Chapter 5. Marriage Under Bondage

Thy bield should be my bosom,
To share it a' to share it a'.
Robert Burns

Sure, I said, heav'n did not mean,
Where I reap thou shouldst but glean,
Lay thy sheaf adown, and come,
Share my harvest and my home.
Thomas Hood

Many convicts sought permission to bring their wives and family out to Australia to join them, often successfully.  For those who failed or had no spouse who would come, then the next best thing to alleviate the pain of bondage was to marry.  This happened at various stages of the convict sentences and it is possibly to broadly group these into the following categories, noting that a few may belong to more than one group.

• 1. Apply for Permission to Marry and/or Married while under Initial Sentence
• 2. Swing-rioters who married while Under Sentence in New South Wales
• 3. Swing-rioters who married While Under Extended or Further Sentence
• 4. Swing-rioters who married Free Womenwhile under Sentence
• 5. Swing-rioters who married Convicts after Emancipation
• 6. Swing-rioters who married Free Women After Emancipation

1. Apply for Permission to Marry and/or Married While Under Initial Sentence

 Six Swing-rioters in Van Diemens Land:

• Daniel Bates1
• John Dore2
• William Durham3
• Arthur Salter4
• Thomas Wadley5
• Francis Norris.6

 three in New South Wales

• James Burgess
• Job Hatherall
• Henry Toombs.

applied to marry female convicts while they themselves were still under their initial sentence.

Daniel Bates

When Daniel Bates was visiting his friend and fellow convict Mary Ann Stringer she spoke ill of her mistress (who was the mistress of the man to whom Mary Ann was assigned), was overheard and charged with an offence of which Daniel Bates was named as a witness. When the case came to court Bates was observed in conversation with Stringer who was then further charged with tampering with a witness while Bates was charged with holding communication with a fellow prisoner against whom he had been brought up as a witness. He was sentenced to three months imprisonment with hard labour at his trade and she to three months at hard labour in the Female Factory.7

Both these sentences were later cancelled by Lieutenant Governor Arthur in consideration of the prisoners' general good conduct. Bates received permission to marry Mary Ann Stringer on 6 October 1834, married her on 6 April 1835, was given a ticket-of-leave on 31 March and freely pardoned on 26 May 1837.8  Mary Ann Bates had been sentenced in 1830 to fourteen years transportation for receiving stolen working tools and was conditionally pardoned on 6 October 1849.9

At the 1843 Van Diemens Land Census Daniel Bates was the person in charge and employer of servants in a house owned by John Lucas at Browns River, south of Hobart.10 The occupants of the house, other than Daniel Bates, were a female aged 21 and less than 45 years of age, obviously Mary Ann (Stringer) Bates, and a less than 21-year-old male who, like Daniel Bates, was classified as a mechanic or artificer. As Bates was a wheelwright by trade he was presumably conducting a wheelwright's business and employing at least one other tradesman who was living with him.

Daniel Bates died in Hobart, aged 70, on 3 April 1875 and Mary Ann Bates died, aged 74, at Kingston (formerly Browns River), Tasmania, on 10 July 1874.11 They had no children.

John Dore

John Dore applied to have his English wife sent to join him in Van Diemens Land but she did not come, so he asked permission to marry Mary Ann Axford convict per Atwick and they were married in Hobart on 13 September 1841.12 Mary Ann Dore had four children born in Van Diemens Land:

1. John born 28 March 1844, birth registered Spring Bay; moved to Victoria in 1850 by unknown means.13 He married Annie Thomas in 1868 and they had at least twelve children.
2. Henry born 26 January 1846, birth registered Great Swanport.14
3. Harriet born 14 April 1847, birth registered Prossers Point and Sorell and died in Hobart on 1 March 1848.16
4. Unnamed male born 20 February 1850, birth registered Prossers Point and Sorell.16

The family appears to have moved to Victoria where John died in 1861.  Mary Ann Dore was living at Charcoal Gully in the Sandhurst (Bendigo) district of Victoria with a man named William Douglas when she died on 17 August 1868. A jury concluded:

That between the hours of two and three o'clock a.m. on the 17th instant, the deceased, Mary Dore, came suddenly by her death, in the hut of William Douglas, in Charcoal Gully, Sandhurst, by injuries inflicted on her head with a jug, by the hands of the said William Douglas, thereby producing congestion of the brain, and we, the jury, therefore find the aforesaid William Douglas guilty of manslaughter.17

