All - sorry for such a long reply, but thanks everyone for the leads and feedback which I am methodically working through. So what I have managed to confirm the past week with absolute certainty, just a small part of the puzzle, is that Henry PALMER (Convict Earl St Vincent) is Henry “Palmer” DOWSE, the older brother of Thomas DOWSE of Sydney/Brisbane.
In 1824 younger brother Tom DOWSE, born London, tried at Old Bailey (14yo) for stealing clothes belonging to his brother Henry, his mother Catherine brought charges against him to “teach him a lesson”, sentenced to death / commuted to transport for life to Sydney. Spends 3 years on a prison hulk in England before being transported arriving Sydney in 1828. Checked Old Bailey, Newgate Prison and convict records and found he was an errand boy/milkman for his mother, after their father William (also a milkman) died 3 months earlier. The father had dobbed both sons (Tom and Henry) into the law in previous years for their thieving propensities and associating with a bad crowd in the hope to amend their ways. His mother Catherine comes out to Sydney sometime before 1837, possibly by way of Convict family government immigration scheme.
I then looked into Henry PALMER’s 1825 convict record to see if there were similarities with Henry DOWSE, age/birth etc. Age was spot on however birth place was listed as Chatham, Kent (not London) which threw me, and occupation Gent Servant/Groom, caught stealing a handkerchief in London. Checked Old Bailey, Newgate Prison and earlier convict records and found Henry was also a milkman which he must have taken up this task for his mother after his younger brother’s incarceration. Further investigations reveal their mother’s birthplace came to be Chatham, Kent. So upon being charged in 1825, not 12 months after his brother, and arrival at Newgate Prison, Henry Dowse assumes the Alias Surname of PALMER, making no mention or connection of his real surname Dowse, or his brother Tom who has recently gone through Newgate prison and is still on a prison hulk, no mother at Henry’s trial unlike with his young brother. Henry is transported quite quickly and arrives in Hobart 1826, 2 years ahead of his brother arriving in Sydney.
Fast forward to 1834 and the strange signature and surname on the banns/original marriage certificate which now makes sense, it may have been a slip up on Henry’s part, or to pay homage in some way to his original surname, although still maintaining his convict surname PALMER whilst in Tasmania. I need to fill in some gaps and further research Henry and his time with Captain Wilson, 1834 Ticket of Leave, 1837 daughter born as PALMER, 1838/40? Conditional Pardon, 1842 Free Pardon, 1843 Absolute Pardon, 1846 on Convict Muster….
From Apr 1846 to Aug 1848 (as per Trove newspaper articles) he turns up as Henry Palmer DOWSE, going between Sydney and Morton Bay, Brisbane with his brother. In his brother Tom’s diaries held as SLQ, on two occasions Tom mentions in 1847 “my brother and wife” sailed to/from Brisbane from Sydney. The brothers had a falling out in Aug 1848 in which Tom never wished to see Henry again.
And there the trail goes cold (for the moment). Did Henry and Mary Ann (nee Robinson) return to Hobart or move elsewhere or overseas, did Mary Ann go to Sydney/Brisbane with him or did she pass away in Hobart, did they leave their daughter Mary Ann Palmer in the care of her mother’s Robinson family (her brother William Robinson, sister Susanna Robinson the spinster, sister Eliza Robinson who m. Frederick Roff in 1852 with Henry Watson as witness -- Frederick Roff was also informant on Susanna Robinson's 1852 death certificate and on a William Leach death in 1853, much goings on at 33 Argyle St with Carpenters also and Edward Robinson) am yet to look into that, and have not tied in if or how the 11 Jan 1850 death of Mary Ann Palmer, carpenter's wife age 52 would fit in, but yet another link to a Henry Roff and Argyle St and Carpenters, now knowing Palmer surname to be an alias).
Oh – and I forgot to mention the icing on the cake, after my conclusions above, I happened to check my Ancestry DNA thru-lines and found both my mother and I had at least 3 DNA matches with two of Tom Dowse’s children’s descendant lines, and other descendants of our Tasmanian Palmer/Watson/Robinson line also had DNA matches with Tom Dowse’s children. It seems whilst historical records can somewhat be embellished to hide the truths, may only tell half the story, or offer you bread crumbs, DNA is hard to ignore.
I want to thank everyone for their contributions and advice the past weeks, in which I hope to follow up all the leads you have provided me as I have a few replies from you I have not responded as yet it but have not forgotten, Judith for making me re-evaluate that so carefully written but squiggly signature, Sue and TasTyger for having me re-evaluate the convict record I’d been sitting on for 8 years. Although I haven’t yet found their resting place, at least I can now fill in a few years of their life.
