TROVE TUESDAY 31ST JULY, 2018... CONVICTS, THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE INCREDIBLE..

Convicts in New Holland, 1793, by Juan Ravenet

We read a lot about convicts, 

but the stories are mostly about males 

and very few are about females or the convict's families.

The first story is titled 

"Adventures of Woman Convict" (sic)

Sent to Botany Bay... "Amongst them was Mary Broad, daughter of a respectable Cornish seaman, sentenced to transportation for stealing a cloak. Many convicts died on the voyage. The rest arrived at the promised land in rags...." 

They didn't stay at Botany Bay..rather they ended up in Tasmania... having first met on a prison hulk in Portsmouth, England, called the "Dunkirk".

Portsmouth Harbour with Prison Hulks (oil on canvas; 50.4 x 98.6 cmPublic Domain

created c 1814

Kalgoorlie Miner (WA : 1895 - 1950), Saturday 2 July 1938, page 10 (2)

National Library of Australia

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article94874959

Wikipedia has just one of the many stories about Mary Broad and William Bryant... which you can read here

Mullumbimby Star (NSW : 1906 - 1936), Thursday 28 August 1930, page 3

National Library of Australia

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128619679

"ECHO OF CONVICT DAYS"

An assortment of stories, including one that I have heard many versions of as it relates to my ancestors...

Ever heard of the so called Rose millions?

If you interested in the story or have any connection to the Hobbs/Heslin/Eslin/Rose families... to name just a few branches, you might like to join the Hobbs Family Reunion Group on Facebook.. we are all cousins there.

You can read a little more about the Hobbs/Rose/Swadling clan here  and here

Sir George Grey, as mentioned above, is well portrayed in many articles... he features in yet another of TROVE's segments, that of People and Organisations, at 

https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/843039?c=people

George Grey, c1855

State Library of South Australia, b20479967

Northern Miner (Charters Towers, Qld. : 1874 - 1954), Saturday 29 April 1933, page 8

National Library of Australia

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article81218996

 The image isn't all that easy to read, so here is a transcript... and to think we say our courts move slowly.... for the beneficiaries, it seems a good thing that it took so long.

Just one of the convict ships.. The "Neptune"

Courtesy of Wikipedia  Public Domain

"A CONVICT'S FORTUNE"

A CONVICT'S FORTUNE

Sixty years alter a man's death in Australia a decision has been given concerning his will.

George the Fourth was king when John Herring Kennedy stole £62 from his employer, James Thomas Hathaway. Kennedy was found out, and In 1824 was sentenced to fourteen years transportation. Those were the bad old days when convicts were shipped across the sea, boatloads of misery, in order to provide colonists with a kind of slave labourer.

Kennedy seems to have made a good impression, for in 1838 he was  made a turnkey in Adelaide gaol: but there was a very bad streak in him and he was dismissed for stealing the prisoners' rations.

Kennedy made another start, acquired land, married, and had a daughter. He died In 1870, leaving property worth £100 to his daughter for her life. Afterwards it was to be divided between a kinsman of John Kennedy and the descendants of Mary Hathaway, his old employer's daughter. Kennedy wanted to make amends, after all for the stolen money.

No one has ever been able to trace John Kennedy, but there are five descendants of Mary Hathaway to share the convicts' fortune.

With the passing of time it has increased in value from £100 to £10,000.

Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA : 1867 - 1922), Friday 31 May 1889, page 3

National Library of Australia

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article208531740

"A RELEASED CONVICT"

"John Gardner began life in London as a chimney sweep.."

How did murder then enter his life?

A long journey to Western Australia and the life that followed...

The second Newgate Prison: A West View of Newgate (c. 1810) by George Shepherd Public Domain, courtesy of Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgate_Prison

Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Thursday 30 October 1930, page 12

National Library of Australia

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21598991

"CONVICT HOSPITAL RECORDS"

More on Dr. Jackson here and Henry Cowper here

Albert House, with black roof and light structure #

From another division of NLA/TROVE ... pictures and objects

Convict Button, c.1830s, Courtesy State Library of New South Wales  *

#

Creator

Hurley, Frank, 1885-1962

Title

[Panorama of Brisbane, panel including Albert House, the City Hall, church, with mountains in the distance] [picture] : [Brisbane, Queensland] / [Frank Hurley]

Call Number

PIC FH/452 LOC Cold store PIC HURL 29/17

Created/Published

[between 1910 and 1962]  Able to be used for study/research  with accrediation as above.

*

Collection
Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Object Name
Convict Work Clothing Button.

Object Description
A brass button from the work clothes of a convict assigned to the Australian Agricultural Company in the 1830s. The button was found in Pit Row, Newcastle in 1922. It is mounted on card inscribed: “This brass button was found in the ruins of the Australian Agricultural Company’s cottages in Pit Row off Darby Street, Newcastle. Donated by Dr Martin Doyle in 1930. Dimensions: 30mm diameter.

http://www.migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au/exhibition/objectsthroughtime/convictbutton/index.html