William Durham

William Durham was granted permission to marry Mary Devine, convict per the female convict transport Mermaid, on 8 December 1835 and they were married on 24 February 1836.18  Mary Devine was very badly behaved as a prisoner, as is revealed by the attached extracts from the surgeon-superintendant of the Mermaid and her Conduct Record. At the 1848 Van Diemens Land Census William Durham was the proprietor of a house in Brisbane Street, Launceston, Van Diemens Land accompanied by a female aged 21 and less than 45 and a female aged 7 and less than 14 years old; presumably his wife, Mary nee Devine, and their daughter Jane.19 William Durham, per Eliza, Mary Devine, per Mermaid and child Jane Durham, a native of Van Diemens Land, left Launceston for Melbourne, as passengers on board the Shamrock, on 22 June 1851.20

Arthur Salter

Arthur Salter of Buckinghamshire was granted permission to marry Sarah Johnson, convict per Jane, on 10 May 1836. They were married later in the same year.21 Sarah was convicted of robbery and stealing at Middlesex, England and transported per Jane female convict transport which arrived at Hobart, Van Diemens Land in June 1833 with one hundred and thirteen female convicts on board. At the 1848 Van Diemens Land census Arthur and Sarah Salter were living in a house they rented in New Town Road Hobart. They later moved to Victoria where they both eventually died without leaving any children.

Thomas Wadley

Thomas Wadley was given permission to marry Rebecca Beak (surname also variously spelt Bakes or Bates) in July 1835. They were married on 10 August 1835.22 Four children were born to the marriage:

1. Louisa born 21 May 1836 christened Launceston, married Richard Hodgetts.23 They had nine children: Albert Richard, Alfred Edward, Amos George Ferdinand, Arthur William, Denton Rufus Winton, Ernest Thomas, Erskine Nathaniel, Mary Ann and Percy John Leonard.
2. Mary Ann born 18 May 1837 christened Launceston, married Thomas Hodgetts.24 They had four children.
3. Jane born 10 August 1838 christened Launceston.25
4. Thomas born 15 November 1840 christened Launceston.26

Thomas died at Deloraine, age 69, on 18 October 1879.27 Rebecca remarried 28 July 1882 at Launceston to William Brooks.28

Francis Norris

Francis Norris was granted permission to marry Ann Drury, free, on 24 February 1836 and they were married later in the same year on 4 April 1836. No record of any children born to the marriage has been found.

Norris received a conditional pardon on 5 April 1838 but was convicted of larceny and sentenced to six months imprisonment with hard labour at Hobart Town Quarter Sessions on 28 December 1840. Nothing further is known of him until his death aged fifty-one years in Hobart, Van Diemens Land, on 13 July 1844.29

James Burgess

Convict Marriage Application: 13 December 1836

James Burgess age 27 years, per Eleanor, 14 years, bachelor, was granted permission to marry Jane Dillon age 27, Southworth, ticket-of-leave, Spinster on  24 December 1836.30  Jane Dillon, was tried in Dublin and sailed for New South Wales on board the Southworth in 1832.

Date of Trial: Dublin City; 19 August 1831.
Offence: Stealing Calico.
Age and Condition: 23 years; single.
Education: Read.
Religion: Roman Catholic.
Native place: King's County.
Trade or calling: Cook and all work.
Previous Convictions: None.
Description: 5'6"; ruddy complexion; brown hair; hazel grey eyes; little finger of right hand a little contracted.
ticket of leave No. 36/12779.
Muster: 1837 - Jane Dillon, age 27, Camden, Ticket of Leave.

They married on 30 February 1837 at Stonequarry, Cumberland County, NSW and had seven children:

1. Thomas, born 29 May 1837, Airds; baptised 23 July 1837, St Peter, Cambelltown, NSW.
2.  Mary Ann, born 24 May 1839, Stonequarry, NSW, Constable.
3.  James, born 10 May 1841, Stonequarry, NSW, Labourer, baptised 23 May 1841, Oaks & Stonequarry Parish.
4. John, born 1 December 1843, Picton, NSW, Constable.
5.  William, born 18 May 1846, Picton, NSW, Constable; baptised 21 June 1846, Narellan, County of Camden.
6.  Henry, born 30 November 1848, Picton, NSW, Constable.
7.  Alice Sophia, born 2 September 1851, Picton, Labourer; baptised 12 October 1851, Picton, NSW. She married Samuel Bateup, 1871, NSW.

Job Hatherall

Job Hatherall married first Norah Sweeny who died in child birth with a still-born child and second Sarah Gerrard both of whom were also convicts.   No children born to any of the marriages have been found.31

Henry Toombs

Convict Marriage Application: Henry Toombs, age 29 years, Eleanor, 14 years conditional pardon; and Harriet Powers age 33 years, Numa, ticket-of-leave, widow; 19 September 1839.32

Married: 1 November 1839, Queenbeyan, Murray, NSW.33

Wife: Harriet Powers; married with the consent of the Governor.

