Our Hodgetts Family Saga-Thomas Hodgetts,1796,Sydney

I have previously blogged about other convict weddings Thomas and Harriet Hodgetts were witness to.

See Our Hodgetts Family Saga – Thomas Hodgetts,1790, Sydney posted 31 May 2020

Also

Our Hodgetts Family Saga – Harriet Hodgetts,1790, Sydney posted 8 June 2020

And

Our Hodgetts Family Saga – Thomas Hodgetts,1792, Parramatta. posted 13 July 2020

As I previously mentioned, the above-mentioned marriages were in John Cobley’s series of books about the early settlement in New South Wales and ‘The Brave Old Pioneers 1788-1988: the story of Thomas and Harriet Hodgetts and their family, by Richard Hodgetts.

However, this marriage is another of several documents I have recently located about Thomas and Harriet Hodgetts and their life in Australia. This marriage has not been mentioned in the material published on the Hodgetts family.

There has been an error in the transcribing for the index. On the marriage entry, the year is 1796, but it has been transcribed as 1798.[1]

View of Sydney Cove / painted by Thomas Watling1794-1796?
From <https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/collection-items/view-sydney-cove-painted-thomas-watling>

These entries can be found on Reel 5002  in the Archives Authority of NSW (State Records), in their Genealogical Kit.

332/1798 V1798332 3A

JONES

BENJAMIN

FLEMMING

MARY

CA

212/1798 V1798212 4

JONES

BENJAMIN

FLEMMING

MARY

CA

From <https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search/result?3>

As I have indicated before this was only the beginning, not the end of my research when I transcribed these records.

How did I use these records to further my research into the lives of our Hodgetts ancestors?

Remember our ancestors lived complex lives and their family and friends played an important part. As Sydney was a convict settlement the Government officials also played a part and greatly influenced where and how our ancestors lived.

Benjamin Jones was born about 1772 in Birmingham, England. On 23 March 1790 at the Warwick Assizes Jones was tried for theft and was sentenced to seven years transportation. He arrived in Sydney on the Third Fleet on board the Britania on 14 October 1791.

He married the widow Mary Flemming on 20 April 1796 in St Phillip’s, Sydney. Soon after marriage, he settled the family on a land grant on the Hawkesbury, which had been granted by Governor Hunter to his eldest step-son Henry Fleming, although he was only a child at the time. Further children were born to Benjamin and Mary Jones including Elizabeth, born  1797; John, born 1799, James born 1803, Benjamin born 1804 and Robert born 1809.

Benjamin and Mary Jones with their five children left the colony on the Sydney Packet on 1 July 1815 bound for England. They returned the following year and settled in Hobart, Tasmania.

Benjamin Jones died there on 13 April 1837 and Mary Jones died the following year.[2]

Mary Flemming (nee Lay), is believed to have been born in the British Colonies in America. She met Joseph Flemming, a British soldier during the American War of Independence, and had a daughter with him, whom they named Eleanor. They returned to England and settled in Essex. They married there on 8 July 1788 before Joseph Flemming transferred to the New South Wales Corps in late 1789. He was promoted to Sargent the following year. The family arrived in Sydney on board the William and Ann of the Third Fleet on 28 August 1791. Soon after arrival, a son was born and they named him Henry. He was baptized at St Phillip’s on 11 September 1791.

Another daughter was born in 1793 and was named Margaret. She was baptized on 25 December 1793 at St Phillip’s, Sydney.

After serving his three years in the NSW Corps, Joseph Flemming resigned from the army and was granted land at Concord in 1794.

The family had just settled on this grant when Joseph Flemming died leaving his widow, Mary, with three young children to support. It is believed that Benjamin Jones was an assigned convict helping Flemming clear his land ready for sowing crops. After Joseph Flemming’s death, his Grant was sold and the family moved to the Hawkesbury River where the eldest son Henry (although only eight years of age), was granted land. The Flemming children all survived to adulthood and married. Mary Jones had five further children with Benjamin Jones. She died in 1838 in Hobart, Tasmania.[3]

Thomas Hodgetts

Thomas Hodgetts was implicated in a robbery in 1787 in Staffordshire and was sentenced to 7 years transportation. He embarked on the Scarborough in the Second Fleet in 1790. After a few months in Sydney, he moved to Parramatta with Harriet, a free woman who arrived on the Neptune claiming to be his wife. [See earlier blogs]

By the time of the Benjamin Jones- Mary Flemming marriage in 1796, Thomas Hodgetts had completed his seven-year sentence.

