The Confusing Coventry Mob

 The Warwickshire section of my family tree can be very confusing, a situation not helped by the damage and destruction caused to the parish records of St Michael’s Coventry when it was bombed during WWII. The surname ‘Fletcher’ keeps cropping up, legitimately and adoptively, and in this blog I will investigate the reasons for this, and whether there is any relationship between the various Fletchers who appear in my tree.

 I have shown in a previous blog how Mary Ann Butler (daughter of James Butler) was listed in censuses as Mary Ann Fletcher when she was young.^1,2 Her mother’s maiden surname was Fletcher, but this was not the reason for the family using that surname.³ Looking at the timeline:

• Edward Butler married Catharine Randal in 1822.⁴
• Their son James was baptised in 1822.⁵
• Edward Butler died in 1826.⁶
• Catharine Butler nee Randal married Henry Fletcher in 1827.⁷
• Catharine and Henry baptise two children in Foleshill.^8,9
• Henry, Catharine and their children moved to Tower Hamlets about 1833.¹⁰
• Henry Fletcher died in 1840.¹¹
• When completing the 1841 census the widowed Catharine Fletcher gave the surname of all her children as ‘Fletcher’, including James Butler.¹²

 James Butler continued to use the surname Fletcher in the censuses right up to his death, though he used ‘Butler’ when he married Fanny Maria Fletcher in 1843 and when he registered their children.^{1,2,3,13,14,15,16} James Butler’s step-father and wife were thus both Fletchers and while Fanny Maria was born in Tower Hamlets, her father was born in Coventry about 1781.^17,18 Both the Butlers and Fletchers maintained strong links with Warwickshire with many members moving back and forth between Tower Hamlets and the Coventry area.

&npsp;I haven’t found a baptismal entry for Henry Fletcher (James’ step-father) but his death in 1840 (aged 32) was registered by his father, another Henry Fletcher (hereafter distinguished as Henry Fletcher Snr) who was living one street away from Catharine Fletcher (nee Randal) at the time of the 1841 census.^11,19 In the 1851 census Henry Fletcher Snr is listed living in Foleshill, stating that he had been born in Coventry around 1785, like John Fletcher.²⁰ There is a late baptism entry for Henry Fletcher Snr in Shoreditch in 1801, giving a 1785 birth date and parents as “Jones” and “Amey”.²¹

 A search for potential parents in the Coventry area, reveals that Jonah Fletcher married Em Barkby in Walsgrave on Sowe in 1767.²² Jonah was born in Walsgrave on Sowe in 1745, the same year and place as Ame Barkby.^23,24 This pair are probably the parents of Henry Snr.

Figure 1: Church of St Mary, Walsgrave on Sowe, photographed by Susan Law 9 July 2019

 Turning back to the other Fletchers, we noted above that Fanny Maria Fletcher’s father, John Fletcher, was born in Coventry about 1781.¹⁸ There is a 1782 baptism entry in the Bishop’s Transcripts for St Michael’s Coventry for a John Fletcher son of “Joseph” and “Emmy”.²⁵ At this period church events were noted initially in day books (or scraps of paper), often in abbreviated form, before being copied into the official register once a week.²⁶ The abbreviated form of both ‘Jonas’ and ‘Joseph’ is ‘Jo^s’. In this case we have a further potential for error in that this surviving record is a Bishop’s Transcript. So it is possible that John’s father was actually a Jonas. ‘Emmy’ and ‘Amey’ are probable variants of ‘Amy’, as are ‘Ame’ and ‘Em’ (above). It is thus a strong possibility that John and Henry Snr are brothers. Supporting this there is another baptism in a surviving section of a damaged St Michael’s Register in 1771 for James Fletcher son of Jonas and Amy.²⁷ He is probably another sibling of John and Henry.

Figure 2: Ruined chancel of St Michael's Church, Coventry, photographed by Alan Law 8 July 2019 (used with permission).

 It is interesting to note that the occupations for both John and Henry Fletcher Snr were given as “soldier” in the baptisms of their early children in 1806.^28,29 Perhaps they were both militiamen? It was after all the time of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.

 If John and Henry Fletcher Snr were brothers, then when James Butler married Fanny Maria in 1843 he married his step-father’s cousin (see Figure 3). While this is not consanguineous it has the potential to cause confusion. The relationship complicates the interpretation of DNA results as it is near impossible to distinguish genetically between the descendants of Catharine Randal’s two marriages and the descendents of John Fletcher. Possibly due to the DNA matches, Henry Fletcher, son of Catherine and Henry Fletcher and grandson of Henry Snr (probable brother of John Fletcher) is attached in some trees as a child of John Fletcher and Catharine Squires, despite the total lack of records associating him with the couple (for example never appearing with the family in the censuses).³⁰ These DNA matches do, however, support the thesis that John Fletcher and Henry Fletcher Snr were brothers.