Further Details: Harriet Powers, a widow, age 29 years arrived in NSW on board the Numa in 1834. Convict Indent:34
Age and Condition: 29 years; widow with 1 son on board.
Education: Read.
Religion: Protestant.
Native Place: Hampshire.
Trade or Calling: Housemaid, laundrymaid.
Offence: Pledging.
Date and Place of Trial: Middlesex Session of Peace; 30 September 1833.
Sentence: Transportation for 7 years.
Previous Convictions: None.
Description: 5' 0¾"; sallow complexion; brown hair; dark hazel eyes; scar over left eyebrow, scar left side of upper lip, large scar under tip of chin, scar on nose near right eye, mole under right arm.

2. Marriage while Under Sentence in NSW

Convict marriage during sentence was discouraged in NSW but at least two Swing-rioters married before emancipation.

Jacob Turner

Jacob Turner was given permission to marry free migrant, Sarah Skelton, on 14 March 1834 and they were married later in the same year and had the following children:

1. Charlotte born 1835.
2. Mary born 1838.
3. William born 1840, died (as Jacob) 1841.

Jacob Turner died in 1844 and Sarah remarried.34

John Ford

John Ford was given permission to marry while still under sentence and he married free migrant Mary Ann Coleman at Narellan, 4 June 1837. They had several children.

The following letter concerning John Ford (and other Swing-rioters) was written by a woman in England to her brother who had migrated to the Hunter River district of New South Wales.

When our last letters to you were written the whole country was in an uproar, as well as two or three of the adjoining ones. William and his yeomen certainly stopped the rioters from going into Somersetshire; no riots have taken place there yet, and I trust the whole kingdom will soon be quiet again. The Special Assizes took place at Salisbury last week, before three Judges, and a great many prisoners are sentenced to transportation. Two are to be hanged, I hear, one of them for having very nearly killed Mr Oliver Codrington with a sledge hammer in one of the rows in North Wiltshire; the prisoner was not content with knocking him off his horse, but struck him when on the ground and it was some hours before Mr Oliver C. could be brought to life, and he remained insensible for two or. three days. He is now pretty well recovered, and is extremely annoyed to find that the Judges of the Capital have sentenced the man to death, as he would not allow the surgeon who attended him to be examined in Court, fearing that such would be the case, and I hear he has desired the counsel to find a flaw, if possible, by which he may escape. The other case is for extorting money.

I think these convicts will be most valuable servants to you and other settlers in New South Wales, I fancy they will not be inclined to quarrel with the machines they will find there. Government has very wisely determined not to send the poor men to the hulks, previous to leaving England, to be made more wicked, but a vessel is now lying off Portsmouth to take them to Botany Bay as soon as possible. No doubt you remember a notorious poacher and evil-disposed person of the name of Jack Ford, alias Henwood, belonging to the parish of Upper Tefont, who always wired all the hares and pheasants in Twickthorn and the adjoining copses. He joined a part near Wilton, assisted in breaking machines, and doing other violence there. At Barford he headed a mob, and broke Mr Nicholson's mill, and then went on to Ono Shipman's house, and declared he would have gold or blood, so Ono gave him a sovereign. These last two offences have transported him for life, much to the joy of William Barnes and Jim Viney. Papa has done his utmost to get one of the men's sentences mitigated, but has not succeeded He is a native of Chicksgrove or Tisbury, and is a blacksmith. He has always been reckoned the most quiet, industrious young man in the parish. He was absolutely collared and taken out of his father's house by violence; but, of course, when his spirit was up he was active enough, and being a blacksmith he well knew how to break the plows and rollers. Now don't laugh at me very much for what follows, because I know that there is hardly a chance of your ever seeing poor Edmund White, but if you do, don't forget that Papa has interested himself in his behalf. He has seven years to spend at Botany Bay.35

The letter is interesting and informative but needs a little updating and correcting. The two prisoners sentenced to be hanged, Peter Withers (see above) and James Lush both had their sentences reduced to transportation for life. Convicts were not sentenced to be transported to a specific place but to transportation beyond the seas and none went to Botany Bay except those sent with the First Fleet and they did not land there because the site was found to be waterless and unsuitable for settlement, necessitating an immediate change of venue to Port Jackson. John Ford was transported to Port Jackson and assigned at Penrith in New South Wales so was unlikely to come in contact with the letter's recipient who lived in the Hunter Valley. Peter Withers, James Lush and Edmund White went to Van Diemens Land.

