I would not be here if my ggggrandfather's clients had been so slack in paying their bills. My ggggrandfather was a french polisher and cabinet maker in Camberwell, Surrey. He was married with a toddler son and another child on the way. He must have been short of cash as he pawned several items such as picture frames, mirrors and a writing desk, the property of a Mr Hunter and his daughter. He was sentenced to transportation for 7years for pawning illegally, and arrived in Sydney, NSW in 1837. Not long after arrival, he was assigned to Moreton Bay (Brisbane) to help in the repair of public buildings as the Moreton Bay convict settlement was closed and the area to be opened up for free settlement.
In 1846, his toddler son by now aged 11, sailed alone in steerage to join his father in Moreton Bay. What a meeting that would be on the shipping dock! The son, at the age of 21, married Mary, who was one of 96 single Irish girls who had sailed into Brisbane in 1853. Some girls were orphans from the workhouses, but Mary had her parents and brother still living in Co Clare. Mary and James went on to have 10 kids (8 girls and 2 boys) all surviving to adulthood.
