Chapter 4. Family Reunions

Thy wife shall be as the fruitful vine upon the walls of thine house. Thy children like the olive-branches round about thy table.
-Psalms CXXV111

It did not take long for the transported Swing-rioters to realize that, provided they behaved themselves, they were better off as assigned servants in Australia than they had been as free labourers at home. Convicts could have wives and families sent out to Australia by female convict transport to join them and at least twenty Swing-rioters assigned in Van Diemens Land applied for that indulgence but they had to get an employer or other sponsor to guarantee that their families would not become a burden on the government after arrival. Some of the women granted permission to join their spouses declined to take up the offer perhaps because they were apprehensive about undertaking the journey by female convict transport; the only avenue available to them. Records of the arrival in Australia of nine Swing-rioters' families have been found.

Betsey Foot(e) joined her husband, Thomas, who applied on 5 March 5 1832 to have her and their four daughters, all under six years old, brought out.1 Mary Heath joined her husband, David, of Broad Blunsdon, Wiltshire, who applied on 21 November 1832.2 Mary Fisher and her two year old son joined her husband, Joseph, who applied on 13 August 1832.3  (See Figure 7) Rebecca Bartlett with four children two to eleven years old joined her husband, William, who applied in February 1834.4 All four men were transported per Eliza and none had tickets-of-leave when their wives got to Van Diemens Land but David Heath and William Bartlett had become constables in anticipation of the arrival of their families possibly hoping that would enable them to spend more time with them but Heath, at least, resigned his position as constable after getting his ticket-of-leave.5 Isaac Richardson per Lord Lyndoch also became a constable in anticipation of the arrival of his wife and family. Mary Kingshott joined her husband, John, who applied in June1834 to have her and their five children brought out.

Thomas Foote

Elizabeth (Betsey) Foot(e) was reunited with her husband, who was assigned to the Rev. R. B. Davis at Norfolk Plains (now Longford, Tasmania), after she arrived in Hobart on 23 October 1833 with her four less than ten-year-old daughters as passengers per female convict transport William Bryan.6 A further female child was born in Van Diemens Land but died prematurely. Nothing is known of Thomas Foot(e) until after he received his ticket-of-leave when, on 1 July 1835, he was committed for trial for stealing a sheep, the property of G. P. Ball of Norfolk Plains.7 No record of a trial has been found but he was presumably acquitted, if he came to trial at all, because there is no endorsement of a colonial conviction on his Conduct Record.8 He is known to have gone to the Port Phillip Colony (later Victoria) presumably before the 1842 Van Diemens Land Census at which no occupant recognisable as Thomas Foot(e) was present and his wife, Elizabeth, was named as the householder.9 Thomas Foote arrived in Launceston per Shamrock on 14 July 1845.10 He left for Port Phillip per Swan on 2 October 1845.11 He died in Ballarat, Victoria in 1866 although his wife, Elizabeth, died in 1882 and has a headstone in the burial ground of St Andrews Anglican Church, Perth, Tasmania.12

The Foote's eldest daughter, Amelia Matilda  married Frederick Jones in about 1841 at St Andrews Presbyterian Manse, Evandale and seven daughters and six sons were born to the marriage between 1841 and 1870.
Their second daughter, Sarah, married Joseph Brown at her mother's home at Perth in 1849 and Sarah and Joseph had three sons and two daughters.13
Annie Margaretta, their third daughter, married first Joseph W. Shaw in 1845 and second Michael Walker in 1893 and two sons were born to the first marriage.14
Their fourth daughter, Sabrina (Abelina), married John Dean in 1858 by whom she had three sons and one daughter.15

David Heath

At the 1848 Van Diemens Land Census David Heath, formerly of Broad Blunsdon, was living in a house at Old Beach on the eastern shore of the Derwent Estuary accompanied by his wife, Mary, one male and one female child between two and seven years old and one female child under two years old.16 David and Mary were both included in the category Gardeners, Stockmen and Persons employed in Agriculture.