3. Married While Under Extended or Further Sentence

David Heath

David Heath (Police Number H1217) of Ramsbury, Wiltshire, was charged with, and found guilty of, insubordinate conduct and disobedience of orders in August 1835, for which his sentence was extended by two years.36 He received his ticket-of-leave in August 1835 and his complete freedom at the end of 1839. He married Bridget Heatherwood (Heatherman, Heathernan) at Norfolk Plains, Van Diemens Land, in 1837.37 They had six children:

1. Lucy, born 8 August 1841, Longford, Van Diemens Land.38 Married Charles Edward Jacobs.39 They had twelve children: Charles David, not recorded male, James David, George Arthur, not recorded female, Ada, not recorded male who died at birth, Frederick Greig, Harriet Lever, Frances Mary, Lucy Maud and Helen Grace.
2. Ann, born 6 January 1845, Longford, Van Diemens Land.40
3. John, born 27 February 1846, Longford, Van Diemens Land; married, 1868, Margaret Coleman.41
4. David, born 4 February 1848, Launceston, Van Diemens Land.42  Married, 1875, Julia Isabella Paybody.43 They had four children: Ida May, Sarah Millicent, George David and Julia Isabella.
5. Female, born 2 August 1851, Longford.44
6. Harrett, born 16 November 1853, Longford, Van Diemens Land Married, 1871, James Greig.45  They had thirteen children: Charles Haddon, Clara Grace, Herbert Roy, Samuel Henry, Ada May, Amy Constance, Charlotte Annie, David Charles, Eva Mary, George William, Ivy Maud, James Wesley, and Lindsay Gordon.

David Heath died on 18 February 1884, at New Norfolk, labourer age 77 and Bridget Heath died at New Norfolk on 18 April 1896.46

Samuel Summerfield

Swing-rioter Samuel Summerfield received a free pardon, as did other seven-­year sentence men, on 3 February 1836 but in December of the same year he was convicted for breaking and entering a dwelling house and stealing nine shillings and eight pence (less than $1.00) in copper coins for which he was sentenced to transportation for life; the first three years to be spent in Port Arthur. That sentence was extremely severe, but Governor Arthur had instructed his magistrates to deal severely with offending ex-convicts, especially those who had received remission of earlier sentences. In 1846 Summerfield was given permission to marry free widow Eliza Hannan (nee Glover) and they were married on 28 May 1846.47 The following children were born to the marriage:

1.  Sarah born 9 September 1847, married John Wass 6 children - 5 girls and 1 boy.
2.  Edwin, born 31 July 1849, New Norfolk; died 24 July 1852.48
3.  George Alfred, born 30 December 1851, Hobart died 20 June 1852.49
4.  Susan, born 1 May 1853 Hobart, married William Marshall Thomson 8 October 1878.50
5.  Amelia Maria born 16 July 1855 Hobart, married John Pascoe 23 November 1887 Maryborough Victoria.51
6.  Frederick Walter born 13 November 1858 Hobart.52  Married Annie Sophia Bannister 1 April 1885 Avoca Vic  8 sons.

4. Swing-rioter Convicts Under Sentence who Married Free Women

Isaac Isles (Iles)

In Van Diemens Land Isaac Isles received permission to marry Eliza Gifford (free) on 6 August 1835 and they were married on 14 September 1835.53 They had ten children:

1. Thomas Henry (Harry) born 1836 or 1837, married:(1) Kate Elliott in 1859 (2) Velvena Brown in 1910.54 There were seven children born to the first marriage and one to the second.
2. William born 1838, married Emma Elliott in 1865.55 Thirteen children.
3. Isaac born 1839, died 1856.
4. John born 1840, married Isabel Elliott in 1869.56 Nine children.
5. Mary Ann born 1842, married William Young in 1869.57 Seven children.
6. Henry Edward born 1844, married Sarah Howlett in 1868.58 Two children.
7. George born 1846, married Mary Howlett in 1867.59 Five children.
8. David born 1850, married Mary Louisa Barnes in 1875. Nine children.
9. James born 1852, married Rosehannah Brown in 1876.60 No known children.
10. Eliza born 1852, married William Alexander Martin in 1873.61 Ten children.

Isaac Isles was granted a ticket-of-leave in January 1836 and a free pardon a month later. He took over the Canterbury Inn at Hollow Tree Bottom, Colebrook in southeast Van Diemens Land in October 1836 and he lived in the southeast of the island colony for the remainder of his long life. At the 1842 Van Diemens Land Census, he was living (as Iles, the proper spelling of his name) in the Parish of Ulva at Richmond, in Van Diemens Land, with his wife and then four children in a dwelling house of which the proprietor was William Cutts.62 His occupation at that time is unknown. At the 1843 Van Diemens Land Census Isaac Iles and his wife and children, now five in number, were living in the same house, number 13, which, due to a boundary alteration, was now located in Brighton Parish.. Isaac and a free adult male, also living in the house, were classified as Gardeners, Stockmen or Persons employed in Agriculture.63 At the 1851 Van Diemens Land Census the Iles' and their family of nine were living at Brandy Bottom in the Parish of Ormaig in Richmond and Isaac, senior, was classified as a farmer.64

An unverified report claims that Iles illegally pursued his pre-transportation trade of distilling after getting his freedom but, in danger of being detected by the law, was forced to hide his still and conceal his bottled spirits beneath the waters of the Coal River near Colebrook - hence the place name Brandy Bottom.

