“Scarborough” 1782 by Marine Artist Frank Allen.

Joseph Wright was a First Fleeter traveling on the “Scarborough” departing Portsmouth, Eng. on 12 May 1787 and arriving in Port Jackson N. S. W. on 26 Jan 1788. He was sentenced to 7 years in London Court on 26 May 1784. He was granted 30 acres. Block No. 12 on the Hawkesbury River, Mulgrave, Pitt Town Bottoms, N. S. W. Aust. on 3 Nov 1794. He died in 1811, father of 7 to a fellow convict Eleanor Gott.

Eleanor, baptised Ellen, Gott arrived in Australia as a convict aboard the “Neptune” in 1790. In March 1787 was sentenced at Liverpool to three months imprisonment in the Preston House of Correction for stealing a cloak and a gown. In August 1789, Ellen Gott was again tried at Liverpool, for the theft of various articles from her employer Charles Norris. This time she received a more severe sentence: 3 years transportation to New South Wales. This sentence was unusually lenient because at the time, the usual sentence for minor theft was seven years transportation. Ellen was embarked on the “Neptune”, one of the ships of the Second Fleet, which left England in January 1790 and arrived at Sydney Cove, Port Jackson on 26 June 1790. The “Neptune” was probably the worst of the convict ships to come to Australia, with extremely high mortality among the 424 male convicts who were chained together, the shackles being the same as those used in the slave trade, and confined in filthy conditions, receiving inadequate rations. Luckily for Ellen, the 78 women were unchained and housed in a section of the upper deck in better conditions.
On 13 December 1790 at Sydney Cove, she married Joseph Wright, a convict who had arrived in January 1788 on the “Scarborough”, one of the ships of the First Fleet. Reverend Richard Johnson recorded her name in the register as Eleanor Gott, however she signed her name as “Ellen Gott”, and Joseph Wright marked with a cross.
In the colony, she was known as Eleanor: nearly all records, including her children’s baptisms have Eleanor as her name.
Eleanor and Joseph had 7 children. Eleanor married Daniel Buckridge on 31 Mar 1812, following the 1811 death of Joseph, in Windsor, N. S. W. (Hobbs, Halbert, Bryan connected.)

Mary Brennan came to Australia on the “Margaret” as a 19 year old housemaid on 30 May 1837 after being tried at Limerick in 1836 for stealing and was sentenced to 7 years transportation. She stated that she had a single brother Denis Brennan in the colony who had arrived in 1835 as a convict. Denis actually arrived on the “Waterloo” on 6 September 1836. Michael another brother came on the “Neptune” 1 January 1838 and confirmed that he has a single brother Denis and a sister Mary already in the colony as convicts. (Blake, McMillan, Perrin, Bryan connected.)

William Counsell was convicted on 2nd Apr. 1840, transported to Tasmania in 1842 aboard the “Susan”. William absconded with a married woman, Eliza Greenwood (previously McLaren), nee Stewart, in 1855, marrying her in 1874, Victoria. (Gammage, Lewis, Bryant connected.)

George Hayman was convicted on 19 July 1849 at Exeter, Devon, England; (4711) Exeter Assizes, and sentenced to death.
He immigrated on 1 January 1858 to Fremantle, Western Australia on the “Nile”. His Ticket of Leave was granted on 18 March 1858 at Perth, Western Australia.
His Conditional Pardon was granted on 13 November 1860 at Perth, Western Australia. (Catchpole, Halbert, Bryan connected.)

Robert Hobbs was convicted and transported with the Third Fleet – on the ship “Active” – transportation for 7 years for theft of calico.

Robert Hobbs was indicted together with a Solomon Bockerah at the Old Bailey, London, on 10 December 1788 for “burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling house of James Pinkinton , about the hour of seven in the night, on the 1st of November last, and burglariously stealing one piece of velveteen, containing thirty-nine yards, value 8 l. 4 s. his property.” Bockerah was found guilty and sentenced to death; Hobbs was found not guilty. Robert Hobbs appeared again in Old Bailey records on the 8th July 1789, when he was indicted on a misdemeanour charge “for obtaining three kits of pickled salmon by false pretences.” This time he was found guilty, was whipped and imprisoned for one month.

Robert’s last Old Bailey appearance was on 27th October 1790, when he was indicted for stealing, on the 20th of September, thirty-eight pieces of calico, containing 760 yards, value 60 pounds, the property of Thomas Martin. He was found guilty and sentenced to transportation for 7 years.
He was sent to New South Wales as a convict aboard the ship “Active” a member of the Third Fleet (1791).

At Parramatta, in 1793, he fell in love with a freed ex-convict woman, Bridget Heslin, and they lived together, at Pitt Town, near Windsor, for the rest of their lives, welcoming 10 children. (Halbert, Bryan connected.)

