Irish Convicts to Australia

http://www.claimaconvict.net/index.html

 

Lesley Uebel

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http://newsarch.rootsweb.com/th/read/AUS-PT-JACKSON-CONVICTS/2001-10/1001976898

Governor King to the Transport Commissioners
HRA – Aug 1802
Gentlemen,
I had the honor of receiving your letters and their several enclosures dated
as per margin by the Coromandel which arrived here 13th June, Hercules 26th
June, Atlas 6th July and Perseus 4th instant.
The above transports were cleared of all the prisoners, passengers,
provisions and stores, before the time limited for that purpose was expired;
and the Commissary has furnished the respective masters with receipts for
all that was landed here.
The healthy state in which the Coromandel and Perseus arrived requires my
particularly pointing out the masters of those ships to your notice. It
appears by the log books, surgeon’s diaries and the unanimous voice of every
person on board those ships that the utmost kindness had been shown by the
masters and surgeons to the convicts. This, with the proper application of
the comforts Government had so liberally provided for them and the good
state of health all the people were in, induced the master of the Coromandel
to proceed without stopping at any port. He arrived here in four months and
one day, bringing every person in a state of high health, and fit for
immediate labour; and altho’ it appears that the Perseus necessarily
stopped at Rio and the Cape, yet the convicts were in as good condition as
those on board the Coromandel; nor can I omit the great pleasure felt by
myself and the other visiting officers at the grateful thanks expressed by
the prisoners and passengers for the kind attention and care they had
received from the masters and surgeons, who returned, an unusual quantity of
the articles laid in by Government for the convicts during the voyage.
I am sorry that the conduct of the Masters of the Hercules and Atlas appears
to be the reverse of what I have just stated. By the surgeon’s list, and
the masters of the Hercules and Atlas’s letters to me, of which I send you a
copy, you will observe the dreadful mortality that raged on board those
ships, exclusive of the numbers killed. Altho’ there was no mutiny on board
the Atlas, yet in every other respect the master of that vessels conduct
appears as much if not more reprehensible than the other. The miserable
state the survivors were in in both those ships on their arrival in this
port, being filthy beyond description, some of the convicts lying dead with
heavy irons on, many of them died as they were coming from the ship to the
hospital. These circumstances, together with the complaints made against
the masters by the officers, rendered it necessary to investigate the
necessity of their having to put in Rio de Janeiro and the Cape, and how far
the masters had infracted the charter-parties. The result of these
investigations are enclosed. The log books and diaries will be forwarded by
the first direct conveyance mentioned in my letter of the 23rd ultimo.
The master of the Hercules was necessarily tried by a Court of
Vice-Admiralty on two indictments, first for killing ten men in the mutiny,
and afterwards for shooting one man (a ringleader), it was alleged, some
time after the mutiny had subsided. On the first count he was acquitted,
and on the second he was found guilty of manslaughter, and was sentenced by
the Court to pay a fine of 500 Pounds to the Orphan School, and to be
imprisoned until it was paid. As a doubt arose in my mind respecting the
propriety of his being fined, I have given a conditional remission of that
part of the sentence which I have referred to the judge of the Admiralty
Court, for His Majesty’s pleasure being signified thereon; and that the
course of justice may not be perverted (if I am wrong respecting the fine)
the master is bound over to abide by that determination and to surrender
himself within five days after his arrival in the port of London.
The master of the Atlas having such a quantity of private trade and spirits
on board, appears to have produced most of the bad consequences complained
of in that ship. What that private trade consisted of , and the bulk
occupied on board, will be obvious from the enclosed report of that ship’s
entry.
I have judged it necessary to forward this by the Hercules, in case she
should arrive in England before my letters which I mean to send by the
conveyance pointed out in my letter of the 23rd ultimo
I have, etc
Philip Gidley King

SHIP ON WHICH ANN MORAN ARRIVED.