Figure 3: Relationships among the Confusing Coventry Mob

Sources

1. Census record for James Fletcher, aged 25, 3 Fleet Street, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, 1851 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/1542, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 8 Aug 2008.
2. Census record for James Fletcher, aged 38, 8 Horse Ride, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, 1861 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/1542, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 8 Aug 2008.
3. Marriage certificate of James Butler and Fanny Maria Fletcher, married 5 June 1843, registered June quarter 1843, Shoreditch registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 2, p. 376, no. 182.
4. Marriage of Edward Buttler and Catharine Randle, married 18 February 1822, St Laurence’s Church Parish Register, Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, page number not known, No. 412.
5. Baptism of James Butler, baptised 25 August 1822, St Laurence’s Church Parish Register, Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, page number not known, No. 412.
6. Burial of Edward Buttler, buried 28 July 1826, St Laurence’s Church Parish Register, Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, Page 136, No. 1085.
7. Marriage of Henry Fletcher and Catharine Butler, married 10 Jun 1827, St Laurence’s Church Parish Register, Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, page number not known, No. 115.
8. Baptism of Henry Fletcher, baptised 17 February 1828, St Laurence’s Church Parish Register, Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, Page 30, No. 238. FHL Film No. 559233.
9. Baptism of Hannah Fletcher, baptised 27 February 1831, St Laurence’s Church Parish Register, Foleshill, Warwickshire, England, Page 81, No. 646, FHL Film No. 559233.
10. Baptism of George Henry Fletcher, baptised 3 August 1834, Christ Church Parish Register, Spitalfields, Middlesex, England, Page 227, No. 1809. London Metropolitan Archives Microfiche No. X024/002.
11. Death certificate of Henry Fletcher, died 26 December 1840, registered December quarter 1840, Whitechapel Union registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 2, p. 439, no. 3.
12. Census record for Catherline Fletcher, aged 37, Quaker Street, Spitalfields, Middlesex, 1841 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/710/3/24, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 15 Sep 2008.
13. Birth certificate of Louisa Butler, born 28 May 1844, registered September quarter 1844, Whitechapel Union registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 2, p. 537, no. 304.
14. Birth certificate of Mary Ann Butler, born 1 March 1847, registered June quarter 1847, Whitechapel registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 2, p. 564, no. 233.
15. Birth certificate of Charles Henry Butler, born 2 April 1849, registered June quarter 1849, Whitechapel registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 2, p. 625, no. 629.
16. Birth certificate of Catherine Butler, born 11 September 1851, registered December quarter 1851, Bethnal Green registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 2, p. 73, no. 119.
17. Baptism of Fanny Maria Fletcher, baptised 29 September 1811, Christ Church Parish Register, Spitalfields, Middlesex, England, Page 171, unnumbered. London Metropolitan Archives Microfiche No. X024/001.
18. Census record for John Fletcher, aged 70, 5 Greenwood’s Rents, Bishopsgate, Middlesex, 1851 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/1524/521, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 22 Aug 2006.
19. Census record for Henry Fletcher, aged 58, 13 Fleur de Lis Court, Spitalfields, Middlesex, 1841 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/710/13/10, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 12 Sep 2021.
20. Census record for Henry Fletcher, aged 66, Lockhurst Lane, Foleshill, Warwickshire, 1851 England and Wales Census, The National Archives, HO107/2066/229, UK Census Collection, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 12 Sep 2021.
21. Baptism of Henry Fletcher, baptised 15 January 1801, St Leonard Parish Register, Shoreditch, Middlesex, England, unpaginated, unnumbered, London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, Ancestry.com.au,  accessed 3 Sep 2011.
22. Marriage of Jonah Fletcher and Em Barkby, married 28 December 1767, St Mary’s Church Parish Register, Walsgrave on Sowe, Warwickshire, England, Page 22, No. 88, Warwickshire, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1910, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 8 Mar 2016.
23. Baptism of Jonah Fletcher, baptised 18 August 1745, St Mary’s Church Parish Register, Walsgrave on Sowe, Warwickshire, England, unpaginated, unnumbered, Warwickshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 20 Oct 2010.
24. Baptism of Ame Barkby, baptised 5 May 1745, St Mary’s Church Parish Register, Walsgrave on Sowe, Warwickshire, England, unpaginated, unnumbered, Warwickshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812, Ancestry.com.au, accessed 20 Oct 2010.
25. Baptism of John Fletcher, baptised 19 October 1782, St Michael’s Church Bishop’s Transcript, Coventry, Warwickshire, England, unpaginated, unnumbered, Warwickshire County Record Office microfilm DR0090/13.
26. Burke, Arthur Meredyth, Key to the Ancient Parish Registers of England & Wales, The Sackville Press, London, 1908, https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/430032-key-to-the-ancient-parish-registers-of-england-wales?offset=4.
27. Baptism of James Fletcher, baptised 16 July 1771, St Michael’s Church Parish Register, Coventry, Warwickshire, England, unpaginated, unnumbered, Warwickshire Baptisms, www.findmypast.com.au, accessed 30 Sep 2017.
28. Baptism of Martha Fletcher, baptised 13 April 1806, Christ Church Parish Register, Spitalfields, Middlesex, England, Page 110, unnumbered. London Metropolitan Archives Microfiche No. X024/001.
29. Baptism of Ann Fletcher, baptised 7 December 1806, Christ Church Parish Register, Spitalfields, Middlesex, England, Page 118, unnumbered, London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812, ancestry.com.au, accessed 12 Sep 2021.
30. Ancestry Australia, ‘Susan Law DNA Test: Thru-Lines for John Fletcher’, https://www.ancestry.com.au/discoveryui-geneticfamily/thrulines/tree/1333931960:9009:66/for/080AB020-82F7-4145-BC9C-3BF177830102, accessed 1 Sep 2021 (not accessible without login).
    

Sentenced to Transportation - Twice!