Thomas and Harriet Hodgetts had three surviving children at this stage and were living in Sydney, where Thomas plied his blacksmithing trade.

He possibly made friends with  Benjamin Jones because he came from the same area in England and his speech would have naturally made these men plausible friends, although there was nearly ten years difference in age.

Katherine King is believed to have been the wife of Robert King. Robert King may have been a soldier and that is how Katherine became a close friend of the widow, Mary Flemming.

Robert and Katherine King had children including William Henry King born on 8 March 1791 and baptized in Sydney on 17 March 1792. He was drowned as an infant and was buried on 26 October 1792.

Another son named Robert was born on 27 October 1795 and baptized at St Phillip’s on 1 January 1796. I have not been able to find more information on the King family and they may have left the colony soon afterwards.[4]

 Rev Richard Johnson.

He was a Church of England clergyman ordained in England in 1784. In 1786 he received a Royal Warrant appointing him chaplain to the new colony in New South Wales. Shortly afterward he married Mary Burton at Islington, London on 4 December 1786. They embarked a few months later in the Golden Grove in the First Fleet.

Soon after arrival the Rev Johnson held his first service and continued to do whenever and wherever he could. These he carried out in tents, barns, or even under trees when a building was not available. He also carried out baptism, marriage, and burial services and entered them into his private register. Later he sent a list to the Governor’s Office of all baptisms, marriages, and burials.

Johnson was known for his care and interest in the convicts and often gave articles and food for their comfort from his own stores brought out from London in a private capacity.

Although Governor Phillip required the convicts to attend Sunday service, he was reticent to build a church as he felt all the Government building projects should be to house and feed the colony.

By 1793, Johnson was so frustrated by the lack of progress towards the building of a church that he undertook this project himself and paid for the materials and labour for the church to be built. It was a wattle and daub construction at what is now Richard Johnson Square at the intersection of Bligh and Hunter Streets. Unfortunately, this was burned down in 1798. The Governor had it replaced with a larger and more substantial building.

Johnson was also concerned about the lack of facilities for the education of colonial children and established schools in Sydney and later Parramatta. He also travelled to Norfolk Island when he could for the spiritual care of the convicts there.

Johnson and his family remained in the colony for nearly ten years before he asked to be returned home to England citing ill health. The family left by the Buffalo in September 1800.[5]

View of Sydney Cove / painted by Thomas Watling1794-1796?
From <https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/collection-items/view-sydney-cove-painted-thomas-watling>

Although this marriage is not mentioned in ‘The Brave Old Pioneers 1788-1988 by Richard Hodgetts, this book is still available for purchase from the author. Those interested can contact me by leaving a request in the comments box below and I will happily pass on the message.

A list of my references is available to family members and interested researchers on application. Please leave a request in the comments box below indicating your interest.

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Our Hodgetts Family Saga-Sarah Hodgetts,1797,Sydney

The ninth document for our Hodgetts family in Australia was the baptism entry of Sarah Hodgetts, the third daughter of Thomas and Harriet Hodgetts.

I found the first mention of this record in John Cobley’s Sydney Cove 1795-1800 Vol V, The Second Governor. The entry states:-

 Baptisms

 SYDNEY

Dec 24 Sarah Hodgats  d of Thomas and Harriet Hodgats. B 1st September 1797.[1]

I then checked for references in the online index of the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages in Sydney at https://bdm.nsw.gov.au/

HODGETS  SARAH       495/1797 V1797495 4 d of  THOMAS and   HARRIOT

HODGETS SARAH M   662/1797 V1797662 1A  d of THOMAS and  HARRIET

Using these references I was able to search for entries in the Archives Authority of New South Wales (now State Records) Genealogical Kit (1988) for baptisms 1788-1855. The early colonial baptism, marriage, and burial records of some 164 volumes cover the time before civil registration in New South Wales. This includes Victoria and Queensland which was part of New South Wales at that time. These are held as Government records by the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages for New South Wales in Sydney.

Many of these records were microfilmed and released to the public in the Archives Authority of New South Wales Genealogical Kit in 1988. Of the 164 volumes copied, only 123 volumes were released in the kit covering the time frame 1788-1855. Volumes 124-164 were not included in the kit.

