William Briggs marriage.

[BillieM]

Good morning. I'm looking for more information about William Briggs and exactly who he married.
I think he was born 29 Jan 1806 in London.

I see him acquitted  in 1823 and found guilty of stealing in Oct 1826 and sentenced to transportation for 7 years.  He spent some time on the hulk Justicia and arrived in Sydney 18 Sep 1826.

He married Ann Smith in 1848 and died in Towrang in 1858.
My question is did he marry before 1848 as 42 years is a little bit older than usual for a first marriage.

On looking at many trees online I have found marriages to
Eliza Burke 17 Jan 1832
Mary Curtis 28 Jul 1832
Norah Garver 27 Sep 1832.
I have also found a marriage with Mary Jackson.
However some of these trees have a later death date for William.

I've found Gaol entries for William for Berrima 1840 and Parramatta in 1846.
I also see him being taken on a a shepherd by Captain Brooks, Goulburn in 1828.

I'm looking for any information about William, in particular other possible marriages and where he spent the years between arriving in the colony and his marriage in 1848.
Billie.

[TreeSpirit]

Once I had figured out that your William BRIGGS had been transported on the England, I could rule out at least 2 of the names:

BRIGGS, William, ship: Speke (3), applied to marry: BURKE, Eliza
BRIGGS, William, ship: Hercules, applied to marry: GARVER, Norah   

[sparrett]

Hi Billie,
Here is a link to a quite recent thread on the Australian board about the descendants of William BRIGGS

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=853028.0

You may find some helpful information contained and possibly even make contact with  poster sandiehawk to exchange information.

Sue

[BillieM]

I'm not entirely certain about whether he was a convict and of course which ship he was on. It's just that quite a lot of trees online have this information about him.
I believe he married Ann Smith in 1848 but I would like to find out if he had been married before then and several ladies are a possibility.
I wonder about his age of 42 when he married Ann. It seems a bit older than usual.

[majm]

Hi,

Welcome 

There were a number of chaps who were alive in NSW in 1848 who were known as William BRIGGS .   Not all were born overseas, not all had arrived as convicts. 

You are asking about the one who married Ann SMITH in 1848.     

May I ask why do you believe he may have been married before?  Is it just his age when marrying in 1848?   I think he  and Ann were already a couple and had started a family  when they married, so don't fret over his age at marriage. 

NSW in the 1840s was in a  transition, there were immigration schemes replacing convictism,  government land was being priced for sale to match much higher South Australian prices, clergy were still scant and on circuits in the regional newly settled districts,  etc...

Sue has given you excellent advice  and you should be able to make contact with Sandiehawk once you make 1 more post. 

JM.   

[majm]

 

December 1845, a William BRIGGS was tried at Berrima NSW for wife desertion.  Found guilty,  sentenced to 3 years in iron gang.  .... Usually that would be leg chains, building the road that became the Great South Road, - (Old) Hume Highway.

I think there would be at least 20 chaps alive in NSW in the 1840s named William BRIGGS. 


JM.   ADD another chap, named William Briggs was charged with Deserting his wife and tried at the Sydney police court, 15 May 1846, and discharged.   

[BillieM]

Thank you for help so far. I did wonder about Williams age at his marriage and wondered what he might have been doing until 1848.
My main question is just how he got to Australia. Was he a convict or a free settler.
All the online trees say he was a convict but I'm aware that it only takes one person to put that idea into their tree for many others to take up the same idea for the many trees that follow.
I presume there is no way of knowing about William's early years in the colony.
I may have to leave him and move on to someone else in my tree. So frustrating!
BillieM

[BillieM]

I do have another question about William Briggs.
His death certificate in 1858 states his occupation as brickmaker.
For his son William Charles (1847-1945)  his birth and death certs, his father was a brickmaker and on son Williams marriage, he (son) was also a brickmaker.

For his son Charles henry (1858-1929) 
His birth cert and death cert states father a brickmaker.

William snr lived for some time and died in Towrang near Goulburn.
I haven't been able to find much information about brickmakers in that area. Were they convicts or free settlers?  By the time of Williams death he would a free man IF he had been a convict.
BillieM.

 

[majm]

Hi,

If you were to start at the beginning of the thread that Sue has kindly linked for you, and slowly work your way through that, you will see that the regulars on this Australian board have not relied on online trees.      

ADD
  The chap transported per the England was serving a sentence of seven years.  Those seven years commence from the date of his trial which was 6 April 1826.  His Certificate of Freedom was issued in 1833.     (1 May 1833,   33/481)
  Brickmakers  1840s - building bridges, homes, retaining walls etc etc etc along the route being opened from Sydney to Melbourne ....     

JM