[This is a corrected and slightly expanded version of an essay submitted for a Diploma of Family History Unit]

Richard Davey was baptized in Laughton, Sussex, on 25th July 1802, the second last child of James Davey and Sarah née French and brother of John Davey my 4xgreat-grandfather.^1,2 He grew up in a changing society. The “Inclosure Act 1773” facilitated the removal of “Common Right” making smallholders vulnerable and the country population dependent upon waged employment for subsistence.^3,4 The effects had been masked by high demand for men and supplies during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars but after 1815 a severe agricultural depression hit England with the southern counties suffering mass unemployment leading to the “Swing Riots” of 1830.^5,4,6 Tasmanian settler Samuel Guy wrote in 1823 that “I was losing my property” and “every thing I possessed would undoubtedly have been lost”.⁶

All Saints, Laughton⁷

Richard’s childhood was probably secure as his father was employed by Lord Chichester for thirty-two years.⁸ But by 1816 James required parish relief.⁹ Richard had no difficulty finding employment, however. By 1826 he had worked for at least thirteen different farmers.⁸ He needed the work having married Naomi Fowler on 26th April 1821, their first child being baptised on 2nd December.^10,11 He was possibly supporting his parents after they were “removed” from Lewes to Laughton on 25th June 1822.¹²

On 12th January 1826 Richard was tried for stealing beehives, one of them from Thomas Legg at Patcham. He was found guilty and sentenced to seven years’ transportation.^13,14 On 7th February he was received on the hulk Leviathan in Portsmouth harbour.¹⁵ Richard was fortunate that his father was well respected. On 26th July fourteen local farmers, including Thomas Legg, wrote a petition to have his sentence “mitigated”.⁸ It seems clemency was granted and Richard spent the next three years and seven months on the Leviathan, being declared free by servitude on 5th August 1830.¹⁵ During this time he would have performed hard labour in Portsmouth dockyards, but could also receive intimate visits from his wife and conceiving children.^16-18

Prison Hulk, Portsmouth²⁰

Richard was released during the height of the Swing Riots when agricultural work was in short supply. Naomi was living in Brighton and Richard presumably joined her there.^19,21 It appears Richard left Naomi in Brighton and became an itinerant labourer.¹³ On 23rd June 1834 the Assistant Overseer of Laughton Parish advertised a £2 reward for the apprehension of Richard, Naomi having become chargeable to Laughton Parish.¹³ She continued living in Brighton.²¹

On 26th September 1840 Richard “French”, George Arnold and Rachel Harris were arrested and charged with stealing a lamb at Mayfield in north Sussex.¹³ Richard later claimed that he was away from his wife harvesting.²² Why Richard was using his mother’s maiden name is unknown, perhaps to evade the Laughton Overseers, but the authorities soon recognised it as an alias. Probably realising there would be no clemency this time, he arranged to settle his property on Naomi and their children on 17th October.¹² On 19th October he was tried at Lewes, pleaded guilty and sentenced to transportation for life.^13,14

On 4th November 1840 Richard was transferred to the hulk York at Gosport and on 6th April 1841 to the Asia for transportation to Van Diemen’s Land.¹⁵ On 12th April Asia left Portsmouth, arriving at Hobart on 21st August.^23,24 During the voyage he was well behaved and served as a hospital attendant.²⁵ On arrival he was described as 5’4 ¼”, sandy haired and freckled. He had a ring on the middle finger of his left hand.²⁶ By this time the newly introduced Probation System was in operation with compulsory probation periods.^27-29 He was assigned to the Convict Station at Brown’s River for his three years of first stage probation.³⁰

The western side of the Derwent Estuary and D’Entrecasteaux Channel was first occupied by settlers evicted from Norfolk Island in 1808.^31,32 It was not until 1830-5 however that a track was driven through the bush to Hobart.³² Whaling, fishing and timber-getting were the early industries, with farms developing as the trees were cleared.³¹ Timber was extensively cut around North West Bay and Peppermint Bay, the latter being named for the predominant tree felled in the area.³³ By the late 1830s the settlers were pressing for access to convict labour with settler Daniel O’Connor drawing up plans for a station and offering to lease land to the government for it.^34,35 The plans were accepted but not the site, and in July 1841 a party of convicts was assigned to another site purchased on Bonnet Hill to build themselves a Probation Station.³⁴

Richard arrived at Brown’s River on 7th December 1841 and within three weeks he was in trouble, being absent from his hut on the night of the 27th. The punishment was an extra six months first stage probation. This must have shocked Richard because after this he was generally well behaved.²⁵ During probation he worked as a timber sawyer, possibly cutting the timber to rebuild the prisoner barracks which had burnt down in November 1841.^25,34

Brown’s River Station by Thomas Chapman³⁴

Richard finished his first stage probation on 26th February 1845 and on 19th March was employed by Robert Fox of Brown’s River. This was followed by work with George Miles at Peppermint Bay.²⁵ By 1846 there were only eighty-five convicts based at Brown’s River and a decision was made to close the station.^29,34 When Richard finished working for George Miles in February 1848, he returned to the Prisoner Barracks in Hobart.²⁵ With only one exception his employers remained settlers in Brown’s River and southwards, and his ticket of leave was issued for North West Bay starting 16th April 1850. He remained in Kingborough and Coningham parishes until granted a Conditional Pardon on 14th August 1855.²⁵ At this point he disappears from the public record until his death at the age of 80 in the New Town Pauper Establishment on 2nd March 1883.³⁶ With his timber cutting experience, he probably continued to work around North West Bay until age caught up with him.^25,35 We won’t know when that occurred as no records were kept for non-convict invalids until 1901.³⁷

Work locations for Richard French^25,35,38

Richard was thirty-nine when he arrived in Hobart and fifty-three when he was pardoned. Neither successful nor a criminal failure and leaving no descendants in Australia, he is probably typical of a large subset of unstudied convicts, working quietly through their sentences and then forming the backbone of Tasmania’s workforce until too old and frail to continue. By the 1870s, attitudes to elderly pauper invalids were starting to change and he may have been well looked after in his final years.³⁹

