Workers who arrived with the first Fleets....where can I find a list?

[Rap]

Many thanks to you all for your kind help with this old 'tale'....I guess that it may have been embellished over the generations, and  is in actual fact, quite off the 'mark'.  Working backwards from greatgrandfather Arrowsmith, I have come to a convict named William Arrowsmith b1806 who arrived on the Exmouth in 1830.  He lists his native place as 'Gorshire'...which I can find on google as the hamlet of a family of gnomes!...the sense of humour is right on the money!  It is this William who married Susannah Morgan, and he appears as a 'runaway' sent to jail again in 1833 at Sydney.  He is also listed as a 'bonded' convict (?)
   Thanyou for all of your leads, as I will now check them out and discount the old family story.  I thought that I may have been on the wrong track, and there was an earlier Arrowsmith family in Sydney.  We have not a hint of the first name of the original Arrowsmith, so it will be nice to check out all these leads you have all suggested, and put this old story 'to bed' for the last time.
Your time is much appreciated.
Best wishes,
Rap

[RoserAncestors]

Hi Rap, I'm researching a William Arrowsmith who died in 1872 in NSW whose death notice reads "On the 4th of December, at his residence, Croom Park, near Dungog, after a lingering illness, Mr William Arrowsmith, aged 75 years. Melbourne papers please copy."

I've found newspaper references to an insolvency for a William Arrowsmith in 1859 which describe him as of Bandon Grove near Dungog, millwright: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13016246?searchTerm=%22william%20arrowsmith%22&searchLimits=exactPhrase|||l-advstate=New+South+Wales|||dateTo=1872-12-31|||notWords|||anyWords|||dateFrom=1800-01-01|||requestHandler|||sortby=dateAsc

I think this William was previously at Bathurst as there is an 1852 newspaper advertisement from a son seeking contact with "Mr William Arrowsmith, Millwright and Engineer, formerly of Barnard Castle, Durham, and late of Bathurst": http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12941009?searchTerm=%22william%20arrowsmith%22&searchLimits=exactPhrase|||l-advstate=New+South+Wales|||dateTo=1872-12-31|||notWords|||anyWords|||dateFrom=1800-01-01|||requestHandler|||sortby=dateAsc

There is an 1835 newspaper account of a William Arrowsmith (a "free mechanic" and a "millwright and engineer") in connection with employment at Bathurst: http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12853541?searchTerm=%22william%20arrowsmith%22&searchLimits=exactPhrase|||l-advstate=New+South+Wales|||dateTo=1872-12-31|||notWords|||anyWords|||dateFrom=1800-01-01|||requestHandler|||sortby=dateAsc

I was wondering if you were researching the same William Arrowsmith of Bathurst and Dungog and wanted to share information?

[judb]

I see some mixed records.

There are many convict records, including 2 entries for Parramatta Gaol in 1833, for a William HARROWSMITH, sometimes listed as William ARROWSMITH.  He was convicted at Nottingham in 1829.  The records appear to be consistent in that his occupation (where shown) is listed as clock-maker/gunsmith and his age appears the same. His "Native Place" in one record is Leeds; he was employed in Sydney orginally by Mr Oatley.  There is a handwritten note next to his name in the Convict Indent papers - "Killed by a ?? going over him at Bathurst, 1835"  The date, as I read it for this note is 1835 however it just might be 1895 but I don't think the convict indents were being annotated as late as 1895.

There is another William ARROWSMITH arrived to VDL in 1842.

BTW there is an 1872 death on NSW BMD for a Charles ARROWSMITH of Dungog, parents William and Hannah.  An inquest was held for this man (17 January 1872) which found he died as a result of a gunshot wound accidentally inflicted by himself.
There are some newspaper reports of this where the name is given as James ARROWSMITH.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18760642
Perhaps a son of your William?

Judith

[RoserAncestors]

Thanks Judith, yes I suspect that James/Charles Arrowsmith is a son of William Arrowsmith who died near Dungog in 1872. There are baptisms/births recorded to William Arrowsmith and Hannah starting in 1849 in the Dungog region but it appears they may have married in 1838 in Bathurst as William Arrowsmith and Susannah Morgan.

There is an obituary for the wife of William Arrowsmith in 1900 that says she was born in Glasgow about 1818, came to Australia at the age of 15 and married William in Bathurst three years later:

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/137943457?searchTerm=arrowsmith%20stroud&searchLimits=exactPhrase|||anyWords|||notWords|||requestHandler|||dateFrom=1900-01-01|||dateTo=1900-12-31|||l-advstate=New+South+Wales|||l-advcategory=Article|||sortby

There is a possible arrival record for this Susannah Morgan as a servant unassisted passenger by that name, nationality English, in July 1835 on the Hercules (and interestingly, on the same boat was a John Harrowsmith, settler).

I haven't yet worked out how William arrived.

[muss]

HI

  Family tree on 2001 first Families     Hannah arrived on the ship Layton 1833


Muss

[Jamjar]

Roser, when linking to trove articles you can click on the little  'i' in the white circle, at the top left of the page and then copy the Article Indentifier.

It gives you a neat link e.g. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13016246

Alternatively, you can use 'shrink link' to reduce URLs: http://www.rootschat.com/links/

Jamjar

[RoserAncestors]

Thanks Jamjar, yes that sounds much better and easier than posting huge four line links! Cheers

[Kensi]

Hi
William Arrowsmith is my husband's GGG/grandfather.
There is a John Harrowsmith and a Susannah Morgan who both arrived on the Hercules in July 1835.
William and Susannah Morgan married on 24 Mar 1838 in Bathurst. It looks as if Susannah (nee Morgan) died the following year on the 31 May 1839 in Bathurst.
William went on to have several children with Hannah Doherty, who is named as his wife on his 1872 death certificate.
The living children listed on William's death certificate were: William, John, Margaret, Mary, twins Edward & Elizabeth, and George. By the time that Hannah died in 1900 John had predeceased her.
Daughter Jane died in 1857 & son Charles was accidently killed earlier in 1872.
My husband is descended from Elizabeth, she was employed as a general servant by a lady in Newcastle, upon the death of that lady, Elizabeth became the 'wife' of the husband and lived most of her life under the identity of his dead wife.
Elizabeth had her surname recorded at times as 'Harrowsmith' & 'Harris-Smith'
Regards
Ciara 

[Neilhilt]

Here is a link that can be magnified to view each name and their occupation
 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-62574532     

Cheers Neil