The funeral of Samuel Iles was reported in  in the Hobart Mercury of 9 September 1896 read:65

One of the largest funerals seen for many years took place on Sunday, 6th. inst., when the remains of the late Isaac Iles were buried. The deceased who was 96 years of age, having been born in 1800, arrived in Hobart at the age of 26, where he passed several years as a maltster; he afterwards settled in the Colebrook district, where he spent the greater part of the 70 years he has resided in the colony. He had been married 61 years. Mrs. Iles is now 85 years of age, and our correspondent says it would astonish some people to see nimble and hearty she is.

Isaac Iles was indeed twenty-six years old when he arrived in Hobart, but he was no more than ninety-two years old when he died and had arrived as a convict five years later than is implied from his stated age at death. Ex convicts attempted to conceal their past for a variety of reasons one of which was to compete fairly with free migrants, especially in the labour market.

Isaac's will, made a quarter of a century before he died, bequeathed all his real and personal estate to his widow after payment of his just debts and funeral and testamentary expenses.66 Eliza Iles, Isaac's widow, died in Hobart in 1902 at the age of ninety-two years.67

Peter Withers

In spite of having declared himself a married man on arrival in Van Diemens Land, Peter Withers was given permission to marry to marry Ann Wade in April 1836 and they were married later in the same year.68 At the beginning of 1843 he, his wife, her son by a previous liaison and a free male classified as a mechanic or artificer were living at Cascade in Hobart Town. As Withers was also classified as a mechanic or artificer and was the employer of servants it is likely that he was practising his trade and conducting a shoemaker business at his home address.

Withers received a letter from his first wife, Mary Ann, in October 1844 to which he replied:

1844 hobart town october the 20

My Dear this comes with my kind Love to you hopeing it Will find you in good health as it Leaves me at present thanks be to god for it i Receved your Let er in October 15 an i ham very hapy to heare that you are well you Want to know about this Country i will you there is nothing But Puverty Cring through the Land it was a good Place about 4 years ageo But Now there is thousands of men Wich have no imployment the Countrey is in Bankerup state every Week there is insolvants in our news Papers so that trade is at a stake you said ifi would send you a little money it would Be acceptable But that Cano/ be at Present But i must tell you that i am married again and i have a stadey vertus Woman for my Wife i have Been thinking in the Course of two years i shall Be able to send you a small Living about ten or fifteen Pounds a year to wich my wife agree you said you would not sell the house so i think you had not for i think it will Be home for you an your Children for the Little money wich i shall and wot little you Can get you will be able to get along Pretey well you may Look for som in about that time i have no Property ofmy own But my wife have Property wich she will have in the Course of two years an then we have agreed to help you an the Children if god spares our lives but i now that for to eare that i am married is a hard trial for you to bare but it is no good to tell you a lye i sent a great maney Leters Before i took a wife so not earing from you an i being a young man i thought it a Proper thing to Look a partner wich would be a Comfort to me in my Bondage i sent for you to Com out to this Country when i came first an if you had you would got me out of Bandag for nothing But a wife Cold get a Re/ace for her husband so we must not think about Coming together again but there is nothing to hard for god therefure put your trust in him for vain is the help of man you says that my sister ann Died in the Lord i am glad to hear of that an a great many of our frends is Dead But i hope i shall meet them around gods throne in- glory give my Love to my Dear Children an all our frends an Relations so no more from your afectant frend

Peter Withers Hobart town
Davey Street

Mary Ann Withers did not attempt to contact her husband again until August 1847 when she was told by the Secretary of States Office that he had last attended muster on 30 September 1846 and that no further information regarding his whereabouts could be given. He had, in fact, finally left the colony in May 1846  (See Table 7) and was living with his second wife in Adelaide, South Australia. Peter Withers died in South Australia in 1872, a pauper; his second wife also died in South Australia outliving him by several years.

