1836: James Pratt / Mary Prat
Object number: 2008.0039.0184
1836: James Pratt / Mary Prat
Object number: 2008.0039.0184
Details
Diameter: 35mm, thickness: 3mm
Front:
Worn and partially corroded token with stippled images and text. In the centre is a man wearing a hat and chained at the wrists and ankles, surrounded by leaflike designs. Underneath (with flourishes on either side) is the text:
James Pratt
age 14
1836
Back:
Worn and corroded token with nine lines of stippled text (the last line very faint). There is a decorative stippled line above the second last line:
Happy is
the day and ho
ur the helpless pris
oner is set free relea
sed out of the Jailors
power and breathes
the air of Liberty
August Asize
Mary [Prat]
More tokens to discover
Comments
Thank you for your comment. You may need to reload the page to see your comment.
Sophie_Jensen
1st Dec 2015
Hi Simon - thanks for letting us know about the link between these tokens and the back story of the convicts associated with them. Fantastic! It's wonderful what rich stories can be opened up through such tiny objects.
Simon Barnard
30th Nov 2015
Hiya, this token and that of Walter Jones are very similar and were probably produced by an engraver who operated out of Birmingham. Pratt was convicted of 'stealing from the person of James Heacock Bodington a pocket handkerchief - six month’s imprisonment.’ It appears that Pratt was transported to Van Diemen’s Land the following year per the Minerva III.
The same newspaper, (Aris's Birmingham Gazette 8 August 1836) states that Jones was ‘charged with stealing at Birmingham, a watch and other articles, the property of Thomas Forster - twelve months’ imprisonment, and to be twice whipped.’
A third offender, John Cavenah, is also touted in the paper, and also had a token produced (images of the Cavanagh token can be supplied). Cavenah was transported to Van Diemen’s Land in 1837, per the Recovery.
And finally, it appears that Pratt’s wife, Mary, and Cavanagh’s wife, also named Mary, were transported to Van Diemen's Land per the Platina, in 1837.