James Thomas Morisset [electronic resource]
- Bib ID:
- 4268123
- Format:
- Book
- Description:
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- Albany Creek, QLD. : R & M Thompson, 2007
- 1 computer laser optical disc ; 4 3/4 in.
- Technical Details:
- System requirements: Microsoft Office Word and Adobe Acrobat reader version 6 or later.
- Summary:
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CDRom includes several images of James Thomas Morisset and biographical and family history information.
Lieutenant-Colonel James Thomas Morisset (1782 - August 17, 1852), penal administrator, was commandant of the second convict settlement at Norfolk Island, from 29 June 1829 to 1834. He saw service in Egypt and India and was badly wounded in 1811 in the Peninsular War, leaving his face badly disfigured. He was promoted Lieutenant in 1801. In December 1818 he was appointed as commandant and magistrate at Newcastle. In 1823 he was appointed commandant at Bathurst where he restored order after clashes with aborigines had led to martial law being declared in the district. He returned to England on leave in February 1825 where, at the age of 43, he married Louisa Emily Vaux. While in England Morisset reported on convict control in New South Wales and applied for the post of commandant of Norfolk Island which was about to be re-established as a penal settlement for the most hardened convicts.
During his tenure on Norfolk Island the convicts made several attempts at mutiny, and Morisset later acquired a reputation for being a stern disciplinarian. He recommended importing a treadmill to Norfolk Island, but the British government objected on grounds of expense; this was a normal form of punishment at the time and Morisset does not appear to have been considered unnecessarily harsh by his contemporaries. Both Macquarie and Bigge approved his methods, as did later governors, and the Sydney Gazette, 28 November 1827, praised him for being upright and conscientious, and not frightened by daring offenders, while ironically lauding him as an opponent of capital punishment. He retired to farming near Bathurst, where he was appointed police magistrate. He lost heavily in a bank crash and was forced to sell his property to pay his debts. He died on 17 August 1852, leaving his wife and ten children in poverty.
- Notes:
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- Title from disc label.
- Digital content preserved
- Selected for preservation.
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Also Titled:
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- Lt. Col. James Thomas Morisset, 1780-1852
- Lieutenant Colonel James Thomas Morisset, 1780-1852
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 2007
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