Dissent and Ill-Discipline: The Newcastle Penal Settlement, 1804-1823

Abstract

Convict William Geary was probably insane. The authorities at the Newcastle penal station certainly thought so. Sent to Newcastle indefinitely 'at the Governor's pleasure' by the Parramatta Bench for absconding, he proved 'unmanageable' and 'so very treacherous' that when he stabbed two fellow prisoners in 1817 the Commandant returned him to Sydney, unsure if he should be tried or confined to a madhouse. When he was sent back to Newcastle, Geary absconded again, vowing to hunt down an enemy and break into the houses of local settlers. He was captured, then flogged and sent to the gaol gang, where he stabbed yet another prisoner. What was perturbing was that Geary attempted murder with the express aim of being returned to Sydney. So desperate was he to be released from the settlement that he was prepared to stand before the Criminal Court on a charge that could see him hanged; he was gambling on some leniency being shown on account of his mental state.