William Clarke BROWN - convict or not?

[Rufous Treecreeper]

Hi Ted,

From the Hamilton Spectator Births, Deaths and Marriages (compilation) 1906-1910
BIRTHS
BROWN - W.C. Brown of Dundas Vale, Bil-Bil-Wyt was born 21 Jan 1814 at Thornley House, Northampton, England.  His wife was born 18 Jul 1823 at Bellanakinck, County Down, Ireland (Ham Spec 8 Feb 1906 and 2 Nov 1908)
I don't think it was published under the birth column originally!

Mo

More to come

[Rufous Treecreeper]

Hamilton Spectator BDMs 1906-1908
DEATHS
BROWN - W.C. Brown aged 88 died at Coleraine 29 Oct 1908 of paralysis and senile decay and was buired there next day.  He celebrated his golden wedding 6 Feb 1906 at Dundas Vale, Bil-Bil-Wyt.  Born at Thornley House, Northampton, he came to Melbourne 1844.  His wife, 4 years younger, came 1841.  They were married at St James Church, Melbourne, by the Rev Mr Thomson and moved to Heywood, Cavendish and Bil-Bil-Wyt.  Their family is Wm (6 children), Eli (6), David (7), Thos (8 ), Robert (7), George (8 ), James (1), Mrs Wensley (7), Mrs Woodford (8 ), Mrs Robertson (8 ), Mrs Watt (13), Mrs Hewitt (2) and Mrs Kelly (0).  7 grandchildren are married and they have 11 great grandchildren.  They have 126 descendants in all. (Ham Spec 8 Feb 1906 and 2 Nov 1908)
Date of golden wedding is ten years out and must be a later typo.

Mo

[Rufous Treecreeper]

Hamilton Spectator BDMs 1896-1900
MARRIAGES
BROWN - Mr and Mrs W.C. Brown of Dundas Vale, Bil-Bil-Wyt who were married in St James Church, Melbourne, celebrated their golden wedding on 6 Feb 1896.  He is now 76 and she is 73.  Of their sixteen children, seven sons and six daughters are alive and married and all except William (South Hamilton) and Mrs Hewitt (Ararat) live locally. (Ham Spec 11 Feb 1896)

Mo

[tedscout]

Thank you very much for all your hard work Merlin and Mo.

When I get a minute I will put it into somesort of order.

Cheers Ted

[Glengeel]

Hi Ted,

Reading through the posts I am not sure if you have had an answer to your question re whether or not William Clarke Brown was a convict.

I am a great-great-grandson of William and Margaret.

I can confirm that he was a convict, sentenced for 7 years transportation.  His crimes consisted of stealing bed linen from at least three hotels in London - he was eventually caught by a chambermaid who chased him down the street.  After spending time in Pentonville Prison, he was transported and given a ticket-of-leave upon arrival.  He was one of the group known as the "Exiles", who were sent to Australia at a time when oppostion to transportation was increasing.  They received training in skills such as smithying whilst in prison, and some effort was put into finding work for them upon arrival in Victoria and Tasmania.  Some research has been done on this group of around 1500 men, and showed that most took advantage of the new opportunity that had been given to them - there were relatively few re-offenders.  In many cases, their time as a convict was not known to others - WCB's convict connections were not known by his Australian descendants until the 1980s.  He was originally known as William Clarke; the "Brown" was noted during his trial, and he may have been using it as an alibi during his unlawful escapades.

One of the posts makes reference to a misreport of the couple's Golden Wedding Anniversary in 1906 - this was actually their Diamond (60th) Anniversary.  Photos exist taken at both their Golden and Diamond Wedding Anniversaries.  Re a query in another post - he was only married once, and did not live in America!

Margaret and her family travelled together to Australia, except for two older brothers who arrived together several years previous as convicts (crime - stealing a pig).

Co-incidentally, I was in Coleraine yesterday, where I visited William and Margaret's grave, which is still in excellent condition, and the house they retired to after they left their farm at Bil Bil Wyt, which is not!

I hope this is helpful - please let me know if I can assist your research in any way.  I also have a number of photos and other material that might be of interest.

Cheers

Glen

[bikermickau]

I believe there is a family history book by Fr Francis Xavier Brown on this family, I haven't seen or been able to obtain a copy.

William Clark(e) Brown sister Maria is my 3rd Great Grandmother.
My information on him agrees with what Glen has stated above.

Mick

[Glengeel]

Attached is a photo of William and Margaret - date unknown, but likely 1870-75.

Cheers

Glen

[tedscout]

Dear Glen and Mick,

Thank you for your replys regarding William and Margaret. I am so sorry I never replied.

I am not sure how I missed your posts. Hubby thinks it might have been during the time when we had no email access.

I have found your posts today because I have been researching this branch of the tree again, after recieving some information that some of my info on another person was incorrect.

This is my husband's natural mother's family. He was adopted, but he always knew his natural parents as he was adopted by a family member. He wants to find as many convicts as he can - and now I've found him another one 

Cheers, Ted

[tbrown]

Hi all,

Probably resurrecting an incredibly old thread... but I actually have a copy of the Brown's from Bil-bil-wyt written by Francis X Brown.

Without it in front of me, I think I must be a great-great-great-grandchild or so...

Travis.