French transports transporting convicts of the Paris Commune to New Caledonia according to Dutch newspapers in 1872-1873

The newspaper Zierikzeesche Nieuwsbode dated Saturday 20 April 1872 published an item reporting that last Monday the first ships on which the communists were embarked departed towards Caledonia namely the Danae and the Guerrière.(1) They were to be followed on the 20^th by the transports Orne and Finistèrre. The French cabinet is taken the affaire seriously. The former editor of the Lanterne Rochefort (2) would not depart with one of these ship due to his worse health. He seemed to have written a letter to Thiers requesting that he was allowed to go to the Hijerische eilanden. Probably this would be allowed.

The newspaper Middelburgsche Courant dated 13 May reported that Rochefort was nursed in the hospital of the fortress Bayard. Both his children were permitted by the cabinet to visit due to his worse condition. The transport le Rhin departed towards New Caledonia with around 100 convicts on baord including thRoux, Pélissier, Etienne, Lombard, Urbain, Trinquet and Taverier all members of the commune.

In the Zierikzeesche Nieuwsbode dated 30 May was described that many of the men involved in the Parisian revolt fled to England. One of them described to a correspondent of the Daily News how they worse and inhuman were treated after being taken prisoner. Together with other prisoners he was brought in the morning of 6 August to the station and from there to la Rochelle in nailed wagons for 36 hours causing the death of three men in his wagon. They were around midnight transferred to the transport le Cométe and brought to the l’Ile d’Aix.

The newspaper Goessche Courant dated 15 June reported that last Monday the steam transport la Gierrièrre embarked 260 convicts on board at the island Aix all banned to New Caledonia. According the newspapers were among them Paschal Grousset, Jourde, Verdure and Mourot, the latter being the former secretary of Henri Rochefort. The former editor of the la Lanterne was still prisoner in the Boyard fortress. The newspaper le Siècle said that it could not be proven that he would not banned but instead imprisoned in the fortress Lamalgue.

The newspaper Goessche Courant dated 1 May 1873 reported that the French transport l’Orne underway with 800 convicts to New Caledonia had to visit Melbourne for fresh victuals while 300 men on board suffered from scurvy.

Notes

1. The Paris Commune was a working class government which ruled Paris between 18/28 March and 28 May 1871 and was bloodily ended by the French federal government. The founding of the Commune must be placed with as background the Franco-Prussian war which was lost by the France empire and during which Paris was besieged and after the armistice German troops marching triumphal into Paris.

2. Victor Henri Rochefort, Marquis de Rochefort-Luçay (30 January 1830 Paris-30 June 1913 Aix-les-Bains). He published his own newspaper called La Lanterne of which the 11^th edition was seized and Rochefort in August 1868 condemned to a payment 10,000 francs and a year in the prison. He was finally transported to New Caledonia escaping there in 1874 towards San Francisco, USA.