Hello Ferret
I am descended from the youngest child of the family, Arthur William Spencer. He went from Yorkshire to Tasmania in 1853 - not transported. I do not believe Robert was in any way a legal person. He was a teacher in England and was transported for uttering a forged cheque. He had a wife alive, and daughter dead at the time of transportation. He remarried in Australia while his wife in England was still alive. Wife is listed in 1841 census as brewer/publican. Robert was joined by brother Arthur and they also operated a brewing company in Tasmania but that was insolvent in 1855. Arthur had married in 1854 had 3 sons in Tasmania, but then moved to Bendigo in Victoria. Bendigo at that time was a gold rush area. He was insolvent again in 1879, and in 1887 at the age of 60 he was in court for beating his wife. I believe his wife left him around that time as in 1894 his wife is not present with him. His wife moved to Cue/Day Dawn in the Murchison area of Western Australia to join another son Arthur Alexander Spencer (my great grandfather) and his family in the WA goldfields. She died there in 1909 and her husband died in Bendigo the following year - buried in pauper's grave.
Do you know what became of the 2 sisters Harriot and Louisa?
If you have an ancestry profile, I would be happy to give you access to my tree which has a fair amount of information about the Australian side of this family. BTW the Premier is not Prime Minister or President. Australia has a Prime Minister who covers the whole of Aus as does your PM, the Premier is the top politician in each State. so Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia etc all have a Premier. Regards Ruth
