Prisoner Name: Christopher Condlan, aged 21. Court and Date of Trial: La Prairie,...

Prisoner Name: Christopher Condlan, aged 21.

Court and Date of Trial: La Prairie, Canada, East. Court Martial. December 1844.

Crime: Desertion from the army.

Initial Sentence: 21 years transportation.

Outcome: Free Pardon.

Petitions and letters: Three petitions [April, November 1850 and July 1851] from the Prisoner’s parents, John Condlan and Bridget Condlan, living in Perth, Scotland. They beg for his release on account of him having contracted a disease whilst labouring for the past five years, which will probably cause him to be unfit to serve his Queen and Country in future. In their letter of 1851, they pray for the prisoner’s immediate release so that he may die at home.

Petition from the Prisoner, sent from Shorncliffe Convict station, explaining breaches to his good conduct, occurring during his imprisonment at Gibraltar, and then Millbank. Letter from Captain O Brien, at Shorncliffe, to H Waddington, transmitting a medical report on the prisoner, as requested.

Letter from Shorncliffe prison’s Surgeon stating that the prisoner was invalided from Millbank and has been in bed in the prison infirmary for four months with acute pleurisy, peritonitis, and dropsy and is unlikely to ever be fit enough for any kind of work.