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Transportation blues

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  • Transportation blues

    One of my brother-in-laws rels was given a 14 year holiday courtesy of HMG in 1843.
    Unfortunately for him he left a wife and young child behind and the family has no idea
    what happened to them. They don't appear on the BDM registers - at least none that
    we can find and I am wondering if anyone has any other idea to tackle the problem.
    The wife and daughter involved are
    Mary Keats married to Benjamin Keates on 16 May 1842 and daughter Harriet Keates b 10 Sept 1843. He was transported in 1844 to Van Diemans Land and eventually married
    again. Have been told that after 7 years seperation across the sea a second marriage
    was legal.
    David
    Whoever said Seek and Ye shall find was not a genealogist.

    David

  • #2
    David, whereabouts did they live in the UK?

    Comment


    • #3
      Oops, I slipped up there. They came from Clayhidon Devon.

      Cheers David
      Whoever said Seek and Ye shall find was not a genealogist.

      David

      Comment


      • #4
        As it was also legal to remarry if your partner had been transported for 7 years or more, she also could have remarried and her daughter taken her step fathers name.

        Could this be Harriets birth registration ? Wellington S Registration District covered the Clayhidon Devon

        Births Sep 1843
        KEATS Harriet Wellington S 10 471

        Di
        Diane
        Sydney Australia
        Avatar: Reuben Edward Page and Lilly Mary Anne Dawson

        Comment


        • #5
          When was Mary Keats born please? I'm working on a bit of an idea but am wondering if the Mary I've found in 1851 is too young. Also, if it is the right Mary, there is no sign of Harriet!

          Jane

          Comment


          • #6
            Anyway, I'll post my little theory to see if anyone else agrees with it!

            There is a possible marriage in 1847 Wellington R D of a Mary Keats, one of the grooms on the page is Joseph Pursey.

            On the 1851 census, I find Joseph, Mary and two daughters aged 2 & 3. Mary is shown as born in Clayhidon, aged 25. This would mean she was only 16 when she married Benjamin, if indeed she is the same person.

            Jane

            Comment


            • #7
              If the Mary who Jane has found is right then Harriet's absence may be explained by this death entry in Quarter 1 1847:
              Keates Harriett Wellington 10 42
              Judith passed away in October 2018

              Comment


              • #8
                Now why couldn't I find that death, Judith :D

                Jane

                Comment


                • #9
                  Harriet was born on 10 Sept 1843. That much I received from my sister. She contends that after Benjamin was transported to VDL that the wife and child
                  were left to fend for themselves. I am not sure whether this would be true as even back in those days there were services for destitute parents, even the
                  poor house. I don't think they would be left to starve. The death that shows up in JudithM's post is probably correct, funnily, I couldn't find it either, and
                  as young children had a habit of dying young in those days it could very well be the answer.
                  I am fairly new to this forum but a long lifer to other forums and I am pleased with the quality of answers one receives here. Thanks

                  David
                  Whoever said Seek and Ye shall find was not a genealogist.

                  David

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Further to above I am just about convinced that the marriage of Mary to Joseph Pursey is probably the right one. What annoys me, and I wonder if any other members have
                    experienced this, if I ask Ancestry for these records they do not come up, but if I manage to have a look at the original BDM's there they are. What gives?
                    Thanks again David
                    Whoever said Seek and Ye shall find was not a genealogist.

                    David

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Glad to hear it David, quality not quantity on here, our members are the cream from a bottle of Jersey milk!:D
                      Vivienne passed away July 2013

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Oh, the wife and child would indeed be left to fend for themselves. The workhouse was there in the background but most able-bodied people would do ANYTHING rather than go into the workhouse.

                        OC

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          you have the year of marriage for mary to your man, do you have the cert? you could have age, and her fathers name to compare with the other marriage cert? and you could order harriett's birth to prove her, and then that death to prove it too.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            I don't use Ancestry much for looking for births, but if I do see one there, I always go and check it on freebmd. I find freebmd much easier to limit by date range and county or even registration district, than ancestry.

