stone	25	24	Horse stealing	Dorchester	1847	15 years
Thomas Stubbs	21	20	House breaking	Chester	29 March 1848	14 years
James Sweeney	15	58	Uttering counterfeit coin	Caernarvon	1847	15 years
Seymour Taylor	28	35	Stealing an oak beam	Ipswich	1847	15 years
James Tetlow	23	56	Manslaughter	Liverpool	1848	15 years
Alexander Thomas	61	22	Manslaughter	Swansea	1848	15 years
George Thompson	7	26	Manslaughter	Newcastle	1848	15 years
Thomas Trott	11	28	Stealing & assault	Lincoln Assizes	1847	15 years
Frederick Ward	29	30	Stealing	Birmingham	1847	15 years
George Watkins	27	32	Stealing clothes	Durham	1848	14 years
Thomas Welsby	5	26	Robbery	Liverpool	1848	15 years
Francis Westmoreland	47	46	Sheep stealing	Stafford	1847	15 years
Esau Wetherall	54	35	Horse stealing	Taunton	1847	15 years
George Wilson	74	23	Arson	Chelmsford	1848	15 years
John Wilson	60	41	Robbery with violence	Newcastle	1848	15 years

Pensioner guards

Name	Age	Notes
Samuel Annear		private, sapper Sapper A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...  and miner
		wife
Mary J. Annear	2	child, died on board
		three other children
John Atkinson		private, 2nd Queen's Dragoon Guards Dragoon guards Dragoon Guards was the designation used to refer to certain heavy cavalry regiments in the British Army from the 18th century onwards. While the Prussian and Russian armies of the same period included dragoon regiments amongst their respective Imperial Guards, different titles were applied to these...
Ann Atkinson		wife
		two children
George Bagg	32	private, Royal Marines Royal Marines The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
Catharine Bagg	31	wife
Sarah Bagg	3	child
Robert Baker		private, 34th Regiment
		wife and three children
John Barrett	46	private, 61st Regiment
Alice Barrett		wife
Catharine Barrett	2	child
Mary A. Barrett	9 months	child
James Bond		private, 17th Regiment
Henry Burton	44	corporal, 54th Regiment
Harriet Burton	43	wife
Samuel Butterworth		acting corporal, Royal Artillery
Catherine Butterworth		wife
		three children
James Caldwell		corporal, 57th Regiment
		wife
Charles Clark		private, 40th Regiment
George Clark		private, 9th Regiment
		one child
John Coyle		sergeant, 27th Regiment
		wife and one child
Henry Davey	35	private, Royal Marines Royal Marines The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
Jane Davey	24	wife
	infant	child
John Day		private, 31st Regiment
		wife and child
John Dulston		private, 80th Regiment
		wife
Samuel Fairbrother		private, 29th Regiment
William Finlay	40	private, 97th Regiment
Marjory Finlay		wife
		three children
Joseph Foot	47	private, 76th Regiment
Catherine Foot	42	wife
		four children
Scindian Gibson Foot		child, born at sea
Patrick Gallagher		private, 7th Battalion Royal Artillery
		wife
Andrew Gordon		corporal, 40th Regiment
Mary Ann Gordon		wife
Thomas Hammond		private, 80th Regiment
John Harris	38	private, 97th Regiment
Charlotte Harris		wife
William Harris		child
Henry Herbert	50	private, Royal African Corp
Ann Herbert		wife
Henry Herbert		child
Joseph Herbert		child
		one other child
John Hubble	33	private, 32nd Regiment
Jane Hubble	20	wife
William Hubble	37	private, 32nd Regiment
James Hunt	46	private, Royal Marines Royal Marines The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
		wife and child
James Jones		private, 38th Regiment, sapper Sapper A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...  and miner
John Kingdon	41	private, 43rd Regiment
		wife and five children
John Kirwan	42	sergeant, 30th Regiment
Jane Kirwan		wife
		five children
Robert Lindsay	45	private, 2nd Queen's Regiment The Queen's Regiment The Queen's Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army formed in 1966 through the amalgamation of the four regiments of the Home Counties Division...
Julia Lindsay		wife
Julia Lindsay	2	child
Thomas McMullen	42	private, 4th Battalion Royal Artillery
Ann McMullen		wife
		two children
Henry Morgan		private, 10th Battalion Royal Artillery
		wife and three children
James Murphy		private, 19th Regiment
Ann Murphy		wife
		four children
Peter Murphy		private, 31st Regiment
		wife and three children
Joseph Nichols	52	drummer
		wife
John Nicholson		private, 1st Regiment
William Oak	35	private, 46th Regiment
Daniel O'Connell		private, 6th Regiment
		wife
Sarah O'Connell	2	child
		one other child
John O'Connor		private, British East India Company British East India Company The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
Sarah O'Connor		wife
		two children
Moses O'Keefe	48	private, 44th Regiment
Norah O'Keefe		wife
Dennis O'Keefe		child
John Payne	48	private, 40th Regiment
Michael Reddin		sergeant, 61st Regiment
Jane Reddin		wife
		four children
Richard Roffey		private, 59th Regiment
James Rourke		private, 27th Regiment
Anna Rourke		wife
James Rourke	1	child
		four other children
John Skillen		private, 2nd Regiment
		wife and child
James Stark	32	private, 9th Regiment
James Stevens	49	private, British East India Company British East India Company The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
Johanna Stevens		wife
Michael Stokes	50	private, British East India Company British East India Company The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...  (Artillery)
		wife and child
Samuel Sutton	39	private, Royal Marines Royal Marines The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
Ann Sutton		wife
Frances Sutton	2	child
		one other child
James Taylor		private, 2nd Regiment
(George) Michael Throssell	42	private, 7th Dragoon Guards
Jane Ann Throssell		wife
Thomas Throssell	14	child
George Lionel Throssell George Throssell George Lionel Throssell, CMG was the second Premier of Western Australia. He served for just three months, from 15 February 1901 until 27 May 1901 during a period of great instability in Western Australian politics....	10	child
		one other child
Peter Towers	39	private, Royal Marines Royal Marines The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
		wife
Emanuel Unwin		sapper Sapper A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield... , Royal Engineers Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
John Watkins	33	private, 94th Regiment
Elizabeth Watkins		wife
		two children
William Watts		sergeant, 21st Regiment
		wife and child
John Winfield	44	private, Grenadier Guards Grenadier Guards The Grenadier Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It is the most senior regiment of the Guards Division and, as such, is the most senior regiment of infantry. It is not, however, the most senior regiment of the Army, this position being attributed to the Life Guards...
		wife and child

