Charles GAME (convict no.. 25500)

[majm]

http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/res-11.html

Convicts could leave the colonies after their sentences were completed or after being granted an Absolute Pardon

http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/research-topics/convicts/sentenced-beyond-the-seas/australias-early-convicts-faqs
What does ‘emancipated’ mean?
An emancipated convict, or emancipist, is one who has completed his sentence and is now free.

Cheers,  JM

[majm]

Many thanks.

I have always thought it unlikely that he would have returned to the UK, especially as his wife remarried  in 1843 claiming that he was deceased. But if he did return, where would he have sailed from? And would those passenger lists still exist?

I think it is far more likely that he remained in Australia or perhaps moved on to New Zealand. If I was to search for a death certificate, which states should I prioritise. NSW? Victoria?

I actually think that his wife's status on her marriage cert was the status that the Rev'd chose.   And it is my understanding that the word "widow" may have had a much broader meaning for the clergy until about the time that Queen Victoria's husband died.     It is my understanding that a widow was simply a female person with accompanying children who had no husband present supporting her,  and had no knowledge of the whereabouts or if still living of her former husband.  Transportation beyond the seas for seven years or more effectively ended many marriages. 

I agree, it is likely he remained in one the colonies.    May I remind you of Merlin's post,  it was the first reply to your original post .....

They suggest a possible death in 1873 in Victoria, though this is far from certain.

This is the death in Victoria:

Charles GAMES age 70yrs d. 1873 #7266
Parents: Unknown

Perhaps you could spend some pennies and obtain a copy of the death cert.   It may well have details of how long that chap had been in the colonies, and perhaps details of marriage/s in those colonies, and details of children of those marriages....

Cheers,  JM 

[majm]

(Edited to remove the duplication of my reply)

Re "Widow"  .... best to remember that the clergy wrote the status on those marriage certs .... and that he had two choices ..... Widow or Spinster.    A female with supporting children could not be considered as a Spinster, but could easily be considered a Widow.   

Cheers,  JM

[sallyyorks]

Absolute Pardon
A man or woman who received an absolute pardon was restored to the position of a free person. They could leave New South Wales if they wished.

Certificate of Freedom (CF)
Introduced in 1810 and issued to convicts on completion of their sentences.

Certificate of Remission (CR)
Enabled the man to serve less time than the original sentence. Many remissions were granted in England before the convict actually arrived in Australia.

Conditional Pardon (CP)
A man or woman conditionally pardoned became technically free but could not leave the colony until the expiry of their original sentence imposed in Britain.

Emancipist
Technically, an emancipist was an emancipated convict, that is, one who had been freed by pardon, either absolute pardon or conditional pardon. It was used loosely to refer to all ex-convicts and has continued to be used in this sense.

Expiree
The full length of the sentence had been served and the convict was free.

Free Pardon
Sometimes called a Full Pardon. The convict was released from serving his or her full sentence because of some act, e.g. the rescuing of free persons from a ship wreck, etc.

Pardon
See Absolute Pardon; Conditional Pardon; Free Pardon.

Ticket of Leave (TL)
Was granted before the sentence expired. It freed convicts to seek employment under a master or to seek their own work. It obliged them to report each month to the local Resident Magistrate. They were not permitted to leave the district allocated without permission and a pass.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/glossary.html

[majm]

Does that second marriage, (the UK one) in 1843 show that the bride signed her own name, or perhaps she made her mark.   If she made her mark, then it is likely her literacy skills were not as honed as the Rev’d who conducted that ceremony.  Does the bride actually write that her first husband was deceased, or is it far more likely that the Rev’d wrote “widow” after interviewing the couple prior to that marriage.     The other question of course that you need to consider is “Have you confirmed that the bride in that 1843 marriage was previously married to ‘your’ Charles GAME”     

Here's some RChat info about what to expect on Victoria BDM's ..... they are very detailed.  (of course, the family history info on a dc is only as reliable as the informant's knowledge,) But don't overlook the burial info, cause of death, length in the colonies, and other details .... could be vital clues there to his life after Sept 1841,   
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,373754.0.html

Here's the link to purchase the 1873 image  mentioned earlier,  including the reference no. (that saves you many pennies on that purchase)....
https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/index-search?action=purchaseImage

Cheers,  JM

[Neil Todd]

Hey SALLYORKS....You left one important one out.

Convict
A man or woman under sentence of the law. Contemporaries seldom distinguished between a convict and an ex-convict, frequently refering to both as convict.

Also the term still loosely applied by most English people of Australian people.

Neil

[giblet]

He arrived on the Norfolk on 28 August 1835. His wife and children remained in the UK, where Charlotte twice re-married. When she re-married in 1843, she claimed to be a widow.

Marriage & Divorce
Divorce was not available to the common person until the late 1800s and was expensive and scandalous. Previously married convicts were permitted to remarry after seven years' separation as long as their spouse was abroad, even if they were still living. The Government encouraged marriage between convicts as it was seen as a means of rehabilitation and more desirable than de facto relationships.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/res-10.html

OR maybe she hadnt heard from him and assumed he had died.

[majm]

 

As a slight aside :

Here's the 1810 newspaper cutting for the General Order of the NSW Governor referring to co-habitation and "disgraceful connexions" ....  (the scandalous and pernicious Custom so generally and shamelessly  adopted throughout this Territory, of Persons of different Sexes COHABITING and living together, unsanctioned by the legal Ties of MATRIMONY;)
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/627934 24 Feb 1810 Sydney Gaz. 

Here's a Professor of Law's paper on Colonial Divorces .... explaining English laws too
http://www.aifs.gov.au/institute/seminars/finlay.html


And quoting from another RChatter (thread linked below)

There is no requirement to have the spouse presumed legally dead to re-marry.
An ancient law - An Act to restrain all Persons from Marriage until their former Wives and former Husbands be dead [1604.]
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~framland/acts/1604.htm
allows a person to remarry without any presumption of death after a period of seven years separation.  In fact it goes as far as stating a remarriage is allowed if the spouse has been overseas for seven years. In which case it makes no difference whether he/she is known to be alive or not the remarriage is allowed.

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=687489.0

      (So the space on the English parish marriage register was sufficient for just one word ... widow or spinster)

Cheers,  JM

[majm]

Hi there,

May I please ask if you have followed up on any of the further info posted on your thread, particularly the info that directly addressed your questions?

Cheers,  JM

Many thanks.

I have always thought it unlikely that he would have returned to the UK, especially as his wife remarried  in 1843 claiming that he was deceased. But if he did return, where would he have sailed from? And would those passenger lists still exist?

I think it is far more likely that he remained in Australia or perhaps moved on to New Zealand. If I was to search for a death certificate, which states should I prioritise. NSW? Victoria?