Naval Record showing sentence in Lewes gaol, not Naval custody

[Meryll]

The naval record for my g-g-uncle Ralph George Harris shows the following in "Remarks" which has puzzled and intrigued me.

sentenced to 1 yrs impt per (illegible)....D from "Dio....." 18/622  2 May 76 Lewes gaol 1 year impt

His service aboard "Argus" ended 15 Oct 1875 and the next record is for "Duke of Wellington" beginning  Nov 1876 so it looks as if he was out of action for about a year, as all the other entries show more or less continuous service.

I'm guessing that D from "Dio....." may mean "Discharged from" or "Deserted from" then the name of the ship (it's definitely in quotes) but I can't find a ship's name that fits what the letters appear to say -- could be "Diofroces", "Diofrocet" or something similar.

If it was an offence against Naval regulations, why Lewes gaol and not the hulks or whatever was the Navy's equivalent of the glasshouse?  And if Ralph George was dealt with by the civilian authorities, why note it in his service record?

Any light that anyone can shed on this would be very welcome.  I think I may need to go to TNA to look for ships' logs.  Ralph George was also on the "Victory" some years later, and requested leave to go home to England and arrange a separation from his wife, but that's going to be another little mystery to investigate....

Meryll

[macintosh]

Perhaps Diogenes or Diomede, If he deserted then he may have committed an offence whilst "on the run" burglary, larceny or other criminal act that would involve the police, hence the civil prison sentence.
After his sentence was complete there would probably be a naval escort waiting for him to take him back to a Naval Establishment.
There are some R/Cs on this board who are experts on all thing Naval who will give you all the details you require I'm sure.

James

[macintosh]

You may be able to get the illegible writing of the record deciphered on the Photographic, Recognition and Handwriting Board,

James

[km1971]

Hi Meryll

I think you need to post the sections you need help with. There were a few military prisons, but most sentences were in civil gaols for both the army and navy. A year's imprisonment was a bit long for desertion of a few weeks, unless he had done it before. Although most men would desert wearing their uniform, which was then 'lost', so time would be added for that. the sentence should also be IHL - imprisonment with hard labour. It could be that it was for a civil offence.
 
18/622 looks like the standard ‘man’s number/ship number’. But I have not found a list of ship’s numbers. The only ship I can find starting Dio appears to be Diomede, which was cancelled (in 1867 as it happens) before construction was started.

 ‘Glasshouse’ in the army was the guardroom, used for more serious confinement than ‘CB’ – confined to barracks; and longer sentences in gaol. I believe the navy only had the ‘brig’ and gaol. The normal use of the hulks was to hold prisoners awaiting transportation, but they could be used as overspill gaols. My guess is that they tried not to use the hulks for service men, as it may have permanently ruined his health, and the RN would want him back after serving his sentence to complete his length of service.

Ken

[Meryll]

Many thanks for your help and suggestions -- I'm planning to visit the National Archives to see what may be found in the Naval records there.  However I've also discovered that Lewes had a prison which was built in 1793 and later sold to the Navy: apparently it was not a pleasant place to be, and in 1892 there was some kind of enquiry into the size of the cells.  It was sold on to the Home Office in 1922.  It looks as if I need to visit the Sussex Records Office too.

I'll try to isolate the portion of the image that shows the note about RGH's  sentence: I've enlarged the page  to almost A3 size and the writing is still pretty small, but the original may have been a hefty ledger.  If not then the writer(s)  must have had a very fine pen and good eyesight!

Delving deeper into Great-Great-Uncle Ralph's history ashore, it seems he was probably a bit of a rogue where the opposite sex was concerned, although that may not be connected with whatever landed him behind bars. 

Thanks again for your contributions.

Meryll