The Journey

  William Russell 1797- 1864 and Sarah Lavis  1797–1864 BIRTH  2 APR 1797 • Wells, Somerset, England DEATH  14 JUN 1864 • West Maitland, New South Wales, Australia   William was the first of my Ancestors with the Russell name to Arrive in Australia William and his wife Sarah were my 4 th Great Grand Parents     William was born in Somerset England in 1797. He married Sarah Lavis on the 25 Dec 1821 • St Cuthberts Church, Wells, Somerset, England. William and Sarah arrived in Australia on the 4 th September 1849 on the Ship “ Victoria” William was 51yrs old and a gardener and Sarah 44yrs and house servant at the time of arrival                                                                            ...

    William Spears 1771-1833 William Spears was born around July 1771 in Lye, Somerset, England, the son of William and Mary (Whyte) Spears. William a Colonial soldier who joined the 102nd Regiment, New South Wales Corps of Foot, on 4 January 1800 in London. The regiment left Portsmouth, England for New South Wales in 1801, traveling aboard the Convict Transport vessel the "Earl Cornwallis ", and arrived at Sydney Cove on 12 June 1801. Probably a common law relationship. William and Sarah Ann Robinson had both arrived aboard the 'Earl Cornwallis' . Sarah was assigned to William after her arrival on 12 Jun 1801. Whether the relationship began on board, or after arriving is unclear, but Sarah was assigned to William for work. A daughter, Mary, was born to Sarah and William on 6 June 1802. In 1802 William abandoned Sarah when he was posted to Norfolk Island William Spears per Earl Cornwallis 1801 , Mary How/e per Minerva 1800 and William Coleman per Minerva 1800 ,...

Precious Cargo Mary Turner & David Batty Mary TURNER/WILKS Mary Turner was around 19 years of age when convicted of stealing at Worcestershire on 5 March 1785  and sentenced to 7 years transportation. She was sent on the ship “ Lady Penrhyn” and in February 1787 the ships of the first fleet sailed to establish a penal colony in NSW. On 20 January 1788 the last of the eleven ships of the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay. Captain Arthur Phillip's search for a more suitable site led him to Port Jackson. The rest of the fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour on 26 January 1788. Mary was sent to Norfolk Island in 1790 on "Sirius" and returned to Port Jackson in 1793 on "Kitty" it was believed she had one son on Norfolk Island John who didn’t survive She had a relationship with David BATTY in 1794 at Sydney and they had 4 children, they were David 15/03/1794, Richard 28/8/1797-12/6/1799, Ann 2/2/1800, and Thomas 13/9/1802-17/10/1870 Mary`s last name was it Turner?...

Eliza Neilson  Birth, 1821 Kilmore Down Ireland, Death 29 Dec 1847 Clarence Town, New South Wales, Australia An inquest in the death of Eliza Neilson carried out by the coroner J S Parker at Clarence Town Hotel. A man named Patrick Bryan was discharged from the service on Mr Arthur Neilson, Eliza’s husband. As a consequence of fighting with another man Mr Neilson had struck Patrick Bryan while parting the men. Bryan at the time had told him “He would revenge him or his if it was for 50 years to come.   Bryan came to Mr Neilson’s house several times but always in his absence and on one or two occasions when Mrs Neilson was in Clarence Town, Bryan would accompany her homewards Mrs Neilson disappeared after being seen in Clarence Town on 28 nd Dec 1847. Her body was found with a fractured skull on the side of the road on the 30 th Dec 1847                                      ...