Robert Hayband

In the novel

Robert Hayband was one of the boys accused in the Walkley’s butcher shop theft, alongside Allen Griffiths and Joseph Brown.

Robert’s youth matters. He is not portrayed as a hardened offender, but as a frightened child caught in the same machinery of poverty, hunger and punishment that would reshape Allen’s life. His presence makes the court’s decision feel even harsher: three boys, one petty theft, and a sentence that would carry them across the world.

Robert also shows how differently similar beginnings could end. He and Allen stood before the same court, received the same sentence, and passed through the same system of punishment and reform. Yet their lives diverged after transportation, with Allen sent to Victoria and Robert later transported to Van Diemen’s Land. Through Robert, Allen’s story becomes part of a wider history of children and young working-class offenders whose lives were permanently altered by one court appearance.

The historical record

Robert Hayband was born in Nottingham, England, around 1834. The 1841 census records him living on New Street, Nottingham, with his father, Robert Hayband (50), a lace dyer born outside Nottinghamshire, his mother Sarah (50), his sisters Mary (20), Elizabeth (20), Sarah (13) and Matilda (5), and his brothers William (14) and Joseph (1). The family appeared to belong to Nottingham's lace-working community.

In October 1843, aged about nine, Robert was convicted at the Nottingham Sessions for stealing potted beef from Walkley's butcher shop with Allen Griffiths and Joseph Brown. Like Allen, he was sentenced to seven years' transportation, committed first to Millbank Prison and then transferred to Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight.

Robert was later transported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Ratcliffe, arriving on 12 November 1848. His convict indent described him as a brickmaker, 5 feet 4 inches (163 cm) tall, stout in build, with a fresh complexion, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, a long face, and small nose, mouth and chin. He was recorded as single, Protestant, and able to read but only write a little. His physical description also noted smallpox pitting and tattoo marks on both arms. He was recorded as 18, but he was more likely around 16 years old.

On 22 November 1848, Robert entered the colony's convict system at the Prisoners' Barracks, where newly arrived convicts were received, processed and assigned before being sent to government service. Less than two weeks later, on 4 December 1848, his conduct record notes: "Jn. Freeman, Oats., 20th D. Oats." This appears to record his assignment to John Freeman at Oatlands, together with a reference to the 20th Division (or District). Although the precise administrative meaning remains uncertain, the entry shows Robert had progressed from initial reception into the colony's organised probation system. A notice published in the Hobart Town Courier confirms that he received his Certificate of Freedom on 13 December 1850, formally completing his seven-year sentence.

His freedom did not last.

A second convict indent records that Robert was tried at Hobart Town on 6 March 1854, aged about 23, and sentenced to a further seven years' transportation for stealing a pair of boots. The record also refers to a previous offence involving the stealing of clothing in Liverpool Street. His earlier conduct record was subsequently annotated “Again transported”, linking his original convict history with this second sentence. By this time Robert's physical description had also become considerably more distinctive. The authorities recorded numerous tattoos and other identifying marks, including a whale, a bracelet around his right wrist, markings resembling rings on his fingers, and an anchor and the figure of a man on his left arm.

Robert was assigned a three-year period of gang probation, with Port Arthur recorded as his station. His second conduct record shows that he continued to come under disciplinary scrutiny. On 3 September 1856, he was charged with “holding improper communication with men under sentence” and sentenced to six months' hard labour. His record subsequently notes a Ticket of Leave dated 21 July 1857, indicating that he had again progressed to a conditional form of freedom while still serving his second sentence.

More than 40 years later, Robert appears again in Tasmanian records.

In December 1899, he was admitted to the Launceston Invalid Depot, aged 65. His admission record states that he was born in England. A separate government return shows that he entered the depot from Launceston General Hospital on 5 December 1899 and was discharged to employment on 20 December 1899. These records suggest that Robert remained in Tasmania long after transportation and was still considered capable of employment in old age.

No deaths attributable to him could be found in Tasmania.