Joseph Soames (Exiles Ship ) 1847

[BAC3]

Hello peejayOz,

I would be delighted with more information on Thomas MATTHEWS, especially his life down under of which I have only the barest minimum.   On the other hand I do have details of his childhood taken from the Parkhurst Prison Governor's Log 1844 that does not have general public access, for instance, the following is only a snippet of his story told to the Governor:

           Parents both dead.   Father had been a soldier, lived
           at Bath after his discharge, died in 1836.   Mother died
           in 1838.   She left some money for a neighbour of hers
           to support Prisoner & his Brother.   This person sent
           them to school and treated them kindly as long as the
           money lasted.   Then she put them into the Union 
           Workhouse......................................

I have sent you a PM with my email address and look foward to exchanging information.

For the moment

Tony

[Lazarus]

Tony
Are you finished with Thomas Knight?
We have lost contact.
Rex

[peejayOz]

I came across a good site in Victoria,Australia, where you can search for wills & probate orders for lost relations. Simply type in a name, date range & see what pops up. Some documents are free, some you need to set up an account for, I guess it depends on how much the info is worth to us?? I will continue looking, it is possible that other states have similar facilities.
http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/access/probate.asprs

[peejayOz]

Lets try that URL again!

http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/access/probate.asp

[ShellC]

Hello Tony,

John Lee sentenced 27/11/1843, transported on the Joseph Somes (1847) is a 'maybe' for my great-great grandfather. I would be delighted to learn anything about his early life that could prove or disprove my connection to him. John Lee is a very common name too!

If he is the same person, I'm very happy to pass on all the information I have on his later life in Australia.

Shelley

[BAC3]

Hello Shelley,

I would be delighted to help but, sadly, the details for John LEE ex-Parkhurst Prison are very few and far between.

He was, as you probably know, sentenced at the Central Criminal Court where he was tried for robbery at St. John's Wood and therefore it is a possibility, although very tentative, that he was born in Clerkenwell in 1827, the son of Josiah and Martha Lee.   The transcript of his trial offers no further leads.  One other detail which may help, as a matter of exclusion, is that he was the only John LEE to be transported as an "Exile" to Port Phillip.

Do let me know if you feel there are some avenues to be explored, especially if you have BDM Certificates that may indicate parentage, place of birth etc.

For the moment

Tony

[peejayOz]

Hi,

Contact Tony Cocks (bac3) , I have passed on as much info as I have on the Thomas Matthews you are seeking, he has completed a detiled doc on him, complete with pics.

Phil

[BAC3]

Hi Tony,
Thanks for that, it is really interesting. Now I'll try to trace that Thomas Brown and either confirm or eliminate him.
I never thought we'd find any more- what name could be more common than Thomas Brown ?
Ours married Catherine Riley, an 'orphan' sent to Australia in 1852 on the 'Diadem' with 200 other girls. I can't find much more about her either.
I suspect that both of them were abandoned by their parents in the Famine.
Thanks again,
Ken

Hello Ken,

I wonder whether you had any success tracking down Catherine RILEY who married your Thomas BROWN?   Please try the link:

   http://www.irishfaminememorial.org/orphans/ships_vic.htm

It should produce the following information:

Riley Catherine 18 White Hill, Fermanagh NA RC PRONI BG14/G/4 (1486) 16 yr old orphan clean and healthy, Ballycassidy, Laragh, entered workhouse 12 Oct 1847, left 3 Oct 1849. Ryley. Empl. Daniel Leahy,La Trobe St., £9, 6 mths. Married Thomas Brown a policeman later a miner, Melbourne, 5 May 1852, 10 children, lived Taradale, buried Malmsbury, 9 April 1912.

Good luck

Tony

[kenneth cooke]

Thanks Tony
I knew about Catherine Riley. At least we know where she came from, but all we know about Thomas is that he came from Westmeath.
I'm off to Ireland next month and I'll go up to Fermanagh and try to find someone who remembers hearing about the Riley family.
I might go to Mullingar, Westmeath and try to find something about Thomas too.
Ken