At about the age of 18 David married Charlotte and they had the following children:
JOSEPH,
who was Christened on 30th July 1815 at All Saints Church in High Wycombe; Joseph’s descendants, as far as we know, stayed in England as I am in contact with SarahK who traces her family back to Joseph;
WILLIAM,
who is a verified ancestor of our Tilbury line, and was Christened on 18th October 1818 at All Saints Church - as were the other children;
DAVID,
Christened on 30th August 1822 and buried on 26th June 1837;
MARY,
Christened 30th April 1824 and no doubt died before 1826 as another daughter was Christened on 12th May 1826 and also named
MARY:
it was the custom at that time to use the same name for a baby that had died - this custom was also carried on in other countries, Italy being one of them;
JOHN
is shown on the 1841 Census of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire living at Old Swan, Wycombe Marsh, with his father David, so was probably born about 1831;
EMMA
was Christened on 10th March 1833 and was buried on 12th May 1836;
HENRY
was Christened on 2nd April 1837 and buried on 17th August 1838.
Charlotte, David’s wife, died a few months after giving birth to Henry, as she was buried on 6th June 1837.
This 1841 Census has WILLIAM and ELIZA, both 20 years of age, with their 2 children Mary and William, also living at Wycombe Marsh. The Census shows too a William Tilbury age 40 (Shepherd) and wife Ann, living at Lower Marsh. Another custom, and one that still is in use today, worldwide, is to live near one’s relatives. So we can probably assume that this William was David’s brother, now that there is verified proof that David did have a brother and son named William.
On the 28th day of February 1826, Court documents show that DAVID TILBY, age 28, was charged with
at the parish of Hitchendon. David was sent to 'gaol' for this.
The saying 'once bitten, twice shy' obviously didn’t apply to our David as many years later, at the age of 48 he made another mistake, as the newspaper of the day, the Bucks Herald, gives the following account of the Quarter Sessions of Midsummer 1845.
Mr. Birch conducted the case for the prosecutor.
Thomas Anstiss sworn.
Hannah Cox sworn.
John Hailey, constable of Wycombe took the prisoner into custody.
The prisoner in his defence denied having stolen the wood.
Verdict: GUILTY - a former convicton for felony was proved against the prisoner.
Sentence: 7 YEARS TRANSPORTATION.
Although Queen Elizabeth I of England introduced the notion of punishing criminals by sending them to another country as early as 1619, the term 'transportation' seems to have come into vogue around 1680 during Charles II’s reign. It was intended to be an alternative to execution and it became a formal concept in 1717 with George III’s 'Transportation Act'. It was refined even more in 1767 when a 14-year sentence was added to it. It is said that in 1788 there were 160 crimes that were punishable by hanging, including stealing sheep, cattle, clothes and goods worth two pounds [£] or more.
Britain went through its Industrial Revolution between 1730 and 1850. In that time it was transformed from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy. The advent of industrial mechanization and the steam power which drove it, forced most of the traditional agricultural labourers - which it seems, all our Tilbury ancestors were at that period - and cottage industry workers, to seek alternative employment.
Most relocated to the major cities, but there was never enough work to go around.
As a result, the desperate displaced people were forced to turn to petty crime in order to survive. Most rural crimes were food related and in later years, rural convictions for arson and machine-breaking began to appear as the industrial revolution changed the face of agriculture and put even more people out of work.
Depending on the crime and where it was committed, prisoners were brought to trial in either an Assize Court or a Court of Quarter Sessions. Assize Court sessions were held from time to time in each English county before a judge acting under a special commission, and jurymen or assessors were asked to decide on a verdict; these Courts were held no less than four times a year.
Trial records often hold the earliest recorded information about convicts, their trials and the crimes they committed. The only earlier records about anyone in this time-period would be (birth), Baptism and Marriage, and of course Burial, records.
Prior to transportation, convicts were often imprisoned in the hulks of many famous old warships which had been moored in the Thames Estuary or Plymouth Harbour. Conditions on board those floating gaols were appalling and the standards of hygiene were so poor that disease spread quickly. Huge loss of life through typhoid and cholera epidemics was the result.
Although there was a strong lobby movement regarding these living conditions, the English government delayed building new gaols and preferred to search for new places to send her convicts instead. A book by Charles Campbell 'The Intolerable Hulks – British Shipboard Confinement 1776–1857' lists hulks by name, year, typical prisoner count and station, but not the list of convicts.
Official records show that our David was on a ship called Pestonjee Bonanjee that left Plymouth, England on the 22nd of September 1845. Whether he spent time in a 'floating gaol' or not, I do not know. Because he was sentenced in Court in May and did not sail until September, there is a distinct possibility that he may well have.