Sources

1. All Saints Church Parish Register, Laughton, Sussex, England, FHL microfilm 1067216 Item 3.
2. St Michael & All Angels Church Parish Register, South Malling, Sussex, England, East Sussex Record Office Ref: PAR 419/1/1/2.
3. The Parliament of Great Britain, 'Acts of the Parliament of Great Britain', 1773 c. 81 (Regnal. 13_Geo_3), Inclosure Act 1773.
4. Neeson, J. M., Commoners: Common Right, Enclosure and Social Change in England, 1700-1820, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
5. Hammond, J. I. and Hammond, Barbara, The Village Labourer 1760-1832, London, UK: Longmans, Green and Co., 1913.
6. Morgan, Sharon, Land Settlement in Early Tasmania : Creating an Antipodean England, Cambridge, England ; Melbourne : Cambridge University Press, 1992.
7. Law, Susan Hilary, photographed 13th July 2016.
8. MS Crime and the Criminal Justice System: Records from The U.K. National Archives: HO 17 Records created or inherited by the Home Office, Ministry of Home Security, and related bodies, Home Office: Criminal Petitions, Series I HO 17/92/138. The National Archives (Kew, United Kingdom).
9. The National Archives, 'Discovery', https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/, Accessed 29 March 2020.
10. All Saints Church Parish Register, Laughton, Sussex, England, FHL microfilm 1067216 Item 7.
11. All Saints Church Parish Register, Laughton, Sussex, England, FHL microfilm 1067216 Item 10.
12. The Keep, 'The Keep Collections', https://www.thekeep.info/collections/, Accessed 10 Apr 2020.
13. Sussex Advertiser.
14. 'England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892', ancestry.com.au, Accessed 8 Mar 2020.
15. 'UK Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849' ancestry.com.au, Accessed 8th March 2020.
16. Digital Panopticon, 'Convict Hulks', https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/Convict_Hulks, Accessed 30th March 2020.
17. Blog Post 'Carceral Archipelago', https://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/carchipelago/2017/10/10/a-day-in-the-life-convicts-on-board-prison-hulks/, Accessed 31st March 2020.
18. Great Britain Parliament House of Commons, Reports from Committees, Reports from Committees, v. 7, 1831, https://books.google.com.au/books?id=6TJbAAAAQAAJ. Accessed 10th April 2020.
19. St Nicholas Church Parish Register, Brighton, Sussex, England, digitised FHL microfilm 1067108, FamilySearch.org, Accessed 10 Apr 2020.
20. Cooke Edward William, “Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, convicts going aboard [picture],” 1829, http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-135934086.
21. St Nicholas Church Parish Register, Brighton, Sussex, England, digitised FHL microfilm 1067109, FamilySearch.org, Accessed 10 Apr 2020.
22. Indents of Male Convicts, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office.
23. Australian Convict Transportation Registers - Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868' ancestry.com.au, Accessed 26th December 2011.
24. Colonial Times.
25. Conduct Registers of Male Convicts arriving in the Period of the Probation System, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office.
26. Description Lists of Male Convicts, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office CON18/1/28 p49.
27. Libraries Tasmania, 'Convict Life', https://libraries.tas.gov.au/convict-portal/pages/convict-life.aspx, Accessed 1 February 2020.
28. Newman, Terry, Convict Systems: Assignment, Probation & Exile (extracts from an early draft of Becoming Tasmania), downloaded from 'Becoming Tasmania, Companion Web Site' http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/php/BecomingTasmania/BTMainPage.htm, Accessed 2 February 2020.
29. Brand, Ian, The Convict Probation System: Van Diemen's Land 1839-1854, Hobart, Blubber Head Press, 1990.
30. Appropriation Lists of Convicts, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office CON27/1/9 p10.
31. Hurst, William Nevin, A Short History of Land Settlement in Tasmania, H.H. Pimblett, Government Printer, 1938, https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/264710625.
32. Internet Archive Wayback Machine, 'Kingborough > Early Settlement', https://web.archive.org/web/20130325082629/http://www.kingborough.tas.gov.au/page.aspx?u=502#, Accessed 28th March 2020.
33. MacFie, Peter, 'Government Sawing Establishments of Van Diemen’s Land, 1817-1832', Australia's Ever-changing Forests V: Proceedings of the Fifth National Conference on Australian Forest History, Hobart, Tas, Feb 2002, Edited by John Dargavel, Denise Gaughwin and Brenda Libbis, 2002, p. 105-131.
34. Taroona Historical Group, Taroona 1808-1986: Farm Lands to a Garden Suburb, Taroona, Australia: Taroona Historical Group, 1988, https://taroona.tas.au/the-taroona-book/taroona-book-digitised/, Accessed 3rd April 2020.
35. Lands and Surveys Department, Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office.
36. Registers of Deaths in Hobart, Launceston and Country Districts, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office.
37. Records of the New Town Charitable institution, TA888, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office.
38. Householders' Census Returns for Various Districts, Arranged by Parishes, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office.
39. Piper, Andrew Kenneth Shaw, ‘Beyond the Convict System: the Aged Poor and Institutionalisation in Colonial Tasmania’, unpublished PhD thesis, University of Tasmania, 2003.

The Address in the Bible

[This is a corrected and slightly expanded version of an essay submitted for a Diploma of Family History Unit]

In 1979 when my grandparents died, among their effects was a bible which had belonged to my great-grandmother Susan Orange. Inside it was written a date (9th May 1848) and an address:

John Orange

Butcher

Queens Town

Port Adelaide

S.A.¹

Searches at the time produced an 1849 marriage certificate for John Orange, butcher, and Caroline Hemsley in Adelaide, but nothing else.² Now, with the assistance of online records, we can complete John’s story.