The Heaths later moved to the Norfolk Plains area of northern Van Diemens Land where they remained until after David's death in 1865.17  Mary Heath's death was not recorded. David and Mary Heath had seven children:

1. Thomas born about 1837 who married Charlotte Green in 1859.18
2. Elizabeth born 1839 who married Henry Burrow(e)s in 1857.19 They had two sons and thee daughters.
3. Ann (Hannah) born 12 August 1841, Old Beach, District of Brighton, who married Thomas Henry Moss in 1857.20 They had six sons and two daughters.
4. Sarah born 12 August 1843, Old Beach, District of Brighton, who married Robert Manning in 1865.21 They had three sons and six daughters
5. Margett born August 10 1844, Old Beach, District of Brighton (died prematurely, unmarried).22
6. Susan born February 28 1847, Old Beach, District of Brighton who married Thomas Lilley Jones Pearson in 1874.23
7. George born March 7, 1849 at Old Beach, District of Brighton who married Margarette McCarthy in 1869.24

Joseph Fisher

Mary Fisher also came per Edward to join her husband, Joseph, in Van Diemens Land.28 Fisher's application of 13 August 1832, to have his wife and son sent out to join him, was supported by John Lucas who certified as to Fisher's ability to support his wife and family on their arrival in Australia.25 See Figure 7.

The 1843 Van Diemens Land Census record for Joseph Fisher stated his place of residence to be Browns River (now Kingston, about twelve kilometres south of Hobart) where he was living in a house of which the proprietor was John Lucas.26 There were two adult married males aged twenty-one to forty-five in the house; one of those, obviously Fisher, was described as a mechanic or artificer, the other as a gardener, stockman or person engaged in agriculture and like Fisher classed as other free which meant he had been a convict. The sole adult female in the house was obviously Joseph Fisher's wife and there were one male child aged two to seven and one male and one female child aged seven to fourteen corresponding in ages to those of the three then living Fisher children. Another seven to fourteen year old female child in the household presumably belonged to the other married male. At the 1851 Van Diemens Land Census Joseph Fisher was at Kingborough.27

Fisher moved from loan to Richard Lucas on 10 May 1833, and then had periods on loan to various settlers in southern Van Diemens Land. When his wife and son arrived in the colony he was with a Mrs E. Gillet of New Norfolk but his family are unlikely to have joined him there and are presumed to have gone to live with John Lucas.28 Fisher received a ticket-of-leave on 18 June 1835 and a free pardon on 3 February1836.29  His first Van Diemens Land child, Sarah Ann, was christened on 5 August 1835 eleven months after Mary Fisher arrived.30 The Fishers later had two further children; Julia Renna christened on 19 November 1836 and Richard John christened on 30 May 1839.31

Joseph Fisher was classified as an artificer at the 1842 census and was later postmaster at Brown's River a position to which he was appointed on 7 July 1843 and resigned when he became licensee of the Retreat Inn at Brown's River in September 1844.32 In 1845 he began operating a Coach Service from Hobart which terminated at the Retreat Inn. Having lost an arm in a shooting accident 'One-arm' Fisher, as Joseph was known, drove the coach's horse team one-handed with the aid of a hook attached to his waist belt.33 In 1860 Fisher's assets were advertised for auction in the Hobart Mercury due to his insolvency. Obviously Fisher had over-reached himself but, in the fifteen years since he was freely pardoned, he had accumulated three acres of land adjacent to the Retreat Inn on which stood a blacksmith's shop, ballroom, store, post office and shop, an unfinished cottage, a brick house and other buildings and a bowling alley, a weather board cottage on ten acres of land, three acres of prime land planted with fruit trees, an acre of land with a brick cottage, six coach horses, an omnibus, phaeton, stage coach, gig, harness, chaff cutter, cows, pigs, poultry, hotel stock and fittings and numerous items of furniture; a remarkable achievement for a man who had nothing when pardoned twenty-two years previously. He died at Kingston on 5 March 1882.34