5. Married Convicts after Emancipation

William Nibbs

William (K)nibbs was granted permission to marry convict Mary Anne Tumney (Timony/Timoney/Timonay) in 1845.69   They married in September of that year and had the following children:70

1.  Mary Ann, born 21 June 1846, married Angus Lamont.71
2.  Elizabeth, born 1847 (birth not registered).
3.  John, born 23 March 1849, married Caroline Howard.72
4.  Sarah, born 15 September 1850, married Arthur Foley.73
5.  William, born 22 July 1852, married Annie Heaton.74
6.  Susan, born c. 1854 (birth not registered), married Thomas Ray.
7.  Francis, born 5 July 1856.75
8.  Job Linton, born 13 November 1857, married Mary Elizabeth Cox.76
9.  Thomas Henry, born 16 August 1859, married Emma Olive.77
10.  James, born 5 March 1861, died 1876.78
11.  Catherine Laura, born 18 July 1863, married Joseph Dillon.79
12.  Alice, born 22 February, died 25 June 1867.80

When William Nibbs, as he was known in Van Diemens Land, married in 1845 he was working as overseer of a property near Port Sorell belonging to the Reverend John Bishton. Bishton conducted the Tibbs' marriage ceremony and (surprise, surprise) was the person to whom the bride was an assigned servant.

In January 1848 when bushrangers attacked the Bishton property Nibbs sent a man to get help from a neighbouring publican named Moore and then approached the bushrangers, armed only with a fork. One of them told Nibbs to lay down the fork which he did but he then seized the man's gun and tried to wrest it from him. He had nearly succeeded in doing so when the bush-ranger pulled out a pistol and told Nibbs to let go. Another man who came to assist Nibbs was shot at four times before he took to his heels and ran.

The bushrangers then entered the dwelling house and prepared themselves a meal and when six of Moore's men came to help Nibbs they were seized and tied up; the outlaws vowing to get Moore for interfering. After brutally abusing Nibbs and others they went to the inn looking for Moore but did not find him so they continued their activities until eventually escaping from Van Diemens Land on an American whaling vessel bound for Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Nibbs eventually became a tenant farmer in the Port Sorell area where he remained until he was taken ill to Launceston, Tasmania, where he died of a stricture in 1884.

Charles Pizzie (Pizzey)

Charles Pizzie, free, Application to Marry: 15 May 1840, Charles Pizzie per Proteus and Agnes Calder per Arab, given permission to marry.81  He married:

1. Sarah Elizabeth Fisher 12 October 1829, Froxfield, Wiltshire, England.
2. Agnes Calder 23 Feb 1842, Launceston, Tasmania.82   Agnes Calder, per Arab, sailed from London 30 December 1835, arrived Hobart Town, 25 April 1836; Died 1869, Victoria, age 65, born Edinburgh, father James Calder.83

He died in 1881 in Belfast, Victoria, age 76 years.84  

John Tollard

John Tollard (See Figure 11) was granted permission to marry convict Ann Neale (Neate), New Grove, on 15 July 1836 and married her on 5 September 1836.85 They had the following children:

1. Mary Ann born and died 1838.
2. James, born 17 September 1839. died 1898.
3. Fanny, born and died 1841.
4. Anna Maria, born 28 November 1843, married 27 April 1877 George M. Potter and had two children.
5. John, born Clarence 26 February 1846.
6. Henry, born Clarence 5 May 1848; married (1) 20 July 1872, three children; married (2) 19 January 1893.
7. Rosina, born Clarence 15 October 1850; married Clarence 23 July 1877 John Pearsall, three children.
8. Elizabeth Mary, born Clarence 6 January 1853; married Clarence 16 May 1877 William Henry Richardson, two children.
9. Emmaline, born Clarence 1854, died Clarence 1874.
10. Arthur Emmanuel Augus, born Ralphs Bay 24 July 24 1859, married Hobart 22 May 1883 Sarah Ella Reed, six children.
11. Clara Victoria Alex, born Ralphs Bay 22 May 1863; married Hobart 28 April 1884 George W. Jordan, nine children.

Jeremiah Farmer

Jeremiah Farmer was pardoned on 15 Mar 1837 and seems to have made several applications to marry and actually married two convict women, Margaret Carrol in 1844 and Mary Fehely in 1855.86

John Hunt

John Hunt married a convict, Louisa Wallace, at Launceston on 26 Feb 1840, having been pardoned on 5 Feb 1836.87

Thomas Vinen

Thomas Vinen was granted a ticket-of-leave on 4 June 1835 and a pardon on 5 Feb 1836.88 He was given permission to marry Mary Burrows on 2 Aug 1836.89 They married at New Norfolk on 3 October 1836.90 They had the following children:

1. William, baptised 28 October 1836, New Norfolk, Van Diemens Land.91
2. Henry, born 1838; married Elizabeth Hasler.92
3. Elizabeth, born 10 July 1840, New Norfolk, Van Diemens Land.93
4. Robert, born 28 September 1842, New Norfolk, Van Diemens Land.
5. Margaret, born 28 April 1844, New Norfolk, Van Diemens Land.
6. Eliza, born 20 November 1846, New Norfolk, Van Diemens Land.
7. Thomas Edith, born 10 May 1849.94

