Australian Royalty

Daniel Fowler was tried for house breaking and passing counterfeit coin in Taunton Somerset on 31 March 1831. The charge of passing counterfeit coins seems to have been dropped and the judgment passed on the single charge of breaking, entering and stealing from Rev. John Wyndham at Corton Denham. The original sentence of 'to be hanged' for house breaking was commuted to life imprisonment. He arrived in Australia on the ship 'Isabella' in 1832 aged 24 and was sent to work with Frederick Guilding of Sydney. His life sentence was pardoned on 31 December 1847.

Daniel Fowler, one of 224 convicts transported on the ship 'Isabella', 22 November 1831. Sentence details: Convicted at Somerset Assizes for a term of life on 29 March 1831. Vessel: Isabella. Date of Departure: 22 November 1831. Place of Arrival: New South Wales.

TAUNTON LENT ASSIZES. CROWN COURT - Before Mr. Justice Park:- Henry Horton, 21, Daniel Fowler, 23, William Thompson, 27 and George How, 19, were indicted for breaking open the dwelling house of the Rev. J.H. Wyndham, and stealing therefrom a quantity of plate, his property. Mr Batt stated the case as detailed in evidence. Thomas Batt, keeper of the turnpike gate at Galhampton, deposed, to the prisoners having passed the gate on the 15th February last, and at the same time one of the prisoners, Thompson, having tendered him a bad shilling. Thomas Guppy stated that the prisoners came to his house on the same day; they had some beer, for which they presented a bad shilling in payment. Frederick Herman - I remember seeing the prisoners at the bar at Galhampton on the 15th of February last, at four o'clock in the afternoon, they were all together; I saw Dr. Dick and other persons go in pursuit of the prisoners, and the doctor charged me to assist in taking them before a magistrate. Howe ran away across the fields, and I pursued him; I saw him take something from his pocket and throw it into the hedge; I overtook him, and desired him to come back; he did so; as we were returning Daniel Fowler and Henry Horton met us, and said, you are nothing but a gang of rioters, and Dr. Dick is the foreman; Horton presented a pistol; I searched the prisoner Thompson, and found on his person a gimlet and a centre bit; he had no money; while I was searching, the three other prisoners ran away, and Thompson afterwards walked off; I again went in pursuit of them with the constables in the evening, but did not overtake them; the next morning I found the prisoners at Stalbridge, about ten or twelve miles distant, previous to which I went to Mr. Wyndham's house, in consequence of something I had heard; - the house had been entered by a centre bit, through the library window, under which I noticed the footsteps of some person, which resembled those I had seen in the turnip-field, though which I had chased the prisoners, the evening before; when I found the prisoners at Stalbridge, Howe was sitting with one leg on his knee, and I observed his show, which appeared to me to correspond with the footmarks under the library window; they were then apprehended and searched; they had three knives and a gunpowder horn on their persons, and had each a small sum of money; I compared Howe's shoe with the footmarks, and found them to correspond exactly ; I saw some scratches and blood on Horton's hand; there was likewise blood on the library window of Mr. Wyndham's house. Thomas Harman - I am a chachman to Mr. Wyndham, and was so in February last; I have partly the care of his house - which was fastened on the night of the 15th by the house-maid. When I got up the next morning, I found the house had been broken open; there was a hole bored at the bottom of the library shutter; I observed the tracks of four or five men under the window - one in particular ; it had a clamp under the heel, father worn; the holes in the window shutter appeared to have been made by a centre bit; I saw the last witness compare a shoe with the marks, and it corresponded exactly; there was blood on the shutters; I missed a writing desk, and a little work box belonging to my master - the groom's box in the hall was broken open, and a shawl belonging to me taken away. Mary Chapman - I am house maid to the prosecutor, and was so in February last; I saw the windows and doors of the house properly fastened on the night of the 15th of February last; I was employed in the afternoon sewing in the drawing-room, and left a red shawl with a black border on the table; when I got up the next morning I found the library window broken open, and I missed my shawl, and a skirt that I was making, a tea-chest, a work-box, a writing-desk, two silver candlesticks, a cruet-stand, and a wine strainer. William Rigler - I found this bundle going to Stalbridge on the 23rd of February, and on the 30th delivered it to Thomas Morgan; three days afterwards I found a sentre-bit and a crow bar in the same place, and gave them also to Thomas Morgan; the place a found the things in was a hedge in lime kiln fields. Thomas Morgan - I received this bundle from the last witness; it contains some silver articles belonging to my master. Mary Chapman identified a red shawl contained in the bundle as the one she had lost. John Arvis - I keep a beer-house at Temple Coombe, five miles from Mr. Wynyard's house. On the 18th of February last, I recollect the four prisoners coming to my house about 8 o'clock on the morning ; they had refreshment; their clothes were dirty; they appeared to have things in their pockets; Thompson had a bundle with him; the one produced in the Court is the same; I know it by a darn in the handkerchief. George Senior - On the 16th of February last, I met the four prisoners at the bar on the Stalbridge road, about nine or ten o'clock in the morning, near the lime kiln field. Mr Erle cross-examined the witness at some length, but their testimony continued unshaken. The prisoners in their defence declared their innocence; and the learned Judge having summed up, the jury found all the prisoners guilty - Judgment of Death recorded.

They separated in about 1835 as Daniel married Bridget Welsh in the same year.

V18551832 43A/1855 FOWLER DANIEL AGE 50