Captain Henry James Day of the 99th Regiment

Convict transport CANDAHAR to VDL, 1842
Prisoner John APPLEBY, photo by T. J. NEVIN, 1873
Major Captain James DAY, 99th REGIMENT
ANGLESEA BARRACKS, Hobart



Archives Office of Tasmania
Left: Ref: 30-38c. Memorial column, 99th Regiment, Anglesea Barracks, erected in 1850.
Right: Anglesea Barracks, Ref: 30-36c. Unattributed half stereos, ca 1868

The ship "Candahar" (1842)
Captain Henry James Day (1803-1876), first cousin of Thomas J. Nevin's father-in-law, master mariner Captain James Day (1806-1882), was Guard Captain of the 3rd detachment of 99th Regiment of Foot on board the convict transport Candahar when it arrived in Hobart in 1842 with 60 troops under his command, and 249 male convicts. Also on board were a "lady and four children", several soldiers' families and government stores. The Candahar was a 4 gun barque of 642 tons built in Shields in 1840, class A1 which departed Spithead, England on the 2nd April 1842, docking in Van Diemen's Land on the 21st July 1842. Captain Day's arrival was noted in the Hobart Town Courier. The regiment was stationed at the Anglesea Barracks, Hobart.



Arrival of ship Candahar, Hobart Courier July 22, 1842

TRANSCRIPT
21- Arrived the ship Candahar, 642 tons, 4 guns, Ridley, from Portsmouth 2nd April, with Government stores -passengers, Peter Leonard Esq., Surgeon Superintendent; Captain Day, 99th regiment, lady, and four children; Ensign Young, 80th regiment; and 249 male prisoners.

Of the 250 convicts who embarked, 249 convicts disembarked in Hobart Town, one perished on the voyage.



Arrival of Captain James Day 99th Regiment 21 July 1842 on the Candahar
Port Officers' Forms: Series MB2/39 (TAHO)

Thirty years later, government contractor Thomas J. Nevin would photograph some of these same convicts who had re-offended after serving their term and who were imprisoned again at the Port Arthur penitentiary and Hobart Gaol . The list of Candahar convicts, 1842 is available online at the Tasmanian Heritage and Archives Office. Thomas Nevin's photographs of 1870s convicts - i.e. police identification mugshots - are held at the NLA, QVMAG, Mitchell Library NSW and TMAG. This photograph by Nevin of prisoner John Appleby is held at the National Library of Australia. Appleby was tried for receiving stolen plate in July 1871 and sentenced to six years at the Hobart Gaol. His petition for discharge in June 1873 was declined by the Attorney-General's Office;  on the 20th September 1873 he was transferred to the Hobart Gaol, Campbell St. from the Port Arthur prison where Thomas J. Nevin photographed him on being received. Two years later, on the 13th August 1875, the residue of Appleby's sentence was remitted. Read more about John Appleby here. 



Prisoner John Appleby, per Candahar 1842
Photographer: Thomas J. Nevin, taken 20th September 1873 at the Hobart Gaol
National Library of Australia URL link: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-142919212

Captain Henry James Day
On the 10th August 1842 the Candahar departed Hobart Town, Van Dieman's Land for Sydney, N.S.W, arriving on Tuesday the 16th August 1842 laden with government stores. Captain Day and family proceeded to Maitland.



Sydney Government Gazette, 22 November 1842.
Appointment of Captain Henry James Day as magistrate, assistant engineer and superintendent of ironed gangs, for the district of Maitland, NSW.

TRANSCRIPT
Government Gazette. —o— TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1842. His excellency the Governor has been pleased to appoint Captain Henry James Day, of H.M. 99th regiment of foot, to be a magistrate of the territory and its dependencies. His excellency the Governor has been pleased to appoint Captain Henry James Day, of H. M. 99th regiment of foot, to be assistant engineer and superintendent of ironed gangs for the district of Maitland, in the room of Lieut. Rinaldo Scheberras, of H. M. 80th regiment of foot.
Source: Australasian Chronicle (Sydney, NSW : 1839 - 1843), Thursday 24 November 1842, page 4

From 1842, several convict ships sailed from England with the 99th regiment on board as convict guards. In addition to the Candahar were the John Renwick, North Briton, Richard Webb, John Brewer, Isabella, Somersetshire, Emerald Isle and Forfarshire. The 99th was founded in Glasgow in 1824, became the 99th Lanarkshire Regiment in 1832, and ordered to embark for Australia first from West Wall at Dublin for Liverpool, then on to Chatham near London. By early 1842, 900 officers and men of the 99th Regiment were assembled for ports in NSW and Van Diemen's Land. The 3rd detachment arrived on the Candahar in July 1842.