Thomas Vinen conducted a considerable exchange of correspondence with relatives in England but none of the letters he wrote have been found; the surviving letters being limited to those he received. The first, from his sister Mary dated 12 December 1836, referred to his January 1831 trial, the expected termination of his seven year sentence and the hope that he would return home in 1838. That letter also desired him not to get married as Sarah Stevens, presumably a girl friend, sent her love and said she would not get married until he returned to England. Unknown to his sister, and to Sarah Stevens, Thomas had been free since 3 February 1836 and married since 3 October 1836 having beaten the birth of his first child by twenty-five days.

The second surviving letter received by Thomas Vinen, dated 30 January 1838, was from another sister, Elizabeth Martin, who acknowledged receipt of a letter from him informing the family of his marriage, the birth of his first child and his expectation that it would be five years before he returned to England. The letter contained a great deal of family news and also told of the home coming to Tisbury of transported Swing-rioter John Barrett the only one that is returned yet. Elizabeth Martin had heard rumours that James Blandford and Thomas Rixon had also returned home but both had, in fact died under sentence in Van Diemens Land.

The third letter dated 8 March 1841 was also from Elizabeth Martin. It reported that both John and Samuel Barrett were back in Tisbury, and had been for about two years, but that they were the only two of the transported Tisbury men to be home. Thomas had apparently enquired about James Mould of Tisbury to which his sister replied his father does not know anything about him. Elizabeth Martin wrote four further letters to her brother; the last written 28 March 1853 in company with her husband saying we shall be anxious to know how you got on at the diggins. In a letter of 24 July 1849 she mentioned Thomas 'Ebery' (Abery) who Thomas had reported seeing in Van Diemens Land and in one of 27 August 1851 she mentioned returned Swing-rioters John and Samuel Barrett now conducting a blacksmithing business in Tisbury but they cant agree together they have been to fight and Samuel as knockt one of johns eyes out.

Thomas's brother Henry wrote to Thomas and Mary Vinen on 27 March 1853 apparently in answer to a letter from Mary telling him that Thomas had gone to the gold mines but had left her and the children at home. In the same letter Henry wrote dear brother there is hundreds leaving England daily for the gold mines.  I think it must be getting pretty full there is a great many leaving tisbury combes at mill and the hibberds on the green and john wilkins on the cross and his family is gone ...

Many of the letters Thomas Vinen received from England implored him to return, at least for a visit, and it appears from the following that he finally did so but not until the latter part of the nineteenth century.

After an enforced absence of nearly 50 years and believing Thomas Viney (sic) to be in Tasmania - I was in the manner of Falstaff taking my ease in the private bar of The Boot when a stranger as bearded as the pard stood at the open door. I looked and was the first to speak saying You are the brother of Joseph Viney.

Thomas Vinen appears on the assessment and valuation roll 1858 New Norfolk, Tasmania (formerly Van Diemens Land) as the occupier and presumably lessee of 250 acres of land at Belmont, the property of William Dean and of 30 acres at Comers, the property of Richard Barker of Rosegarland.

Thomas Vinen may have died in England as no record of his death was found in Australia.

Mary Burrows was convicted of uttering base coin (her second conviction for that offence) at Edinburgh Court of Justiciary on 21 July 1834 and sentenced to 7 years transportation. She arrived in Van Diemens Land per Hector on 20 October 1835 and was assigned in the New Norfolk area. According to her Conduct Record she was a widow with two children when charged for the first offence and had one child when convicted the second time.111 She died (as Mary Vinen, widow) on 27 January 1891 and was buried 29 January 1891, Wesleyan Section, Cornelian Bay Cemetery, Hobart, Tasmania.96  

John Shergold

John Shergold was originally assigned in New South Wales but was brought to Van Diemens Land by his master when he moved to that colony. Shergold (transcribed as Sheargood) was granted permission to marry Elizabeth Taylor and they were married in St Johns Church of England, Launceston on 22 February 1842 and had two children:97

1. Emanuel, born 15 February 1843, Pattersons Plains; married (as Emmanuel Sheargold) Elizabeth Teresa East, 9 March 1865, St Pauls Church of England, Launceston, Tasmania.98
2. Sarah Ann, born 3 August 1847, Pattersons Plains.99

Elizabeth Taylor had a conviction for housebreaking before she was sentenced, at Chester (Cheshire, England) Quarter Sessions in July 1838, to seven years transportation for stealing wearing apparel. She arrived in Van Diemens Land per female convict transport Hindostan in September 1839 and received her Certificate of Freedom in 1845.100 She died in 1848. In March 1850 John Shergold was given clearance to embark on the brig City of Sydney bound for Portland Bay in what is now Western Victoria but what happened to him thereafter is unknown.101 The Shergold children, Emanuel and Sarah Ann, were admitted to an orphanage.