John Orange was Susan Orange’s uncle, the son of Thomas John Orange, weaver of Bethnal Green, and his wife, Susan.³ He was born on 20th June 1823 and baptised in Saint Matthew’s Church on 13th January 1826. The 1841 census shows the whole family working as weavers in a dying industry.^4,5 John does not appear in the 1841 England census – in 1839 he appeared before the Central Criminal Court charged with stealing from his master.⁶

Then aged 15, John worked for a hearth-rug manufacturer in Little Moorfields. On 15th February 1839 he and a fellow employee stole a rug and took it to a pawnbroker to exchange for six shillings. The suspicious pawnbroker refused. Both boys were subsequently arrested, tried and sentenced to seven years transportation.⁶ They were transported aboard the “Runnymede” to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) and Point Puer, a “reform institution” for boys.^7,8,9 On arrival (28th March 1840) John was 5’3”, with dark complexion and hair, pockmarked skin and a swan tattoo on his arm.^8,10 One wonders whether he had that tattoo when he left London. Point Puer was a hard place and John was fortunate in being nearly 17 on arrival and soon assigned to a work gang.¹¹

The Central Criminal Court, photographed by Alan Law of Concord West, NSW, 16th June 2019, reproduced with permission.

By 1840 convict administration was changing from the “assignment” to the “probation” system.^12,13,14 The probation system required convicts to live in “probation stations” while transitioning from work gang assignments to jobs in the community. Unfortunately, this change coincided with a depression in the local economy and a shortage of community employment.^13,14 John was fortunate. In 1841 John was transferred to Oatlands where he worked for Mr J. Lamb.^11,15 Censuses in 1841-48 show that John Lamb lived on High Street Oatlands, being an “other free person”, i.e. an emancipated convict.¹⁶ The most likely candidate is John Lamb, butcher, transported for life in 1821 but awarded a “free pardon” in 1837.¹⁷ The censuses indicate that John Orange did not reside with John Lamb.¹⁶ Probationers were housed in a special station close to Oatlands gaol.¹⁴ Our John stayed in Oatlands learning the butcher’s trade until 1844 when he moved to another location (possibly Port Sorell) perhaps in relation to his Ticket of Leave, as convicts were supposed to demonstrate self-sufficiency.¹¹ In 1845 he was back in Oatlands and granted a conditional pardon.^11,18 The following year (24th February 1846) he was made free by certificate and was able to move to the mainland where pay rates were higher.¹¹

In 1848 he wrote to his family from Port Adelaide.¹ He does not appear on any passenger lists and probably worked his way there.¹⁹ Also in 1848 Caroline Hemsley and her brother James arrived in Adelaide on the “Harpley”.²⁰ On 1st January 1849 John married Caroline in St John’s, Adelaide.² Both gave their address as “New Tiers” (a location near Lenswood in the Adelaide Hills). No children appear in the SA birth indexes for John and Caroline but the couple seemed to prosper.²² By 1859 John is a butcher in Queenstown with enough standing to appear as a witness in a court case.²³ In 1860, he purchased five blocks of land on Glebe Street, Alberton.^24,25

Orange-Hemsley-Moxons family connections

Meanwhile in 1854 James Hemsley married Jane Moxons and had three children (James (1856), Caroline (1857) and Matilda (1860)) before dying on 9th July 1860.^26,27 It seems that in this crisis Jane turned to her prosperous in-laws and possibly moved in with the couple. However it happened, by 1862 Jane was pregnant by John. They moved to Melbourne and on 2nd September 1862 Martha Jane Orange daughter of John Orange (butcher) and Jane nee Moxam was born.²⁸ They claimed to have married in Adelaide in 1849 and have three children (James, 6, Caroline, 4 and Matilda, 2). Possibly rumour followed them, because they soon moved to Hobart and there on 2nd March 1863 Martha Jane Hemsley, a widow’s daughter, died.²⁹ Her heartbroken parents buried her under the surname Orange in St David’s Churchyard.³⁰

She scarcely knew the winter's breath
Sheltered beneath the almighty wing
And though she felt the stroke of death
Blessed baby she never felt the sting
Our child is now a child of bliss
Why should we weep for joy like this

Headstone of Martha Jane Orange, St David’s Park, photographed by Alan Law of Concord West, NSW, 2nd August 2010, reproduced with permission

With no reason to stay, in October 1863 John advertised for creditors to contact him as he was leaving the colony.³¹ The couple returned to Adelaide where further grief awaited them – Caroline Hemsley, daughter of Jane, died “at the residence of her uncle, Mr Orange” on 5th October 1864.³²

By 1870 John was back in Melbourne, as a butcher at 231 Swanston Street.³³ Caroline, his wife, was probably with him. On 9th January 1871 John committed her to Yarra Bend Mental Asylum where she died on 2nd February 1872.³⁴ A respectable year and a day later John married Jane at 231 Swanston Street.³⁵ But their trials were not over. In early 1874 John was still a butcher at 231 Swanston Street, but in 1875 he no longer appears in the trade section of Sands & McDougall’s Directory but only in the alphabetical section as James Orange of Errol Street, Hotham (now North Melbourne).³⁶ In December 1874 he had been declared insolvent.³⁷ He managed to sort his finances out rapidly, applying for a certificate of discharge in November 1875 and in the 1876 directory he appears as a butcher at 83 Queensbury Street, Hotham, with a residence on Curzon Street.³⁸ From this point on he seems to have respectably prospered, being a founder of the Hotham Master Butchers’ Association and joining the local Freemasons lodge in 1883.³⁹ In 1887 he acquired more land on Curzon Street.⁴⁰ By 1890 his stepson James Hemsley had joined him in the butchery business, becoming the sole operator by 1895, when John appeared purely as a resident at 68 Curzon Street.⁴¹

John died on 14th September 1896.⁴² He was buried in the same grave as his first wife, a “beloved husband … and beloved stepfather”.^43,44 Jane was buried in the same grave in 1924.⁴⁵

John Orange could be regarded as one of the success stories of the Tasmanian convict system. After committing a crime as a teenager, he took the opportunity to learn a trade then left his past behind by moving to Adelaide. Despite some behaviour which would have been frowned on at the time, the last twenty years of his life seem to have been spent in respectable, loving comfort.