This was because some of the records contained in the volumes were after 1855 so fell outside the parameters of the historical project and were subject to state privacy laws. Other volumes were not included because they were so fragile and the handling of those volumes would have destroyed them.

Returning to our Hodgetts research I found Volumes 1 and 4 were in the above-mentioned records, and I was able to view microfilm copies of the original records on AO Reel 5001 and 5002. These were Rev Richard Johnson’s original baptism register and the chronological list he sent to the Governor’s Office.

Although you can view these records at your library you cannot make a printout as it is a condition of use of these records and is stated at the beginning of each film. The copyright belongs to the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages.  At the time I was able to make transcriptions and add appropriate notes.

By 1797, Thomas Hodgetts had completed his sentence some two years before, and as a ‘free man’ was able to set up a business for himself in Sydney. We would like to think he set up as a blacksmith, as it has always been presumed to have been his trade in Australia. However, I have found no evidence of this in colonial records. I believe he would have found it difficult to get any employment, which paid any reasonable income.

Although still on meagre government rations, I believe the family lived in very poor conditions.

Eastern View of Sydney, 1797

By Edward Dayes

Contributed By National Library of Australia [PIC Solander Box A28 #R286]

From <https://dictionaryofsydney.org/media/59789

 

My share documents for this baptism can be found under the  Resources and Examples Tab on this website under-

HODGETS, Sarah,1797, Sydney, Baptism Transcription 1

HODGETS, Sarah,1797, Sydney, Baptism Transcription 2

[1] Sydney Cove 1795-1800 The Second Governor (Volume V), John Cobley, Angus & Robertson Publishers,1986,Sydney, p188

 

Our Hodgetts Family Saga-Mary Hodgetts,1795, Sydney.

The seventh document for our Hodgetts family in Australia was the burial entry of Mary Hodgetts, the eldest daughter of Thomas and Harriet Hodgetts.

I found the first mention of this record in John Cobley’s Sydney Cove 1793-1795 Vol IV. The entry states:-

“Burials

April 24 Hodges, Mary    Child       Sydney” [1]

I then checked for references in the online index of the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages in Sydney at https://bdm.nsw.gov.au/

HODGES MARY    1160/1795 V17951160 2A     INFANT

HODGES MARY     708/1795 V1795708 4           INFANT

Using these references I was able to search for these entries in the Archives Authority of New South Wales (now State Records) Genealogical Kit (1988) for burials 1788-1855.

The early colonial baptism, marriage, and burial records of some 164 volumes cover the time before civil registration in New South Wales. This includes Victoria and Queensland which was part of New South Wales at that time. These are held as Government records by the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages for New South Wales in Sydney.

Many of these records were microfilmed and released to the public in the Archives Authority of New South Wales Genealogical Kit in 1988. Of the 164 volumes copied, only 123 volumes were released in the kit covering the time frame 1788-1855. Volumes 124-164 were not included in the kit.

This was because some of the records contained in the volumes were after 1855 so fell outside the parameters of the historical project and were subject to state privacy laws. Other volumes were not included because they were so fragile and the handling of those volumes would have destroyed them.

Returning to our Hodgetts research I found Volumes 2 and 4 were in the above-mentioned records and I was able to view microfilm copies of the original records on AO Reel 5001 and 5002. These were Rev Richard Johnson’s original burial register and the chronological list he sent to the Governor’s Office.

Although you can view these records at your library you cannot make a printout as it is a condition of use of these records and is stated at the beginning of each film. The copyright belongs to the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages.  At the time I was able to make transcriptions and add appropriate notes.

We do not know the cause of death of little Mary. It could have been a fever from teething or perhaps diarrhoea. It would be another sixty years before civil registration and cause of death added to the certificate.

You will note this burial was recorded as taking place in Sydney so we know that Thomas and Harriet were still residing in Sydney.

From earlier research we know that Thomas Hodgetts was sentenced in March 1788 to seven years transportation and he came on the Second Fleet, arriving in June 1790. So doing the calculations, by March 1795 Thomas had served his sentence and was, at last, a free man, in theory at least.

It would have taken some time for the Governor’s Office to confirm his status, but how would his life have changed?

View of Sydney Cove / painted by Thomas Watling1794-1796?

