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Henry Beresford Garrett
Henry Beresford Garrett (c. 1818 – 3 September 1885) was a habitual criminal who served prison sentences in England, Tasmania, Victoria and New Zealand. Born Henry Rouse, he used a number of aliases including 'Long Harry' and Henry Beresford Garrett.
Henry Rouse was born in about 1818 at Bottesford, Leicestershire, England, the son of tenant farmer Thomas Rouse and his wife Catherine. The fourth of five children, Rouse's mother died when he was three and thereafter the children lived with a grandmother until Thomas Rouse remarried in 1832. Later in his life Henry wrote that his father had neglected him during the period he was in the care of his grandmother. Henry Rouse had little schooling, but learnt the trade of coopering.
In January 1842 Henry Rouse was tried in the county of Leicester for assaulting a gamekeeper, and received a sentence of three months' imprisonment "and sureties". Prior to July 1845 Rouse was described as "a native of Hose", a village about 16 km south-west of Bottesford. Rouse had a fearsome reputation from his time at Hose. A decade after he had been transported to Australia the local newspaper claimed that “several parties have dreaded the return of this man, who would endanger both their lives and property”. It was asserted that Rouse had “been heard to say that he should no more mind taking the life of a man than that of a dog”. On 25 July 1845 he was sentenced to 10 years' transportation at the Nottingham County Assizes for "shop breaking". Rouse, in company with two other men, had stolen cloth to the value of £50 from a tailor in Bingham, Nottinghamshire (about 13 km north-west of Hose). He was sent from England on 25 August 1845 on board the Mayda with 198 other convicts.
Henry Rouse was initially incarcerated on Norfolk Island, arriving there in December 1845 aboard the Mayda. At the time of his arrival "mutinous disturbances" were reportedly occurring in the penal settlement, then under the administration of Major Childs. On the morning of 1 July 1846 a serious outbreak occurred (later known as the ‘cooking pot riot’) which resulted in a riot and the murders of three convict-constables and an overseer. Shortly afterwards Major Childs was replaced by John Price, formerly Police Magistrate at Hobart Town. Price's period as Commandant of the Norfolk Island penal settlement was characterised by his merciless exercise of authority. The short period that Henry Rouse lived under Price's administration left a deep impression on him. Later in his life he wrote about John Price, whom he called ‘the Demon’.
In 1847 Rouse was transferred from Norfolk Island to the Hobart district of Van Diemen's Land. By mid-1848 he was confined at Cascades, on the outskirts of Hobart Town, probably at the Probation station where, amongst other activities, timber was being milled (some of it for conveyance to England). In July 1848 Rouse was given a period of hard labour for “making private clothing in Gov’t hours”. Later the same year an incident of misconduct involving “shouting & hiding in his cell” was noted on his convict record. He did, however, receive one positive notation on his record for his services as a monitor (possibly in a school-room situation at the station), probably a position he attained because he could read and write.
By February 1849 Rouse, probably in his capacity as a cooper, was assigned to John Johnson at the New Wharf, the waterfront precinct of Hobart Town. Henry Rouse absconded from his master in August 1849, but was captured soon afterwards. In October an extra eighteen months were added to his sentence and he was sent to the Darlington Probation Station on Maria Island, off the east coast of Tasmania. The Probation Station on Maria Island was in its last few years of operation and by 1850 it had closed.
By July 1850 Henry Rouse was assigned to Thomas Jennings in Hobart Town. However, on July 18 he was discharged and returned to Government control when he was discovered “out after hours” and being suspected of involvement in a robbery at Johnston's stores. The next day Rouse absconded, but he was probably caught soon afterwards. In February 1851 he applied for a ticket-of-leave but it was refused. Rouse was assigned to John Darley at New Norfolk and then in March 1851 to Joseph Jennings at New Town (about 2 miles north of Hobart Town). In October 1851, amongst the items advertised as lost property at the Central Police Office (“a large proportion taken from prisoners of the Crown”), was a silver watch by Breguet which had been recovered from “Henry Rouse, a pass-holder”.
By the early 1850s Henry Rouse had managed to cross Bass Strait and was living in the Colony of Victoria, initially working as a cooper in Geelong. Whether he arrived as a free man or as an escaped convict is not known, but the latter seems likely with his ‘Rouse’ surname no longer being used.
