Captain Vance Young Donaldson, (born 1791, date of death unknown) soldier and penal administrator, was born in Tyrone and entered the army at the age of thirteen, serving in the 57th Regiment under

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

. He led his regiment to

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island (, ; Norfuk: ''Norf'k Ailen'') is an external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head and about from Lord Howe Island. Together with ...

in March 1826 as the second commandant of the second

convict settlement A penal colony or exile colony is a Human settlement, settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colony, colonial territory. Although the ter ...

. His first act was to arrange for the thirty women on the island to be returned to Sydney as Governor

Darling Darling is a term of endearment of Old English origin. Darling or Darlin' or Darlings may also refer to: People * Darling (surname) * Darling Jimenez (born 1980), American boxer * Darling Légitimus (1907–1999), French actress Places Austral ...

disapproved of their presence at this "place of the extremest punishment short of death". In September 1826 an attempt was made by the convicts to escape from the island by boat, having been told that there was an island within a hundred miles where they could safely hide and never be found. While most of the soldiers were chasing two absconders, about thirty prisoners seized and bound their overseers, robbed the Stores for provisions and weapons, and put three boats to sea, killing a soldier. Donaldson and soldiers followed them to the nearby small and uninhabited Phillip Island, where they were captured. The ringleaders were sent to Sydney for trial, where they were sentenced to death. Donaldson left Norfolk Island on 3 February 1828.

References

* Hazzard, Margaret, ''Punishment Short of Death: a history of the penal settlement at Norfolk Island'', Melbourne, Hyland, 1984. () Norfolk Island penal colony administrators 1791 births 19th-century deaths Year of death unknown

External links

Colonial Secretary's papers 1822-1877

State Library of Queensland The State Library of Queensland is the main reference and research library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the state government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. It contai ...

- includes digitised correspondence and letters written by Donaldson to the

Colonial Secretary of New South Wales Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 ...

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