Emigration lookup (to Australia)

[majm]

"Convicts" records held by the NSW Archives and uploaded to various commercial websites under partnership arrangements with NSW Archives include records of those transported to NSW and also those who either came free or were born in the colonies, and were found guilty in a NSW court of crimes committed in NSW ....  'Ticket of Leave' is not a form used only for those sentenced in Britain and transported to NSW, VDL or WA....  It is a form of Parole.   

JM

[GeoffTurner]

Got you. Thanks.

[jomcd967]

Hi Geoff,

I'm not sure where you are based?

The NSW State Archives holds the Index to Vessels Arrived, 1837 - 1925, this has several voyages for the Gazelle in 1848 https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/searchhits_nocopy?id=49&ship_name=gazelle&year=&month=0 and the records are available at the Reading Room at the Western Sydney Records Centre.

Jo

[GeoffTurner]

Thanks Jo,

I'm guessing he was on the ship arriving in 1845 or possibly the one on 2 May 1848. I think the later arrival in 1848 is likely to have been the ship returning from Tasmania or New Zealand or somewhere relatively close.

I am in Brisbane and my friend I am researching this with is not in Sydney either so we can't get to the NSW Archives.

As it happens, I am trying to get the inquest on the house fire that killed both my great grandparents which is held in the NSW Archives.

I have sent an ask the archivist request and hope to hear back soon. As I understand it the Archives won't copy things for you but will suggest someone who can copy things for a fee. Hopefully we can do that with a passenger list for the Gazelle as well. That's very helpful.

Geoff

[jomcd967]

Hi Geoff,

He seems to be consistent with having arrived on the Gazelle in 1845.

NSW Gaol Description - 1852 - Stuart McDonald - per Gazelle 1845, on arrival = free, on entering gaol = free, native of Inverness, Protestant, labourer, admitted 3 Jul 1852 from Bathurst. Trial - 3 years hard labour in roads or public works of colony, Quarter Sessions - Jul 15 - Discharged to Sydney Gaol 24 Jul - Offence - horse stealing.

Darlinghurst Description Book - 1852 - Stuart McDonald, age 23, arrived 1845 on Gazelle, 5'7", stout, fresh complexion, brown hair, blue eyes, warts on thumbs, native of Inverness, a tailor.

Darlinghurst Gaol Entrance Book - Stewart McDonald, per Gazelle in 1845, condition on & entering gaol = bond, from Inverness, protestant, a tailor, admitted 4 Aug 1854 from Principal Supt. Convts Office, Purpose = For Cockatoo Island, Disposed of = forwarded 5 Aug 1854

NSW Convicts Records - Stewart McDonald, per Gazelle, 1845. Quarter Sessions Bathurst
15 Jul 1852, sentenced 3 years roads for horse stealing, came free, History:
2 Aug 1852 - Received from Darlinghurst Gaol
31 Aug 1852 - Ordered to Division A Class 3
22 Nov 1854 - Discharged to T. of Leave Scone
5 Aug 1854 - Received from Darlinghurst Gaol - Ticket of Leave cancelled per warrant p.S.C of 4 Aug 1854.
13 Oct 1854 - To serve a probation of 12 months from 4 April 1853. Let. P.S.C. No. 521/95 of date.
5 Feb 1855 - Discharged to Ticket of Leave. Moreton

NSW Police Gazettes - 8 Apr 1854 - District of Scone.
Escaping from custody of the police, Stewart McDonald, a ticket of leave holder for the Scone District, confined in the lock up there under a charge of dray robbery, escaped from custody of the Watch house Keeper, Constable James Evans, on the 4th instance. Description - Stewart McDonald, per ship Gazelle, age 25, trade tailor, height 5' 6 1/2 ", complexion ruddy and a little freckled, hair dark, eyes blueish, remarks - chest prominent, dark mole on left jaw, burnt scar inside right wrist. Constable Evans offers 5 pounds for his apprehension.

Jo 

[GeoffTurner]

That is very comprehensive. The wrong ship (Ganges) must have been in the papers JM saw.