Other passengers

Name	Age	Notes
John Carr		warder
		wife
Thomas Hill Dixon Thomas Hill Dixon Thomas Hill Dixon was the first Superintendent of Convicts in Western Australia. Together with his superior, the Comptroller General Edmund Henderson, he created a reforming, humane convict regime for Western Australia...		Superintendent of Convicts
		common law wife and two children
		servant
John Gibson		surgeon superintendent
Edmund Henderson Edmund Henderson Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edmund Yeamans Walcott Henderson KCB was an officer in the British Army who was Comptroller-General of Convicts in Western Australia from 1850 to 1863, Home Office Surveyor-General of Prisons from 1863 to 1869, and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London...		Comptroller General of Convicts Comptroller General of Convicts (Western Australia) The Comptroller General of Convicts was the head of the convict establishment in Western Australia.The office existed from 1850, when Western Australia first became a penal colony, until 1872, four years after penal transportation to Western Australia had ceased.-History:Western Australia's first...
		wife and child
		two servants
James Manning	36	Clerk of Works
Jane Manning		wife
James Manning		child
		one other child
		servant employed by James MANNING
		corporal, Royal Engineers
		private, sapper Sapper A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield... , Royal Engineers Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army....
		private, sapper, Royal Engineers
		private, sapper, Royal Engineers