"Chatham" engraved by E. Finden after a picture by Warren, published in Finden's Ports and Harbours..., 1842.
Image courtesy of Ancestry Images

Detachments of the 99th Regiment were sent from Hobart to Norfolk Island and New Zealand. In 1845 members were sent to New Zealand to quell the Maori rebellion. A detachment took part in the assault on Ohaeawai Pah on 1 July 1845 and on Ruapekapeka on 10th January 1846. The campaign lasted for two years. The regiment returned to Hobart, Tasmania in 1847, stationed there until 1854 when a contingent was sent to Victoria.

In 1848, Captain Henry James Day was stationed at the Blackheath Stockade, NSW, as assistant engineer and superintendent, but by 1852 he was back in Hobart, VDL.



Source: Victorian Government Gazette, 6 May 1848

TRANSCRIPT
Colonial Secretary's Office
Sydney, 9th May 1848
His Excellency the GOVERNOR has been pleased to appoint
CAPTAIN HENRY JAMES DAY, of Her Majesty's 99th Regiment of Foot,
to be Assistant Engineer, and Superintendent of Blackheath Stockade, in the room of Captain Bull.
By His Excellency's Command.
E. DEAS THOMSON
Captain Henry James Day served on Norfolk Island again as guard captain of the Sir Robert Seppings, a convict transport which returned to Hobart on 4th October, 1852. He was now accompanied by Mrs Day and eight children, four more than in 1842 when she arrived on the Candahar.



Captain and Mrs Day, arrival from London, 1842 and from Norfolk Island, 1852
AOT Arrivals Index, Surname "Day"



Arrival of Captain James Day 99th Regiment on the Sir Robert Seppings, 4th October 1852
Landed 302 male prisoners at Port Arthur.
Port Officers' Forms: Series MB2/39 (TAHO).

Their stay in Hobart was not without tragedy. Captain and Mrs Day's second eldest son, George Henry, aged 5yrs, died on 30 August 1853 while stationed at the Anglesea Barracks.



TRANSCRIPT
DEATHS
On 29th August at the Military Barracks, Hobart Town, aged 5 years and 5 months, George John, second son of Captain Day, 99th Regiment.
Source: Hobart Courier 30 August 1853

Mrs Eliza Day (nee Eliza Terry, daughter of a proctor in the Vice Admiralty), married Henry James Day at Port Louis, Mauritius in 1832. She was 19, he was 28. He was born into the Imperial Forces on Jamaica, christened in 1803, and commissioned in July 1825. Just as they were born to parents who were in service in the colonies , so were four of their eight children. Mary Jane was born on Mauritius (1833); Henrietta (1844) and George (1848) were born in NSW, and Arthur Frederick Francis was born on Norfolk Island (1850). Coincidentally, Thomas Nevin's father, John Nevin, was attested the same year, in 1825, spending the next 12 years from 1826-1838 in the West Indies before serving at the Canadian Rebellions in 1839.



Henry James Day
Christened 7 May 1803, St Catherine Jamaica. FamilySearch index and image.



Detail of Captain Henry James Day's service records
WO25/3239/346 National Archives, UK

Eight children were listed on his service record by 1863, including a son with the same name, Henry James Day, born in 1833. When the family returned again from Norfolk Island to Hobart via Port Arthur on the Southern Cross, Commander George McArthur (347 tons, 2 guns, registry at Hobarton) with the 99th Regiment, Henry James snr was listed as Major Day, accompanied by Mrs Day, five Miss Day’s and a Master Day (i.e. male child). All seven of his children, with the exception of Henry James jnr, the eldest son, were travelling with him. Also on board were 1 sergeant, 4 corporals, 27 privates, 10 women and 25 children of the 99th Regiment. They had landed 2 prisoners, 4 horses, 2 cows and part of cargo at Port Arthur before proceeding to Maitland, NSW.