I'm now reading this as, in summary: he arrived as a free man (boy) on the Gazelle in 1845, stole a horse and got into the criminal justice system in 1852, got a ticket of leave to Scone and absconded, was caught and given ticket of leave to Moreton Bay, which is why the newspaper report of his Sydney marriage in 1857 said he was from Moreton Bay. He was still with his wife Margaret when he was admitted to hospital in Brisbane in 1887 (age 50) and they had nine children, three of whom died at birth or as toddlers. The first was born at Chinchilla in Queensland nine months after the marriage, so Margaret had a long trip to make while pregnant with her first child. 

Margaret died on 5 Feb 1911 at Gympie, Queensland. Five of her children were living. Stuart recovered in hospital in 1887 and was discharged. I don't know what happened to him after that. He's a work in progress!

Thanks everyone for your help.

Geoff 

[majm]

I'm not sure he would have needed permission in 1857 in NSW:

"Until 1823, the legal age in England for marriage was 21 years--for men and women. After 1823, a male could marry as young as fourteen without parental consent, and a girl at 12. Most girls, however, married between the ages of 18 and 23, especially in the upper classes."

The English marriage laws had NO effect in NSW as from 19 July 1823, unless they specifically stated that they were to apply in NSW.   This was a ruling by the NSW Chief Justice, Sir Francis Forbes.  The date is a significant one, being one day after 18 July 1823, which refers to an English Act for amending laws respecting the solemnization of marriages, 4 Geo IV, c76 

I can assure you that if he was not yet 21 years of age, he needed definitely needed permission to marry, but whether the clergy recorded it on the parish register or not is a different matter 

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=648372.0 

Re the tickets of leave - two are definitely for Colonial convictions...

The images of the butts for those Tickets of Leave uploaded to Ancestry are actually held by the NSW Archives and you can see their online indexes without charge or needing to access Ancestry.     https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research

Ticket of Leave 54/36  (54 being the year, 1854)
Stewart MCDONALD, per the Ganges,  and under ‘Remarks’ it reads: District: Goulburn; Tried: Col Bathurst 52.   Those remarks indicate that the Ticket of Leave meant that he was allowed to remain in the Goulburn District of NSW and that he was serving a Colonial Sentence after being convicted at Bathurst in 1852,   
NOTE this index has his ship of arrival as the GANGES…

Ticket of Leave 55/64   - same name, same ship, same reel at NSW Archives… Remarks … District Brisbane; Tried Bathurst QS 1852,    So, allowed to remain in the Brisbane district of (then) NSW, and he had been tried at the Bathurst Quarter Sessions in 1852.

Here is the Keyword Search index.   Check for a Stewart McDONALD with an alias in the Deposition Registers too….
https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archives/collections-and-research/guides-and-indexes/keyname-search


JM

And

That is very comprehensive. The wrong ship (Ganges) must have been in the papers JM saw.

I'm now reading this as, in summary: he arrived as a free man (boy) on the Gazelle in 1845, stole a horse and got into the criminal justice system in 1852, got a ticket of leave to Scone and absconded, was caught and given ticket of leave to Moreton Bay, which is why the newspaper report of his Sydney marriage in 1857 said he was from Moreton Bay. He was still with his wife Margaret when he was admitted to hospital in Brisbane in 1887 (age 50) and they had nine children, three of whom died at birth or as toddlers. The first was born at Chinchilla in Queensland nine months after the marriage, so Margaret had a long trip to make while pregnant with her first child. 

Margaret died on 5 Feb 1911 at Gympie, Queensland. Five of her children were living. Stuart recovered in hospital in 1887 and was discharged. I don't know what happened to him after that. He's a work in progress!

Thanks everyone for your help.

Geoff 

I

Geoff,  I have not sighted any papers,  I typed up info from the online INDEX. .... which points to actual records,  but is only an index.... not the actual document ....

JM

[GeoffTurner]

Sorry, I should have said the indexes that JM saw must have had the name of the ship incorrect.

You made it perfectly clear that the Ganges was on the index, and that is what you were going on.

Geoff

[majm]

From the 1857  m.c.,  noticing the information in various columns was not entered in the civil until 1911.... .... so those later details are based on someone,  yes ....an experienced someone working on that reconciliation project for many of their  m.c.s ... but perhaps they are reading through ink bleeds  or faded or torn pages ...   that 'new' handwriting is printing,  very modern style.... not at all typical of the 1850s or 1910s

JM