My three times great grandmother Ann Simmons had an extensive charge sheet long before she was transported to Van Diemen’s Land in 1822 for larceny.[1] Without proof of a birth date or who her parents were, Ann was likely born between 1793 and 1795 in London around Southgate, an assumption based on the location of future events. This put her at 14 years in 1807 when she was brought to the Old Bailey to face charges for stealing 14 yards … Continue reading
A tiny group gathered at the burial ground in Sydney on 14 November 1792. Jane Izzy/Ezzy, and her two-year old son James were there on that summer day to bury ten-month old Louisa, Jane’s daughter. Perhaps Louisa’s father William could join them as some convicts off the Royal Admiral disembarked in Sydney before the remainder were sent to Parramatta. Newly married fellow convict and Londoner Benjamin Carver may have been able to join them as William Izzy/Ezzy had witnessed his … Continue reading
By Bev Murray. I remember when I was a young child, my grandmother, told me a fascinating but tragic story about a lady who lived a long time ago. “One day long ago,” she said, “one of your ancestors went outside her home to get some wood and she never returned. She disappeared and was never seen again.” “What happened to her?” I asked and my grandmother explained, “It was thought that she had been taken by the blacks”. This … Continue reading
Richard Fage gripped his bayonet-tipped, flintlock musket. He crouched bravely within his battalion’s defensive square, deafened by the artillery and cannon fire of Napoleon’s troops. For hours they’d been on the edge of the battle, but the order to advance had finally arrived. Now on open flat ground, the men of the 3rd battalion of the 14th Regiment were sitting ducks. Their bright red coats and distinctive white cross straps were still unblemished by mud and blood. Richard, like nearly … Continue reading
Four-year old Catherine Irwin sat in a school room in a slab hut in Newcastle in May 1816. Nearby sat her seven-year-old brother, William and 15 other girls and boys aged from 3 to 13 years. The Irwin children were in Newcastle with their father Ormsby Irwin, a life-term Irish convict, who had been convicted in Sydney for the manslaughter of Sergeant Robert Morrow of the 73rd Regiment. Catherine and William’s mother, Eleanor Irwin who had been convicted of the … Continue reading
