Norfolk Island convict mutinies

1826 convict rebellion
Date 25 September 1826 Location Norfolk Island Result Unsuccessful escape attempt
Belligerents
Convict insurgents	British Army
Commanders and leaders
"Black" John Goff	Vance Young Donaldson
Strength
over 50
Casualties and losses
3 convicts hung	1 soldier killed

Capture of the Wellington
Date 21 December 1826 Location Norfolk Island Result Mutiny successful though later captured
Belligerents
Convict insurgents
Commanders and leaders
John Walton
Strength
66 convicts
Casualties and losses
2 killed 5 executed

1827 Uprising
Date October 1827 Location Norfolk Island Result Unsuccessful uprising
Belligerents
Convict insurgents	British Army
Commanders and leaders
Patrick Clynch	Thomas Wright

1830 Escape
Date 19 June 1830 Location Norfolk Island Result Unsuccessful escape
Belligerents
Convict insurgents	British Army
Commanders and leaders
	Lt Borough
Strength
11 convicts
Casualties and losses
11 convicts drowned (presumed)

1834 Convict Rebellion
Date 15 January 1834 Location Norfolk Island Result Rebellion crushed
Belligerents
Convict insurgents	British Army
Commanders and leaders
	Captain Foster Fyans
Strength
over 100
Casualties and losses
6 dead	1 soldier dead 1 guard dead

1846 Convict Rebellion
Date 1 July 1846 Location Norfolk Island Result Rebellion crushed
Belligerents
Convict insurgents	British Army
Commanders and leaders
William "Jackey Jackey" Westwood	Joseph Childs
Strength
1,600
Casualties and losses
17 convicts executed	4 officials killed

Norfolk Island convict mutinies were a series of armed uprisings by convicts on the penal colony of Norfolk Island. All were unsuccessful.

The first convict rebellion took place in September 1826.

It was led by "Black" John Goff. He arranged for two convict decoys to make an escape attempt; they were followed by several soldiers. While this happened, fifty convicts seized and bound their overseers, robbed the stores for provisions and put three boats to sea. One soldier was killed, bayoneted to death, while others were wounded.

The convicts sailed to Phillip Island where they were eventually re-captured, although some eluded the authorities for up to six months.

The ringleaders – Goff, William Moore and Edward Watson – were tried and hung in Sydney in 1827. The Chief Justice said when passing sentence on John Goff:

You... have detailed to the Court a long complaint of the hardships you have undergone, of your love of liberty, and of the degree of violence which you thought yourself justified in using to obtain it. By your own statement your whole life has been one career of crime... It is within the recollection of this Court, how near you were, at no distant period, to have been consigned to the grave, and happy would it have been for you had your career then terminated without the additional crime of the blood of a fellow creature being added to the list... With respect to the general harsh treatment of which you complain on Norfolk Island, what are men sent there for? It is within the knowledge of the Court that they are never sent except for crimes of the deepest dye; and is it then to be supposed that they are sent there to be indulged, to be fed with the fruits of the earth and that they are not to work in chains? No, the object in sending men there is not only as a punishment for their past crimes, but to serve as a terror to others; and so far from it being a reproach, as you have stated it, it is a wise project of the Government in instituting that settlement for the punishment of the twice and thrice convicted felon, as a place of terror to evil doers, and in order to repress the mass of crime with which the Colony unhappily abounds.

On 21 December 1826, the ship Wellington was seized by the 66 convicts it was taking to Norfolk Island. 20 of the ship's crew and soldiers were kept prisoners. Soldiers had kept firing through the bulk head into the hold until it became apparent that crew members were in danger of being injured.

The convict Walton appointed himself captain of the vessel, Douglas as first mate and "Flash Jack" Edwards as second mate and Clay as steward. A gale sprang up and the sailors were asked to help work on the ship. They refused at first but changed their mind with the consent of the captain.

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Wikipedia