Nenagh author on convict voyage that turned deadly

'Mutiny or Murder? The Bloodsoaked Voyage of the Chapman Convict Ship' is the third book from Nenagh-based historian and author Conor Reidy.

The book reconstructs the true story of the horrific voyage of the 'Chapman' from Ireland to Australia in mid-1817. Using daily journals kept by the captain and surgeon, witness testimony from convict survivors, and the minutes of investigations held in Sydney between September and November 1817, the book outlines a horror story that unfolded across hemispheres and out of sight of land-based authorities.

On March 15th 1817 the 'Chapman' convict ship left the Cove of Cork (modern-day Cobh), destined for Sydney in New South Wales. On board were 200 male prisoners from all parts of Ireland. They were convicted and sentenced for a variety of crimes including felony, house-breaking, robbery, forgery, animal theft and picking pockets. Just one was convicted of murder and one for an offence under the Insurrection Act. The majority of those on this ship would be described as petty criminals by modern standards.

The voyage should have been a fairly regular affair. Such sailings were leaving Cork since 1791. By 1817, the transportation system was well on the way to being a finely-tuned operation. Death from disease had significantly decreased thanks to the recent introduction of the role of surgeon-superintendent. Every ship contained a prison into which the convicts were locked when they were not allowed up on deck. Discipline was maintained by a group of armed soldiers who patrolled the decks night and day.

Just one month into the voyage, however, things began to go horribly wrong. Rumours of a possible convict mutiny were growing for some time and resulted in a sharp rise in tension and suspicion among the soldiers and senior crew. Allegations that the convicts were planning to kill the crew and redirect the 'Chapman' to America were started by one of their own, a Cork-born animal thief named Michael Collins.

Deep into the darkness of the night of April 17th a prolonged slaughter took place when the soldiers aimed their firearms into the prison and began shooting indiscriminately. Three convicts died that night and several more during the following days. A second shooting incident ten days later increased the death toll.

As the killing continued, a sinister weapon in the armoury of those in command was unleashed. The cat-o-nine-tails. Day after day following the first shooting incident, convicts were flogged for even the slightest transgression of the most ridiculous rules.

When the 'Chapman' arrived at Port Jackson, New South Wales on July 27th 1817 the prison doors were opened by local officials to reveal 160 gaunt, dazed and famished men, loaded with chains and bearing the marks of brutal floggings. Twelve convicts were dead as a result of gunfire and their bodies already buried at sea. The remaining 28 were detained in the onboard hospital in various states of injury.

An investigation found that upward of 4,000 lashes were administered during the voyage. Once the gruesome reality of the four-month sailing unfolded in Sydney, officials of the local administration headed up by Governor Lachlan Maquarie were determined to uncover the truth. Following months of investigation and legal wrangling, Macquarie made his decision and the 1817 voyage of the 'Chapman' made history.

For the first and only time during the period of transportation to Australia, a captain, surgeon and several senior crew were returned to London to be put on trial for murder. Added to their humiliation was the pardoning of several convicts to return as witnesses for the prosecution.

The story of this ill-fated voyage and its consequences plays out across a variety of settings from Cork to the Cape Verde Islands to New South Wales, eventually finishing at the Old Bailey in London in January 1819. With the publication of his third book, Conor Reidy continues his pursuit of penal history.

Dr Reidy received international academic attention for his first two books, 'Ireland’s Moral Hospital: The Irish Borstal System, 1906-1956' (2009) and 'Criminal Irish Drunkards' (2014). Both books profiled the work of hitherto unknown institutions for the punishment and reform of juvenile offenders and criminal alcoholics.

As 'Mutiny or Murder?' arrives in bookstores, he is keen to stress that this work marks a departure from his previous academic style toward a more conventional storytelling approach. Reidy has previously taught History at the University of Limerick, Mary Immaculate College and Dublin City University. He has worked as a researcher with the Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes. Now a full-time freelance copy-editor, he continues to write and research what he calls ‘dark history’.

'Mutiny or Murder?: The Bloodsoaked Voyage of the Chapman' is published by The History Press Ireland and UK, and is available in bookstores now.