Letter
Certificate
Maker & role
John Manners-Sutton, 3rd Viscount Canterbury (b.1814, d.1877), Author
Production date
1843
1840
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Object detail
Production place
Collection
Measurements
1 - Letter, H: 32.5 x W: 20.5cm (H: 325 x W: 205mm); 2 - Certificate, H: 49 x W: 37.5cm (H: 490 x W: 375mm)
Credit line
Purchase, 2017
Hyde Park Barracks Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Hyde Park Barracks Collection, Museums of History New South Wales
Caption
Letter recommending the pardon of convict John Scutts, 1843. Fire Insurance Certificate for Reverend William Carter. 1840.
Description
This letter represents a rare surviving example of the correspondence required for the pardon of a convict serving a life sentence in New South Wales. Written on behalf of Sir James Graham (Secretary of the Home Department), by the Honourable John Manners Sutton to the Reverend William Carter, at Whitehall on 28 August 1843, the letter gives notice of secretarial advice to Queen Victoria to grant a pardon to convict John Scutts. A 39 year old butcher, Scutts was convicted at the Wiltshire Quarter Sessions in 1836 for stealing sheep, and transported to New South Wales with a life sentence. Arriving in the colony on Charles Kerr on 9 October 1837, Scutts was one of 246 convicts from the ship who were mustered on board and then marched directly to Hyde Park Barracks for inspection by the Colonial Secretary, prior to being assigned (see Principal Super of Convicts to Colonial Secretary, 16/10/1837, Letters Received SRNSW 4/2353). Scutts’ is a sad case of misfortune and hardship, as in 1844 his Sydney butchering business became insolvent, he spent time in and out of Darlinghurst Gaol, and became a hopeless alcoholic, leading to his death from intoxication at age 58 in 1866.
Manners Sutton was Under-Secretary of State for the British Home Department from 1841 to 1846, who later served as Governor of Victoria from 1866 to 1873. Manners Sutton has completed and signed this letter in brown ink with information specific to Scutts. The rest of the text, in black ink, appears to have been drafted by a clerk, with standard wording to create a form letter, used by the Under-Secretary’s office for communicating recommendations for convict pardons to the petitioners. Scutts’ petitioner and the recipient of this letter was Reverend William Carter of Hullarvington, near Chippenham, Wiltshire. The actual connection between Scutts and Carter is unconfirmed, although it seems that Scutts may have known Reverend Carter as his parish priest before conviction. Scutts or his family might have written to Carter, requesting his support in petitioning the Secretary of the Home Department for his pardon.
Manners Sutton was Under-Secretary of State for the British Home Department from 1841 to 1846, who later served as Governor of Victoria from 1866 to 1873. Manners Sutton has completed and signed this letter in brown ink with information specific to Scutts. The rest of the text, in black ink, appears to have been drafted by a clerk, with standard wording to create a form letter, used by the Under-Secretary’s office for communicating recommendations for convict pardons to the petitioners. Scutts’ petitioner and the recipient of this letter was Reverend William Carter of Hullarvington, near Chippenham, Wiltshire. The actual connection between Scutts and Carter is unconfirmed, although it seems that Scutts may have known Reverend Carter as his parish priest before conviction. Scutts or his family might have written to Carter, requesting his support in petitioning the Secretary of the Home Department for his pardon.
Accession number
HPB2017/3-1:2
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