Month: June 2016

Intro to Isabella Watkins

Miss W. Convict Ancestors course, Watkins

Was my great, great, great grandmother truly Isabella Watkins or was she Mary Johnson from Surrey, England?

Was she from Hull as mentioned on her convict description list or maybe it was a mispronunciation and her native place was Hale in Surrey, the county from which she was tried and then transported?[1]

Description list for Isabella Watkins, CON19/1/3, p 45 TAHO

Description list for Isabella Watkins, CON19/1/3, p 45 TAHO

 

Let us follow her journey by looking at her paper trail from England as a convict, overseas on the transport ship, her freedom from convict life and finally to her resting place nearly 50 years later in Evandale, Tasmania.

 

Reference

[1] TAHO, CON19/1/3, p 45 Description list Isabella Watkins

Readers: How did you decide to write your story? I created a timeline then thought why not follow like a paper trail.

PS I still need to insert the images correctly with captions but this is how they copy and pasted across direct from Our Family Past.

Convict ancestors

Miss W. Convict Ancestors course

As many of you know, I have been taking part in a UTAS course called Convict Ancestors. It has been fantastic and I recommend anyone with a convict in VDL, NSW or WA to take the course if you have the time.

The course leads you through life in Britain during the late 18th century when transportation began to Australia through to the time transportation finished. You are given lots of resources – websites to find records such as the Old Bailey, hulk records and gaol records around London.

You are then given clues to finding records on the convict ships, their captains and surgeon superintendents – where to find the journals they wrote in which your convict may be mentioned if sick on the journey over to Australia.

Once in Australia, there are records for conduct, descriptions, indents, musters and various other resources for VDL, NSW and WA as well as some for Moreton Bay, the Exiles from Pentonville and the Parkhurst boys.

Over my next three posts, I am going to copy my story which we had to create using Our Family Past. As I probably wont be taking out a subscription to that website, mainly because I have this blog, I need to copy the work I did to somewhere, and where better than this family history blog.

I will also be putting together some resource ages including links to websites mentioned by both the lecturers and other students in the discussion areas of the course. You will be able to find these under the Sources tab above the header.

 

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.