The Parkhurst apprentices, juveniles from a reformatory attached to Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight, were sentenced to "transportation beyond the seas" and transported to Australia and New Zealand between 1842 and 1852. Either before leaving EnglandGill (2004), page 1: "Once in the colony, they were pardoned on two conditions..." or on arrival at their destination,Statham (1981), page 6" "... these boys had received conditional pardons prior to leaving England..." they were pardoned on the conditions that they be "apprenticed" to local employers, and that they not return to England during the term of their sentence. In the ten years between 1842 and 1852 nearly 1500 boys aged from twelve to eighteen were transported to Australia and New Zealand from Parkhurst Prison.

Parkhurst apprentices in Western Australia

Early in 1839, Governor of Western Australia John Hutt received from the Colonial Office a circular asking if the colony would be prepared to accept juvenile prisoners who had first been reformed in "penitentiaries especially adapted for the purpose of their education and reformation". After seeking comment from the Western Australian Agricultural Society, Hutt responded that "The Majority of the Community would not object to boys not above 15 years of age...." but that the labour market could not support more than 30 boys per year.

Between 1842 and 1849, Western Australia accepted 234 Parkhurst apprentices, all males aged between 10 and 21 years. As Western Australia was not then a penal colony, contemporary documents scrupulously avoided referring to the youths as "convicts", and most historians have maintained the distinction. An opposing view, held for example by Gill (2004), is that the Parkhurst apprentices were convicts, and that their apprenticeship constituted convict assignment.Robbins, W.M. review of Gill's (2004) Convict Assignment at (vol 88. May 2005) 'In short, Gill argues that convict transportation to WA arrived in a disguised form and at an earlier time than is commonly thought. Between 1842 and 1852 Gill finds that 243 young British juvenile offenders were transported to WA even though officially they were described as 'apprentices' '

John Schoales jun. (c. 1810 – 10 April 1847), son of John Schoales QC of Dublin. was appointed Guardian of the apprentices. He determined the allowance they were paid, holding it in trust until their 5-year indenture period was over. The Parkhurst Visitors insisted that names of the boys not be published in the Government Gazette, in order that they were not discriminated against. Schoales was succeeded as Guardian by Frederick Dirck Wittenoom (c. 1821–1863).

Parkhurst apprentices were employed by a broad cross-section of Western Australia's businessmen and officials, including many of the colony's ruling class. Among the long list of Parkhurst apprentice employers were Governor Andrew Clarke, Frederick Irwin, George Fletcher Moore, Anthony O'Grady Lefroy, William Locke Brockman, Thomas Brown, George Walpole Leake, Walter Padbury, Stephen Stanley Parker, Rosendo Salvado Thomas Peel JR and George Shenton Sr.

The assimilation of Parkhurst apprentices played an important role in the later acceptance of convicts in Western Australia.

New Zealand One hundred and twenty three Parkhurst apprentices were sent to the Colony of New Zealand in 1842 and 1843. These had not been invited to the convict-free colony, and were a great surprise when the first ship arrived. After the second ship, the colony successfully petitioned that no more would be sent.

South Australia The Colony of South Australia was also asked to accept Parkhurst Boys, but resisted and none was sent there.

List of ships List of ships that brought Parkhurst apprentices to Australia and New Zealand Ship Arrival Parkhurstapprentices Colony Simon Taylor August 1842 18 Western Australia St George November 1842 92 New Zealand Shepherd October 1843 28 Western Australia Mandarin October 1843 51 Tasmania Mandarin November 1843 31 New Zealand Halifax December 1844 18 Western Australia Strathedin December 1845 74 Tasmania January 1846 16 Western Australia Maitland October 1846 70 Victoria Thomas Arbuthnot May 1847 89 Victoria Joseph Somes September 1847 84 Victoria Marion January 1848 125 Victoria Orient March 1848 51 Western Australia Eden February 1849 62 Victoria Ameer February 1849 50 Western Australia abt July 1849 29 Tasmania Randolph August 1849 85 Victoria Mary October 1849 53 Western Australia Adelaide November 1849 30 Tasmania Blenheim July 1850 85 Tasmania Maria Somes August 1850 30 Tasmania Nile October 1850 30 Tasmania Rodney November 1850 40 Tasmania Mermaid May 1851 43 Western Australia May 1851 Tasmania and Norfolk Island Pyrenees June 1851 29 Western Australia Minden October 1851 30 Western Australia Aboukir December 1851 Tasmania Fairlie March 1852 30 Tasmania Equestrian August 1852 Tasmania Oriental Queen October 1852 Tasmania Dudbrook February 1853 1 Western Australia Lincelles January 1862 1 Western Australia

References

Further reading Gill, Andrew (1997) Forced labour for the west : Parkhurst convicts 'apprenticed' in Western Australia 1842–1851 Maylands, W.A. : Blatellae Books, Gill, Andrew (2004). Convict assignment in Western Australia: The Parkhurst 'Apprentices' 1842–1851. Blatellae Books, Maylands, Western Australia. . (revised edition) Statham, Pamela (1981). Why Convicts I: An economic analysis of colonial attitudes to the introduction of convicts in Stannage, C. T. (ed) (1981), Studies in Western Australian History IV: Convictism in Western Australia, University of Western Australia.