                            Di
                            Diane
                            Sydney Australia
                            Avatar: Reuben Edward Page and Lilly Mary Anne Dawson

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I will have to contact my sister about the birth certificates. She had the original research done about 20 years ago, long before the advent of the internet and all its information,
                              possible that the original researcher missed something along the way.
                              Diane, thanks for that tip, I must admit that I am getting somewhat disappointed with the constant changes on An***try seems to me every time I log on to it something else has been
                              upgraded/altered/changed etc - usually to the detriment of good service. (My view anyway).
                              The Keats father, also Benjamin was sent for his holiday in 1839 (off the top of my head) and his two sons in 1844, father got 10 years sons 14 years, all for roughly the same offences,
                              namely sheep stealing - I suspect it was because they were just plain hungry. Father went to New South Wales, the others to Tasmania, where they were eventually pardoned and lived
                              good useful lives.
                              Cheers David
                              Last edited by grumpy; 10-03-11, 20:38.
                              Whoever said Seek and Ye shall find was not a genealogist.

                              David

                              Comment


                              • #16
                                Vivienne,
                                Re post 11 - you sure got that one right - me being a descendant Channel
                                Islander.:D
                                David
                                Whoever said Seek and Ye shall find was not a genealogist.

                                David

                                Comment


                                • #17
                                  Originally posted by grumpy View Post
                                  I will have to contact my sister about the birth certificates. She had the original research done about 20 years ago, long before the advent of the internet and all its information,
                                  possible that the original researcher missed something along the way.
                                  <snip>
                                  The Keats father, also Benjamin was sent for his holiday in 1839 (off the top of my head) and his two sons in 1844, father got 10 years sons 14 years, all for roughly the same offences,
                                  namely sheep stealing - I suspect it was because they were just plain hungry. Father went to New South Wales, the others to Tasmania, where they were eventually pardoned and lived
                                  good useful lives.
                                  Cheers David
                                  I've just found an article in the 19th Century BL Newspapers - are we talking about George and Benjamin KEATS?
                                  BRISTOL MICHAELMAS SESSIONS .
                                  The Bristol Mercury (Bristol, England), Saturday, October 28, 1843; Issue 2797.

                                  Somersetshire Sessions - Fourteen Years Transportation: Benjamin KEATS and George KEATS, for stealing 9lbs of beef, the property of W. DYMOND.
                                  (I've trimmed out s few irrelevancies).

                                  Does your library service allow you access to that collection? If not, it might be worth the asking!

                                  Christine
                                  Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                                  Comment


                                  • #18
                                    If they lived in Devon, then there could be a reference ot the case in the Western Daily News - which is also held in the BL (British Library) archives at Colindale.

                                    Christine
                                    Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                                    Comment


                                    • #19
                                      Christine,
                                      We knew what the offence that they had been charged with, but this is the first time I have seen it in print. AFAIK this was the first charge that Benjamin had faced
                                      but George was a repeat offender, having been charged with much the same offence in 1838-ish with his father. The father was sent down for that one and finished up in New South
                                      Wales. George was given (off the top of my head) 18 months, must have been because of his age then and was probably only an accessory.
                                      Will look into the paper bit and thanks for the information.
                                      David
                                      Whoever said Seek and Ye shall find was not a genealogist.

                                      David

                                      Comment


                                      • #20
                                        It crossed my mind that what I had found was only the sentencing. There may be an account of the actual trial somewhere.

                                        Christine
                                        Researching: BENNETT (Leics/Birmingham-ish) - incl. Leonard BENNETT in Detroit & Florida ; WARR/WOR, STRATFORD & GARDNER/GARNAR (Oxon); CHRISTMAS, RUSSELL, PAFOOT/PAFFORD (Hants); BIGWOOD, HAYLER/HAILOR (Sussex); LANCASTER (Beds, Berks, Wilts) - plus - COCKS (Spitalfields, Liverpool, Plymouth); RUSE/ROWSE, TREMEER, WADLIN(G)/WADLETON (Devonport, E Cornwall); GOULD (S Devon); CHAPMAN, HALL/HOLE, HORN (N Devon); BARRON, SCANTLEBURY (Mevagissey)...

                                        Comment

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