Thomas Hill Dixon
Encyclopedia
Thomas Hill Dixon was the first Superintendent of Convicts in Western Australia. Together with his superior, the Comptroller General
Edmund Henderson
, he created a reforming, humane convict regime for Western Australia
. Recognition of his achievements has however been eroded by his later indictment
on charges of embezzling
public moneys.
on 20 February 1816. The son of an innkeeper, he was given a good education, and at the age of eighteen went to Glasgow
to study medicine
at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary
. By this time, however, his father had died and the family hotel
was being run by his mother and older brother. After only six months in Glasgow, Dixon was forced to return home to take the place of his brother, who had fallen seriously ill and would die shortly afterwards. There, he continued to pursue an interest in medicine, spending five years as a pupil of a local doctor.
, but they did not remain there long. In August 1842 the family moved to London
, where Dixon joined the Metropolitan Police Force. In 1843 a second daughter was born. Some time afterwards, Dixon's wife left him, for reasons unknown.
, which had just been declared a penal colony
. Dixon traveled to the colony with the first convicts on board the Scindian
. Traveling with him were his two children and his "wife". Shortly after their arrival at Fremantle
, Dixon's wife was banished to Toodyay
"for the good of the Service". As no record of Dixon's second marriage has been found, Stebbing (1999) argues that his wife's banishment from Fremantle is most likely attributable to "her exposure as Dixon's common-law
wife and not the mother of his children".
Thomas Dixon held the position of Superintendent of Convicts for nine years, running Fremantle Prison
and the convict system. Together with the Comptroller General
Edmund Henderson
, he created a reforming, humane convict system for Western Australia. He instituted a system of training convicts in a trade, and he adapted the marks system used by Alexander Maconochie
in Norfolk Island
's penal system to Western Australia's legal situation. He was opposed to flogging, and favoured the introduction of female convicts into Western Australia.
Eventually, Dixon was indicted on three counts: embezzling £89 of public moneys, converting moneys to his own use, and stealing coins the property of the Queen
. Dixon's defence pointed out a number of flaws in the case, and the court found that the prosecution
's case would have to be resubmitted. Dixon was then released pending resubmission.
Guyon, which was bound for Singapore
. From Singapore he made his way to Labuan Island
, where he was appointed chief constable. However the appointment required confirmation from the Colonial Office
; having received word of Dixon's arrest, trial and escape from Western Australia, the Colonial Office declined to confirm his appointment, and he was asked to resign. He then returned to Singapore for a few years, during which time nothing is known of his life.
with the forces fighting to put down the Taiping Rebellion
in China
. He fought in the defence of Shanghai
for around three years, but his role was not of particular significance. In 1865, Dixon wrote a letter to his daughters from Liverpool. Nothing is known of how he spent the next ten years of his life, but in December 1876 he arrived back at Fremantle on board the Fitzroy. He spent the final years of his life in poor health, living with his eldest daughter Mary and her husband. He died on 30 January 1880 on their property at Staunton Springs near Williams
.
Comptroller General of Convicts (Western Australia)
The Comptroller General of Convicts was the head of the convict establishment in Western Australia.The office existed from 1850, when Western Australia first became a penal colony, until 1872, four years after penal transportation to Western Australia had ceased.-History:Western Australia's first...
Edmund Henderson
Edmund Henderson
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edmund Yeamans Walcott Henderson KCB was an officer in the British Army who was Comptroller-General of Convicts in Western Australia from 1850 to 1863, Home Office Surveyor-General of Prisons from 1863 to 1869, and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London...
, he created a reforming, humane convict regime for Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
. Recognition of his achievements has however been eroded by his later indictment
Indictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
on charges of embezzling
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
public moneys.
Early life
Thomas Dixon was born on the Isle of ManIsle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
on 20 February 1816. The son of an innkeeper, he was given a good education, and at the age of eighteen went to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
to study medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary
Glasgow Royal Infirmary
The Glasgow Royal Infirmary is a large teaching hospital, operated by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde,. With a capacity of around 1000 beds, the hospital campus covers an area of around 20 acres, situated on the north-eastern edge of the city centre of Glasgow, Scotland.-History:Designed by Robert...
. By this time, however, his father had died and the family hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
was being run by his mother and older brother. After only six months in Glasgow, Dixon was forced to return home to take the place of his brother, who had fallen seriously ill and would die shortly afterwards. There, he continued to pursue an interest in medicine, spending five years as a pupil of a local doctor.
Coming of Age & Indebtedness
By 1837, Dixon was married to a woman named Eliza Fennella (née Cooke). That year, his mother died and Dixon inherited her estate, only to find that his mother was in such debt that her assets barely covered the costs of her funeral. Pursued by her creditors, Dixon and his wife fled the island.Police Service
In 1840, when their first daughter was born, they were in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, but they did not remain there long. In August 1842 the family moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where Dixon joined the Metropolitan Police Force. In 1843 a second daughter was born. Some time afterwards, Dixon's wife left him, for reasons unknown.
