Prisoner FISHER, George
TMAG Ref: Q15616
Photographer: Thomas J. Nevin 1874
George Fisher had served a sentence of 12 years for the crime of burglary committed in 1861. He was discharged on 17th April 1874, granted a ticket-of-leave, and re-offended within months. Thomas Nevin's commission to photograph prisoners on arraignment at the Supreme Court from the early 1870s proved most effective when this photograph of Fisher, taken in December 1874 on Fisher's incarceration at the Hobart Gaol Campbell St. for "forging an order to defraud J. E. Risby" was reprinted and re-issued for his re-arrest in 1877 for the burglary at Sir Francis Smith's home. George Fisher had been sentenced to 12 years in December 1874 by the Chief Justice, and sent to Port Arthur, arriving there on Christmas Day. He was transferred back to the Hobart Gaol one year later in December 1875. In August 1877, he managed to abscond, broke into the Chief Justice's home and stole several articles of clothing and other items of personal property. The mugshot being examined by Sir Francis Smith in this reprint by Beattie for the Members of Parliament album (1895) was issued with the arrest warrant for Fisher in 1877, as one of Nevin's several duplicates taken in December 1874 - January 1875.
Left: Prisoner George Fisher December 1874 (NLA Collection)
Right: Chief Justice Sir Francis Smith 1877 (TAHO Collection)
Photographs by Thomas J. Nevin, Supreme Court, Hobart.
Rough Calendar of the Hobart Supreme Court
Habitual criminal George Fisher was sentenced twice - in 1875 and 1877 - at the Supreme Court Hobart by Chief Justice Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith. These records are from the Supreme Court Calendars which were used by photographer Thomas J. Nevin as an indication of which Oyer sessions he need to attend, and which prisoners he needed to photograph around the date of sentencing. A simple tick next to the prisoner's name showed that a bill was issued and paid, and a photograph taken. The "C. J" initials against a name or sentence indicate the judgement passed by the Chief Justice Sir Francis Smith.
Supreme Court Records, TAHO Ref: GD70-1-1
George Fisher, 1st December, 1874, page 35.
Supreme Court Records, TAHO Ref: GD70-1-1
George Fisher, 31st August, 1877, page 59
In reverse order, these official records document George Fisher's criminal career from this sentence in 1877 back to his earliest record of arrival in VDL in 1845.
1877: arrest and arraignment
.
Warrants issued for the arrest of George Fisher, 3rd August 1877 and the 7th September 1877.
TRANSCRIPT
WARRANTS ISSUED, AND NOW IN THIS OFFICE
HOBART TOWN. - On the 3rd instant, by E. Maher, Esquire, J.P., for the arrest of George Fisher, charged with having, on the 32st ultimo, at Hobart Town, feloniously and burglariously broken and entered the dwelling-house of Sir Francis Smith and stolen therefrom one blue cloth sacque coat, value £4, two pairs of coloured blankets, value £5, and other articles, amounting in all to the value of £15, the property of Sir Francis Smith.
For description see Crime Report of the 31st ultimo, page 138, Absconded.
George Fisher was arrested on 14th September 1877
George Fisher per Stratheden, TL, arraigned in the Supreme Court, 27th November 1877 for burglary, sentenced to six years.
1875: transferred to the Hobart Gaol from Port Arthur
This photograph was taken by T. J. Nevin at the Hobart Gaol in December 1874 prior to Fisher's departure for the Port Arthur prison. It was not taken at the Port Arthur prison, nor was this prisoner mugshot or any other mugshot taken by the Port Arthur's former commandant A. H. Boyd who was forced to resign under suspicion of corruption in December 1873, despite claims by his descendants and their apologists. George Fisher, per Stratheden, TL, 48 years old, was arraigned in the Supreme Court Hobart, 1st December 1874, photographed and sentenced to 12 years for forgery and stealing. He was sent to the Port Arthur prison, arriving there three weeks later on Christmas Day, 25th December, 1874. He was sent back to the Hobart Gaol, Campbell Street, on 5th December 1875, spending just 12 months there.