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Mayberry Home Page

http://members.pcug.org.au/~ppmay/

_________________________________________

Wicklow United Irishmen
1797 – 1804

http://members.pcug.org.au/~ppmay/wicklow.htm

THE RISE OF THE DEFENDERS 1793-5

 

http://www.iol.ie/~fagann/1798/dfender3.htm

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Index to the Colonial Secretary’s Papers, 1788-1825

http://colsec.records.nsw.gov.au/indexes/colsec/default.htm

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Deaths and Mutiny on convict vessels provoke a scandal

http://www.convictcreations.com/history/description.htm

Sydney, August 9. Despite the past disgraces of convict ships, and the regulations and warnings designed to improve their condition, two more vessels have arrived at Sydney in deplorable state, and with awful death rates.
The Hercules arrived on June 26 with the news that 30 convicts had died on the voyage and another 11 had been killed during a mutiny, with two dying later of their wounds and a third being summary executed by the captain.
The Atlas arrived on July 6, having lost 68 people through scurvy and dysentery.
Governor King described the ships as being "filthy beyond description. Some convicts were lying dead with heavy irons on, while many more died as they were coming to the hospital"
There has been an inquiry as to whether the masters had contravened their charters as convict carriers. The Governor noted that the Atlas was carrying liquor.

SITES TO SEE : THE TIME OF ANN MORAN AND THE HERCULES.

http://www.jenwilletts.com/colonial_events_1802.htm

http://www.convictconnections.org.au/shipsA-I.html

http://www.danbyrnes.com.au/blackheath/ships3.htm

http://www.historyservices.com.au/nsw_colonial_chronology_1770_1803.htm

http://www.jstor.org/pss/27516597

http://www.mcginleyclan.org/irishslaves.htm

 

EXTRACT FROM http://www.ulladulla.info/historian/1804deaths.html

Deaths 1804 NSW & Norfolk Island Early Colonial History Research and Indexed by Historian Cathy Dunn. 

Castle Hill

HUGHES

James

1804

SG 19 Jan 1806. Last week a native informed Tarlington, a settler, that the skeleton of a white man, with a musket and tin kettle laying beside him, had been seen under the first ridge of the mountains. The settler accompanied the native, and found the skeleton, and as described, the bones of which being very long, leads to a more than probable conjecture, that the remains are those of James Hughes, who absconded from Castle Hill the 15th of February 1804, in company with 15 others, most of whom had recently arrived in the Hercules, on the ridiculous pretext of finding a road to China, but in reality to commit the most unheard of depredations; the consequences of which were, that the whole except Hughes were shortly apprehended, and 13 capitally convicted before the Criminal Court, of whom two were executed, and 11 pardoned. Hughes was an able active man, well known in Ireland during the rebellion that existed in that country for his abominable depravities; and it is hoped his miserable end will warn the thoughtless, inexperienced and depraved against an inclination to exchange the comfort and security derived from honest labour, to depart from which can only lead to the most fatal consequences

Parramatta

HUMES

Samuel

Mar 1804

Leader in the 1804 Battle of Vinegar Hill – rebellion executed at Parramatta and hung in chains, Convict Hercules I 1802

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Revolution, counter-revolution, and union

By Jim Smyth

PAUL FERGUS AND ANN MORAN AND JOHN CURTIS

 

Dear Lynne
I also am descended from John Curtis and Ann Moran through their daughter Catherine and George Eccleston. I am their third great-grandson.
In two weeks, my wife and I will be visiting Ireland and I am hoping that I might be able to do a bit more research on the ground about Ann as she certainly seems to have been a remarkable woman.
I am trying to resolve a number of discrepancies between various items of information in my possession.
The best information seems to indicate that she was convicted in Trim in Co Meath in 1797 (coincidentally the year that John arrived in Sydney)in connection with political activities and that she was held in jail in Ireland for five years before being transported to Australia on the Hercules in November 1801, arriving here on 26 June 1802. One record in the State Library implies that the prisoners on the Hercules were convicted for offences in the “late rebellion” which can only mean the United Irishmen in 1798 from the context.
I should be grateful for any information you can provide that might assist with my research in Ireland.
While visiting my son and his family in London after Ireland, I intend to return to Bristol to undertake more research into John Curtis. I obtained a lot of information 18 months ago including records of the marriage of John Curtis and Jane Purrier and of the baptisms of all 11 of their children in St Philip and St Jacobs Church in Cheese Lane, Bristol. From these records, I managed to visit the three streets in which they lived at the times of the births of different children. For most of their married life they lived in Cheese Lane, near the Church. I suspect that as his accountancy practice failed and he got into financial difficulties, the family was forced to move to less salubrious accommodation.
I also managed to obtain copies of one press report of John’s conviction and death sentence at Gloucester Assizes for coining. The judge must have been feeling sympathy for John because another man convicted and sentenced to death at the same sittings was immediately taken for “execution of the sentence” but the judge commuted John’s sentence to transportation for life.
After returning to Australia in April 2008, I managed to locate descendants of John’s and Jane’s youngest child in New York.
Paul Fergus

PERMISSION GRANTED

Today I received an email from PHIL READY, who with his wife Lois, ( descendant of 2nd fleet) compiled READY OR NOT . Hours and hours he tells me in the Mitchell Library and many cemeteries. Phil’s work was one of the major initiating factors for me in this venture. He has given me full permission to use his research . Thank you, indeed, Phil.

