Criminal Registers

[dinothedog]

Hi Suzie,

I was wondering if you had found any more info on Charles Quelch and his transportation. He is my Great great great grandad and we would love to know.

It was a George Harris who was also transported with Charles Quelch, it would appear to me that Henry Hall,George Harris and Charles were some sort of team.

Many thanks

[Suzie_Australia]

Hi dinothedog,

I haven't found any more out about this Charles Quelch at this stage.  Did your Quelch great-great grandfather come from Oxford?

Cheers,

[dinothedog]

Hi,
From what information I have been given Charles Quelch,born about 1823, is my Great,great great Grandfather,his father Charles Quelch,born about 1854,great great grandfather, Henry G Quelch,born about 1876, great grandfather.

My Mother gave me this info and asked me if I could try and find out where he was transported to.

As of today I am still in the dark about that!!

[Bonza]

Hi Suzanne

Interesting query. I've done a little checking and found the following entry in a Hulk record on Ancestry.com. Don't know if he belongs to you, but thought I should post it for you to consider and investigate further.

UK, Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849 about Charles Squelch

Name:                              Charles Squelch
Age:                              21
Estimated Birth Year:    abt 1821
Date Received:                 29 Aug 1842
Ship:                              York
Place Moored:                 Gosport
Date Convicted:                 1 Aug 1842
Place Convicted:                 Warwick

You can view the image entry, which provides more details including that he was single and was transported for 10 years per 'Thames' to Bermuda in 23 Apr 1844.

Perhaps his first transportation sentence was overturned or he escaped and through an 'S' in front of his surname? Then having been transported to Bermuda, maybe he received an early release and returned to England in time for the 1851 Census?

All to work out I guess, but I hope this lead is your man and takes you further.

Cheers for now, Neil (Melbourne)

[MaxD]

I am looking back at the Rootschat thread you started in 2013 about the transportation sentence for Charles Quelch at Oxford in 1840.  You couldn't find any Australian evidence of his transportation.  I contributed to that thread by wondering whether he could have been sent to Bermuda like my GGrandfather was in the same year.  However, the Bermuda records were not on line so you would have had to visit Kew (which I know is difficult on a day trip from where you are!).

Reason I ask is they have since come on line and I have been able to trace my relative's path from conviction through a prison hulk in London, then to Bermuda, then the 25 quarterly prisoner returns at Bermuda to his pardon in 1847, then his return to UK and back with his family by the next census in 1851.

Recently, looking back at some work I had done, I saw your 2013 thread and thought I'd have a look for Charles Quelch in the Bermuda records.  There was no sign of him except for a copy of the order moving him from Oxford prison straight after the trial to the National Penitentiary at Millbank.  The order includes a phrase which could be interpreted as saying his sentence had been commuted so I wondered whether he had in fact never left England.  Obviously, if you have since found evidence of him in Australia, then that isn't the case but, as you said in your very original post, he appears to have married in 1847 in England, the possibility does exist that he didn't leave UK at all.

So, that's the background to my message.  I didn't want to put it on the old thread as something that is only a theory tends sometimes to attract other wild theories that often don't help. In any event, I'd be grateful if you could let me know what you think.
Regards

Max