A newspaper article in 1844 gave a story about two reports that were presented to the House of Commons in England regarding the confinement of offenders under sentence of transportation. Part of a report states that boys were instructed to be shoemakers and tailors previous to being embarked for Van Diemen’s Land (later known as Tasmania). The report goes on with a general statement as to the number of convicts received on board the 'hulks' in England for the year 1842. It appears 3,954 persons were received, of which 3,495 were natives of England. Of that number 2,074 were labourers and not instructed in any trade. Under Religion, 3,326 were of 'the established church', 245 were Catholics, 126 of the Scotch Church, 239 Dissenters and 4 Jews. Under Offence, 577 had been in prison before, 1,739 were convicted before, 19 had been in the Penitentiary and 71 transported before.
Of their age, it is recorded that 2 were under the age of 10 years, 178 from 10-15 years old, 926 from 15-20 years old, 1,878 from 20-30 years and 970 above 30 years old. Also, that prisoners who were ignorant of their 'letters' had learned to read and write.
The Surgeon of a particular ship gives some important information, stating that of the number of persons who applied as patients,
The Superintendant of Ships also reported the following.
The Prisons Timeline shows that in 1844, an Act to authorize the appointment of Surveyor General of Prisons and introduce controls for building new Prisons was passed, but whether or not a new prison was ready by May 1845, I do not know.
Thus the Pestongee Bomangee was to take David, along with 299 other male convicts, to Van Diemen’s Land, later known as Tasmania.
This ship was a Barque of 595 tons O.M. 3 mast ship rig, 130 ft. x 31 ft. 6 in. x 22 ft. built in 1834 in Dumbarton, by Waddell and Co. London. The ship was named after a merchant in Bombay, India, who traded internationally, particularly with China. He was from a family of master shipbuilders and was part-owner of various ships, presumably including the one named after himself.
The voyage from England to Australia may have stopped off at Gibraltar, a port in the West Indies, South America, the Cape of Good Hope and any one of the Australian penal settlements.
Convicts were housed below decks - on the prison deck - and further confined behind bars. In many cases they were restrained in chains and were only allowed on deck for fresh air and exercise. Conditions were cramped and they slept on hammocks. Very little information seems to be available about the layout of convict ships.
During the 1700’s the treatment of convicts was a disgrace, but by the time they were being transported in the 1840’s a more enlightened routine was in place which even included the presence on board of a Religious Instructor to educate the convicts and attend to their spiritual needs. Also on board were independent Surgeon Superintendents who were solely responsible for the well-being of the convicts with explicit instructions as to how life on board was to be organized. Add to that the fact that a bonus was paid to the charterers to land the prisoners safe and sound at the end of the voyage and a better story emerges as compared to the voyages of the 1700’s.
When the final shipment of convicts disembarked in Western Australia in the 1860’s the total number of transported convicts was around 162,000 men and women. About 70% were English, 5% Scottish and 25% Irish, but many more were sent from British outposts in India, Canada, the Cape of Good Hope, Bermuda and other places. Many were soldiers who were transported for crimes such as mutiny, desertion and insubordination.
Most of such convicts were repeat offenders who had been found guilty of comparatively minor crimes against British Society, and David was one of these.
Many Irish felons were political prisoners, in comparison.
Collectively, in 1850, as the population of New South Wales approached one million, these convicts became the backbone of the new nation.
Convicts were normally sentenced to 7 or 14 years, but other sentences ranged from 10 years to life. If well behaved, they could qualify for a Ticket of Leave, Certificate of Freedom, conditional Pardon or even an Absolute Pardon.
With good conduct, a convict serving a 7-year term usually qualified for a Ticket of Leave after 4-5 years and even lifers could qualify after about 10-12 years. Those who failed to qualify were entitled to a Certificate of Freedom on completion of their term.
Convicts could leave the colonies after their sentences were completed or after being granted an Absolute Pardon. Some went to work on trading, whaling and fishing vessels while others returned to England. Those released on Conditional Pardons were not allowed to return to England (or Ireland).
Indents, or Indentures were the documents written to formally transfer the prisoners from the custody of the Master of a Transport Ship to the Governor of the colony receiving them. They were kept for each convict and up till the mid-1800’s they recorded names, date and place of trial, and sentence. Later Indents went into more detail and gave name, age, date and place of trial, sentence, former convictions, marital status, number of children, crime, religion, height, colour of eyes, hair and complexion, visible marks, scars, tattoos and other such identifying information. After 1841 detailed lists were also kept which give a full description of the convict’s head shape, whiskers, scars, deformities, face blemishes, nose shape, speech impediments. etc.