From <https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/collection-items/view-sydney-cove-painted-thomas-watling>

 

In a later blog I will show you how you can take these documents and use them as a timeline to research the mass of colonial documents to build a possible daily life of our ancestors.

My share documents for this burial can be found under the  Resources and Examples Tab on this website under-

HODGETTS, Mary,1795, Sydney, Burial Transcription 1

HODGETTS, Mary,1795, Sydney, Burial Transcription 2

[1] Sydney Cove 1791-1792 (Volume IV), John Cobley, Angus & Robertson Publishers,1983, Sydney, p250

 

Our Hodgetts Family Saga – John Hodgetts,1791,Rose Hill.

The fourth document of our Hodgetts family in Australia was the baptism entry of John Hodgetts, the eldest son of Thomas and Harriet Hodgetts.

I found the first mention of this record in John Cobley’s Sydney Cove 1791-1792 Vol III. The entry states:- “John Hodges, the son of Thomas and Harriet Hodges was christened on Thursday 17 November 1791”. [I did check to see if there were any other Thomas Hodges with a wife Harriet but found none, and am confident that the ‘Hodges’ referred to our ‘Hodgetts’ family.]

I then checked for references in the online index of the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages in Sydney at https://bdm.nsw.gov.au/

Although I tried many alternate spellings for the John Hodges/Hodgetts baptism there was only one reference in the index.

HODGES JOHN  son of THOMAS and HARIETT reference 29/1791 V179129 148

However, when I searched the microfilms for this entry in the Archives Authority of New South Wales (now State Records) Genealogical Kit (1988) for baptisms 1788-1855 This record was not among them.

The early colonial baptism, marriage, and burial records of some 164 volumes cover the time before civil registration in New South Wales. This includes Victoria and Queensland which was part of New South Wales at that time. These are held as Government records by the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages for New South Wales in Sydney.

These records were microfilmed and were released to the public in the Archives Authority of New South Wales Genealogical Kit in 1988. Of the 164 volumes, only 123 volumes were released in the kit covering the time frame 1788-1855. Volumes 124-164 were not included in the kit.

This was because some of the records contained in the volumes were after 1855 so fell outside the parameters of the historical project and were subject to state privacy laws. Other volumes were not included because they were so fragile and the handling of those volumes would have destroyed them.

Note that the only reference to John Hodges (Hodgetts) baptism entry fell in the records in the 124-164 volume frame, that being Volume 148.

However please note you are able to get a certified transcription (not a copy) of this record from the registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages office in Sydney. The fee of $35 for a transcription is not a small sum, but it is the only reference for this baptism entry (which also included birth date). As John Hodgetts is a direct ancestor of my husband, and I believe it is important to collect all records available for direct ancestors, I purchased this transcription.

Government House, Parramatta,1791

From the collections of the  State Library of New South Wales

[a928407 / DG SSV1B/3] (Dixson Galleries)

From <https://dictionaryofsydney.org/media/3163

The information on this record turned all the early colonial Hodgetts family history on its head!

It stated:- John the son of Thomas and Harriet Hodges was born on 25 October 1791 and was baptised on 17 November 1791 at Rose Hill, Port Jackson, County of Cumberland.

[My share document can be found under the Examples and Resources tab on this website]

Most family researchers would not pick up the significant detail that the baptism was at ‘Rose Hill’. Rose Hill was not part of Sydney, but was part of Parramatta!

So, sometime between December 1790 and October 1791, Thomas and Harriet had moved to Parramatta, had become a couple, and started a family.

Remember, Thomas was still a convict and was under direct government control. He was housed with the First Fleet blacksmiths as indicated by he being a witness to a marriage in Sydney in November 1790. (See blog “Our Hodgetts Family Saga – Thomas Hodgetts,1790, Sydney” posted June 2020).

Harriet was still in Sydney when she was a witness to the marriage of James Bird to Mary Dismon. (See “Our Hodgetts Family Saga – Harriet Hodgetts,1790, Sydney” posted June 2020).

How, when, and why did the Hodgett’s move to Parramatta?

I will address these questions in a later Hodgett’s blog post.

 

 

Our Hodgetts Family Saga – Thomas Hodgetts,1790, Sydney

In my last blog I wrote about the first document I had found concerning our ancestor Thomas Hodgetts in Australia which was his entry in the Transportation Register for the Second Fleet. This time I’m writing about the second document I found for Thomas in Australia. This was the marriage of George Fry and Elena Sandwick on 7 November 1790, when Thomas was recorded as one of the witnesses.