Detail below: Southern Cross 7 Mar 1855 MB2/39/1/19 P1



State Library Tasmania
Day Mr Southern Cross 7 Mar 1855 MB2/39/1/19 P1
Day Mrs Southern Cross 7 Mar 1855 MB2/39/1/19 P1



State Library of Tasmania
Title: Barque “Southern Cross”, 347 tons George R. McArthur, Commander / T.G. Dutton del. et lith.; Day & Son lithrs. to the Queen
Creator: Dutton, T. G. fl. 1845-1879. (Thomas G.),
Publisher: London : W. Foster, [1853?]
Description: 1 print : coloured lithograph ; sheet 38 x 52 cm
Format: Print
ADRI: AUTAS001124068123
Source: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts
Notes: Printed lower left below image: T.G. Dutton, del. et lith. ; lower right: Day & Son lithrs. to the Queen
Inscribed lower right image: T.G.Dutton
Inscription below title: To the owner Mr. Charles Seal of Hobart Town, this print is respectfully dedicated; by his most obedient servant, the publisher
Indexed in: Hobart Town Courier, 6 July, 1853, p. 2, c. 3

The Band of the 99th Regiment provided entertainment for Hobartonians on numerous occasions between 1849 and 1855:



State Library of Tasmania
Theatre and Ball Programs on silk, 1849,1855, music by the 99th Regiment

Captain Henry James Day served in Australian waters until 1856, proceeded to Bengal 1858-9, and from there he was deployed to the Chinese Rebellions of 1860. He was awarded the Chinese Clasp of Pekin, and retired from the 99th Regiment as Honorary Colonel brevet in 1863. He died in Kensington, London in 1876 (England and Wales Death Registration Index 1837-2007, p.37)



Photographer: Felice Beato (1832 – 1909) 1860
Series of photographs taken of British forces at the Chinese Rebellions, 1860
National Gallery of Australia Collections
Right: Accession No: NGA 82.1287.41(Head Quarters, Pehtang. Mr Bowlby, Mr J. Dock, Honble Stuart Wortley, Mr HB Lock, Col Hope Crealock):... (1860)

Henry James Day's (senior) record of service, and records of more officers of the 99th Regiment, for example, Loftus John NUNN, who married Jane Anne Pedder at St Davids Church on 4 December 1851 are viewable here:

National Archives UK Ref: WO-76-47-01
NB this is a large file: The 99th Regiment Records of Officers' Services pdf.

Captain Henry James Day of the 99th Regiment (1803-1876) was the older first cousin of master mariner Captain James Day who was born at York, UK, on 10 June 1806 and died at Hobart, Tasmania on 21 November 1882. Captain James Day was Thomas J. Nevin's father-in-law, father of his wife Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day and her sister Mary Sophia Axup nee Day. He died at Mary Sophia Axup's house in Sloane St.,Battery Point, Hobart, just weeks after she gave birth to Sidney James Vernon Axup, on 31 October 1882.

Memorial to the 99th Regiment
The Anglesea Barracks was the focus of attention again for photographers in 1874 with the arrival of the American scientific team under Captain Harkness to record the Transit of Venus. The New York Times ran a report of the expedition in February 1875: New York Times on Transit of Venus in Hobart 1874 [pdf]. These two stereographs taken of the team on site are also unattributed.



State Library of Tasmania
Title: Hobart, Barrack Square
Creator(s):Unknown
Date: 1874
Location: W.L. Crowther Library ADRI: AUTAS001125299032
Location: W.L. Crowther Library ADRI: AUTAS001125299040



State Library Tasmania
Title: The last of the 99th Regt. in Hobart (1890? Williamson photographer?)
Reproduced by Beattie, J. W. 1859-1930
ADRI: AUTAS001125643429

In February 1954, Queen Elizabeth II, the first reigning monarch to visit Tasmania, inspected the gardens and memorial for the 99th Regiment at the Anglesea Barracks, shown here in this photo with the Duke of Edinburgh and Mrs Hurley, wife of Brigadier Hurley. The Maori mask and Regiment number "99" appear in the foreground.



HRH Queen Elizabeth II, at Anglesea Barracks 1954
Courtesy Archives Office of Tasmania
Ref:AB713-1-2701

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