The Fisher's eldest child, William, who accompanied his mother to Van Diemens Land, married first Maria McCann, second Hanna Ryan and had six sons by his second.35
Sarah Ann married George Lucas by whom she had one son.36
Richard John married Charlotte Jane Lucas.37
Julia Renna died prematurely.38

William Bartlett

William Bartlett became a constable nearly two years before his wife, Rebecca, arrived by New Grove on 27 March 1835.39 Rebecca was accompanied by her four children but they were not listed amongst the vessel's passengers. Bartlett's application of February 1834 to have his family sent out named his children as Reuben, aged eleven, John, eight, Marianne, five and Rebecca, two.40 At the 1842 Van Diemens Land Census William Bartlett's household in the township of Illawarra, Parish of Carrick consisted of nine people identified as himself, his wife, one male and two female children aged fourteen to seven years (presumably John, Marianne and Rebecca) and the four convict servants assigned to him who were classified as Gardeners, Stockmen and Persons employed in Agriculture.41 Obviously William was then a farmer and presumably doing very well.

Reuben Bartlett, who was not present at the 1842 census, was a passenger per Swan leaving Launceston on 14 December 1845 for Melbourne in the Port Phillip Colony, later Victoria.42 He was followed to Melbourne, less than four weeks later on the same vessel, by W. Bartlett, Mrs Bartlett, Rebecca Bartlett and Mary Anne (Marianne), the Bartlett's eldest daughter, who had married Stephen Bathurst in 1844.43 Mrs Rebecca Bartlett died in the District of Geelong, Victoria, in 1865; a widow survived by her four children. William Bartlett was deceased when his widow died but his death was not recorded, in Victoria at least.

John Kingshott

John Kingshott, per Proteus, applied on 2 September 1833 for his wife and five children to join him.44 His application was not acted upon until a letter from the 'Rev. Geo Godbold' addressed to the Lietenant (sic) Governor, Norfolk Island requesting a passage for the wife and family of John Kingshott was forwarded to Lieutenant Governor Arthur in Van Diemens Land by the Lieutenant Governor of Norfolk Island to whom it had been sent in error. The letter read:

Sir,
Having received information of the Secretary of State's Office that it is indispensable for a Recommendation Certificate to be transmitted by the Governor to this Country prior to sending out a wife and family belonging to any Convict I address this on behalf of a convict of the name of John Kingshott residing with Mrs Bridger New Norfolk who is anxious for his Wife & Family to join him there, and as I am informed capable of supporting them on their arrival. May I therefore request of you to make the necessary enquiries and transmit to me Certificate for the Secretary of State. John Kingshott was a Parishioner of mine and one of those poor deluded Men who joined the commotion of the Labourers in this Country. His wife is an industrious Woman with five Children and is very solicitous to be sent to her Husband, her age is about 32 years. Requesting the favour of an answer - I have the honor to Remain etc.

Lieutenant Governor Arthur received the letter on 16 April 1834, a year and a day after it was written, and acted immediately; the same day directing the Van Diemens Land Principal Superintendent of convicts to report the character of John Kingshott and ‘the means of supporting his family' (note on the reverse side of letter). The Principal Superintendent replied on 3 June 1834, reporting that John Kingshott's character was good and enclosing a letter from Mrs Ann Bridger, a New Norfolk hotelier and property owner to whom Kingshott was assigned. Mrs Bridger wrote (spelling hers):

Sir
In reply to your letter of the 21st Ap. concerning John Kingshott per Ship Proteus I beg leave to state for your information that ever since his assignment to me from the ship, his conduct has been highly praiseworthy and as a reward for his good conduct I will upon the arrival of his wife & family to this colony make such arrangements - that will enable him to provide for them a comfortable maintainence free of any expence to the Gov.