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Henry Beresford Garrett
Henry Beresford Garrett (c. 1818 – 3 September 1885) was a habitual criminal who served prison sentences in England, Tasmania, Victoria and New Zealand. Born Henry Rouse, he used a number of aliases including 'Long Harry' and Henry Beresford Garrett.
Henry Rouse was born in about 1818 at Bottesford, Leicestershire, England, the son of tenant farmer Thomas Rouse and his wife Catherine. The fourth of five children, Rouse's mother died when he was three and thereafter the children lived with a grandmother until Thomas Rouse remarried in 1832. Later in his life Henry wrote that his father had neglected him during the period he was in the care of his grandmother. Henry Rouse had little schooling, but learnt the trade of coopering.
In January 1842 Henry Rouse was tried in the county of Leicester for assaulting a gamekeeper, and received a sentence of three months' imprisonment "and sureties". Prior to July 1845 Rouse was described as "a native of Hose", a village about 16 km south-west of Bottesford. Rouse had a fearsome reputation from his time at Hose. A decade after he had been transported to Australia the local newspaper claimed that “several parties have dreaded the return of this man, who would endanger both their lives and property”. It was asserted that Rouse had “been heard to say that he should no more mind taking the life of a man than that of a dog”. On 25 July 1845 he was sentenced to 10 years' transportation at the Nottingham County Assizes for "shop breaking". Rouse, in company with two other men, had stolen cloth to the value of £50 from a tailor in Bingham, Nottinghamshire (about 13 km north-west of Hose). He was sent from England on 25 August 1845 on board the Mayda with 198 other convicts.
Henry Rouse was initially incarcerated on Norfolk Island, arriving there in December 1845 aboard the Mayda. At the time of his arrival "mutinous disturbances" were reportedly occurring in the penal settlement, then under the administration of Major Childs. On the morning of 1 July 1846 a serious outbreak occurred (later known as the ‘cooking pot riot’) which resulted in a riot and the murders of three convict-constables and an overseer. Shortly afterwards Major Childs was replaced by John Price, formerly Police Magistrate at Hobart Town. Price's period as Commandant of the Norfolk Island penal settlement was characterised by his merciless exercise of authority. The short period that Henry Rouse lived under Price's administration left a deep impression on him. Later in his life he wrote about John Price, whom he called ‘the Demon’.
In 1847 Rouse was transferred from Norfolk Island to the Hobart district of Van Diemen's Land. By mid-1848 he was confined at Cascades, on the outskirts of Hobart Town, probably at the Probation station where, amongst other activities, timber was being milled (some of it for conveyance to England). In July 1848 Rouse was given a period of hard labour for “making private clothing in Gov’t hours”. Later the same year an incident of misconduct involving “shouting & hiding in his cell” was noted on his convict record. He did, however, receive one positive notation on his record for his services as a monitor (possibly in a school-room situation at the station), probably a position he attained because he could read and write.
By February 1849 Rouse, probably in his capacity as a cooper, was assigned to John Johnson at the New Wharf, the waterfront precinct of Hobart Town. Henry Rouse absconded from his master in August 1849, but was captured soon afterwards. In October an extra eighteen months were added to his sentence and he was sent to the Darlington Probation Station on Maria Island, off the east coast of Tasmania. The Probation Station on Maria Island was in its last few years of operation and by 1850 it had closed.
By July 1850 Henry Rouse was assigned to Thomas Jennings in Hobart Town. However, on July 18 he was discharged and returned to Government control when he was discovered “out after hours” and being suspected of involvement in a robbery at Johnston's stores. The next day Rouse absconded, but he was probably caught soon afterwards. In February 1851 he applied for a ticket-of-leave but it was refused. Rouse was assigned to John Darley at New Norfolk and then in March 1851 to Joseph Jennings at New Town (about 2 miles north of Hobart Town). In October 1851, amongst the items advertised as lost property at the Central Police Office (“a large proportion taken from prisoners of the Crown”), was a silver watch by Breguet which had been recovered from “Henry Rouse, a pass-holder”.
By the early 1850s Henry Rouse had managed to cross Bass Strait and was living in the Colony of Victoria, initially working as a cooper in Geelong. Whether he arrived as a free man or as an escaped convict is not known, but the latter seems likely with his ‘Rouse’ surname no longer being used.
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