West view of Sydney Cove taken from the Rocks, at the rear of the General Hospital 1789 [from the collections of the State Library of New South Wales[a4635001 / DG V1/14] (Dixson Galleries)

I found the above-mentioned reference years ago when I was reading books on the early settlement of Sydney for the background to put our Thomas in context. I came across a series of history books written by John Cobley. I was amazed when I looked at the index of Volume II and not only saw references to Thomas Hodgetts (Hodges) but Harriet as well. These were in connection to early marriages in Sydney where they were recorded as witnesses.[1]

At the time all I could do was note the references as I had no way of looking at the original record. Later I was able to actually look at the microfilmed record of the marriages which had been released by the Archives Authority of NSW (now State Records of NSW) as part of their Genealogical Kit in 1988.

Although you can view these records at your library you cannot make a printout as it is a condition of use of these records and is stated at the beginning of each film. The copyright belongs to the Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages. You can purchase a copy from their office.

At the time I was able to make a transcription and add appropriate notes of each of these marriages. There are in fact two references for each in the online index at the Registrar of Births, Death and Marriages website. You should consult both as they are different.

This was only the beginning, not the end of my research when I transcribed these records.

How did I use these records to further my research into the lives of our Hodgetts ancestors?

Remember our ancestors lived complex lives and their family and friends played an important part. As Sydney was a convict settlement the Government officials also played a part and greatly influenced where and how our ancestors lived.

At this stage, I already knew that Thomas had arrived by the Second Fleet in June 1790. However, I needed to know who was the Rev Richard Johnson? Where did the marriage take place? Who were George Fry and Elena Sandwich, and the other witness, William Frazer? How could Thomas Hodgetts have known them?

 Rev Richard Johnson.

He was a Church of England clergyman ordained in England in 1784. In 1786 he received a Royal Warrant appointing him chaplain to the new colony in New South Wales. Shortly afterward he married Mary Burton at Islington, London on 4 December 1786. They embarked a few months later in the Golden Grove in the First Fleet.

Soon after arrival the Rev Johnson held his first service and continued to do whenever and wherever he could. These he carried out in tents, barns, or even under trees when a building was not available. He also carried out baptism, marriage, and burial services and entered them into his private register. Later he sent a list to the Governor’s Office  of all baptisms, marriages, and burials.

Johnson was known for his care and interest in the convicts and often gave articles and food for their comfort from his own stores brought out from London in a private capacity.

Although Governor Phillip required the convicts to attend Sunday service, he was reticent to build a church as he felt all the Government building projects should be to house and feed the colony.

By 1793, Johnson was so frustrated by the lack of progress towards the building of a church that he undertook this project himself and paid for the materials and labour for the church to be built. It was a wattle and daub construction at what is now Richard Johnson Square at the intersection of Bligh and Hunter Streets. Unfortunately, this was burned down in 1798. The Governor had it replaced with a larger and more substantial building.

Johnson was also concerned about the lack of facilities for the education of colonial children and established schools in Sydney and later Parramatta. He also travelled to Norfolk Island when he could for the spiritual care of the convicts there.

Johnson and his family remained in the colony for nearly ten years before he asked to be returned home to England citing ill health. The family left by the Buffalo in September 1800.[2]

Where and when did the marriage take place?

The 7 November 1790 was a Sunday, so it is most likely to have taken place after the obligatory Sunday Service.

As Johnson had not built his church and the parish of St Phillip’s had not been established in 1790, the ceremony most likely took place outside or in a tent in the settlement of Sydney.

George Fry

George Fry had been sentenced to death on 18 March 1782 for stealing 5 yards of cloth in Exeter. He was given a reprieve to be sent to the African Colonies. However, he was later sent to a small prison in London. On 19 April 1785, he was sent onto the Censor a prison hulk in the Thames. He stayed there for nearly two years before he embarked on the Scarborough in the First Fleet.

