Red Lion Inn in Brede, Sussex

The Red Lion is a fairly unprepossessing roadside country pub from the outside, but step through the door and you'll find huge oak beams, an open hearth, and cosy nooks. Dating back to the fifteenth century, the pub now boasts a restaurant with imaginative contemporary food.

While we were at the bar the chef wandered past, wondering if we were staying for dinner. The fish was fresh from Hastings that morning. We had bream with a sort of deconstructed paella - although not described in quite those terms - and another fish dish with potatoes dauphinoise and fresh peas in a veloute sauce.

There is a point to this. Instead of local councils having stupid sister city relationships with arbitrary places in China, Japan and elsewhere, whose only purpose seems to be to facilitate junkets for local councillors, why not have sister pub relationships for the people. We could start with Grazing Restaurant at the Royal Hotel in Gundaroo and the Red Lion Inn in Brede. The respective local councils could re-allocate their sister city budgets to fund it.

James Daniel Selmes from Brede, Sussex

Driving from Rye to Hastings a few weeks ago, I noticed a turn-off to Brede, the village in Sussex where Mary Ann (Eliza Jane) Faulkner's father, James Daniel Selmes, was born in 1835 or thereabouts. (All I know is that he was 22 when he married Amelia Howarth in Tumut on 23 June 1857, his father was a farmer and his mother's name was Maria Cook.)

Most of the old gravestones in Brede's Church of England graveyard (pictured) are illegible, but one can be made out. It is the grave of a Mary Ann Selmes, wife of another James Selmes, who died on 12 February 1875.

Although most of the Selmes in the world can apparently be traced back to Sussex, no-one in the Red Lion Inn knew anyone by that name.

George Faulkner in Manchester

A couple of months ago I asked a researcher in Lancashire to see if she could find out anything about George Faulkner's family in Manchester. She started by finding this entry for George Faulkner in the Lancaster Prison Records:

George Faulkner says he was born in Manchester, 18 years of age, 5’3” high, (?) complexion, gray eyes, short dark brown hair, two scars in his lip & chin, a large scar of his left wrist, 3rd finger right (?), Assizes 23rd March 1822. Death reprieved, transported for Life 11th May 1822 & put on board (?) at Chatham.

She also searched the Calendar of Crown Prisoners Ref. QJC/1, and in the Salford Hundred of Saturday 23rd March 1822, found this entry:

Event of Trial: Death
No.: 15
Name: George Faulkner
Age: 18
Committed by: Rev’d C.W. Ethelston, 22nd December 1821, charged with having assaulted Thomas Halliday on the highway at Salford and with having stolen from him, sixty pence, sixty halfpence and one knife, his property.

So George Faulkner was definitely born in Manchester, rather than just brought to trial there. But if he was 18 in March 1822, he would have been born in 1803 or 1804 rather than 1802, the year that appears on his convict records. Did he put his age back when he was arrested?

A search of the Manchester Parish Register at the Lancaster Records Office found no baptismal entry for a George Faulkner born 1801-1805. The entries may not be complete though, and some of the entries are indecipherable.

On familysearch.org, there's a George Faulkner who was christened at Manchester Cathedral on 7 November 1802. His parents were George and Ann. These may be the George Faulkner and Ann Winterbottom who married on 31 December 1792 at Manchester Cathedral.

The next step is a search of the original Parish Registers at Manchester Central Library.

Lancaster Prison Records Ref. QGL/2 MF1/36
Calendar of Crown Prisoners (Ref. QJC/1, Salford Hundred of Saturday 23rd March 1822

"Victoria Park" in 1907-08

In 1907, George Faulkner, George and Maria's son, who was by then in his early sixties, entered the Sydney Morning Herald and Daily Mail farm competition in the Northern Tablelands division.

The prizes were attractive: first, £50; second, £10; third, £5. The judge, Mr H. Dawson, could award up to 100 points under each of eight headings: "general management; fencing and gates; water supply, and provision for same; dwelling and steading, including garden, orchard, and stockyards; live stock breeds, and suitability to district; cultivation - crops, provisions for storing, supplying fodder; plant, including all implements, machines, and means for carrying produce to market; situation, and general plan of improvements".

Twenty competitors entered, from Inverell to Armidale, Tamworth, Quirindi and Glen Innes. Among them, by chance, was Henry Voss whose family would mesh with George Faulkner's forty years on.

On Thursday 9 January, the Sydney Morning Herald reported the winners of the second and third prizes, including this sketch of "Victoria Park":

"Mr. George Faulkner, of Victoria Park Inverell, has 1140 acres. He is an older resident than either Mr. Harding or Mr. Cosh [second and third prize-winners]. Mr. Dawson says his place looks remarkably well; he has a nice orchard, the fruit in which is looking in remarkably good trim. The sheep are of the Riverina merino strain. There are 100 acres under lucerne, other areas are devoted to other crops, and there is a herd of 30 cows, milk from which is sold at the local factory."