ST JOHNS CHURCH PARRAMATTA : JOHN CURTIS AND ANN MORAN.

ST JOHNS FEATURES THROUGHOUT THE FAMILY.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article625505

The Sydney Gazette and… Sunday 10 April 1803, page 4.

This being Easter Sunday, Divine
Service will be performed by the Rev. Mr.
Marsden, at St. John’s Church Parramatta, for the first time.

THE NSW BEGINNINGS ARE WITH JOHN  CURTIS AND ANN MORAN.

FROM PHIL READY’S “READY OR NOT”.

JOHN CURTIS – 1749-1821

At his trial March 1795 in Gloucester, England, forty five year old accountant , John Curtis, was found  guilty of coinage. (forging coins) and sent to Portsmouth where he was placed aboard the prison hulk LION to await a ship for the Colony of NSW . Separated from his wife Jane and 10 remaining children who lived in the Parish of St Augustin Bristol, he was never to see them again.

1. JOHN CURTIS married 1773 to JANE PURRIER

THE CHILDREN OF JOHN AND JANE CURTIS

1	1774	ELIZABETH
2	1776	SARAH
3	1778	JOHN
4	1779	THOMAS
5	1780	?
6	1781	JOSHUA
7	1782	FRANCIS
8	1784	WILLIAM
9	1784	BENJAMIN
10	1785	WILLIAM H
11	1787	ANN
12	1793	CHARLOTTE

During the 18 months wait, John and the other prisoners aboard THE LION were “employed as health and weather permitted” by instructions from Mr James Bradley and in compliance with the desire of the Master General in Ordinance, in removing mud and gravel , raising, sloping and preparing Glacis on Weevil lines near Gosport and other occasional works under the direction of the Engineer appointed to superintend the fortifications at that place. ( HULK RETURNS. PRO REEL 3557 AONSW).

On 29th September 1796 John was discharged from the LION , placed aboard the GANGES and sailed via Rio de Janeiro to New South Wales.  Arriving at Sydney Town on 2 June 1797 he was sent to the Government Stores and put to work there. John’s skills at reading and writing would have been of great benefit at the stores and he  worked so well there that three years later he was promoted to an overseer and a numerous stock of cattle placed in his care.  ( Petition from John Curtis to Governor King – King papers Vol 1 pp 66-69 M.L.)

John had been overseeing the dairy for two years when he was advised that there was also to be a dairymaid at the dairy. Enquiries revealed that her name was ANN MORAN.

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ANN MORAN

ANN had been tried at MEATH, IRELAND, during the Spring of 1800. Found guilty , sentenced to seven years  transportation to NSW she too was held in custody to await a ship. On Sunday the 29th November 1901, two vessels, HERCULES with Ann aboard and ATLAS sailed from the port of CORK.  

HERCULES – a two deck square masted vessel of 395 tons burthen  built in Newcastle England was armed with 10 guns, carried a crew of between 32 and 35 men , 140 male and 25 female prisoners and several passengers among them MAJOR JOHNSTON who was later to figure prominently in the history of the Colony. The ship HERCULES also carried a detachment of the NSW Corps under CAPTAIN RALPH WILSON ( PRO REEL 413 WO 12/9901 FOLIO 160 ML)

http://lynnesheritage.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/anne-moran-and-the-hercules-in-1801/

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GRANTED an emancipation by Governor King on the Anniversary of GEORGE III , JOHN CURTIS was now a free man but unable to leave the Colony.Very lonely he formed an attachment  with ANN MORAN but, sadly missing his family and unaware that his wife JANE PURRIER had died in 1800, tried in 1803 to obtain permission to return home to them. Taking up his quill and paper, John wrote in his neat script to the Governor. ( I am presuming Phil Ready sighted these documents. )

” HIS Excellency Governor King,

Your humble petr, John  Curtis  begs leave to state that he is now at the advanced age of 60 years.