Mary Kingshott and her children embarked (see Figure 8) on the female convict transport Hector at Woolwich and sailed for Van Diemens Land arriving at Hobart 19 October 1835.45 United with her husband after a four and a half year separation Mary Kingshott lived only three and a half years with him in Van Diemens Land before her death, aged thirty-seven, at New Norfolk where she was buried 1 March 1839.46

The six children of John and Mary Kingshott, the first five of whom accompanied their mother to Van Diemens Land  were:

1.  William married Eliza Peardon at Hobart on 17 August 17 1841 and died at Hobart on 8 September 1876.447 William and Eliza Kingshott had three sons and four daughters.
2.  Mary (as Mary Ann Kingshot) married William Sarge(a)nt at Hobart on 18 June 1840 and they had two sons and four daughters.48
3.  Hannah (as Kingshot) married James Coleman (transported from Gloucester, seven years, per Red Rover, arrived Van Diemens Land, on 26 March 1831) at Hobart on 10 June 1840.49 They had ten children.
4.  John. There is no record of the marriage or death of that John Kingshott in Van Diemens Land. He was probably the 'Jn. Kinshott' who arrived at Hobart per Swordfish from Port Phillip, Victoria, on 15 January 1852 and he was presumably visiting family members possibly while at the Victoria goldfields.50 He is probably the John Kingshott who married Caroline Clark in Victoria in 1849 and who had seven children
5.  Francis married Mary Ann Morgan at New Norfolk on 6 October 1855.51 At the registration of births of her fifth to ninth children Mary Ann's maiden name was given as Hayes.
6.  Ellen, the last child of John and Mary Kingshott, was born on 21 January 1837 and christened at New Norfolk.52 Ellen (as Kinshott) married Thomas Close at Hobart on 23 December 1851.53

At the 1848 census John Kingshott was the proprietor and person in charge of an unfinished wooden house (apparently a farmhouse) at Brushy Bottom, New Norfolk.54 He was employing one ticket-of-leave farm servant and the only other occupant of the house was a seven to fourteen-year-old female born in the colony (apparently his youngest child, and then only unmarried daughter, Ellen born 1837). His son-in-law, James Coleman, appears on the census in the same Parish at nearby Dry Creek. There were no Kingshott entries on the 1858 (first) Valuation Roll for the District of New Norfolk but James Coleman was leasing one hundred and fifty acres of land at Dry Creek from Henry Bridger (son of Mrs Bridger, to whom John Kingshott had been assigned) and owned a further two hundred acres in the same locality.55

A 'William Serjeant', presumably the spouse of Mary Kingshott, was leasing 183 acres of land at Lachlan Village in the District of New Norfolk.56 William, the oldest of John Kingshott's children, appears on the 1858 Valuation Roll as the owner of a house and shop, assessed annual value £40.00, at O'Brien's Bridge (now Glenorchy). The Buckingham No. 2 Sheet County Chart shows F. Kingshott, W. 'Kinshott' and W. 'Sergeant' each as the purchasers of one or more lots of farmland in the Dry Creek and Lachlan Village areas of the New Norfolk district.57 The Coleman name frequently occurs on the chart in the Dry Creek region so descendants of John Kingshott apparently became considerable landowners in the district. John Kingshott died, stated age 76 years, farmer, at O'Brien's Bridge on 8 May 1866.58 The informant of death was his granddaughter Mary Ann Kinshott, the oldest child of his son, William Kingshott of O'Brien's Bridge.

Isaac Richardson

Isaac Richardson, per Lord Lyndoch, applied in October, 1836, to have his wife, Matilda, and children, Edward, born 1828 and Est(h)er, born 1830, sent out to join him.59 Matilda had previously written:60

To the Honerable the Under Secretary of State for the Colonial Department
Most Honerable Sir

Pardon this Liberty I take of Writing it is on account of my having a Husband at Van Deamans Land he been sent over from the Assizes held at Maidstone four years this March his name his Isaac Richardson and he his living as an Assignd Servent to James Humes Esq of Campbel Town. he informs me that his Character was made out and Signed by the Governor and other Gentlemen of the Place and he beleivs it was forwarded to England by the Ship Eliza which was to leave that Place in October 1833.