Convict Service
In 1847, Dixon applied for a position in the Convict Service. His application was eventually successful, and in 1850 he was appointed Superintendent of Convicts for the Swan River ColonySwan River Colony
The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...
, which had just been declared a penal colony
Penal colony
A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...
. Dixon traveled to the colony with the first convicts on board the Scindian
Scindian
Scindian is widely considered the first convict ship to transport convicts to Western Australia.A barque of 650 tons, Scindian was constructed at Sunderland, England in 1844 and named after the Indian Scindia dynasty...
. Traveling with him were his two children and his "wife". Shortly after their arrival at Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
, Dixon's wife was banished to Toodyay
Toodyay, Western Australia
Toodyay is a town located in the Wheatbelt region in the Avon Valley, 85 km north-east of Perth, Western Australia. Toodyay is connected to Perth via both rail and road.-History:...
"for the good of the Service". As no record of Dixon's second marriage has been found, Stebbing (1999) argues that his wife's banishment from Fremantle is most likely attributable to "her exposure as Dixon's common-law
Common law
Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...
wife and not the mother of his children".
Thomas Dixon held the position of Superintendent of Convicts for nine years, running Fremantle Prison
Fremantle Prison
Fremantle Prison is a former Australian prison located in The Terrace, Fremantle, in Western Australia. The site includes the prison, gatehouse, perimeter walls, cottages, tunnels, and prisoner art...
and the convict system. Together with the Comptroller General
Comptroller General of Convicts (Western Australia)
The Comptroller General of Convicts was the head of the convict establishment in Western Australia.The office existed from 1850, when Western Australia first became a penal colony, until 1872, four years after penal transportation to Western Australia had ceased.-History:Western Australia's first...
Edmund Henderson
Edmund Henderson
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Edmund Yeamans Walcott Henderson KCB was an officer in the British Army who was Comptroller-General of Convicts in Western Australia from 1850 to 1863, Home Office Surveyor-General of Prisons from 1863 to 1869, and Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, head of the London...
, he created a reforming, humane convict system for Western Australia. He instituted a system of training convicts in a trade, and he adapted the marks system used by Alexander Maconochie
Alexander Maconochie (penal reformer)
Alexander Maconochie was a Scottish naval officer, geographer, and penal reformer.- Early life :Maconochie was born in Edinburgh on 11 February 1787. He joined the Royal Navy in 1803 and as a midshipman he saw active service in the Napoleonic Wars and was a prisoner of war from 1811 to 1814...
in Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
's penal system to Western Australia's legal situation. He was opposed to flogging, and favoured the introduction of female convicts into Western Australia.
Embezzlement
Dixon earned high praise from his superiors for his innovations, but their opinion of him was to change rapidly in April 1859 when he was stood down on admission of the embezzlement of public money. Dixon's had a single account at the bank for both his private and public funds, and there were no proper accounting or auditing procedures. Dixon had been in financial difficulty for some time, and so "it inevitably appeared that he had misappropriated public funds to offset his private expenditure" (Stebbing 1999). The Crown then applied to the Insolvency Court for recovery of the money owed, keeping its actions secret from Dixon and his private creditors, apparently with the intention of establishing priority of the public debt over Dixon's private debts.Eventually, Dixon was indicted on three counts: embezzling £89 of public moneys, converting moneys to his own use, and stealing coins the property of the Queen
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
. Dixon's defence pointed out a number of flaws in the case, and the court found that the prosecution
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
's case would have to be resubmitted. Dixon was then released pending resubmission.
Singapore
Within three days of his release, Dixon fled the colony on board the schoonerSchooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
Guyon, which was bound for Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. From Singapore he made his way to Labuan Island
Labuan
Labuan is a federal territory in East Malaysia. It is an island off the coast of the state of Sabah. Labuan's capital is Victoria and is best known as an offshore financial centre offering international financial and business services via Labuan IBFC since 1990 as well as being an offshore support...
, where he was appointed chief constable. However the appointment required confirmation from the Colonial Office
Colonial Office
Colonial Office is the government agency which serves to oversee and supervise their colony* Colonial Office - The British Government department* Office of Insular Affairs - the American government agency* Reichskolonialamt - the German Colonial Office...
; having received word of Dixon's arrest, trial and escape from Western Australia, the Colonial Office declined to confirm his appointment, and he was asked to resign. He then returned to Singapore for a few years, during which time nothing is known of his life.
China
From around 1862, Dixon was a mercenaryMercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
with the forces fighting to put down the Taiping Rebellion
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. He fought in the defence of Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
for around three years, but his role was not of particular significance. In 1865, Dixon wrote a letter to his daughters from Liverpool. Nothing is known of how he spent the next ten years of his life, but in December 1876 he arrived back at Fremantle on board the Fitzroy. He spent the final years of his life in poor health, living with his eldest daughter Mary and her husband. He died on 30 January 1880 on their property at Staunton Springs near Williams
Williams, Western Australia
Williams is a town located in the Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, south-southeast of the state capital, Perth along Albany Highway and 32 kilometres west of Narrogin. The Williams River passes through the town. At the 2006 census, Williams had a population of 338.-History:Williams is...
.