So, because of these records, we know quite a bit about how our David looked. If David had been a prominent citizen, even a Duke, instead of a convict, we probably wouldn’t know much about his appearance at all, even if there was a portrait of him.
The Archives of Tasmania provided all the information they have regarding David Tilbury, Convict Number 77450. The List looks like this:
| Convict Number
Surname Given Name(s) Ship Name Departure Port Departure date Arrival date Conduct Record Indent Description List Muster Roll Other Records Appropriation List |
77450
Tilbury David Pestongee Bomangee Plymouth 22 September 1845 30 December 1845 Con 33/74 Con 14/34 Con 18/46 Con 27/11 |
Master John Austin was the Captain of the ship along with Surgeon Superintendant Dr. J.W. Johnston
The Surgeon’s Report for David on the voyage from England is very difficult to read but from what I can decipher he had headaches, his eyes were very sensitive to light and he had blurred vision. Some of the Report reads as follows:
{poor David, removing blood then having severe fainting and some vertigo ... and no connection was made between the two ... in those days}
On arrival in Van Diemen’s Land the documents show the following:
| Trade
Height Age Complexion Head Hair Whiskers Visage Forehead Eyebrows Eyes Nose Mouth Chin Native Place Marks |
Farm Labourer
5 feet 4 inches 48 fresh oval brown to grey brown to grey oval med brown hazel medium “ “ Haversham (blind*) |
|
| {* I believe this refers to his eyesight}
{The following were David’s tattoos:} | ||
| Bird mermaid JD Mr T
Drink your fill cross pipes heart and glass 7 stars half moon Love and Live Happy |
- on right arm below elbow
- on back of right hand - on left arm below elbow - on back of left hand | |
Second Document
| Name
Tried Embarked Arrived Transported for Period of Labour Station Gang |
David Tilbury
Bucks, Aylesbury 23 July 1845 4 Sept. 1845 30 Dec. 1845 Stole wood – 2nd Conv. Fifteen Months Long Point |
7 years Protestant – can Read and Write Widower Hospital |
Third Document
| Name
Where Tried When Tried Sentence Age Height |
Tilbury, David
Bucks Aylesbury 1 July 1845 7 48 5/4 |
| Religion
Read or Write Married or single |
P {Protestant}
B {Both} M – 5 {Married, 5 children} |
| Statement of Offence | Stealing wood 10 pence from Mr Austice at Wickham Marsh |
| For wood 2 months and 1 month | |
| Surgeon’s Report
Trade Native Place |
Well behd {behaved}
Fm Labourer Haversham |
| Remarks | F – Joseph {Father}
B – William, Joseph {Brothers} S – Sarah, Mary {Sisters} |
One final notation on the Document:
David was admitted to the Hospital on 6th January 1847 and the Hospital Record shows he had many of the same symptoms as he did on the voyage from England.
This record also shows the treatment he was given and the food he ate. Very difficult to read.
There are no other records so I assume David was probably in the Hospital until his death, on the 12th April 1847.
St. Matthews Church in New Norfolk is the oldest church in Australia. The Burial Records for the church show the following:
The burial ground is in Stephen Street, one block from the Church. The cemetery was closed in 1875.
In Port Phillip in 1803, increased French activity in the area convinced the British that a greater presence was needed and in early 1804 the settlement was abandoned and restablished in Van Diemen’s land further to the south. There was also in Van Diemen’s Land, a fear of French colonization and it led to the establishment of a small settlement on the Derwent River in 1803. Until 1812 all the convicts there had been re-shipped from New South Wales or Norfolk Island. The arrival of 200 convicts direct from Britain on the Indefatigable in 1812 was a solitary act, as it was not until 1818 that the beginning of steady shipments from Britain began. In the intervening years convicts from other parts of New South Wales kept arriving.
New Norfolk is now a large town on the banks of the Derwent River, 38 Km west of Hobart. It is the main town of the Derwent Valley. A very historic town, it had its beginnings about 1806 when the settlers from abandoned Norfolk Island were resettled in the district. Some historic buildings include St. Matthews Church of England, the Bush Inn and a colonial mansion. The hospital where David died still remains intact. It was originally a military hospital built in April 1827.
Transportation to Van Diemen’s land was formally abolished in 1853.
After the colony of New South Wales became well established with permanent buildings, a routine for handling new arrivals was set in place.
Martin Cash described his arrival in 1828.
Female convicts were sent directly to the Female Factory although some did not actually live in the factory, but nearby, and came in every day to work. Many remained only a day or so and were then sent to work for free settlers, or, even convict settlers, and many married very quickly.
The idea was that any man wanting to marry one of the girls would apply. The girls were lined up and the man would drop a scarf or handkerchief at the feet of the woman of his choice. If she picked it up, the marriage was virtually immediate.
