The Rook Family Tree

East kent January Sessions 1837

Starting on Tuesday the 3rd Day of January and ending on Wednesday the 4th Day of January.

Saint Augustine's Gaol Calendar

William Rook - Convicted of Felony in having broken and entered a Dwelling House and stolen therein property to the value of five pounds, and upwards, is ordered and adjudged by this court to be transported beyond the seas for the term of his life pursuant to the statutes in that Behalf provided.

The following articles are with many thanks to my cousin Daryl Rook.

Below are the letters that William Deeds Esq. Chairman of the East Kent Sessions sent in (to the High Court I presume?) these being the Petition of Clemency.

N.B. William had his sentenced reduced to 14 years on the 4th March 1837.

petition part 1

Below: Letter sent in from the Court House in Faversham? Mr Shepherd, Solicitor for the Prosecution? Probably sent, along with the petition and William's letter to Mr Deedes Esq. Chairman of the East Kent Sessions.

mr shepherd

Below: William Rook's letter for Mercy written soon after sentencing; William seems to have already been placed on the 'Fortitude' Hulk probably at Chatham Dockyard. I'm unsure how long he spent inside Millbank Prison, but it is from there that his pardon was issued.

part 4

The Fortitude; when asking Chatham Dockyards archives department I received the following reply:

Prison ships and Convict ships were nothing to do with HM Dockyard but were the concern of the Prison Service and the Home office. The Dockyards occasionally used prisoner labour. I can confirm that HMS Fortitude, 3rd rate,74 guns, was launched with the name HMS Cumberland in 1807. She was used as a Convict Hulk at Sheerness in 1830 and was renamed Fortitude in November 1833. She was sold to un-named buyer in 1870. HM Prison Service might have more information as might The National Archive at Kew and it is worth trying the National Maritime Museum. We do not have an image of her here.

Below: The Pardon dated 29th September 1840.

warrent