Sources

1. Alfred Commons to Susan Law, email 7 June 2006, original in author's possession
2. Marriage certificate for John Orange and Caroline Hemsley, married 1 January 1849, Adelaide, Office of the Principal Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Adelaide. S.A.
3. Baptism of John Orange, 13 Jan 1826, Saint Matthew's Church Baptism Registers Vol 14 1825-28, Bethnal Green, London, England, page 28, entry 221, FHL microfilm 855941 item 3, accessed 22 January 2009
4. Census record for Thomas Orange, aged 45, and family, Hare Marsh, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, 1841 England and Wales Census, TNA, HO107/694/6/5/2, ‘UK Census Collection’, Ancestry.com, Accessed 6 May 2006
5. Alfred Plummer, The London Weavers' Company 1600-1970, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972, Chapter 17
6. Trial Notes for John Orange, Central Criminal Court, 'The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London's Central Criminal Court, 1674-1913', http://www.oldbaileyonline.org, Accessed 26 May 2007
7. John Orange, Runnymede, 1840, Appropriation Lists of Convicts, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office, CON27/1/8, page 34
8. Runnymede on 'AUS-Tasmanian Genealogy Mailing List' http://sites.rootsweb.com/~austashs/convicts/conships_r.htm, Accessed 17 September 2006
9. Terry Newman, Point Puer: boy convicts (extracts from an early draft of Becoming Tasmania), downloaded from 'Becoming Tasmania, Companion Web Site' http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/php/BecomingTasmania/BTMainPage.htm, Accessed 1 Feb 2020
10. John Orange, Runnymede, 1840, Description Lists of Convicts, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office, CON18/1/1, page 246.
11. John Orange, Runnymede, 1840, Conduct Record, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office, CON31/1/32, page 239
12. Libraries Tasmania, 'Convict Life', https://libraries.tas.gov.au/convict-portal/pages/convict-life.aspx, Accessed 1 February 2020
13. Terry Newman, Convict Systems: Assignment, Probation & Exile (extracts from an early draft of Becoming Tasmania), downloaded from 'Becoming Tasmania, Companion Web Site' http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/php/BecomingTasmania/BTMainPage.htm, Accessed 2 February 2020
14. Ian Brand, The Convict Probation System: Van Diemen's Land 1839-1854, Hobart, Blubber Head Press, 1990
15. The National Archives, Kew, Surrey, England, HO 10/51, ‘New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849’, Ancestry.com.au, Accessed 28 August 2007
16. John Lamb, 1842 Census of Van Diemen's Land, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office, CEN1/1/35/19-20, Accessed 2 January 2020; John Lamb, 1843 Census of Van Diemen's Land, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office, CEN1/1/71/129-30, Accessed 2 January 2020; John Lamb, 1848 Census of Van Diemen's Land, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office, CEN1/1/94/57, Accessed 2 January 2020
17. John Lamb, Malabar, #184, 1821, Conduct Record, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office, CON31/1/27, page 116
18. The National Archives, Kew, Surrey, England, HO 10/59, ‘New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia, Convict Pardons and Tickets of Leave, 1834-1859’, Ancestry.com.au, Accessed 28 August 2007
19. State Records of South Australia, 'Migrations and Crew', https://archives.sa.gov.au/finding-information/discover-our-collection/migration-and-crew, Accessed 8 February 2020
20. Caroline Hemsley Arrival in Adelaide, State Library of South Australia, 'Bound for South Australia, Passenger Lists 1836-1851', https://bound-for-south-australia.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/1848HarpleyPassengerList.htm, Accessed 2 Jun 2006
21. Adelaide Hills Council 'History & Heritage', https://www.ahc.sa.gov.au/visitor/history-and-heritage, Accessed 1 Jan 2020
22. Search of South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society Inc., Index of South Australia Births 1842-1928, www.findmypast.com.au, accessed 1 Feb 2020
23. Local Court - Port Adelaide, South Australian Advertiser, 10 March 1859, page 3
24. Real Property Act Notices, South Australian Advertiser, 6 September 1860, page 1
25. State Library of South Australia Flickr Account, Map of Hundred of Yatala, 1957 (https://flickr.com/photos/32600408@N06/23487679250, uploaded 16th December 2015), Accessed 22nd March 2020.
26. Marriage of James Hemsley & Jane Moxons in South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society Inc., Index of South Australia Marriages 1842-1937, www.findmypast.com.au, accessed 1 Feb 2020; James, Caroline & Matilda He(l)msley births in South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society Inc., Index of South Australia Births 1842-1928, www.findmypast.com.au, accessed 1 Feb 2020; Death of James Hemsley in South Australian Genealogy & Heraldry Society Inc., Index of South Australia Deaths 1842-1972, www.findmypast.com.au, accessed 1 Feb 2020
27. ‘Died’, South Australian Advertiser, 11 July 1860
28. Birth Register entry for Martha Jane Orange, 2nd September 1862, The Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria, PRO 1005259159
29. Death Register entry for Martha Jane Hemsley, died 2nd March 1863, Tasmanian Archives & Heritage Office, 'Tasmania Deaths 1803-1933', www.findmypast.com.au, Accessed 19 Jan 2020
30. Richard Lord, Inscriptions in stone, St David's Burial Ground 1804-1872, St George's Church, Battery Point, Hobart, 1976
31. e.g. ‘Notice', The Mercury, 12th October 1863, page 1
32. 'Deaths', South Australian Register, 6th October 1864, page 2
33. Sands & McDougall's Melbourne and Suburban Directory for 1870, Melbourne 1870, John sometimes appears as James
34. Mental Asylum Record for Caroline Orange, Public Record Office Victoria, VPRS 7446 P1 Alphabetical Lists of Patients in Asylums (VA 2863) Hospitals for the Insane Branch, Unit 1 (Yarra Bend), 26 Oct 1848 – 11 Nov 1912; Death Register entry for Caroline Orange, 2nd February 1872, The Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria, PRO 606369365
35. Marriage Register entry for John Orange and Jane Hemsley, 3rd February 1873, The Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria, PRO 303778491200161102
36. Sands & McDougall's Melbourne and Suburban Directory for 1874, Melbourne 1874; Sands & McDougall's Melbourne and Suburban Directory for 1875, Melbourne 1875
37. 'New Insolvents', The Advocate, 19th December 1874, page 15
38. 'Law List - This Day', The Age, 19th November 1875, page 2; Sands & McDougall's Melbourne and Suburban Directory for 1876, Melbourne 1876
39. 'The Hotham Master Butchers', The Argus, 6th March 1883, page 6, John Orange Admission in 'Freemasonry Membership Registers', www.ancesty.com.au, 'England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921', Accessed 27 Jan 2020
40. 'Transfer of Land Statute', The Argus, 9th March 1887, page 10
41. Sands & McDougall's Melbourne and Suburban Directory for 1890, Melbourne 1890; Sands & McDougall's Melbourne and Suburban Directory for 1895, Melbourne 1895
42. Death Register entry for John Orange, 14th September 1896, The Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria, PRO 606369365
43. 'Deaths', The Age, 15th September 1896, page 1
44. John Orange headstone transcription, Genealogical Society of Victoria, 'Victorian cemetery records and headstone transcriptions', www.ancestry.com.au, 'Victoria, Australia, Cemetery Records and Headstone Transcriptions, 1844-1997', Accessed 27 Jan 2020
45. Death Register entry for Jane Orange, 4th August 1924, The Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Victoria, PRO 1122793109