The judge had this to say of Henry Voss's much smaller farm, near Glen Innes:

"Mr. Voss has introduced the L.K.G. milking machine on his farm. It is driven by a four horse-power engine, and by its means eight cows are milked at a time. The engine power is utilised for separating the cream as well as for other work. Two little boys milk between 70 and 80 cows, so to speak, in no time. As far as Mr. Voss is concerned, the milking machines appeared to be an unqualified success. The crops were rather backward, except the wheat and oats. But as a man who makes the best of his opportunities Mr. Voss is one whom it would be hard to beat anywhere."

Sydney Morning Herald, 30 November 1907, p.9 and 9 January 1908, p.5

George Faulkner arrives in Sydney

George Faulkner's occupation, when he arrived in Port Jackson (Sydney) on 22 November 1822, was listed as coachsmith. He was 19 years old, five feet three and a half inches tall with black hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

On 18 July 1823 he was assigned as a blacksmith to an Alexander McLeod, of Burwood, who commenced payments to the government for him the same day. A week later, he went to Newcastle on the Fame with McLeod. For some reason - the assignment register is hard to decipher - he was returned to Government service, the barracks in Newcastle, on 4 October 1823.

From where I am in Sydney's west, Burwood is only four stops along the suburban train line.

Convict indents, State Records NSW, (Reel 395)
Convict assignment registers, State Records NSW, Location 4/4520 Page No. 67 Entry 723 (Reel 586)

Mary Ann Smith alias Mary Steward

Mary Ann Smith was transported to Australia on the Henry Wellesley, arriving in Port Jackson (Sydney) on 22 December 1837.

On 14 July that year she had been sentenced at Lancaster to 14 years transportation for stealing a cloak. The convict indent describes her as 40 years of age, a widow with four sons and one daughter. She was an American, born in Philadelphia. Unlike most of the women on her ship, she had previous offences, two of them, for which she had been sentenced to seven years and for three weeks.

Mary Ann Smith was a milliner and dress-maker. She was five feet, one and a half inches tall. She had a sallow complexion, brown hair mixed with grey and grey eyes. Her distinguishing marks were a missing top front tooth and a small mark on her cheek.

Glancing at the descriptions of her fellow passengers, it is striking how many of the women on the Henry Wellesley had tattoos. One had a blue mark beneath the eye, some had initials on their upper arms, and several had the same tattoo - five dots and a cross tattooed on the back of their hand.

By 1846 Mary Ann Smith would have been in her late forties - too old, I think, to be the Maria Steward who married George Faulkner and had two children.

Was Maria Steward her real name...

There is a Maria Steward listed on the Ireland-Australia transportation database. It is the alias of a Maria Kane. But there are no details of her age, trial place, trial date, crime or sentence. There is a document reference that could be followed up.

And a Mary Ann Smith who was transported in 1837 used the alias Mary Steward.

http://www.nationalarchives.ie/search/index.php?category=18

Frederick Faulkner and Mary McCarthy

Frederick Faulkner (George and Maria's son) married Mary Elizabeth McCarthy in a Church of England ceremony at Christ Church Cootamundra in 1882. He would have been about 34. She was a widow, from Temora. Her age isn't stated.

Although Frederick gave his occupation as storekeeper, like his brother George he could not write. When it came to signing the certificate he made his mark, a cross, above which are the initials S.B.H. (signed by him?). Mary signed her name.

Both witnesses were from the McCarthy side of the family - Charles Brisbane McCarthy and Ruth Neal McCarthy. Like Mary, they signed their names.

The marriage certificate has a lot of blanks - Frederick and Mary's places of birth, their fathers' names, mothers' names and maiden surnames and fathers' occupations.

Parramatta lunatic asylum

George Faulkner's admission records:

"Nov 11th, 1872:
This man is a native of England, a Protestant: 70 years of age and by trade a Blacksmith. Admitted by Warrant from Goulburn Gaol Oct 28th. Is serving a sentence of three months for "indecently exposing his person", which sentence expires Nov 2nd 1872.

"On admission he looked ill - fatigued, badly clothed, and ill-nourished. At once desired to write letters to his wife and family, as he had property at stake of great value. These are false delusions as he is said in the "Medical Certificate" to be "homeless and destitute". Eats well, sleeps well, is cleanly in person and habits. Suffers from Senile Dementia, aggravated by long periods of intemperance. Is in fair bodily health.

"Dec 1st, 1872: Continues in good bodily health and is somewhat mentally improved.