I further wish to state for your Honors information that I have two Children and I have an anxious desire of goin out to join him and I wish to know wether your Honor could grant me any assistance to take me Over or wether my Husband would have his Freedom granted to him on my arrival in the Country or be turned over to me as an Assigned Servant till the time allowed by Government to grant him his Freedom. I have no way of getting out but by your Honors Assistance or by the Assistance of the Parish from which I get a weekly allowance the Parish Officers of Wrotham and several gentlemen of that place will give me a Character when it is required I can likewise receive one from General D' Arcey family with whom I lived nine Years before I was Married I pray your Honor will grant me an Answer in doing which you will confer on me a Lasting Obligation and I remain.

Honerable Sir your most Obedient Humble Servant

March 3rd 1835
No 1 Fort Pitt Street
Chatham
Matilda Richardson

The letter, which is reproduced with the exact spelling Matilda Richardson used, was written in a neat, firm hand and reveals a surprising degree of literacy for a female of Matilda's standing in that era. The practice of assigning convicts to their free spouses had been in use in New South Wales, at least, but had been abandoned before she wrote the letter.

Isaac Richardson's wife, Matilda, with her two children Edward and Esther arrived in Van Diemens Land, almost certainly by female convict transport Atwick on 23 January 1838. They had further children born in Van  Diemens Land.

1. Edward, christened in Kent, England in 1828.  He married first Caroline Oxbrow in 1855 by whom he had one child and then his second wife, Mary Sutton, in 1859 and they had nine children.61
2. Esther Ann, christened 1830. Also born in Kent, she married Robert John Mott in 1850 by whom she had twelve children.62
3. William, christened 4 February 1839.63 William (Bluey) married Emma Cooper in 1861 and fathered twelve children.64
4. Frederick Thomas, christened 4 June 1840.65  He married Harriet Lee in 1871 and they had eleven children.66
5. Benjamin Charles, christened 31 January 1842.67  He died from a bullock kick when six years old.
6. Isaac Simeon, christened 22 September 1843.68  He married Mary Ann Walker in 1871 and they had eleven children.69
7. Henry, born 24 July 1845.70 He died a few days later.
8. Edmund, born 5 July 1846.71 He married Priscilla Siggins in 1869.72 They had nine children.
9. Samuel, born 24 Jan 1849.73 He died a few days later.

Beverley Richardson, a direct descendant of Isaac Richardson, wrote an account of his trial, transportation and life in Campbell Town, Van Diemens Land (later Tasmania).74  At the 1842 Van Diemens Land Census Isaac was the proprietor of a completed brick house in Church Street, Campbell Town which is standing and occupied today.75 To have a home of his own was quite a remarkable achievement for a ticket-of-leave holding convict. In 1842 he shared the house with his wife and children Edward and Esther, who came from England with their mother, and infants William and Fredrick who were born in Van Diemens Land. A year later, at the 1843 Census, when the Richardsons were occupying the same house Isaac was free and the number of children had been increased by two suggesting that Benjamin Charles and Isaac Simeon, christened twenty months apart were less than a year apart in actual age.

Isaac Richardson built the fence surrounding Lucy Johnston's grave in the cemetery at Kirklands Presbyterian Church, near Campbell Town. On 11 July 1856 William Johnston wrote:76

