Thomas Hill Dixon
Thomas Hill Dixon was the first Superintendent of Convicts in Western Australia. Together with his superior, the Comptroller General Edmund Henderson, he created a reforming, humane convict regime for Western Australia. Recognition of his achievements has however been eroded by his later indictment on charges of embezzling public moneys.
Early life
Thomas Dixon was born on the Isle of Man on 20 February 1816. The son of an innkeeper, he was given a good education, and at the age of eighteen went to Glasgow to study medicine at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary. By this time, however, his father had died and the family hotel was being run by his mother and older brother. After only six months in Glasgow, Dixon was forced to return home to take the place of his brother, who had fallen seriously ill and would die shortly afterwards. There, he continued to pursue an interest in medicine, spending five years as a pupil of a local doctor.Coming of Age and Indebtedness
By 1837, Dixon was married to a woman named Eliza Fennella. That year, his mother died and Dixon inherited her estate, only to find that his mother was in such debt that her assets barely covered the costs of her funeral. Pursued by her creditors, Dixon and his wife fled the island.Police Service
In 1840, when their first daughter was born, they were in Liverpool, but they did not remain there long. In August 1842 the family moved to London, where Dixon joined the Metropolitan Police Force. In 1843 a second daughter was born. Some time afterwards, Dixon's wife left him, for reasons unknown.Convict Service
In 1847, Dixon applied for a position in the Convict Service. His application was eventually successful, and in 1850 he was appointed Superintendent of Convicts for the Swan River Colony, which had just been declared a penal colony. Dixon travelled to the colony with the first convicts on board the Scindian. Traveling with him were his two children and his "wife". Shortly after their arrival at Fremantle, Dixon's wife was banished to Toodyay "for the good of the Service". As no record of Dixon's second marriage has been found, Stebbing argues that his wife's banishment from Fremantle is most likely attributable to "her exposure as Dixon's common-law wife and not the mother of his children".Thomas Dixon held the position of Superintendent of Convicts for nine years, running Fremantle Prison and the convict system. Together with the Comptroller General Edmund Henderson, he created a reforming, humane convict system for Western Australia. He instituted a system of training convicts in a trade, and he adapted the marks system used by Alexander Maconochie in Norfolk Island's penal system to Western Australia's legal situation. He was opposed to flogging, and favoured the introduction of female convicts into Western Australia.
Embezzlement
Dixon earned high praise from his superiors for his innovations, but their opinion of him was to change rapidly in April 1859 when he was stood down on admission of the embezzlement of public money. Dixon's had a single account at the bank for both his private and public funds, and there were no proper accounting or auditing procedures. Dixon had been in financial difficulty for some time, and so "it inevitably appeared that he had misappropriated public funds to offset his private expenditure". The Crown then applied to the Insolvency Court for recovery of the money owed, keeping its actions secret from Dixon and his private creditors, apparently with the intention of establishing priority of the public debt over Dixon's private debts.Eventually, Dixon was indicted on three counts: embezzling £89 of public moneys, converting moneys to his own use, and stealing coins the property of the Queen.
Dixon's defence pointed out a number of flaws in the case, and the court found that the prosecution's case would have to be resubmitted. Dixon was then released pending resubmission.