The Family of Edward and Louisa Orange

One of the first challenges I came across in my research was the identity of one of my great-great-great-grandmothers on my mother’s side. There is also confusion about the number and names of the children she had.

On the birth certificate of my great-grandfather (Thomas Walter Pillar, born 21st August 1876) his parents are identified as Thomas Walter Pillar and Susan nee Orange.¹ Walter Piller and Susan Orange were married in St Thomas’s Church, Bethnal Green on 29 May 1876 with Susan being a 20-year-old spinster, the daughter of Edward Orange.² Thank goodness for the censuses, because official documentation for “Susan Orange” prior to her marriage doesn’t exist. Thank goodness also that there was only one Edward Orange of the right age in Tower Hamlets at that time. While happy to chat to the Census taker, the relationship of Edward and his wife to religious institutions was non-existent and their relationship to the Register Office was intermittent and unreliable.

Edward appears in all the censuses from 1841 to 1891.³ Until 1861 he is living with his parent(s). In 1861 he is living at 7 Turk Street, Bethnal Green, with a wife, Louisa (age 34, born Bethnal Green) and four daughters: Martha (age 8), Susan (age 6), Ann (age 3) and Eliza (age 4 months) all born Bethnal Green.⁴ In 1871 he is living at 11 Old Nichol Street, Bethnal Green with Louisa (age 45, born Bethnal Green) and five children: Martha (age 17), Susan (age 16), Eliza (age 11), Thomas (age 5) and Caroline (age 2) all born Bethnal Green.⁵ So we have 6 children over the 2 censuses: Martha (~1854); Susan (~1855); Ann (~1858); Eliza (1860); Thomas (~1856); and Caroline (~1869) with Ann disappearing before 1871.

Louisa Orange wife of Edward Orange died on 3rd March 1878, the informant for the registration of death being her daughter, Susan Piller.⁶ This tells us we have the right Edward Orange and that his wife’s name was Louisa in 1861, 1871 and 1878. But was it the same Louisa for all that period?

There is no marriage registered for Edward Orange and a Louisa between 1851 and 1878. There are no missing entries because I’ve searched the Tower Hamlets index (when it was on line) and the Tower Hamlet parish registers. Tower Hamlets Register Office were really nice. When you found a possible birth entry in their index, you could email them and they would tell you the given name of the father. This way I found four birth registrations: Ann (19th June 1854, 7 Virginia Row); Eliza (5th March 1856, 7 Virginia Row); Eliza (6th December 1860, Workhouse); and Edward John (8th January 1864, 7 Turk Street).⁷ The parents names were Edward Orange and Louisa née Goodman. This gives me a name for the woman living with Edward as his wife and that it is the same woman between at least 1854 and 1863, but only one of the children match the names and ages given in the census. A search for deaths, turns up Ann (died 17th August 1863, age 5, at 7 Turk Street) which fits nicely with the 1861 census data, but not with the 1854 birth certificate.⁸ It also turns up another Eliza (died 1st October 1860, age 7, at 7 Turk Street).⁹ This Eliza would have been born in 1852-3 and is too old for the 1856 Eliza. Given the lack of a marriage, registration under the surname “Goodman” is possible, but there are no relevant index entries.

Birth Certificate for Eliza Orange issued by Tower Hamlets Register Office

One other bit of evidence is relevant. In the admission records for Turin St School is an entry for Thomas Orange son of Edward, born 6th February 1865.¹⁰

A search of cemetery records finds matching entries for the Ann (1863) and Eliza (1860) deaths in Victoria Park Cemetery, plus a burial for Elizabeth Louisa Orange, age 9, of 7 Turk Street on 2nd July 1858.¹¹ Given that “Old Virginia Row” and “Turk Street” were interchangeable names for the same thoroughfare, this must be another child from the Orange-Goodman household.¹² The age would give a birth date of 1848-9, while Edward was still residing with his mother. I postulate that this may be a child from a former, undissolved marriage of Louisa’s. I can find neither Louisa nor the child in the 1851 census, but the existence of such a marriage would explain why Edward and Louisa never married. Cohabiting out of wedlock was condemned by the churches but you could live with that. Bigamy was a criminal offence which carried a jail sentence. Why were they so erratic in registering births and deaths? We’ll probably never know, but at least they talked to the census takers.