Bitter cold day. Snow on the Tiers last night. Mr Isaac Richardson and I started for Kirklands at 9am. John Warren took the cart around by Harrison's. We got there at 11 o'clock. The wind was most cutting and coming off the snow covered hills it was cold We at once commenced putting up the fence around my dear Lucy's grave. We got five she-oak posts, very strong and all the rest of the stuff was the same wood I kindled a fire and warmed myself. It took us till sundown 5pm and we got up but six battens which we left behind. Part of the fence was painted We started home at five. John drove the horse very fast and the ground being rough we were sadly shaken. We got home about half past 6 - and when I got out of the Cart my feet were so benumbed I could scarcely walk, 12 July. Mr Richardson, the two boys and I started for Kirklands at 9am and went by the proposed new road The walk was delightful. When we got there I procured a quantity of Rosebuds from M McRa (McRa was the resident Presbyterian minister at Kirklands) when the fencing was finished I dug up the ground sorted the soil on the grave and planted rosebuds all around the grave and the fence, if they grow it will be beautiful ... We returned by another route ... The day was fine and the scenery romantic and beautiful. I have not had such a walk through such beautiful glades since I left England

The fence around Lucy Johnston's grave still exists, remarkably well preserved, today and obviously not built of she-oak which would have rotted away many years ago. See Figure 10. Most likely the timber used was milled from Huon Pine (Dacrydium franklinii), a Tasmanian endemic timber of remarkable durability once widely used for boat building.

Isaac was a multi-skilled labourer, a clock and watch maker, mechanic, and had carpentry and surveying skills. He was obviously a highly regarded and useful citizen as revealed by his death notice:77

Another old and respected colonist has been removed by death, Mr Isaac Richardson, at the ripe age of 69. He was a resident of Campbell Town for 42 years, and was distinguished for his integrity. His remains were followed by more than one hundred of the inhabitants on Sunday last to the burial ground of the Church of England, of which communion he was an honorable and consistent member.

His tombstone in the old Church of England Cemetery, Church Street, Campbell Town, is shown in Figure 9.

Arthur Binstead

Marie Kau found records indicating that the Parish of North Mundham in Sussex sought to raise funds to send Maria Binstead and children, Arthur, William and Charlotte to join Arthur Binstead, Senior. Apparently, the Parish was successful because the family arrived in Van Diemens Land before 1837 when Arthur had neither freedom nor ticket-of-leave. All three children married and raised families in Australia.78

Thomas Radburn

In New South Wales the only Swing-rioter to be joined by his family while still under sentence was Thomas Radborn, or Radburn, who was on ticket-of-leave when his wife and children Ann, Lucy, Mark, Sarah, Thomas and Ambrose, aged eleven to three years, joined him.Thomas Radburn's wife, Harriet, with her children, Ann Maria, aged fifteen, Lucy, thirteen, Mark, eleven, Thomas, seven and Ambrose, five arrived in Sydney, New South Wales, per female convict transport Elizabeth on 12 October 1836. Two further children were born in New South Wales; George in 1837 and Harriet in 1839. Radburn had his ticket-of-leave when his family arrived from England but had chosen to remain in the employ of Thomas Evernden, a Bathurst police magistrate, to whom he was originally assigned and Harriet and the children made their way there to join him. When the Radburn’s first Australian born child, George, was christened Thomas was still with Evernden working at White Rock, south-west of Bathurst.79 By 1841, the family had travelled further southwards, about twenty-five miles (forty kilometres) from Bathurst, to Teapot Swamp where Thomas supported his family as a tenant-­farmer and occasional labourer.80

Thomas Radburn did not get complete freedom until August 1839; almost nine years after he was convicted and sentenced to seven years transportation and he had to work hard and wait until 1854 until he was able to become a farmer on land he owned, in the New South Wales Parish of Neville, but he was no doubt comfortable in the knowledge that he would never have got to own his own land or even to become a tenant-farmer had he remained in England. He died in January 1877, a widower for six years, Harriet having succumbed in 1870.

Thomas and Harriet Radburn had become grandparents in 1840 when their eldest child, Ann Maria who had married William Bell the previous year, gave birth to daughter Susannah the first of her eight children.81 Ann Maria died in 1902. Their second child, Lucy, married Thomas Clarke but the marriage was not successful and Lucy went to live with John Wood, whom she married in 1851.82

The Radburns were then living at Teapot Swamp, now the village of Moorilda, where their last two children, James and John, were born in 1841 and 1843. Lucy died in 1878.