"Jan 2nd, 1873: Is in good health, and mentally improved. I think if it could be ascertained that this man has relations willing to receive him he might be discharged to their care.

"Jan 30th, 1873: A letter received from his son expressing his willingness to receive his father when fit to be discharged.

"Feb 3rd, 1873: Continues in good health: and much improved mentally.

"Feb 20th, 1873: Should be brought before the Board. No answer has been received from his son who was informed that his father could be given up to him after the Board Meeting in February.

Less than three months after his admission, George Faulkner "being of perfectly sane mind" was "discharged cured" from Parramatta Asylum on February 24th 1873.

"Indecently exposing his person"

On 3 August 1872, a few months before he turned seventy, George Faulkner was committed to Queanbeyan Gaol for three months after pleading guilty, under the Vagrant Act, before Joseph Styles and Arthur Affleck, JPs, of “indecently exposing his person” in a public street, namely Cork Street, Gundaroo on 2 August.

The Yass Courier reported the story, omitting details of the offence: “On Saturday last George Falconer [sic], better known as Old Blocker, was brought before Messrs. Styles and Affleck under the Vagrant Act. The unfortunate was in the horrors of drink, and as this was his second offence, he was sent to prison at Queanbeyan for three months.”

On 16 September, he was transferred to Goulburn Gaol where he was examined separately by two doctors, William Hayley and Selby Norton.

George Faulkner, Hayley found, was "restless", "talked a great deal of nonsense" and "labors under hallucinations and illusions". Selby added that "he is constantly asking for a warrant for persons who have wronged him". Both noted that their patient believed he had a hole in his chin which "he had stopped up with bread". His gaoler reported that he was "disgustingly filthy in his habits", a reference, perhaps, to masturbation.

Hayley wrote that his patient "believes that he has a house, wife and family and is the possessor of property, whereas he is homeless and destitute".

Certified insane by the two doctors, "George Faulkner, blacksmith, late of Gundaroo" was transferred from Goulburn Gaol to the lunatic asylum at Parramatta on 14 October.

Colonial-Secretary's Correspondence (72/7893)
Yass Courier, 9 August 1872

Mary Faulkner, died Glebe 1852

Wondering if the Mary Faulkner who died in 1852 might possibly be Maria Faulkner, I ordered her death certificate from Births, Deaths and Marriages New South Wales.

The information on her death certificate is scant. She had lived in Glebe, in Sydney. She was fifty. And her burial on 21 August 1852 was in Sydney South Circuit, County of Cumberland - possibly the old Devonshire Street cemetery. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. B. Chapman, a Wesleyan minister. Her "quality or profession" is not stated, nor is the cause of death.

Going by her age and religion, she may have been the Mary Faulkner from Sussex who arrived on the Roxburgh Castle in 1839, aged 37.

Her exit from this world did not warrant a death or funeral notice in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Convicts named Steward arriving in Australia

Twenty-five men and three women with the surname Steward appear on the British convict transportation registers. Seven were named William Steward, five Thomas, four John, three Robert, three Charles, two George and one Henry. All the women were Elizabeths. In 1814 a Sarah Steward, the wife of a convict, arrived with her two daughters, Jane and Mary.

Other convicts named Steward arrived under different names. The Colonial-Secretary's Index has an Ann Jemima Steward who arrived on the Morley in 1820, her name recorded as Seward. The 1828 Census records a John Steward who supposedly arrived on the Somersetshire in 1814, but whose name doesn't appear on the British convict transportation registers. At the time of the census he was an overseer assigned to a Mr Barber "at Yass, on the Goulburn Plains".

Others were transported from Ireland. Bridget Steward arrived from Cork on the Almorah in 1824, her name recorded as Stewart. An entry on the Colonial-Secretary's Index noted she was "not be assigned from the Female Factory, Parramatta until the Almorah left Port Jackson". The Samuel Steward who has five entries under his name in the index to the Colonial-Secretary's records may have arrived from Ireland.

At least three convicts named Steward were employed in the Gundaroo area before 1846.

William Steward who arrived on the Countess of Harcourt in 1828 was living in Bathurst when he received a ticket of leave in 1834 and his freedom in 1835. A black Jamaican, he had been tried at Lancaster Quarter Sessions.

Another William Steward who arrived on the Asia in 1833 was in Yass when he received his ticket of leave in 1837.

Thomas Steward arrived in 1836 on the Strathfieldsay and was in Yass when he received a ticket of leave in 1840.

Maria Steward's name doesn't appear in the British convict transportation registers, on lists of convict women or on the Colonial-Secretary's Index.

British convict transportation registers 1787-1867, One Search database (http://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au), State Library of Queensland
NSW State Records, Index to the Colonial-Secretary's Correspondence
NSW Convict Women on Ships arriving from England and Ireland 1788-1828, http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/confem66.html

To Newcastle as an assigned servant...