Bridget Heslin was a convict on board the “Sugarcane” which left Cork on 12 April 1793 and arrived in Sydney on 17 September 1793. Her story is written in: “A Nimble Fingered Tribe – the convicts of the Sugar Cane” by Barbara Hall. She was convicted and sentenced to 7 years transportation. Bridget arrived in Sydney Cove on 17/9/1793 on “Sugar Cane”. Bridget was a member of a gang which included (her father Patrick [executed], her mother [unnamed], brother Patrick [transported on “Boddingtons” 1793], brother John, Joseph Kearns/Dungan [transported “Boddingtons” 1793], Mary Hughes [transported “Sugar Cane” 1793], Michael Dooley [executed] and Thomas Hughes). On 30/10/1815 she married Robert HOBBS at Windsor and they had 10 children. Bridget died on 25/10/1843 at Pitt Town. (Halbert, Bryan connected.)

William Mitchell was convicted on 18 Apr 1822 at the Dublin, Ireland Lenten Assizes as Patrick William Mitchell and was sentenced to 7 years transportation. He arrived in Port Jackson, Sydney on 21 Dec 1822 on the ship “Countess of Harcourt”.
He received his Ticket o Leave on 21 Mar 1827 in Parramatta, NSW.
He received his Certificate of Freedom on 20 May 1829.
He applied for and received permission to marry Elizabeth nee Armstrong on 15 Oct 1831. They were married on 24 Oct 1831 in Sydney, NSW.
Elizabeth and William had 6 (six), children, Elizabeth, William John, Ellen, Mary, John Patrick , and Henry. (MacIntosh, Crothers, Bryan connected also Hillier, Perrin.)

Elizabeth Armstrong. On 13 Mar 1828 at the Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland Lenten Assizes, Elizabeth was convicted and sentenced to 7 years transportation for stealing yarn. She arrived in Port Jackson, Sydney on 26 Apr 1829 on the ship “Edward”.
She received a Ticket of Leave on 30 Jul 1831 in Sydney, NSW.
Elizabeth and William Patrick Mitchell applied and received permission to marry on 15 Oct 1831. They were married on 24 Oct 1831 in Sydney, NSW. They had 6 children. She later married James MacIntosh and they had 1 son. (MacIntosh, Crothers, Bryan connected.)

Thomas Henry Neal was convicted at Southampton Special Gaol Delivery and sentenced to a term of 14 years transportation to Australia. He departed England on 15th February, 1831, aged 19 or 20, travelling with 132 other convicts on the “Eleanor” arriving in Sydney, Australia on 15th October 1831. He and his wife Mary Ann (nee Hughes) died in a house fire in Molong, N. S. W. in 1895. They had 10 children. (Hobbs, Halbert, Bryan connected.)

Thomas Hughes his father-in-law was a convict on the “Asia” in 1825, from Wiltshire, England. Convicted: 13 March 1824 – Crime: Stealing 2 flitches of bacon and chine- Sentenced to Life, occupation, ploughman. Arrived in Sydney, NSW – Ship: “Asia” in 1825. Conditional Pardon: 1 May 1840. (Hobbs, Halbert, Bryan connected.)

Joseph Temple was 17 years old when indicted for breaking in and entering the shop of John Lonsdale and stealing 3 pairs of half boots, value 15s. He had been convicted of a felony before. Convicted at London Gaol on 17/10/1833 (age17) for housebreaking – 14 years.
Transported on “the Hive” ship on 15/1/1835, arrived in Sydney 11/6/1836 (2 weeks prior to his 20th birthday) with 249 other convicts. Married at age 30 years in 1864 to Mary Ann Croker. Freehold, 1856, Goulburn N. S. W. Aust Freehold, 1863, Oallen, N. S. W., Australia. They had 7 children. (Hobbs connected.)

Mary Ann (nee Croker) wife of Joseph, was also a convict sent to Australia in the 1800’s. After the death of Joseph in 1864 she remarried on 7/08/1865 to Michael English in Braidwood and bore 6 more children.

Thomas Webber, was a convict, sentenced to life transportation, at Devon Eng. on 11-8-1821, for stealing a teapot which had 2 one pound notes in it; He was sentenced to death in Aug 1821 at Devon Lammas Assizes and arrived on the ship “Asia” in 1822. Thomas was then 23 years old.
Mary Oxley his later wife was also a convict, convicted in Eng. and sentenced to life, arriving on the ship, “Harmony” in 1827.
They both went to work as servants of Mrs Drumond. On the 3-12-1827 Thomas & Mary got married at St Johns, Parramatta.
He was granted a ticket of leave in 1836 and was made a Police Constable at Cook’s River, then Chief Constable at Irish Town (Bankstown ), 1837—1850, lock-up keeper at Bungonia N.S.W. on the property Reevesdale. (Blewitt, Perrin, Bryan connected.)

Mary Webber (nee Oxley) died in1834 childless, and Thomas married Elizabeth Smith on the 22/12/1835. (Elizabeth signed her name with a cross.) On 3rd Nov. 1851 Thomas became Chief Constable at Queanbeyan N.S.W. In 1853 William O’Neil went to Queanbeyan as Chief Constable in succession to Thomas Webber, who either died or disappeared——his fate was never proven “Thomas Webber was to appear as a witness in a murder/robbery trial.” Thomas had 8 children with 2nd wife Elizabeth Jane Smith. (Webber, Blewitt, Perrin Bryan connected.)