Gathering information from later records of his life in the colony it is believed he worked as a blacksmith at the time of his marriage. [3]

Elena Sandwick

Elena Sandwick, also known as Ellen and Eleanor Sandwich was sentenced to 14 years transportation at Carlisle (Cumberland) Assizes for receiving stolen property. Her son and three others were tried for the burglary. In 1789 Eleanor was sent to London to embark on the Neptune. It is more than likely Harriet and Eleanor became friends on board and continued as such in the colony.[4]

William Frazer

William Frazer was sentenced with his wife Ellen or Eleanor Frazer to seven years transportation at the Manchester Quarter Sessions in 1787 for the theft of several pieces of cloth. The couple petitioned to be transported together and a copy of their marriage certificate – William Frazer to Ellen Redchester was appended with the petition when it was sent to Evan Nepean’s office.  The gaoler at Lancaster Castle reported he had signed the contract for the removal of Frazer with other convicts for the embarkation of the First Fleet in 1787. In several early colonial documents, he was recorded as a blacksmith.[5]

Thomas Hodgetts

Thomas Hodgetts was implicated in a robbery in 1787 in Staffordshire and was sentenced to 7 years transportation. He embarked on the Scarborough in the Second Fleet in 1790. On arrival, he is believed to have been housed with the colonial blacksmiths from the First Fleet, including George Fry and William Frazer. He became friends with the same.[6]

It is possible that Harriet was also present at the marriage, but it was the groom’s friends William Frazer and Thomas Hodgetts who stepped forward to be witnesses to the marriage.

Something unusual for this marriage was that all parties could sign their name.

Comparing the signature of Thomas Hodgetts on this marriage certificate and that of the Thomas Hodgetts who married Ann Duce in Wednesbury, Staffordshire in 1783, helps to support our claim that this is the same person.

I hope I have shown you how extending and following up some of these clues about our ancestors can not only help with your overall research but add richness to the story.

Copies of my share documents for this marriage can be found under the Resources and Examples Tab on this website. See FRY-SANDWICK, 1790, Sydney, Marriage Transcription 1, and 2.

PS-  Richard Hodgetts mentioned this marriage in his book, “The Brave Old Pioneers 1788-1988.” This book is still available from Richard. If you wish to have contact details please leave request in comment box below. This is to protect Richard’s private email address being harvested by scammers.

 [1]Sydney Cove 1789-1790, John Cobley,1963 (Reprint 1980), Sydney, Angus and Robertson,p296.

[2]Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet, Mollie Gillen, 1989, Sydney, Library of Australian History, p 195.

[3] Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet, Mollie Gillen, 1989, Sydney, Library of Australian History, p 137.

[4] The Second Fleet:- Britain’s Grim Convict Armada of 1790, Michael Flynn,1993, Sydney, Library of Australian History, p518.

[5] Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet, Mollie Gillen, 1989, Sydney, Library of Australian History, p 134-5.

6] The Second Fleet:- Britain’s Grim Convict Armada of 1790, Michael Flynn,1993, Sydney, Library of Australian History, p335.

Harriet Hodgett’s Journeys By Sea- Part 4

“Harriet clutched the rail to steady herself, as the ship lurched when the wind caught her sails and lifted her forward.”

Harriet Hodgett’s fourth sea voyage had begun. Today it is the anniversary of the beginning of that journey 200 years ago.

Thomas and Harriet Hodgetts, with their two youngest sons, James aged 13 and Daniel 11, as well as daughters Sarah, 19; Elizabeth, 15; Hannah, 8; and Jane, 6 years, had taken passage on the schooner, Sinbad, for Port Dalrymple in northern Tasmania.

The family was joining their eldest son, John, and his family, who had made this journey over two years before.

They left their eldest daughter Mary, her husband, Thomas Graham, and their three infant daughters, at the Hawkesbury River.

The Sinbad was a wooden, 2 mast schooner, of 44 tons, built in Sydney in 1818, for George William Barnard, specifically for the coastal trade between the colonies.

In the State Records of New South Wales is a hand-written document that records this voyage of the Sinbad.

On page 142 of the Harbour Master’s Registers, it states- ” No 11/194 Muster of the Master, Crew, and Passengers of the schooner Sinbad of Sydney- Berthen Registered 44 tons- bound for Port Dalrymple”. It then lists the five crew and eleven passengers, with pertinent details.

I know this document has been shared amongst Hodgett descendants. Although it is great so many are willing to share research, we always need to be mindful of copyright and legal requirements.

