I know this is a really long shot BUT I'm wondering if anyone can help me with any information on the family of an ancestor of mine, a convict in Australia, who came from Leicestershire? His name was John Moore, and he was born about 1807.
Following is a little information from John's trial, reported in the "Leicester Journal" on 24 March 1832:
John Moore, aged 25 years, was charged with stealing 2 cows, the property of Thomas Hatton of Whitwick, on 15 November 1831. The cows were seen at Parkington, and one was later found at Balsall, near Birmingham. He was found guilty and sentenced to death - his sentence was later commuted to a Life sentence. He was transported to NSW on the " ship Mangles" at the end of 1832, arriving in 1833.
In a another report about John's trial in the "Leicester Journal" of 23 March 1832, it said:
Several witnessed attempted to prove an alibi, among whom was the prisoner's mother, a poor woman of 70 years of age ....."
I have always wondered what happened to John's "poor" mother. John could neither read nor write, and when he said goodbye to his mother after his sentence, she would never have heard from him again.
I know there isn't much to go by, BUT I just wondered if anyone had any information for Mrs Moore, or her family who were living in the Whitwick/Balsall/Parkington/Packington/Shepshed/Birmingham areas of Leicestershire, I would love to hear from them?
John went on to serve his sentence, and received a Conditional Pardon; he married and had 2 children; and when his wife was pregnant with their 3rd child, he was murdered.
Many thanks
Sharon