Thomas Finch, as he called himself, was caught up in the 1905 Hobart Museum robbery. To read the first part of the story, CLICK HERE.
On March 31 1905, the White Star liner S.S. Persic arrived in Hobart enroute to London. Two days later , a passenger from Brisbane was found dead in his berth. A coronial inquest revealed there were no suspicious circumstances, but the incident resulted in a close inspection of the vessel while it was in port.
SOURCE – WIKIPEDIA
During the search a stowaway was located. The man was Thomas Finch. English born Finch was from a good family, but something of a ‘black sheep’. He had just spent seven years in gaol for burglary in New South Wales. On his release he decided it would be best for him to return to England, but since he was penniless he hid aboard the Persic in Melbourne.
At the Police Court today Thomas Finch, an elderly man, was sentenced to seven days for stowing away on the Persic. Finch said he was starving in Melbourne and was unable to find employment. He went aboard with the object of working his passage. (Examiner April 1 1905)
People were described as elderly in those days it they were past fifty, so who knows how old he was.
When he was released, Finch managed to find casual work in Hobart as a painter and a bed at the Y.M.C.A. Initially he worked on the Water Police building and then the premises of the well known grocer and draper Mr. W.R.C. Jarvis, in Liverpool Street. Mr Jarvis was a man with a strong social conscience. He understood how difficult it was for ex-c0ns to rehabilitate themselves, and took a kindly interest in his employee.
Unfortunately the silly fellow drank a bit much and betrayed Mr Jarvis’s trust.
Robbing a Poor Box. – Thomas Finch, on remand, pleaded guilty to a charge of having on May 4, stolen 1s,, the property of the churchwardens of St. David’s Cathedral…..W. R. Jarvis stated that at the time when the accused committed the offence he was under the influence of liquor. He had been in his employ, and if the bench could see their way to give him another chance, he (Mr Jarvis) would again give him work in the hope of reclaiming him. On this understanding the bench discharged the accused. He had already been eight days in gaol. (The Mercury May 15 1905)
Thank goodness for Mr Jarvis, who was already supporting Thomas Finch regarding a far more serious matter.
In mid April the Hobart Museum had been broken into and a great many items stolen. It was believed the culprits may have come from the mainland. Knowing that the stowaway Finch had a criminal history, police officer Sergeant Ward thought he had found a suspect and put pressure on him to implicate others.
After detectives visited Finch at Mr Jarvis’s premises he told his benefactor what had been happening with the police;
Sir, I met Seargent Ward on the Sunday down at the wharf, and complained to him of the treatment I was enduring, and he said to me that they were all sore because they could lay hands on n0-one for the Museum robbery, and that if I could give him any information he would make it worth my while, and wanted to know what criminals I had met from New South Wales. I told him that I had not met no-one and that I knew nothing respecting the robbery. (Mercury)
Finch finished the painting for Mr Jarvis, who then generously helped him by arranging a passage back to England on the S.S. Banffshire.
S.S. Banffshire.
Here, in Thomas Finch’s own words, is what happened the day he boarded the ship.
‘,,,.the morning I left on her, Seargent Ward came on board with a constable, and in the presence of passengers and crew, took, by pencil on paper, the shape of my shoe, and intimated that he knew where to find me. The consequence was that I was a ‘suspect’ with all on board, and things were too hot for me to sign articles on her [the Banffshire] for the voyage home and I was consequently stranded in Portland, Victoria.
Mr Jarvis had gone down to see Finch off and was incensed by the behaviour of Seargent Ward. In a letter to the editor of The Mercury he wrote;
I afterwards learned that Sergeant Ward had been on board about half an hour before the boat put. and also a bystander, whose word is reliable, said that before my arrival she heard the ship’s officer on the gangway say to the sailors to “Keep a sharp look-out. as there was someone suspected of burglary on the boat.”
Now sir, I ask what chance has an ex-criminal got. That poor fellow had been branded afresh after just getting work, and will appear to all on board as an undesirable……’Tis a true saying, “Give a dog a bad name and it will stick to him”. I have done my best and it is nothing more than I should do, but I certainly resent anything in the shape of tyranny and I feel the Hobart public will be indignant when the facts of the case are known. -Yours etc W. R.C. Jarvis.
Mr Finch, being unable to work his passage on the ship as intended, was forced to disembark at the first port in Victoria. By great good luck a friend of his English family had a soap manufacturing business in Finders street, Melbourne and yet again Mr Jarvis was prepared to help. He wired money to the company and soon Finch was able to join another ship bound for London. Below is an extract from a letter he subsequently sent to The Mercury from Reading in Berkshire. It is worth noting that the museum’s curator Alexander Morton also felt Finch (whose real name was Casely) had been treated badly.
Sir, I found many friends in Hobart, such as the secretary of the Y.M.C.A (Mr Tribe) and I am thankful to think that the Curator of the Museum believed me innocent and sent me 5s to Melbourne although I have never seen the gentleman. Also the manager of Messrs Jones and Co, jam manufacturers, who assisted me to leave Tasmania….All Tasmania knows the genuine ring of Mr. W, R. C. Jarvis, grocer, of Hobart, so I need not dwell heavily on the manly way he treated me. Let it suffice to say that I should be adorning a cell in Campbell Street now but for his determination to stand up for the right. Trusting sir, you will champion my cause in your esteemed paper. I am etc., J.E. Casely alias Thomas Finch, 100 Friar Street Reading, England. (The Mercury, 24 Nov. 1905)
William Robert Charles Jarvis was elected to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1906, although he was not particularly successful in politics. For the rest of his life he advocated for social justice and free education, and spoke out against gambling and alcohol abuse. He died in 1939 aged 67.
Mr W.R.C. Jarvis
Meanwhile the robbery at the Hobart Museum remained unsolved. As far as I am aware, none of the many stolen items were recovered.