Marked by the hand of misfortune he was torn from a beloved family and a wife and ten children who  live in the Parish of St Augustin City of Bristol, tried at Gloster March Assizes 1795 convicted and arrived in this Colony in the ship GANGES . That petr has been three years in his Majesty’s Stores and from that situation promoted to an overseer and a numerous stock of cattle consigned to his care.

Petitioner need not to a gentleman of your Excellencies perspicacity and distinguised knowledge point out his unwearied attention and strict integrity in the dishcarge of his duty suffice to say that thru your Excellencies experience Wisdom of Humanity you were pleased to extend his majesties gracious bounty of an emancipation on the celebration of H.M. anniversary on June 4 1802.

The petr situation and conduct so universally known to the gentleman of this country emboldens him to solicit their signatures as a testimony of his good behaviour in every situation since his arrival and trusting in the merciful disposition of your Excellency has ever invinced in the cause of justice, humanity and the unfortunate must humbly implore a further extension of the Royal  clemency by suffering him to returning and spending his latter days with a long estranged family who with petitioner as in duty bound.

Ever pray

John Curtis

Under the signature of John CURTIS are the signatures of

1. W Patterson Lt Governor

2. Geo Johnston

3. Rev Samuel Marsden

4. Thomas Jamieson Supt of Govt Stock

John’s petition could not be granted as it was not within the Governor’s power to do so but ANN had already become pregant to John and later that year have birth to a daughter whom they named ELIZABETH, perhaps after John’s first daughter, Elizabeth, born in England in 1744.

The busy Governor had other things on his mind  and a revolt in 1804 by the convicts at CASTLE HILL, only a few miles from John and Ann,  made him realise how much his authority  depended on the unruly NSW CORPS. The thought kept him on edge for he was having trouble with its officers  and more especially with its paymaster JOHN MACARTHUR who wanted the Governor to comply with the CORPS’ wishes and become rich. By 1806 King had had enough and resigned as Governor.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

 

• http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article625518 The Sydney Gazette and… Sunday 17 April 1803, page 3.

On Sunday last St. John’s Church, at Parramatta, was opened, and Divine Service performed by the Rev. Mr. Marsden ; who delivered an excellent Sermon on the following Text,

But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth ? behold, heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built !” II. Chron. c. vi. v. l8 : In the course of which he made some animated allusions to the structure of ‘Solomon’s Temple,, and afterwards gradually traced the progress of Religion in succeeding ages, adverting to tge many solid advantages that must be necessarily derived to this Colony, from a proper observance of the duties of christianity and a religious worship.

The concourse of persons that attended from all parts of the Colony, and the becoming silence that prevailed, added much to the solemnity of the service. Many Ladies of the first respectability were present, some of whom went purposely from Sydney ; and the Military Detachment on duty at Parramatta, were alfo partakers at the sacred festival.  St. John’s Church may justly be stiled the finest building in the Colony ; the paintings are well designed, and tolerably executed.  The Altar Piece, tho’ somewhat heavy, is nevertheless entitled to praise. The pews are not yet put up, but when they are, it will certainly become a handsome, well-finished. and commodious place of worship.

 

• http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article625764

MARRIED

On Wednesday last, at St. John’s Church,

Parramatta, Lawrence Brady, baker to M.

Peat, spinster. She is the first young woman  

married from the Orphan House.

________________________________________

• A STORY FROM THE NLA HISTORIC NEWSPAPERS OF A NOTE OF HAND INVOLVING JOHN CURTIS OF PARRAMATTA AND HUGH DEVLYN.

 

• http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article627695 
• http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article627698

Whereas a Promissory Note of Hand drawn by John Curtis of Parramatta in favor of one  Thomas Jones for the Sum of £40 Sterling, was about a twelvemonth ago lost at Parramatta, and has not since been recovered. Now this is to give Notice, that the said Note was negociated to me, Hugh Davlyn, of Richmond Hill, who do hereby acknowledge to have received from the above Drawer (John Curtis) full satisfaction for the same ; I do therefore forbid all persons receiving the same under any pretence whatever, as it is the sole property of the said John Curtis; any person rendering it up to whom or to myself will be handsomely rewarded. Hugh Davlyn.

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article627801

The Sydney Gazette and… Sunday 3 September 1809, page 2.

 

 

MELINDA KENDALL : HER LIFE AND WRITINGS

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