NLA Catalogue. photograph by T. J. Nevin December 1874, taken at the Hobart Gaol
Verso inscription:George Fisher, per Streathaden [i.e. Stratheden], taken at Port Arthur, 1874 [incorrect information]
1 photograph on carte-de-visite mount : albumen ; 9.3 x 5.6 cm
Part of collection: Convict portraits, Port Arthur, 1874.
Gunson Collection file 203/7/54.
Inscription: "227"--On reverse.
George Fisher’s record 1875-1877 from the Port Arthur Conduct Registers
TAHO Records ref: CON94-1-2_00110_S
George Fisher, per Stratheden, was sent to the Port Arthur prison, arriving there on Christmas Day, 25th December, 1874. He was sent back to the Hobart Gaol, Campbell Street, on 5th December 1875.
1874: Ticket of leave and recidivism
Geoge Fisher per Stratheden was enlarged with a TOL on 15th April 1874
George Fisher had served a sentence of 12 years for the crime of burglary committed in 1861. He was discharged on 17th April 1874, granted a ticket-of-leave, and re-offended within months.
Source: Tasmania Reports of Crimes for Police (weekly police gazettes)
George Fisher, per Stratheden, TL, 48 years old, was arraigned in the Supreme Court Hobart, 1st December 1874, sentenced to 12 years for forgery and stealing. He was sent to the Port Arthur prison, arriving there on Christmas Day, 25 the December, 1874. He was sent back to the Hobart Gaol, Campbell Street, on 5th December 1875, spending just 12 months there.
1871: Letter from Port Arthur
George Fisher appeared to be literate and polite, despite his criminality, if indeed he penned this letter himself. On the retirement of the physician Dr. G.J. Dinham from Port Arthur, George Fisher sent him this letter, dated 14th June 1871:
Title: Copy of letter dated from George Fisher prisoner to Dr. G.J. Dinham on his retirement from Port Arthur
Description: 1 photographic print
Format: Photograph
ADRI: NS1264-1-1
Source: Archives Office of Tasmania
1861: Burglary
In 1861, George Fisher was sentenced to twelve years for burglary which he served at Port Arthur until he was enlarged with a ticket-of-leave in 1874. See the transportation record below for the lengthy list of offences committed from arrival in 1845 until 1874.
1855: Marriage
Name: Boatwright, Elizabeth
Record Type: Marriage Permissions
Ship/free: Cadet
Marriage to: Fisher, George
Ship/free: Stratheden
Permission date:22 Jan 1855
Document ID:
NAME_INDEXES:1243862
Resource CON52/1/7 Page 126
RGD37/14 : 1855/448
1845: Transportation Records
State Library of Tasmania
FISHER, George
Convict No: 23396
Extra Identifier:
SEE Surname:
SEE Given Names:
Voyage Ship: Stratheden
Voyage No: 261
Arrival Date: 25 Dec 1845
Departure Date: 03 Aug 1845
Departure Port: London
Conduct Record: CON33/1/73, CON94/1/ p47
Muster Roll:
Appropriation List: CON27/1/11
Other Records:
Indent: CON14/1/33
Description List: CON18/1/46
Sir Francis Smith (1819–1909)
Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith administered the colony in 1874-75 and did so again in 1880. The Australian Dictionary of Biography details his birth, education and judicial career.
Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith (1818-1890) ca. late 1870s
1 photograph : sepia toning ; 14 x 10 cm.
Title inscribed in pencil beneath image in unknown hand.
In: Members of the Parliaments of Tasmania - no. 66 / photographed by J.W. Beattie.
Location: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts
https://stors.tas.gov.au/AUTAS001136190915
Although this photograph is accredited to J.W. Beattie (1859-1930) by the State Library of Tasmania, it is a reprint made several decades later than the original capture taken in the late 1870s . Here the Tasmanian administrator, Attorney-General and Chief Justice, who was born in 1818, looks like a man in his fifties. He appears to be about 15 years older than his earlier 1860s portrait by Reutlinger, Paris 1860s, (below) which portrays a man in his early forties. Sir Francis Smith would have been an old man of eighty years or so by the time Beattie produced his Members of the Parliaments of Tasmania series in 1895-1900, and clearly this is not a portrait of an eighty year old. It is yet another reprint by Beattie without acknowledgement to the original photographer.
