Born c.1815-1817. One source (Dictionary of Western Australia Immigrants) states 1828 [?].
Enlisted at London on the 14th of December 1854.
Age: 37 [sic].
Height: 5' 7".
Trade: None shown.
Joined the regiment in the Crimea on the 25th of May 1855.
From Private to Corporal: 1st of June 1855.
"In confinement from the 10th-30th of November 1855 and being tried by a General Court-martial on the 27th of December 1855 was sentenced to be 'Transported for 14 years.'" No reason for this was shown, but in fact this was for murdering a soldier in the Crimea.
Discharged, effective from the 7th of April 1856.
Served 1 year 135 days to count, remainder "forfeited."
Conduct: "good, previous to trial." Not in possession of any Good Conduct badges.
Entitled to the Crimean medal with clasp for Sebastopol.
Extract from a letter home by Major Maxwell Earle of the 57th Foot:
"Dec 13th 1855.
"A dreadful tragedy took place at Kamiesch a day or two ago. A Sergeant of the 11th Hussars found a deserter whom he had been sent in search of in a public house.
The Sergt. ordered the man to surrender himself, which the latter refused to do; whereupon the former drew a pistol and without another word shot the deserter dead.
The question is, whether the Sergeant was justified in doing as he did, or is it a case of "Homicide"? Under the circumstances I should say the latter."
He was tried by a General Court-martial at Scutari on the 27th of December 1855 for "Murder" and was sentenced to 14 years' transportation.
He was shown as a Sergeant [sic] at the time of his court-martial.
(There is no trace on the muster rolls as to his ever being promoted Sergeant, the last entry for him at the time of his sentence being promulgated refers to him as being a Corporal.)
Extract from General Orders for the 29th of December 1855:
[PB: It appears that the following is a quotation, but may be EJB's paraphrase.]
At a General Court-martial held at Camp before Sebastopol, Sergeant Charles Wilson was tried on the following charges:
For that he did, at Kamiesch in the Crimea on, or about the 10th of December 1855, both feloniously and wilfully, etc., etc., kill and murder, one John Forrest.
Sergeant Wilson was then stationed at Kamiesch (or Kasatch) on some detached duty with the Telegraph and orderlies under the command of Captain Bugden and appears to have been reported by Forrest for not paying what he owed for drink at a kind of cafe where Forrest was employed.
This created an ill-feeling, and as Forrest was known to be a deserter, Sergeant Wilson, out of spite, rode up and told Forrest to follow him, as he was a deserter.
At this the deceased man asked him for his authority, saying at the same time, that if he was a deserter, what business it was of his.
The Sergeant told him that if he did not follow him he would shoot him, at which the deceased turned round and told him to "Shoot away."
Wilson there and then drew his pistol from its holster and shot him dead. Most think that this was either a case for acquittal or death - according to the circumstances brought before the Court-martial.
The Court found the prisoner "Guilty of manslaughter" and having received evidence of his previous good conduct do now adjudicate that "he be transported for a term of 14 years."
The sentence was later confirmed by the General Commanding the Forces.
On the 8th of April 1856 the following letter was sent to Lord Seaton, commanding the troops in Ireland, from the Horse Guards:
"Sir, I have the honour, by direction of the Field Marshal, Commanding-in-Chief, to transmit the enclosed letters and to request that your Lordship will be pleased to cause them to be returned together with the discharge documents of the man named in the margin complete to the 7th inst., for which date they will be confirmed by the date on which he was handed over to the civil authorities at Millbank, to which prison his parchment discharge certificate will be sent agreeably to the circular of the 2nd of July 1847 and the 30th of July 1854."
The Prison Registers for Millbank Prison in London show the following:
2520 Charles Wilson. Late a Sergeant in the 11th Hussars.
Convicted by a General Court-martial at Scutari on the 27th of December 1855, of "Manslaughter" (Shooting a deserter) and was sentenced to 14 years "transportation."
Received from the Crimea on the 22nd of April 1856.
Age: 38.
Status: Married (one child).
Trade: Weaver.
Religion: Presbyterian.
Parchment discharge certificate received on the 18th of April 1856.
Permitted to be visited by his wife, Mrs. Eliza Wilson, 14, Lawrence Street, Chelsea, London [perhaps a hotel or boarding house?].
Removed to Portland Prison on the 12th of March 1857.
The Portland Prison Registers show the following:
"No. 6786. Charles Wilson.
Convicted of manslaughter by a General Court Martial held at General Headquarters, Sebastopol on the 27th December 1855.
Aged 38 years. Married (with one child). Wife, Mrs Eliza Wilson, of 14, Lawrence Street, Chelsea.
No previous convictions. Can read and write well. In a good state of health. Of the C. of E. religion.
Confined at Scutari, 11 months, on board ship, 2 months 15 days, Millbank, 11 months 5 days, his conduct being "good" at all places, before embarking aboard "The Nile" for Western Australia on the 10th of September 1857. 270 male convicts were sent out aboard this ship.
[PB : Is this the end of a quotation?]