Late in 1844 the Radburn's eldest son and third child, Mark, who had accompanied his mother on her voyage from England, was arrested at Wellington, New South Wales, charged and convicted of stealing clothing and supplies and transported to Van Diemens Land for seven years where, while on ticket-of-­leave, he married convict Jane Davis who had been transported for stealing from the person. Mark and Jane had no children but Mark became the father of a large family by Emma Green a free woman born of convict parents.83 Mark died in 1886 and his descendants are widely represented in Tasmania today.

The Radburn's fourth child, Sarah, married former convict Joseph Briggs in 1846 and their fifth, Thomas Junior, married Agnes Bushell in 1853.84 Sarah lived until 1905 but Thomas died in 1860. The Radburn's sixth child, Ambrose, married his first wife, Catherine McKay, in 1855 and his second, Janet McKellar in 1866; he died in 1896.85 Their seventh, George, the first of their four Australian born in October 1837 and is thereafter unknown while their eighth, Harriet, was born in 1839. She married John Collins in the Carcoar District in 1854 and died two years later.86 James, the Radburns ninth child, was born in 1841 and died in 1921. He married first Margaret Feehilly and second Jane Peed, both at Forbes in New South Wales.87 John, the Radburn's tenth and last child was born in 1844, married Sophia Wheeler in 1870 and died in 1924 in his eighty-first year. The Radburn children were prolific. Anne Maria had eight, Lucy ten, Mark eight, Sarah two (plus one adopted), Thomas three, Ambrose four by first marriage, ten by second, James four by first marriage, five by second and John, six children.

William Hughes

William Hughes came before the Special Sessions on Tuesday 14 December 1830 for destroying thrashing machines at Little Stukeley, Alconbury, Sawtry, Connington, Alwalton and Sawtry St Judith but it was not until the Assizes on 8 March 1831, that he was sentenced to transportation for 7 years. He arrived in Hobart on the convict transport Proteus on 4 August 1831, and after a short stay at the Hobart Hospital because of scurvy he was assigned to David Gibson, an ex-convict who had been granted land near Evandale and Perth. William received a free pardon on 3 Feb 1836.88

It is believed, but not verified, that David Gibson paid for William's family to join him, and they arrived on the Clyde on 6 July 1834. William and his wife, Ann Arbour, had five children who came to Van Diemens Land:

• William baptised 22 July 1816
• Joseph, baptised 29 Jun 1820
• Charlotte, baptised 8 May 1825
• David, baptised 10 May 1829 and
• Solomon, baptised 10 Jul 1831.

All the children except Solomon were baptised under the name Hews.89

On December 31 1847, William was the 'Householder, Employer of Servants and Persons in charge of a house at Alveston', an early settlement then part of Westbury but later absorbed into the newer township of Deloraine. He was now a farmer renting land from Alexander Rose. Significantly Rose came from Corra Lynn near Evandale, and in the early 1830s, took possession of a 1000-acre land grant, on the outskirts of what was to become Deloraine.

William Hughes purchased Lot 1 section Gg and Lot 1 Hh in the 'Suburbs of the Township of Deloraine' which were advertised for sale at the upset prices of 30 pounds two shillings and sixpence and 30 pounds nine shillings respectively, in 1851. These lots were situated to the West of the 12 acre Lot U which he then owned and where he had a house in which he was living before 1858. His name appeared in 1848 on the first Valuation Role for the district and he remained on the Valuation Rolls to the same house and land until his death. He was listed in 1856 on the earliest House of Assembly and Legislative Council electoral rolls for Tasmania and on subsequent roles. His electoral qualifications were in respect of the freehold house and 27 acres of land that he owned in East Deloraine.