So trying to make some sort of coherent picture of the records, it appears that Edward and Louisa probably had seven children:

1. Eliza, born about 1853, died 1st October 1860
2. Ann/Martha, born 19th June 1854
3. Eliza/Susan, born 5th March 1856, married Walter Pillar, 29th May 1876,
4. Ann, born about 1858, died 17th August 1863
5. Eliza, born 6th December 1860
6. Edward/Thomas John, born 8th January 1864 or 6th February 1865
7. Caroline, born about 1868

Louisa appears in the 1841 census, age 14 and living with Thomas and Mary Goo(d)man.¹³ She was born on the 26th February 1827 in Bethnal Green and baptized in St Matthew’s on the 18th March 1827.¹⁴ Her parents were not born in Middlesex, but the tracking down of the Goodmans is another tale.

I'm still trying to convince myself that I've got this right and enter it all into my family tree.

Sources

1. England, birth certificate for Thomas Walter Pillar, born 21 Aug 1876; Bethnal Green registration district, Town sub-district. Photocopy of original in possession of Jennifer Commons
2. England and Wales, marriage certificate for Walter Piller and Susan Orange, married 29 May 1876; citing 1c/695/280, Jun quarter 1876, Bethnal Green registration district; General Register Office, Southport. Original courtesy of Jennifer Commons
3. 1841 census of England, Middlesex, Bethnal Green, folio 5, page 2, Thomas Orange; digital images, Ancestry Information Operations, Ancestry Australia (https://www.ancestry.com.au/ : accessed 23 Apr 2006); citing PRO HO 107/694/6; 1851 census of England, Middlesex, Bethnal Green, folio 259, page 29, Susan Orange; digital images, Ancestry Information Operations Company, Ancestry Australia (http://www.ancestry.com.au/ : accessed 27 Mar 2006); citing PRO HO 107/1539.
4. 1861 census of England, Middlesex, Bethnal Green, folio 125, page 10, Edward Orange; digital images, Ancestry Information Operations Company, Ancestry Australia (http://www.ancestry.com.au/ : accessed 4 Feb 2006); citing PRO RG 9/263.
5. 1871 census of England, Middlesex, Bethnal Green, folio 23, page 40, Edward Orange; digital images, Ancestry Information Operations Unlimited Company, Ancestry Australia (http://www.ancestry.com.au/ : accessed 28 Mar 2006); citing PRO RG 10/474.
6. England and Wales, death certificate for Louisa Orange, died 3 Mar 1878; citing 1c/207/138, Mar quarter 1878, Bethnal Green registration district, Town sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.
7. England, birth certificate for Ann Orange, born 19 Jun 1854; Bethnal Green registration district, Hackney Road sub-district; England, birth certificate for Eliza Orange, born 5 Mar 1856; Bethnal Green registration district, Hackney Road sub-district; England and Wales, birth certificate for Eliza Orange, born 6 Dec 1860; citing 1c/282/33, Dec quarter 1860, Bethnal Green registration district, Green sub-district; General Register Office, Southport; England, birth certificate for Edward John Orange, born 8 Jan 1864; Bethnal Green registration district, Town sub-district.
8. England and Wales, death certificate for Ann Orange, died 17 Aug 1863; citing 1c/233/488, Sep quarter 1863, Bethnal Green registration district, Town sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.
9. England and Wales, death certificate for Eliza Orange, died 1 Oct 1860; citing 1c/210/177, Dec quarter 1860, Bethnal Green registration district, Town sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.
10. Turin Street School, Bethnal Green, "Admission and Discharge Register for Boys," p. London Metropolitan Archives LCC/EO/DIV05/TUR/AD/001, Admisson and Discharge Register for Boys, Admission #367, Thomas Orange; digital images, Ancestry Information Operations Unlimited Company, "London, England, School Admissions and Discharges, 1840-1911," Ancestry Australia (http://www.ancestry.com.au/ : accessed 9 Feb 2013).
11. Victoria Park Cemetery “Register of Burials at Victoria Park Cemetery 1857-59", The National Archives RG8/Piece 44_2, Burial of Elizabeth Louisa Orange, 2 Jul 1858, The Genealogist, “Non-Parochial BMDs, 1581-1970" (https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk, Accessed 12 Dec 2008); Victoria Park Cemetery “Register of Burials at Victoria Park Cemetery 1860-63", The National Archives RG8/Piece 45, Burial of Eliza Orange, 11 Oct 1860, The Genealogist, “Non-Parochial BMDs, 1581-1970" (https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk, Accessed 12 Dec 2008); Victoria Park Cemetery “Register of Burials at Victoria Park Cemetery 1863-66", The National Archives RG8/Piece 46, Burial of Ann Orange, 22 Aug 1863, The Genealogist, “Non-Parochial BMDs, 1581-1970" (https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk, Accessed 12 Dec 2008);
12. "Bethnal Green: The West, Shoreditch Side, Spitalfields, and the Nichol," in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 11, Stepney, Bethnal Green, ed. T F T Baker (London: Victoria County History, 1998), 103-109. British History Online, accessed February 16, 2020, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol11/pp103-109.
13. 1841 census of England, Middlesex, Bethnal Green, folio 8, page 10, Thomas Goodman; digital images, Ancestry Information Operations, Ancestry Australia (https://www.ancestry.com.au/ : accessed 9 Nov 2007); citing PRO HO 107/694/5.
14. St Matthew (Bethnal Green, Middlesex, England), "London Metropolitan Archive P72/MTW/019, Register of Baptisms Vol 14 1825-28," page 142, baptism of Louisa Goodman, 18 Mar 1827; FHL microfilm 855,941, item 3.