Thomas Walker, Convict freed 1843. What happened next?

[Neale1961]

Robert Campbell
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/campbell-robert-1876
I did some research on him and his family tree some years back. If your ancestor worked for the family, he was probably lucky. They were kind and benevolent. Both Robert and his 2 sons Robert and John were involved in, and supported the ant-transportation debate.
There was a nephew, named Robert Campbell junior, who was quite a rogue and created some problems for the family.

[majm]

background, CAMPBELL, Sydney

 https://campbellsstores.com.au/history/  so from earliest British settlement of Sydney...

Also,  Lachlan Macquarie, 'Father of Australia' (its on his headstone in Scotland), Governor of NSW post the first coup d'etat ... Rum Rebellion etc, deposing Bligh .... 26 January 1808 etc ... 

Macquarie's wife, Elizabeth, her family name was CAMPBELL ... http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/macquarie-elizabeth-henrietta-2418

But we need to be looking at the period mid to late 1840s, for Thomas WALKER,  so convictism ceased to NSW by 1840,  he got his CF in 1843, and may well have been known by any name he chose to become known by.    His marriage had quite within both NSW and English law, been effectively terminated back in 1828 with his sentence 'beyond the seas' for 7 or more years (he got 14, due to former convictions) ... so he had been free to marry from as early as mid 1829 (with the governor's consent while under the bond of that sentence, but completely free from 1843 issue of CF).

Clearly he was well trained for farming.   But by 1843 he was no longer a young man ... so if he acquired his own land to farm, he would have needed to engage labourers to help.   Remember too that in the mid to late 1830s, England had set up South Australia as a separate entity ... not as a penal colony ... so it had set up a private company to 'sell' land ... (NSW had been 'granting land', pastoral leasing etc, - differences are well documented) ... so the 'price' of land needed to return profit to the private company ... so NSW governor had to increase his 'upset' price and the 'quit rent' price etc ... so land became expensive ... so an economic depression befell NSW in the early to mid 1840s ... so .... where would a single chap with a CF go to start over again - in the years before huge populations flocked to 'Australia' with gold fever - commencing mid 1851 ?

I think of New Zealand, or 'Australia Felix' (ie that part of then NSW that became Victoria), or Cape Town (South Africa), or Peru, Chile or California or perhaps South Australia ... or he stayed in and around Queanbeyan or the Monaro -   

Hope those suggestions are helpful.

JM  (yes, Neale is right about the Campbells - umm.... yes, there's a rogue Campbell on one side branch of my own tree !)



 

[sparrett]

JM,
What information would likely be found on this death record if ordered?


WALKER  Thomas 
135/1846 V1846135 31B
AGE 66

The age is 10 years out.
I wonder at the quality of the script between a 5 and a 6 on the original.

Sue

[Neale1961]

JM,
What information would likely be found on this death record if ordered?

I suspect it will be just a burial record with name, age and place.

[majm]

JM,
What information would likely be found on this death record if ordered?

7
WALKER  Thomas 
135/1846 V1846135 31B
AGE 66

The age is 10 years out.
I wonder at the quality of the script between a 5 and a 6 on the original.

Sue

 It is the burial from CofE parish register.  It may have the ship of arrival.   Vol 31B  ... definitely C of E.   

I am not at home so I cannot give detail as to likely which C of E using the year 1846 and line no. 135,  but likely just with such a low line number that it was NOT in Sydney town.   Should be home by Sunday.

JM

[sparrett]

In reply#4 Caroline has let us know that Thomas' father was Church of England.

All a bit of a longshot, but as the man we are looking for is a direct ancestor, every thought is probably worth a follow up conversation.

Sue

[majm]

The following is speculative, but based on reliable sources...

Re the CofE Vol 31B .... from my very reliable ancient rellies,  including retired CofE Rev'd...


Vol 31B is likely to include St Paul's, Cobbitty, Rev Hassell ... he was likely the first NSW born person to become an Anglican Reverend.   In the 1840s he oversaw the dedication of the newly constructed church at Cobbitty ... there has been a cemetery there since at least the mid 1820s.    And until THIS current century the district around Cobbitty has been a thriving farming community, providing much of the food bowl for ever expanding Sydney. 

Rellie has compared a known DD from my family tree with the NSW BDM references and a guide on NSW website downloaded ages ago,  and is confident that Vol31B around line 120 will be St Paul's  so hopes 135 could be too.

Suggestions from my rellie ... look at Trove and at the earlier Ferguson newspaper 1840-1850 newspapers....

JM.

[caroline_forster]

Hi guys,

can't thank you all enough for the info (including fascinating background info and potential avenues of research), haven't had as much time to look into this today as I'd have liked, but I did find the Volume number mentioned (V1846135 31B) on an Ancestry index with the Registration Place listed as Cobbitty, Narellan (which JM referenced in his post).

Cobbitty seems to be a long way from Queanbeyean but then I don't know how the geography and distances would have married up at that time (and to somebody in the UK all Australian distances are huge!).

I'll see if the "Trove" throws up anything interesting when I get the chance.

Thanks you again,

Caroline

[sparrett]

It is about 200 kilometres from Queanbeyan to Cobbitty.

I do not know much about the history of that area, but the modern day map shows a road between the 2. If it was built upon an old track, I can imagine a middle-aged man in need of agricultural work and wanting to leave behind some unpleasant memories, may tramp away toward Cobbitty.

A rumour of increasing agricultural production in the area is a good incentive. Perhaps he had a horse, perhaps there was a passing wagon to offer a ride. Perhaps he had short stints on land holdings along the way.

As far as I can see, there is no mention of a likely Thomas WALKER in the newspapers at that time and place, which to me signifies he was of little importance,  low profile person.

I do love how the imagination runs when we speculate on the past
It is just as likely this death is entirely the wrong man!

Sue