The Dictionary of Western Australia Immigrants (Bond). 1830-68 [exact ref?], shows the following:
Charles Wilson. Born 1828. - Married - Labourer - Literate - Protestant - Convict - Convicted Central Criminal Court 1857 [Not so] - Manslaughter, 14 years - arr. "Nile" 1/1/58. Convict No. 4523. T.L. [Ticket of Leave] 26/3/1859 - C.P. [Conditional Pardon]
July 1861 (Perth)
Notes: A "Ticket of Leave" was granted to men on probation freeing them to seek their own work if they so wished, but with the obligation of reporting each month to the local Resident Magistrate and not leaving the district without permission.)
A "Conditional Pardon" freed a man from this restriction but he was not permitted to return to England until his full term of sentence had expired. However, many C.P. men left Western Australia for the Eastern Colonies, where objections to this were raised.
In 2001 an Australian researcher [PB: this may well have been Diane Oldman (see below)] put on the Internet details of the convict ships and those aboard them: Charles Wilson, 4523, was described as aged 36, a Labourer, Married, 5' 8" in height, dark-complexioned, an oval face, grey hair, grey eyes and the distinguishing mark of a cut across the bridge of his nose.
The passengers (convicts, sailors, warders and their families et al) are listed here members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/con-wa21.html.
There is further information about the convicts, including their occupations, marital status, children, height, physical appearance, and distinguishing marks members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/conwad21.htm.
Name: Charles Wilson
Reg.no.: 4523
Term: 14y
Age at time of trial: 40
Trial place: CRIMEA
Trial date: 27 12 1855
Criminal offence: Manslaughter (ARMY)
Comments:
Occupation: labourer
M/S: M
Child: none
Height: 5' 8"
Hair: grey
Eyes: grey
Face: oval
Complexion: dark
Build: middling stout
Distinguishing marks: Cut across bridge of nose
[PB, May 2014:
A very useful detailed resource is now available online: Convicts to Australia: A Guide to Researching Your Convict Ancestors. This includes information about the ship, convicts, warders and other passengers on the Nile, including physical descriptions of convicts. There is also a useful guide to primary and secondary sources [PB].
It also includes transcripts, by Janice Hayes, of some remarkable personal letters written by Matthew Hale, the Bishop of Perth (Australia). These letters - from Bahia, Brazil, in the 3rd of November 1857, and later when approaching the coast of Western Australia on the 1st of January 1858 - describe intense convict unrest during the journey out. ]
Nile - arrived in WA in 1858
This 763-ton ship was built at Sunderland in 1849. It was employed as a convict transport for Western Australia and left Plymouth, England on September 23, 1857 bound for the Swan River Colony, stopping at Bahia, Brazil on the way. She carried the nineteenth of 37 shipments of male convicts destined for Western Australia. The voyage took 100 days and the Nile arrived in Fremantle on January 1, 1858 with 40 passengers and 268 convicts [Erickson]. W. Johnson was the captain of the vessel.
Surname: Wilson
Christian Name(s): Charles
Reg No: 4523
Term: 14 years
Age [at time of trial]: 40
Trial place: Crimea
Date: 27 12 1855
Criminal Offence: Manslaughter (Army)
Occupation: Labourer
M/S: Single
Child: None
Height: 5' 8"
Hair: Grey
Eyes: Grey
Face: Oval
Complexion: Dark
Build: Middling stout
Distinguishing marks: Cut across bridge of nose
[Sources: http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/con-wa21.html, http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/conwa21a.htm (accessed 16.5.2014). [PB]]
[PB: This url has now changed, and the website (now titled "Crimean War Veterans in Western Australia") much developed. It is run by Diane Oldman.]
WILSON, Charles
Regiment: 11th (Prince Albert's Own) Hussars.
Rank & No. Corporal #1802.
Year of Birth: c. 1818.
Medals: Crimea War Medal (Sebastopol). Turkish Crimea Medal.
General Court Martial Date & Place: 26-27 Dec 1855. Sevastopol, Crimea.
Charge: Murder (later Manslaughter).
Sentence: Fourteen years transportation.
Convict No. 4523.
Convict Ship & Arrival Date: Nile. 01 Jan 1858.
Ticket of Leave: 26 Mar 1859.
Conditional Pardon: Jul 1861.
Certificate of Freedom:
Year of Death: 03 May 1886.
__________
Sources
Crimean War Medal Rolls WO100-22 to 34, National Archives, Kew. Indexed and imaged by ancestry.com.
General Courts Martial Registers, Abroad WO90, National Archives, Kew. Microfilmed AJCP.
Assorted Chatham, Millbank, Pentonville and Portland Prison Registers, courtesy Bevan Carter and Marcia Watson.
Convict Transportation Registers HO11-18 to 19, National Archives, Indexed and imaged by ancestry.com.
E J Boys Archive Website.
Dead Persons Society, Perth (DPS), Website.
Dictionary of WA Vol. 9, Convicts in WA 1850-1887, Rica Erickson & Gillian O'Mara.
Fremantle Prison Website.
Military - Crimean and Indian Mutiny Veterans, State Records Office Cons. 752-1919-2479.
[Source: Diane Oldman, Crimean War Veterans in Western Australia: Trials and Tribulations, and Charles Wilson (accessed 14.11.2017).]
His fellow member of the 11th Hussars, 1680 William Thistle, was also transported as a convict on the Nile at this time, along with a number of men, also court-martialled, from other regiments.