George Essex Hampton (c. 1838–1876) was an unpopular public official in colonial

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. The son of

Governor of Western Australia The governor of Western Australia is the representative in Western Australia of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III. As with the other governors of the Australian states, the governor of Western Australia performs constitutional ...

John Hampton John Stephen Hampton (c. 1806 – 1 December 1869) was Governor of Western Australia from 1862 to 1868. Early life Little is known of John Hampton's early life. His death certificate states that he was born in 1810, but other evidence suggest ...

, George Hampton arrived in the colony with his father in February 1862 on board the ''Stathallen''. In 1866 he was holding the offices of private secretary to his father, clerk of council and member of the Finance Board, when he was in addition appointed acting Comptroller General of Convicts. As Hampton had no particular qualifications for the position, this "unusually blatant act of nepotism" ¹ was extremely unpopular within the colony. It was further rumoured that George Hampton received a lodging allowance for the position, an allowance to which he was entitled by regulations but did not need since he lived with his father at

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

. '' The Perth Gazette'' sarcastically commented that Hampton could not apply the money to the purpose for which it was granted "unless His Excellency intends to charge him rent for the rooms he occupies in his residence, in which case, of course, the amount will be placed to the credit of the colonial revenue." ² Both Hamptons became figures of public hostility and ridicule thereafter, especially George. Under George Hampton, convict discipline became extremely harsh; floggings became commonplace and

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

was reintroduced. He was hated by most convicts, and in October 1866 a convict named Connor attacked him with a pickaxe at the Fremantle Quarries, and only the swift action of a guard saved him. As a result of Hampton's harsh convict discipline, escape attempts increased markedly. When

Moondyne Joe Joseph Johns ( February 1826 – 13 August 1900), better known as Moondyne Joe, was an English convict and Western Australia's best-known bushranger. Born into poor and relatively difficult circumstances, he became something of a petty criminal ...

effected his famous escape of 7 March 1867, the public in general felt that a good joke had been played on the Governor and his son, and much pleasure was taken in ridiculing them. A song caught on: Governor Hampton lobbied for his son to be confirmed in his acting position, but was unsuccessful. At the conclusion of Governor Hampton's term, George Hampton indicated his willingness to remain in the colony provided he was official appointed Comptroller General. A week later the appointment of Henry Wakefield was announced, and in November 1868 he accompanied his father in departing the colony on the ''Emily Smith''. Little is known of Hampton's personal life. In 1865, Bishop Hale had been openly critical of his "romantic affair with a Mrs Young" ³. On 13 June 1868, he married Fanny Stone, and she accompanied him back to England. He died in 1876.

Notes

# de Garis (1981), page 302 # Battye (1924) # Boyce (1979), page 50.

References

* * * * Republished in 1998 by Hesperian Press. . * * Republished in 1991 by Fremantle Arts Centre Press. . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hampton, George Essex 1838 births 1876 deaths Convictism in Western Australia Public servants of Western Australia