7 Years Transportation - Gone Missing!

[jleewood]

John Oxley Green Pitt [b1824 in Great Yarmouth, NFK] was tried in the Old Bailing on 12 August 1839 for mail theft.  He stole a letter containing  sovereign and 1 half sovereign while employed by the General Post Office.

He was found guilty and sentenced to Transportation for 7 years.

My only problem with this relative is that he did not turn up in New South Wales as a Convict.  And there is no other information that I can find on him [try as I might].

I suspect he was put on the Hulks, but can find no records.  I believe that is what usually happened to convicts.  But I have also heard that sometimes they were taken off the Hulks and put in prison in England.

Is there anyone that can enlighten me on this - I really would like to know what happened to him.

He probably would have been fine if he had been sent out here to Australia, as his older brother, my direct ancestor, migrated here [freely I might add!!] so it would be hoped that he was helped after his sentence was finished.

Wherever he appears he always seems shown as John Oxley Green Pitt - now, tell me how can I lose him!

Regards
Janice Lee Wood

[majm]

 

Hi there,

Transportation to NSW was a contentious issue in 1840 .... Have you considered he may have been transported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania)

 http://www.archives.tas.gov.au/generic/convict-records-online

Cheers,  JM

[The Mc]

Here his his trial at the Old Bailey (Reference Number: t18390812-2235)....about a quarter of the way down this massive document!

http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?path=sessionsPapers%2F18390812.xml

[t mo]

hello janice
i,ve had a look at the prison hulk records and can,t find a mention in there for him using your data then checked nsw records for prisoners and still nothing then went into tasmania records and a john pitt shows up but this record is for a john pitt leaving eng 16 aug 1838 arriving tas 6dec 1838 so this doesn ,t tie up with the old bailey trial or anything else , my only thought is that the sentence for transportation was commuted to a sentence in prison here so we need to try and find him here if pos
trevor

[jennifer c]

Parents Thomas & Sarah nee Green.

Jennifer

[jleewood]

Hi Everyone

Sorry I haven't been back to thank you all for your help - moving house, need I say more!

I had checked him out here in Australia in all the places he could have gone.  I had also checked the hulks.  So I think he must have either served his sentence in an English prison or died on the hulks. 

Would he be on the BMD lists do you think?  I shall start having a look.  There is no other reference to him anywhere - as I said, gone missing.

He [and his brother, Richard Hogarth Pitt] are the only 2 of the 16 children of Thomas Pitt and Sarah Green that I have little information on.  Thomas & Sarah are my 3 X great grandparents.

Please accept my thanks for all your help, belated as it is.
Janice Lee Wood

[famhistbuff]

Have you seen the references to him in The Era, 28 July 1839, and The Standard, 29 July 1839?  Entertaining reading. :-)

[ShaunJ]

So I think he must have either served his sentence in an English prison or died on the hulks

. 

Perhaps he was sent to Bermuda

[jennifer c]

Famhistbuff, Can you post the links, you have me wondering now.

Jennifer