Clock and watchmaker John Porter was recorded as a 26-year-old widower with one child when he appeared in a Lancaster court in April 1831. His crime of stealing clothing resulted in a seven-year sentence and deportation to the other side of the world. Following a few months on a hulk (a decommissioned ship used as a floating prison), John departed England in March 1832 on the convict ship England. On 20 July 1832, The Hobart Town Courier reported the ship’s arrival in Van Diemen’s Land; John was one of the 198 male prisoners who disembarked.
His first year in Van Diemen’s was eventful. John was charged with drunkenness, leaving his master’s premises without permission, and denying having a watch in his possession. He also allegedly attempted to obtain payment for repairs to the watch. Overnight stints in a cell, time on the treadwheel, and labouring on a road party for 12 months were some of the harsh punishments he received.
Three years later, another watch incident caused John some trouble. It seems he unlawfully took Edward Young’s watch, resulting in the revocation of his ticket of leave and 12 months hard labour on the St Peters Pass road party. The late 1830s appeared to be more settled for John. He was issued a Certificate of Freedom in April 1838 and, the following year, advertised working as a watchmaker on Wellington Street in Launceston. By August 1839, John moved to another premises on Charles Street, opposite the Commercial Bank and next door to the chemist Mr Roberts. He advertised clocks, watches, jewellery (including wedding rings), repairs and manufacturing services. In 1839, he joined watchmaker and jeweller James Robe in a business partnership for a short time.
James Robe relocated to Hobart in the early 1840s, where he continued in business until 1847. John also moved south and, in 1843, was involved in a burglary at New Norfolk at the home of baker Mr Charles Grist. Items stolen, including money and a looking glass, were taken while the Grist family attended church. Accomplice, Charles Simpson, and John were both sentenced to life. John served four years of the sentence at Port Arthur, where his trade again brought him trouble. Solitary confinement and hard labour in chains were some of the punishments he was dealt for misbehaviour and destroying a watchmaker’s eyeglass.
Back in Launceston in March 1849, and already under a life sentence, the authorities sentenced John to an additional 12 months of hard labour in chains for receiving stolen silverware. Sent to Port Arthur again, John absconded a few times and, for one escapade, served six months in prison. By 1852, he worked for watchmaker Thomas Hamilton on Liverpool Street in Hobart. For the next five years, John was back and forth between Hamilton and the Police Barracks due to misconduct, absconding, drunkenness and being absent without leave. Despite receiving a ticket of leave and permission to marry in 1857, no marriage record has been found. In 1858, John’s trade and association with watches caused him more problems. Illegally pawning watches saw his ticket of leave revoked, plus six months of hard labour.
During the 1860s, John was still unsettled – absconding , stealing a watch while working as a watchmaker at Oatlands, and three years in gaol. He was convicted again in 1866 and served a three-month sentence for being idle and disorderly. By this time, John was in his late 60s. Finally, in 1866, after over three decades since his arrival in the colony, he received a free pardon. John’s troubled time in Van Diemen’s Land came to an end on 4 May 1872 at Oatlands. Recorded as a watchmaker about 70 years of age, he died from natural causes.
© Sallie Mulligan, July 2024.
References:
See – https://handsoftime.com.au/listings/porter-john/