ADDENDA
Archives Office of Tasmania Guide to the Public Records of Tasmania – Section Two – Governor’s Office Record Group
APPENDIX A Succession of Governors and Administrators
- Colonel Thomas F. Gore Browne, 25th Regiment, 11 Dec. 1861-30 Dec. 1868.
- Lieutenant-Colonel William C. Trevor, 14th Regiment (Administrator),
30 Dec. 1868-15 Jan. 1869.
- Charles Du Cane Esq., 15 Jan. 1869-28 Nov. 1874.
- Sir Francis Smith (Administrator), 30 Nov. 1874-13 Jan. 1875,
- Frederick A. Weld, Esq., 13 Jan. 1875-5 Apr. 1880.
- Sir Francis Smith (Administrator), 6 Apr.-21 Oct. 1880.
- Lieut.-General Sir John Henry Lefroy, R.A., (Administrator), 21 Oct. 1880-Dec.
1881.
- Sir George C. Strahan, R.A., 7 Dec. 1881-28 Oct. 1886.
- W. R. Giblin, Esq., (Administrator), 29 Oct.-18 Nov. 1886.
- Sir William L. Dobson (Administrator), 18 Nov. 1886-11 Mar. 1887.
- Sir Robert G. C. Hamilton, 11 Mar. 1887-30 Nov. 1892.
- Sir William L. Dobson (Administrator), 1 Dec. 1892-8 Aug. 1893.
- Rt. Hon. J. W. Joseph, Viscount Gormanston, 8 Aug. 1893-14 Aug. 1900.
Sir Francis Smith (1818-1909)
Creator(s): Reutlinger, Charles
Date: 186-?
Description: 1 photograph : sepia toning ; 9 x 6 cm.
Notes: Exact measurements 89 x 56 mm, Title inscribed in pencil on verso in unknown hand., Head and shoulders facing front.
Subjects: Smith, Francis Villeneuve - Sir - 1818-1909
Location: Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts
https://stors.tas.gov.au/AUTAS001125883934w800
Supreme Court Calendars 1870-1882
The "C. J" initials against a sentence indicate the judgement passed by the Chief Justice Sir Francis Smith. The initials "P. O." indicates Police Office. Dozens of photographs of prisoners taken at these sessions by T. J. Nevin are extant in public collections.
Tuesday, 19th September 1872: George Willis and William Mumford
Supreme Court Calendars, TAHO Ref: GD70-1-1
In 1883, Chief Justice Sir Francis Smith signed the death warrant for James Sutherland. Thomas Nevin's hand-tinted carte-de-visite photograph of prisoner Sutherland was pasted next to the death warrant at the Hobart Gaol when the records were bound in book form.
Detail: hand-tinting on photograph by T. J. Nevin of James Sutherland, June 1883
Carte-de-visite in buff mount pasted on page opposite of Sutherland's death warrant
Death Warrants V.D.L. Tasmania Supreme Court. Mitchell Library C203.
Photos copyright © KLW NFC Imprint 2009
Royal Arms insignia, colonial warrant
Tasmania, Supreme Court Death Warrants
Mitchell Library NSW C203
Photos copyright © KLW NFC 2009
The death warrant for the execution of James Sutherland at the Hobart Gaol 1883 was signed by Chief Justice Sir Francis Villeneuve Smith. The black seal attached to these Supreme Court of Tasmania warrants is the Royal Arms insignia used by the colonial government on all their judicial documents. It was also designated for use as Thomas J. Nevin's government contractor studio stamp which was printed on the versos of prisoner photographs (one per batch of 100 was submitted for his commission while still operating as a commercial photographer), and on the versos of photographs taken of government officials and their families (extant in public collections at the QVMAG, the SLNSW, the TMAG, the NZNL, and in private collections.)
Versos: T.J. Nevin [photographer]: Tasmanian prisoners cdvs
State Library NSW Ref: PXB 274
Photos taken at the State Library NSW
Copyright © KLW NFC 2009-2015 ARR
RELATED POSTS main weblog
- "In a New Light": NLA exhibition with Boyd misattribution
- Blame it on Beattie: the Members of Parliament photographs
- Sir Francis Smith, the death warrant, and the photographer
- Prisoner Richard Copping and the Hobart Gaol executions