I guess it never occurred to anyone to reverse the process, no 'women’s lib' in those days! A fact I will refer to again.
Divorce was not available to the common person until the late 1800’s and was expensive and scandalous. Previously married convicts were permitted to remarry after Seven Years Separation, as long as their spouse was abroad, even if they were still living. The Government encouraged marriage between convicts as it was seen as a means of rehabilitation and more desirable than de facto relationships.
Quite a few married women convicts were transported with their children and some shipping entries record their husbands’ names as well. Convicts could petition the Government to allow their families to come to the colony but they had to be eligible through good behaviour for this privilege. There are records from 1824-42 and 1847-50 regarding this.
Children of convict women either stayed with their mothers or were moved to an orphanage. Young convict girls were also employed in the Female Factory and young convict boys were housed in the Carter’s Barracks in Sydney.
Well behaved convicts could apply to have their families brought from England and in some cases they could be assigned to work for free settler families.
Most convicts and emancipated convicts were assigned to settlers, after an application for a convict servant or worker was lodged with the Governor. Some married convicts were even assigned to their free spouses. Very few Assignment Registers have survived but the ones from 1821 to 1824 do exist. They are indexed, and record names, ships, assignment dates, masters, residences and dates and reasons for return.
The 1828 Census shows GS 'Government Servant' for convicts while serving time.
The worst type of convicts were assigned to hard labour in iron-gangs and sent to work on roads. Road Gang Reports (1827-30) supplied convict number, name, ship, job, casualties, discharge details, place stationed and overseer. Lists of men in irons on Norfolk Island and Moreton Bay (1839-40) exist.
Ten volumes of Conduct Registers for female convicts in Tasmania between 1803-43 exist recording similar details to the men’s registers. Most women were assigned to work, even after a new assignment system was implemented in 1844.
Although women convicts were 'usually' assigned domestic service, troublesome and hardened prisoners were sent to the Female Factory. Some were classed as depraved and prostitutes, others had been domestics in England, had stolen and were transported for petty crimes. On arrival, many had to take up prostitution to survive and the system of selection of servants often meant that the gentry and officers could choose the pretty young convicts.
The first Female Factory was built in Parramatta in 1804 and consisted of a long room with a fireplace at one end. Women and girls made rope and span and carded wool. They slept on piles of wool. In 1821 a 3-story barracks and female factory was built to house women who committed local offences, convict women with children and convict girls who were unsuitable for work with settlers. In time, work done in these factories became less difficult with needlework and laundry becoming main duties. The girls were also assigned as servants to settlers.
Large numbers of boy convicts aged between 9 and 18 were sent to Tasmania in early 1830, with a few assigned to settlers. Most were too small for the rough work of clearing the land, quarrying stone and building roads. As their numbers grew concern for their future rose and a separate Boys’ Establishment was built at Point Puer. The boys were then trained in many skills so they would be equipped with skills to use in their life of freedom.
Convict death records, while still under sentence, are available and these records give such causes of death as shooting, drowning and native attack.
While doing my research I did not find any children named 'David' so when I received William’s Certified Copy of an Entry of Marriage, dated 14th day of July 1839, that showed his father’s name was David, I could not understand why that name had not come down our family tree along with names like John, Joseph.
When I later discovered what had happened to David, I understood why his name was never used. I have recently been in touch with a David Tilbury, who is in the 'direct line' from David's son, JOSEPH, and hopefully, sometime in the future, there will be more ... David Tilbury-s.
One strange coincidence came to light concerning David’s son William. William and Eliza had a Daughter first, a son William who died at age 4, then 4 more sons: the 1851 Census shows:
We had a Daughter first - then ... 4 sons whose 'second' names are:
Truth is stranger than fiction, they say, and something about 'history repeating itself' ... and my youngest son was 20 before I started this research.
I have another family story that seems to fit into the Tilbury Family History as related here.
One of my brothers graduated from the University of Toronto many years ago and at his Convocation Ceremony was a Chancellor from a University in Australia. This Chancellor gave a speech to the graduates and told them that many people living in Australia have the
David does have descendants, near Perth, Australia, and he does have a 5th great-granddaughter, our daughter, who is now a resident of that country. On our next trip to visit our daughter, we will have to visit Tasmania, too.
One last story. Just before I 'discovered' what happened to David, our daughter was up for a promotion with the department of the New South Wales government she works for. A meeting was held to discuss the applicants and apparently when her name came up the comment was made that
- now she can say she has a 7th Great Grandfather what was there in 1845!! - and she got the promotion!
There are Clubs in Australia that you can only join if you can show proof of having a Convict Ancestor - just in case any Tilbury-s out there want to join.