Lot 96
Typical engraved inscription
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Literature:
- 415 Medium:
- Collectibles Circa:
- Coins, Monies & Stamps Notes:
- Convict Love Tokens have been romantically described as "postcards before leaving" but they were actually very sad mementos of relationships torn asunder by the courts and the tyranny of distance. It was common for a small 'cottage industry' to spring up in each prison turning out these crude tokens for convicts with parting messages of love to a wife, sibling, friend or lover that they were unlikely to ever see again once they were transported to Australia. Most were crafted from smoothed English pennies upon whose surfaces the messages were either lightly scratched or stippled by means of a sharp point being dug into the surface of the metal. The subject of this token was Francis Collis, a twenty-five year old native of Oxford who was born on the 26th December, 1792. At his trial at the 'Old Bailey' on the 17th June, 1818 he was described as a live-in-porter who while working for a tailor William Scott, stole £34 he was entrusted to deliver to Sir Richard Carr Glynn in payment for an outstanding bill. According to the court records, Judith Scott the tailor's wife had handed over the money to Collis at about 4 o'clock on the afternoon of the 14th May to pay the bill but, perhaps feeling a bit peckish on his journey, he cashed one of the notes very soon after at a bakery in nearby Bury Street. Despite his plea for mercy the jury repaid his appetite for crime with a guilty verdict and he was sentenced to seven years transportation to Australia. Before leaving England, Collis was incarcerated on the prison hulk 'Retribution' at Woolwich on the Thames where a poignant convict love token dedicated to his sister was crudely fashioned. It reads: "Francis Collis / Born 26 Dec 1792 / Banished 17th June 1818", "Dear Sister / When this you see / Rembr me when I am / in some foreign Country". Collis arrived in Sydney on the 11th May 1819 on the 'Lord Sidmouth' and was soon after ferried up river to the Parramatta District where he was assigned to general labour duties. Records indicate he spent time at Emu Plains and Windsor and in 1822 his name is also mentioned in the District Constables book for Baulkham Hills very near Parramatta. In the same year he was recalled to Sydney town where according to the General Convict Muster he had been assigned to a Mr Arthur Hill of King Street. He next appears in the records on assault charges for which he was bailed on the 3rd November 1827, but it is likely he escaped conviction because as a recidivist he would certainly have appeared in later Convict Musters of which there is no record. It is hoped that he kicked on in his new "country" as a free man but, perhaps it is the same Francs Collis who reappears as a resident of the Liverpool Asylum for the Infirm and Destitute in 1860.
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| From: | To: | Increments: |
|---|---|---|
| A$0 | A$99 | A$5 |
| A$100 | A$999 | A$10 |
| A$1,000 | A$4,999 | A$50 |
| A$5,000 | A$9,999 | A$100 |
| A$10,000 + | A$250 |