William, his son, is shown in the Valuation Rolls of 1860 as owning property in Deloraine a 10 acre paddock, a 9 acre paddock and a house and 12 acres in Barrack Street. He was also a tenant farmer of 195 acres at Whitefoord Hills, the property of Charles Field. From the valuation Rolls of 11 March 1861, 15 April 1862 and 10 February 1863, William is shown as still owning the properties in Barrack Street.90 There is some contention about his marriage. He may have married Elizabeth Porter on 26 Apr 1837 or more likely Elizabeth Duggan by whom he had a son William born 26 Jan 1851 at Westbury. He died at Port Sorell on 18 Apr 1885.

Joseph Hughes, a farmer married Elizabeth Gee on 25 Aug 1842 in Launceston. They had seven children: Joseph William born 12 Jan 1846, Henry born 20 Oct 1847, Alfred born 11 Sept 1849, Ann Elizabeth born 18 Apr 1851, Thomas Solomon born 6th of May 1853, Edward, Clara born 8 Mar 1855. Joseph died 10 Jan 1856 of inflammation of the lungs and is buried in St Marks cemetery Deloraine in a grave close to John Thomas's grave.

Charlotte Hughes, aged 17, married John Thomas, a blacksmith in the Police Office at Westbury and after his death she married James East with whom she had two children: Clara born 18 Aug 1864 and James Lewis, born 9 Jun 1867. Charlotte and James went to Queensland, (Roma and Amby), running and owning hotels, before returning to Tasmania and running the Railton Hotel . Charlotte died at Railton in 1899 at the age of 74 of influenza and exhaustion. Her burial service was held at St Marks Deloraine.

Charlotte and John Thomas had 7 children:

• Emma born 18 Jan 1843 who married Charles Grant the second member of the House of Assembly for Deloraine. They had one child, Elizabeth.
• Louisa born 2 May 1845 married Alfred Richardson and they had 6 children
• John William born 24 Aug 1847 married Susannah Bennett and they had 7 children
• Clara the fourth child died shortly after birth.
• Isabella born 30 Apr 1856 married William Woolnough and no children could be found from this marriage
• Albert born 28 Aug 1859 married Emma Jones and they had 2 children
• Clarence born 29 Jun 1861 did not marry

In an era where women were not recognised for their entrepreneur skills Charlotte is frequently written about as a good businesswoman. The Bush Inn hotel which still stands in Deloraine was built on a site which was apparently given to John Thomas, the first blacksmith in Deloraine, on condition that a blacksmith shop should always remain on the premises. John built the original Bush Inn for which he held the licence until he died in 1863, although he rented it out when he went to Westbury and was involved with the coaching service and was a spirit merchant. In 1858 he had properties in Deloraine valued at 688 pounds.91 He died at the Bush Inn on 30 Jun 1863. John made a will leaving all his possessions to Charlotte, 'in consideration of the kind and faithful conduct to me during the long period of our married life'.92

Davis Hughes married Harriet Curnick in 1853 in Victoria and they had 1 child, David Solomon, born 32 Nov 1854 at Deloraine. David died 11 May 1858 aged 28 in Carlsruhe Victoria.

Solomon Hughes married Sarah Kelly. They had 6 children all born in Victoria:

• Charles
• Ann born 1869 in Melbourne
• Mary born Seymore
• Lillian
• William born 1877 at Castlemaine and
• Margaret born 1878 in Sale.

Solomon died 1886 in Melbourne at the Victoria Hospital.

William Hughes senior was 35 years old, penniless, suffering from scurvy and facing the prospect of seven years servitude when he arrived in Van Diemens Land in 1831. His conduct record testifies to his good behaviour and sober habit during his period of assigned service. Although none of the children were as long lived as the parents all appear to have achieved a degree of prosperity in Australia, they may not have done had they remained in England.

 

Figure 7. Joseph Fisher's application to have his wife and child sent out to Van Diemens Land.

  Figure 8. Embarkation order for his family to join John Kingshott.

Figure 9. Isaac Richardson's gravestone, old Anglican Cemetery, Church Street, Campbell Town, Tasmania.

Figure 10. Lucy Johnston's memorial, in Kirklands Cemetery, Campbell Town, Tasmania.

 

---