William Kibblewhite

William Kibblewhite, free, was granted permission to marry Mary Bowen, convict, on 26 May 1836 and ­they were married 18 July 1836.102 Mary Bowen, described as a plain cook, was tried in Middlesex 28 November 1833 and sentenced to seven years transportation for stealing necklaces, etc. from her employer. She arrived in Van Diemens Land per Edward 28 November 1834 and was assigned to Mr McLeod in the Richmond District.103  Her Conduct Record was sent to the Richmond Police Office on 3 February 1835 and has no emancipation details except for an endorsement Free Certificate No 279 1843.104

Edmund White

Edmund White was granted permission to marry Maria Smith in August 1835 but the date of the marriage is unknown. Eight children were born to the marriage:

1.  Male child born about 1838.
2.  Female child born about 1840.
3.  Male child born 17 December 1842, father a Blacksmith.105
4.  Edward James, born 20 October 1844, father a Blacksmith.106
5.  Male child born 22 October 1846, High St Oatlands, father a Blacksmith & Innkeeper.107
6.  Male child born about 1847.
7.  Cecilia Jane, born 27 February 1855, Oatlands.108
8.  Female, 15 March 1859, Oatlands.109

At the 1842 Van Diemens Land Census Edmund White, described as a mechanic or artificer, was living in an unfinished stone house in High St., Oatlands, with his wife and two eldest children and at the 1848 Census he had five male and one female children and was employing three male assigned servants.110

Edmund White appears to have purchased two acres of land in Oatlands in 1836 and to have been the licensee of the:

• City Hotel, Oatlands, 1846-49
• Wardour Castle Inn, High St., Oatlands, 1850-61 and
• White Horse Inn, Lake Tiberias, 1864- 65.

Death: 17 April 1882, a blacksmith of Oatlands, age 73 years.111

James House

James House applied 14 January 1832 to have his family sent out to join him in Van Diemens Land but they did not come.112 He applied for permission to marry Harriet Thorney, convict per Majestic, on 10 December 1842 and they were married on 13 February 1843 at Great Swanport.113

At the 1848 Van Diemens Land Census James House was classified as a farmer and the person in charge of a wooden house at Springvale, Great Swanport, owned by Charles Meredith, a prominent local pastoralist.114 He was sharing the house with a 21-45 year old married female, obviously his wife Harriet, and three male farm servants two of whom were ex-convicts and one of whom was on ticket-of-leave.

James House died on 8 December 1850 at Springvale, of apoplexy caused by functional derangement of heart and was buried at Oatlands.115

Harriet Thorney, a 25 year old shoe binder from Hull, was sentenced at Stafford Quarter Sessions 3 April 1838 to ten years transportation for stealing money, etc. She arrived in Van Diemens Land per female convict transport Majestic on 21 January 1839. On her Conduct Record her statement of offence reads stealing money pr(operty) Thomas Hams West Broomwich, single 3 years on the Town.116 James House is mentioned in Dr Story's casebook as being treated by him in 1843 which means he must have been living in the Bicheno to Orford district at the time.117

6. Married Free Women After Emancipation

In Van Diemens Land / Tasmania

Shadrach Amor

He was sentenced on 27 December 1830 and arrived in Van Diemens Land per Eliza on 28 May 1831.  He was granted a free pardon on 3 Feb 1836 and married Elizabeth Moore just weeks later on 5 Mar 1836 in Hobart.118

In Victoria

In New South Wales

Figure10. William Knibbs (or Nibbs), c. 1809-1884 (left) and Thomas Vinen, born c. 1810.

Figure 11. Anne Tollard nee Neale c. 1815-1890 and John Tollard c. 1807-1876.

 

Name	Vessel	Date and Port of Departure	Date and Port of Arrival	Reference
Withers, Peter and Wife and Child	Timbo	19 Mar 1846 Hobart Town	04 Apr 1846 Adelaide	Departures from Hobart Town, Peter Withers, Tasmanian Archives, CUS36/1/520
Withers, Peter and Wife	Scout	16 Apr 1846 Adelaide	26 Apr 1846 Hobart Town
Withers, Peter and Wife	Timbo	09 May 1846 Hobart Town	04 Jun 1846 Adelaide	Departures from Hobart Town, Peter Withers,Tasmanian Archives,CUS36/1/469
Withers, Mrs	Joseph  Cripps	02 Nov 1847 Hobart Town	19 Nov 1847 Adelaide

Table 7. Withers family inter-colony movements

 

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