Ex-convict school teachers in Western Australia


Following Western Australia's convict era, 37 ex-convicts were appointed school teachers in the colony. The appointment of such a large number of ex-convicts to what was considered a respectable government position was highly unusual for a penal colony, as the social stigma of conviction usually excluded ex-convicts from such positions.
The appointment of a large number of ex-convicts as school teachers was largely due to the poor levels of education in the generation of Western Australians who had been children when the Swan River Colony was first settled. Many of them were illiterate or barely literate, and so unsuitable for appointment as school teachers. Those settlers who did have a good education were in high demand, and were not attracted to the low wages offered for teachers. On the other hand, educated convicts had little prospect of obtaining better wages or conditions than those available to teachers, and the position offered a chance to overcome the social stigma of conviction and obtain a respectable position in society. Although some settlers considered ex-convicts unfit to become teachers, most parents preferred that their children be educated by ex-convicts than not at all. Consequently, a total of 37 convicts were appointed school teachers in Western Australia between 1853 and 1900. Erickson has suggested that the use of ex-convict school teachers played an important role in the gradual breaking down of the social stigma of convictism.

List of ex-convict school teachers of Western Australia

This is a list of ex-convict school teachers of Western Australia. Unless otherwise noted, all information comes from Rica Erickson's The Brand On His Coat and the convict ship passenger lists provided on the Western Australian Convicts 1850-1868 website.
NameSchoolsBiographical notes
John AllsopJarrahdale 1875Born in 1830; worked as a labourer; sentenced to eight years' penal servitude in 1865 for uttering a counterfeit coin; transported to Western Australia on the Corona
Thomas BeehoFerguson 1869Born in 1836; worked as a clerk; sentenced to ten years' penal servitude in 1864 for robbery with violence; transported to Western Australia on the Vimeira; died in 1893
Thomas BerwickJarrahdale 1879–91
William BrooksGreenhills 1860–64, 1868–72, Upper Swan 1865, Gwalla 1865Born in 1834; worked as a cellarman; sentenced to a lifetime of penal servitude in 1856 for uttering forged bank notes; transported to Western Australia on the Edwin Fox
Thomas Henry J. BrownFerguson 1866–1869Born in 1821; worked as an architect; sentenced to ten years' penal servitude in 1862 for forgery of money orders; transported to Western Australia on the Lord Dalhousie; died in 1882
William CarmichaelFerguson 1865Born in 1827; worked as a clerk in the army; sentenced to penal servitude for life in 1854 for desertion; transported to Western Australia on the Sultana
William J. CarpenterYork 1869, QuindalupBorn in 1812; worked as an auctioneer; sentenced to a lifetime of penal servitude in 1855 for forgery; transported to Western Australia on the Runnymede
Fred CarterSeven Springs 1870, Bejoording 1871–74, Gwalla 1875, Ludlow 1876
William ChopinMourambine 1879–83
Thomas DugganGoomalling c. 1869–?, Newcastle 1879–81Born 1822, a schoolmaster of Ballincollig, County Cork. In 1865 sentenced to 10 years for treason for administering the Fenian oath, transported on Hougoumont to Fremantle in 1867, died in 1913
Joseph FarrellAustralind 1861–64Born in 1828; worked as a clerk; sentenced to fifteen years' penal servitude in 1854 for embezzlement; arrived in Western Australia on the Runnymede
Thomas FisherBejoording 1869Born in 1831; worked as a ship's steward; sentenced to twenty years' penal servitude for robbery with violence in 1857; transported to Western Australia on the Edwin Fox
Cornelius HardyNortham 1865
James HaslebyGreenhills 1868–70, Dumbarton 1876–77, Gwalla 1878–93Born 1833, in 1864 sentenced to eight years' penal servitude for embezzlement, transported to Western Australia on Norwood. In 1893 appointed Clerk of the Local Court at Northampton, died 1903
George HaywoodNewcastle 1865–66, Toodyay Steam Mill school 1867–72Born in 1828; worked as a clerk; sentenced to penal servitude for life for forgery of a money order in 1847; transported to Western Australia on the Ramillies; died in 1873
Adolph HechtMarrinup 1869, York 1869–70, Parkfield 1871–72Born in 1844; worked as a clerk; sentenced to ten years' penal servitude for forgery in 1864; transported to Western Australia on the Vimiera
John James Henry HislopBunbury 1853–62
James Murgatroyd HubbardWicklow Hills 1872, Newcastle 1873–75, Guildford
James White HumphreyQuindalup 1863–68, Newcastle 1875–78
James Waterson JohnstonDongara 1874–92Born about 1838, Edinburgh, Scotland; worked as a lithographic printer; sentenced to ten years' penal servitude for robbery in 1858; transported to Western Australia on board the Palmerston in 1861; died 13 May 1911
William Frederick JonesPicton 1859–70
William Henry LeachCapel 1869–70, Australind 1870–74, 1877Born in 1815; worked as a surveyor and builder; sentenced to ten years' penal servitude for shooting with intent in 1864; transported to Western Australia on the Vimeira
James Henry LloydNortham 1866–87
Daniel McConnellMinninup 1865-72, Capel 1867, Parkfield 1873–75, Lockeville 1876Born in 1820; worked as an attorney; sentenced to fifteen years' penal servitude for "forging and using and uttering"; transported to Western Australia on the Nile
Robert MewburnMandurah 1872–91
Thomas Matthew PalmerAlbany 1858-91
George PearsonSpringhill 1869–72, Beverley 1875–77, Greenough 1877–79, Quellington 1889Born in 1835; worked as a clerk; sentenced to ten years' penal servitude in 1862 for uttering forged bank notes; transported to Western Australia on the Clara
William Henry PerrinWongamine 1871–1900
Theodore RichardsKatrine 1864–74, Wicklow Hills 1875–85
James Elphinstone RoeCentral Greenough 1867–70, Lower Greenough 1868
Octavius RylandUpper Swan 1864, Upper Greenough 1864–69, Dongara 1869, Serpentine Bridge 1870–80, 1884
John O. SimpsonLudlow 1875Born in 1831; worked as a clerk; sentenced to a lifetime of penal servitude for burglary in 1863; transported to Western Australia on the Merchantman; died in 1879
Stephen Montague StoutAustralind 1859–61, Pensioners' Barracks 1873-78, Geraldton 1878-79Born in 1829; worked as a land agent and surveyor; sentenced to fourteen years' penal servitude for forgery in 1856; transported to Western Australia on board the Lord Raglan; died in 1886; also known as Stephen West; founding editor of the Victorian Express
James TuckerBejoording 1870–?, Wicklow Hills 1871, South Greenough 1874Born in 1818; worked as a clerk; sentenced to a lifetime of penal servitude for shooting with intent in 1854; transported to Western Australia on the William Hammond
Thomas WardSeven Springs 1868, Marrinup 1873–74Born in 1826; worked as a commission agent; sentenced to seven years' penal servitude for falsifying a death registration in 1863; transported to Western Australia on the Corona
George Newly WardellCapel 1868, Parkfield 1869-70Born in 1830; worked as a solicitor; sentenced to seven years' penal servitude for forgery in 1862; transported to Western Australia on the Lord Dalhousie
John Vernon WarrenRoman Catholic School York 1860-?, Newleyine 1866–68, Wicklow Hills 1867–70, Dumbarton 1872–75