Hearn

Where did my ancestors come from?

Miss W. Allen, Biography, Boyd, Bryant, Chandler, Colgrave, Davey, Dawson, Dixon, England, General info, Hearn, Jackson, Pickering, Smith, Somers, Watkins , , , , , , , , ,

After summarizing the migration twitterchat, I thought it would be interesting to find out where each of my direct ancestors was born and to work out how Australian I really am. So I am going to use just my direct line and include flag to show where they were born. As I write their biography, I will link that to their name.

(T)  Tasmania

(L)  London (S)  Surrey (M)  Middlesex (D)  Devon (W) Worcestershire (SU) Sussex    (C) Cambridgeshire (Y) Yorkshire  (B) Bedfordshire (CO) Cornwall

(SC) Scotland (NI) Northern Ireland

RebeccaLintzPhotography / Pixabay
Nerivill / Pixabay
  • William Allen jnr(L) – Grandparent
  • William Allen snr(L) – Great grandparent
  • Florence Evans (L) – Great grandparent
  • George Allen (S) – 2x great grandparent
  • Mary Spry (D) – 2x great grandparent
  • George Evans (W) – 2xgreat grandparent
  • Mary Ann Lee (C) – 2x great grandparent
  • John England (Y) – 2x great grandparent – convict
  • William Chandler (M) – 2x great grandparent
  • Caroline Bryant (M) – 2x great grandparent
  • John Davey (D) – 2x great grandparent
  • John Allen (M) – 3x great grandparent
  • Amelia Elwes (M) – 3x great grandparent
  • William Spry (D) – 3x great grandparent
  • Mary Babb (D) – 3x great grandparent
  •  William Dawson (SC) – 3x great grandparent – convict
  • Catherine McKay (SC) – 3x great grandparent – convict
  • Matthew Sutton (L) – 3x great grandparent – convict
  • Mary McCrewney (NI) – 3x great grandparent – convict
  • William England (Y) – 3x great grandparent
  • Margaret Rylands (Y) – 3x great grandparent
  • Henry Bryant (M) – 3x great grandparent
  • Charlotte Bryant (SU) – 3x great grandparent
  • John Davey (D) – 3x great grandparent
  • MaryAnn Jennings (D) – 3x great grandparent
  • David Dixon (Y) – 3x great grandparent
  • Mary Pickering (Y) – 3x great grandparent
  • Francis Colgrave (B) – 3x great grandparent – convict
  • Isabella Watkins (Y) – 3x great grandparent – convict
  • John Holliday Boyd (CO) – 3x great grandparent – convict
  • Martha Hearn (M) – 3x great grandparent – convict
jorono / Pixabay

So going back as far as 3x great grandparents, out of a possible 63 direct line ancestors (including me), I have proven: 17 born in Tasmania, 31 born in the UK (2 of these in Scotland) and 1 born in Ireland. I still have 14 to find out who they are and where they live.

From these statistics: I am 17 out of 49 Tasmanian – this means roughly 34%.

Readers:  Up to your 3x great grandparents, how many have you proven where they were born?

 

 

Update on Martha

Miss W. Boyd, Convict Ancestors course, Hearn, Virco

So what have we learnt about Martha from using just four documents?

Permission to marry

Her husband to be was John Boyd who was free. They applied for permission about June 1842 and permission was given by the Secretary after August 1842. Martha had arrived on the ship Hindostan and was given a police number of 18.

Source: TAHO, CON52/1/2 p16 marriage permission Martha Virco

Marriage certificate

John and Martha married on 6 September 1842 at St John’s Church in Ross (District of Avoca), Tasmania by the rites of the United Church of England and Ireland. The minister was William Bedford Junior.  John was aged 28 and Martha 24. He was a bachelor and carpenter by trade while she was a spinster. The witnesses to the marriage were William Stolley and Mary Ann Brown.

Source: TAHO,  RGD37/1/2 no 1739/1842 District of Avoca, marriage Boyd, Vircoe

Description list

Some basic information was available first such as she left London, England on 9 May 1839 and arrived in Hobart on 12 September 1839. It was the first voyage of the ship Hindostan.

Martha was described as being a house maid, aged 23 and 5″1′ without shoes. She had a ruddy complexion, a round head and brown hair. Her visage was oval in shape with a high forehead. She had black eyebrows and hazel eyes. Her nose and mouth were small but her chin was long. She had no scars or tattoos.

Source: TAHO, CON19/1/13 p301 description list Martha Vircoe

Indent

Police number 18 Martha Vico – 5″1′ age 23 – a house maid also work with needle – tried at the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) on 31 December 1838 – sentenced to 10 years – native place Edgeware – married but no children – was Protestant and could read – her husband William a blacksmith at Native place – 2 brothers Thomas and Henry one sister Elizabeth at St Albans – 12 months on the town – stealing a watch from a person – prosecutor at ? at Canterbury

Source: TAHO, CON15/1/9, indent list for Martha Vico

WOW! We now have information that can lead us back to her trial at the Old Bailey  and to her husband and family back in England. But that is for later. My next question is –

Did she commit any offences while a convict here in VDL?

To find out the answer to this I will need to look at her conduct record.

 

Why was Martha sent to VDL?

Miss W. Convict Ancestors course, Hearn, Virco

So I have now used records to prove Martha was a convict sent to VDL in 1839. I also know what she looks like and that she was 23 when she arrived here. But what could a young 23 year old woman have done to be transported to VDL?

Looks like the Indent list might give me some answers. Back to the Tasmanian Names index, put in Vircoe, Martha, click on the image in front of convicts and now click on indent list remembering to jot down that reference for the source.

TAHO, CON15/1/9, indent list for Martha Vircoe

Time again for my readers to give me some help: Can you transcribe her indent list record? I have included the link further up the post if you want to go to the record online to get more help.

vico15 vico16