Thomas Bushell facts for kids

Thomas Bushell (born around 1834 – died September 12, 1865) was a prisoner sent to Western Australia as part of a punishment system called penal transportation. He was executed in 1865 after he attacked a prison guard.

Thomas Bushell's Early Life

Thomas Bushell was born in Ireland around 1834. We don't know much about his childhood. When he was about 22 years old, he was a soldier serving in Malta. He wasn't married and could read and write a little. He had a difficult record in the army. He got into serious trouble when he had a disagreement with a superior officer. Because of this, he was sentenced to a very long time in prison and was sent far away to Australia. Usually, people with this sentence would spend their first two years in England, including nine months kept alone in a cell.

Moving to Australia

In 1858, Thomas Bushell was sent to Western Australia. He arrived on a ship called the Edwin Fox in November. At first, he worked in the kitchens of the main prison, known as the Convict Establishment. However, on January 11, 1859, he broke some kitchen tools and used them to clean the boilers. As a punishment for "willfully destroying Prison property" (meaning he purposely broke prison items), he was sent to special cells for prisoners who caused trouble.

He was later moved to a hospital for people with mental health issues, where he was kept alone in a cell. He attacked the guards who came to his cell. Because of this, he was kept completely locked up for about six weeks. After that, he was again thought to have mental health problems, but he was considered too violent for the hospital. So, he was sent back to the main prison.

Trouble in Prison

From this time until his execution, Bushell often got into trouble. Records show that his behavior included threatening people, refusing to follow rules, not doing his work, and trying to run away from his work groups many times. As punishment, he was given harsh physical punishments, spent weeks alone in a cell with only bread and water, and was made to work while wearing chains for months. At one point, he was even moved to the prison on Rottnest Island.

His Final Days

On July 9, 1865, Bushell secretly took a large knife, about 13 inches long, back to his cell from his work in the prison bakery. That afternoon, he injured a prison guard in the shoulder with the knife. He did this because he believed the guard had told other prisoners that Bushell had shared information about them.

He was put on trial for seriously hurting someone on purpose. Bushell said he was innocent and spoke up for himself during the trial. He insisted that he didn't mean to kill the guard. The guard even spoke in Bushell's defense, saying he didn't believe the prisoner intended to harm him. However, Bushell was still found guilty and given the death penalty. He was executed three days later, on September 12, 1865.