Three Convict Escapees to India – George Sparrow, Thomas Greenwood & Alexander Menzies
By Irma Walter, 2021. In September 1865 three ticket-of-leave men George Sparrow, Alexander Menzies and Thomas Greenwood made headlines in…
Category: Convict Histories
William Proctor (1830 – ?) (Reg. No. 3509) ‘One of the Swell Mob’
By Irma Walter, 2021. The term ‘Swell Mob’ was commonly used in 19th century Britain and in the capitals of…
William Stewart (c1818 – ?) (Reg. No. 4517)
By Irma Walter, 2021. William Stewart, a seaman, aged 40, was convicted on 15 March 1856 at Exeter of burglary…
Robert Kay (1826 – ?) (Reg. No. 6172)
By Irma Walter, 2021. Robert Kay was born at Alloa in Clackmannanshire, Scotland on 14 August 1826, to parents John…
James Caffrey (aka McCaffrey), (c1830 – 1856) (Reg. No 2463)
By Irma Walter, 2021. James Caffrey arrived in Western Australia in 1853 onboard the ill-fated convict ship Phoebe Dunbar. In…
Thomas Stubbs (c1829 – ?) (Reg. No. 21 & 5372)
By Irma Walter, 2021. Thomas Stubbs was one of those convicts who was transported to Western Australia on two different…
Thomas Ellerton (c1828 – 1899) (Reg. Nos. 277 & 1438)
By Irma Walter, 2021. On 21 July 1849, Thomas Ellerton (20), Joseph Brindley (21), Richard Sylvester (21) and Daniel Vickers…
The Great Manchester Stamp Robbery
By Irma Walter, 2021. On 26 May 1866 a brazen gang of thieves broke into the Manchester Stamp Office warehouse…
Two Absconders Caught at Australind – William Knight & George Bird
By Irma Walter, 2021. William Knight (c1832 – 1865) (Reg. No. 1265) On 11 October 1850 William Knight, single, a…
Richard Price (c1828 -1869?) (Reg. No. 3969)
By Irma Walter, 2021. On 10 August 1853 Richard Price was convicted at the Liverpool Assizes of receiving stolen goods…