This document is not available on the Internet through one of the large subscription websites such as Ancestry.com; Findmypast or the Latter Day Saints, FamilySearch. Although the State Records of New South Wales has a partnership with these websites for some records, this document is not part of records available. Nor is it available through the State Records website itself. Not yet anyway.

However, you can get a copy of this record for your family records by visiting the State Records facilities or by post, by paying the nominal administration fee. That all-important reference is-

” NRS 1289 Ships Musters, Dec 1816-1825 4/4771 pp 142-143, Reel 561″.

I need to remind you, that even though you can get a copy, it is still ‘copyright’ to the State Records, and you cannot legally make copies and distribute to others, as they do not assign ‘copyright’ to you when you get the copy. Nor can you put it up on websites without permission and attribution.

However, you can make a transcription and share with family members without legal problems. By making a transcription and sharing with family history researchers you do a greater service. Firstly they know that it exists, what it says and where it is from. Secondly, realize that in the future, your descendants, and researchers generally, will probably not be able to transcribe old documents, as they will not be able to read ‘running writing’ and the cryptic abbreviations.

I share with you a transcription of my copy of this document below.

By putting a header at the top of the page and transcribing word for word the whole document, my family knows in an instant, from whom this document came and when the work was done. They also know if they wish they can also get their own official copy from the State Records of NSW, using the reference. ( I also type these up to make a more tidy copy and add some notes).

Although it is wonderful to have this surviving document, it is important for our family history, to know how and why this document was created in the first place.

In 1819, the Colony of New South Wales was made up of several communities at Sydney, Parramatta, Hawkesbury River, Newcastle, Norfolk Island, Hobart, and Port Dalrymple. They were all part of the colonial convict system, although not all the people who resided there, were convicts. That is to say, there was a growing number of free persons in these communities. This included our Hodgetts family.

However, these free people could not move freely around between these communities or to any other place in the world without the permission of the Governor through his various officials.

The law required that all persons do two things before they could move to another place, particularly by sea. Firstly they had to publicly advertise their intention of moving, by placing a notice in the newspaper, the Sydney Gazette. Our Thomas Hodgett’s notice of intention appeared on 13th and 20th February 1819. This made sure you didn’t leave any debts and gave people, who owed you money notice to pay before you left the colony.

Secondly, you had to get a written ‘pass’ from the Judge Advocate’s Office,  which checked your status, and how you came to be in the said Colony you wished to leave. You would be given this pass stating your name, your status, and sometimes age, to give to the ship’s master, to allow you onboard the vessel, even though you had already paid for your passage. The information from this pass was then lodged with the Harbour Master’s Office and was entered into his daily register. Thomas Hodgett’s would have needed that pass when he and his family disembarked at Port Dalrymple to show the Government officials there he had permission to settle in that community.

Now we know what records were created, where can we get a copy of the corresponding documents for John Hodgetts and family, who had left Sydney some years before, to settle in Port Dalrymple?

Harriet Hodgetts and Elizabeth McArthur -Interesting Coincidences and Parallel Lives.

 

I have said in former blogs I have been researching and writing Harriet Hodgetts story for some time now. In recent times I have been exploring and writing about four sea voyages she made in her lifetime. Her first voyage was in cramped quarters on a convict ship in the Second Fleet.

The only surviving written record of a personal experience of that voyage is a few pages of a journal kept by Elizabeth McArthur, one of the marine’s wives.

To write Harriet’s story, I needed to explore and write Elizabeth’s story too. While doing this, I was completely blown away, with the unbelievable coincidences of the parallel lives, of these two incredible women.

• Both were born and baptized in country parishes in England, within months of each other in 1766. Elizabeth in Devonshire and Harriet in Staffordshire.

• Both were the eldest daughters in their family, who were effectively disinherited by the early deaths of their respective fathers.

• Both came under the guardianship of their grandfathers. Elizabeth, her Maternal Grandfather and Harriet, her Paternal Grandfather.

• Both fell in love, and let their heart rule their head. They ‘choose’ to accompany their ‘husbands’ on the Second Fleet, although by all the ‘rules’ and ‘social norms’ at the time, neither should have been on that voyage.

• Both arrived in Sydney at the same time and lived near each other in the infant colony.

 

View of Sydney Cove-1792

• Both moved to Parramatta and lived there for some time.

Elizabeth Farm, Parramatta

 

• Both settled on the land and became ‘farmer’s wives’.

