James Lithgow

James Lithgow (aka Lithgoe), was born c1831 in Liverpool, England. He was the son of James, a shipwright, and Isabella (nee McCollister).

He fought in the Crimea war, but in a general court martial at Sebastapol, was found guilty of "desertion" and his transportation sentence was made "for life". He arrived in Western Australia on the 1st January 1858 aboard the Nile as convict No. 4641. Records show he was semi literate, Protestant and a sawyer by trade.

In 1859, whilst a convict and stationed at Chauncey's Station No. 3, James was a witness in a trial in which John Cameron, Private in the Royal Engineers, was charged with stealing 900 feet of sawn timber. During his testimony James explains the circumstances of why he was tried for desertion and transported to Australia for life.

"I have been eighteen months in the colony. I came by the Nile. ... I have been a soldier of the 47th Regiment, was in the Crimea during the whole of the war. I was taken prisoner by the Russians at Balaklava, after the battle of Inkermann. I was taken to Feronis about 250 *versts from Sebastopol. I was allowed to go freely about that town ; from there I was sent back and exchanged at Odessa, when I went back to my regiment before Sebastopol ; this was after peace had been proclaimed. I was taken into custody and tried by court martial for desertion from the British Army to the Russian service, and transported for life."

"... I did not break my allegiance. I did not desert. When I was taken prisoner it was very bad weather, and we had not tents to put our heads in. I was under fire at the Alma, Balaklava, and Inkermann."

Was there a miscarriage of justice? Who knows what really happens during the bloody and confusing theatres of war.

Between 1862-1877 James Lithgow employed six ticket of leave sawyers on occasions at Ferguson which is in the south west of Western Australia (about a 2 hour drive south from Perth).

During those years his name was to also appear several times in local newspapers. He was the victim of an assault, charged with breaching his ticket of leave conditions, charged with stealing and public drunkedness and breach of contract along with unlawfully taking cash and rations.

APRIL 4, 1862

"E.P. Powell, free, assaulting J. Lithgow fined 6s."

3rd October 1862

"James Lithgow and Y. Bullock, t.l.'s., were charged with a breach of the Ticket of leave Regulations, in proceeding to Fremantle on pass, without having first reported themselves at the Police Station ; fined 10s."

MARCH 17, 1871

"James Lithgow, t.l., charged by Corpl. Ryan with stealing certain property from the premises of S. Clough; twelve months hard labor. James Lithgow, t.l., charged by Corpl. Ryan with a breach of the ticket of leave regulations; dismissed."

MARCH 27, 1874

"Frederick Cole was charged by p.c. Claffey, with being drunk, and assaulting him in the execution of his duty and also with rescuing a prisoner named Lithgoe. Prisoner stated that he and his mate Lithgoe were proceeding homewards and stopped to have a rest when the constable came up and ordered them off in a very rude and peremptory manner, and attempted to take his mate into custody. The prisoner thereupon interfered, and the result was, he was pounced upon by the constable, as if he had committed some dreadful crime. Neither himself nor his mate was molesting any person, or creating any disturbance whatever. Mr. A. LeeSteere, who happened to enter the Court at this stage of the proceedings, stated that he witnessed part of the proceedings referred to, and that he considered the constable behaved in a very rough manner towards the prisoner. His Worship observed that if men who may have partaken too freely of drink, were proceeding homewards, quietly, and without offering to molest the public or create a nuisance, they should be allowed to pass unheeded by the police. According to Mr. LeeSteere's statement too much zeal had been shown by p c. Claffey, who had but very lately joined the force. It was, however, proved and admitted, and the prisoner must pay a fine of 20s., or be imprisoned and kept to hard labor for 1 month. Prisoner declined to pay the fine and elected to undergo the imprisonment."

"James Lithgoe, charged with being drunk in Adelaide Terrace, in company with Cole, as named in the preceding case, was fined 5s., or, in default 14 days imprisonment. The fine was paid."

OCTOBER 24, 1874.

"James Lithgow, a sawyer, was brought up on a warrant obtained by Mr. David A. Gray of this city, builder and contractor, for breach of contract; and with unlawfully obtaining from him cash and rations to the amount of £16 odd. Mr. Gray stated that he did not wish to press the charge too much, al though the prisoner bad behaved very bad cutting timber under the license he had paid for, and selling the timber which he had sawn, to other parties, but which was in fact his (the complainants). In order to give both parties an opportunity of settling the matter out of court, his worship remanded the further hearing of the case for 8 days, informing the prisoner at the same time, he was liable to 8 months imprisonment if proved guilty."

James Lithgow resided at Roebourne in at least 1885 and was known to be in or around The Lakes area in 1887 as evidenced by a police statement he made alleging to be an eyewitness to the murders of Thomas Anketell and Henry Burrup at the Union Bank. To read more about that mysterious murder case go to my website "The Roebourne Bank Murders".

We last hear of James Lithgow in the following newspaper article of 1898. He was now about 67 years. It seems he had given away the hard work of a sawyer and had become an orderly at the Mt Eliza Depot, an institution for destitute men. During a Commission of Enquiry into the running of the Mt Eliza Depot, James Lithgow gave evidence to support its Master, Mr J.P. Wade, who ran that institution.

10th August 1898

"James Lithgow said that he had been an orderly in the institution. He had never known any cases of ill-treatment or neglect at the institution. So far as he had seen, Mr. Wade had treated the sick men properly. He was attentive when he visited the wards."

In 1906, Claremont Old Men's Home, (later to be known as Sunset Hospital), was built to replace the Mt Eliza Depot. After working as an orderly, James retired. As his name does not appear in The Western Australian Post Office Directories dating from 1893 I assume he spent his final years residing at the Mt Eliza Depot and finally the Old Men's Home in Claremont. It was in that later residence that he died on the 15th November 1909 of heart disease. He was aged 78 years and is buried at Karrakatta Cemetery. According to his Death Certificate he never married or had children.