• Both became widowed, Elizabeth in 1834 and Harriet in 1823.

• Both died in Australia in 1850, within a few months of each other, aged 83 years. Elizabeth in New South Wales, and Harriet in Tasmania.

Regardless of all these coincidences, I believe although they may have set eyes on each other, from time to time, they never met. Elizabeth McArthur, being a Marine Captain’s wife, at the high end of the social scale of the colony, and Harriet Hodgetts being the wife a convict blacksmith, at the other end of the social scale.

 

My Bell Family Ancestors – George Bell (1817-1894) – Sorting Red Herrings

I have blogged about my ancestor George Bell before, and mentioned that he was born in 1817 at East Farleigh, Kent, England.

He married Sarah Sargent at Sutton Forest in 1844 and settled in Picton, (NSW),where they raised a family of five sons and three daughters.

My next challenge was to find when and how he had arrived in Australia. Where would I find clues?

I had his full death certificate (1894) which stated he had been in the colonies 56 years. This would give me a time period of approximately 1837-1838.The informant was his eldest son, George.

On his marriage entry in All Saints, Church of England, Sutton Forest, (NSW) in 1844 he was a “bachelor, Free by Servitude” and his wife Sarah was a “spinster, Free Immigrant.” So, it looked like he may have been a convict!

When I had been researching his life at Picton I had come across a subscription publication, “Aldine’s History of NSW “(1888) in which there were biographical details of the pioneers, aledgedly submitted by themselves. There was an entry for George Bell in which states:-

“ In 1837 he left England to try his fortune in the colonies, and landed in the same year in Sydney.”

Amoungst other material I have been able to find on the family was a copy of an article published in the journal of the Royal Australian Historical Society. James Bell, the second son of George and Sarah Bell, who was born in 1847, and had spent his whole life in Picton, was asked to give a lecture to the Royal Historical Society on the history of Picton. In it he states:- “My father, George Bell, who was a native of East Furley (Farleigh), near Maidstone, in Kent, England, arrived in Sydney in 1838, a freeman, having joined the crew of the convict ship Asia (adopting the name of Freeman) to obtain a passage to Sydney”.

I had been able to confirm through parish records, that George Bell was born in East Farleigh, Kent in 1817, the son of Thomas and Mary Bell.

The immigration records for most government assisted immigrants have survived and are now held by the State Records of New South Wales, formerly known as the Archives Authority of NSW. These had been indexed by the staff and volunteers at the Mitchell Library, ( a part of the State Library of NSW), in the early part of the 20^th Century. I started my ‘research’ into my Bell ancestors in 1973 and made a visit to the State Archives.

[Where as in the 1970’s it was only accessable by visiting the library and searching an in- house card index; by the 1980’s and 1990’s the Archives Authority made them available through several printed books based on the card indexes. They are now searchable on-line by logging onto the State Records of NSW website. These searches are free. ]

I was not able to find George Bell amoungst the free immigrants to Sydney in 1837 or 1838.

A search of convict shipping records at the Archives Authority of NSW (now State Records)confirmed the convict ship ‘Asia’ did make a voyage to Sydney in 1837.

A check of the ‘Convict Indents’ at State Records for the 1837, Asia voyage also confirmed there was on board a convict named “George Bell, alias Ball. He was aged 20 years (born 1817), could read and write, was a Protestant, single and a native of Woolwich (Kent). He had been tried in the Central Court, London on 27^th February (1837) for stealing hats and had been sentenced to seven years transportation.”

Great excitement, a convict in the family!I kept it quiet, as it was not fashionable to have convict forebears in the early 1970’s. Only after 1988!.

It looked as if there had been a family cover-up and I had found my ancestor coming as a convict.

Evidence:                           a. His marriage certificate in 1844 had stated that he was ‘free by servitude’.

1. 1. 1. 1. 2. He was born in the right year , 1817.

            3. He was born in Kent, England. Woolwich is only a few kilometres from Maidstone.

            4. He arrived in Sydney in 1837.

            5. The convict ship ‘Asia’ had made a voyage to Sydney in 1837.

BUT,was this my ancestor, George Bell? Or were there two people with the same name on the same ship? More research was needed.

In my next blog I will explain some of the detailed research that helped to prove that this George Bell was not my ancestor. It is all too easy to trace the wrong family tree, if you are not careful.