The Index to the Colonial-Secretary's Papers, 1788-1825, includes an entry for a John Faulkner, who also supposedly arrived on the Eliza (2) in 1822. On 25 July 1823 this John Faulkner was permitted to travel to Newcastle on the Fame as the assigned servant of A. McLeod.

Since the convicts on the Eliza (2) did not include a John Faulkner, the "John" seems to be an incorrect transcription of George.

Alexander McLeod had a large property called Luskintyre, near Wallis Plains (Maitland). Chas. McLeod, the defaulter in payment for George Faulkner almost a year later, was presumably a member of the same family.

NSW State Records, Index Colonial-Secretary's Correspondence, Reel 6010; 4/3508, p.712)

Maria Steward

All that is known of Maria Steward comes from three official documents: her marriage certificate, the baptism certificate of her first child, and a death certificate that may or may not be hers.

Maria Steward married George Faulkner in Gundaroo on 26 January 1846. The minister was Church of England, E. Smith, the witnesses F. Timmins and M. Timmins of Gundaroo. Maria was seven and a half months pregnant. Six weeks later, on 6 March, she gave birth to their first child, George. Frederick was born in 1848, but his birth was not registered.

Maria and George gave consent to the marriage themselves. Maria was not so young she needed the consent of her parents to marry, and nor did she need the consent of the government. She wasn't a convict or a ticket-of-leave holder.

There is a death certificate for a Maria Falkner, without the "u". She died a pauper in Hyde Park Asylum for Infirm and Destitute Women (now Hyde Park museum) in 1883. Her death, on 16 February, is recorded as caused by "senile debility". She was 63. She was buried in Church of England section of Rookwood Necropolis. The death certificate leaves blank her place of marriage, age at marriage, and children. Her place of birth is listed as Gibraltar.

Faulkners arriving from Northampton in 1844

A Faulkner family arrived as bounty immigrants on the Dale Park in Port Philip, Victoria on 21 July 1844.

Abraham, an agricultural labourer, and Anne Faulkner were both 32. Their four children were George 10, William 8, Hanna 6 and Jane 3. Their native place was Northampton, their religion Protestant.

Abraham and Anne could read, but not write.

Along with other "Persons on bounty ships arriving at Port Philip", a microfilm copy of the Dale Park's passenger list has been digitised. It can be viewed here:

http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/nrs-lists/nrs-5316

The convict settlement at Hunter's River

John Thomas Bigge visited Hunter's River (Newcastle) in 1819-20 as part of his investigations for the British government into the cost and effectiveness of the convict transportation system.

The convict settlement at Newcastle provided coal and timber for Port Jackson. After the closure of Norfolk Island in 1813 it was also the place where convicts who had re-offended in the colony were sent as a secondary punishment.

Major Morriset, the commandant, lived on a hill overlooking a town of 890 inhabitants, of whom 700 were convicts. The town's seven streets contained thirteen houses owned by the government and 71 by convicts. Convicts who could not find their own lodgings or who "were not to be trusted in the houses of others" were housed in a newly-built wooden barracks of four rooms and two sheds. Here men slept three to a "crib" - a space 4 feet 3 inches wide and 6 feet long. The barracks accommodated 246 men. Bigge reported that the construction of the barracks had reduced the number of instances of men bartering their rations for tobacco and other "illegal articles" and prevented "nocturnal escapes". Escapes from houses were reduced by making householders responsible if their lodgers "[quit] the settlement without leave".

By 1818, Newcastle had a the commandant's house, a church, hospital and gaol. The following year a surgeon's quarter, officer's quarter, workhouse, blacksmiths and forge had been completed and the breakwater was under construction. By 1820 a parsonage and windmill had been built.

Bigge reported that convicts worked from 5 am to sunset in summer, with six hours off on Saturdays. They were mustered four times each day. Constables and overseers, convicts themselves, received increased rations, but the superintendent reported he "had no confidence in the constables, and they connived at the escapes of the prisoners".

Convicts worked as timber-cutters, miners, builders and lime-burners. Some were sent 70 miles inland for a month at a time to cut timber and float it downriver. Others worked at a coal mine close to the barracks or were set to work building a breakwater. Those who had re-offended or who had "bad characters" were sent across the river where they collected oyster shells and burned them into lime which they carried in baskets on their shoulders to boats moored in the shallows. Bigge reported that the convicts' shoulders, being unprotected, were sometimes "slightly burnt" when sea spray mixed with the lime. Lime-burners also suffered eye damage from smoke, sometimes deliberately "exposing themselves...that the state of their eye might afford a pretext for their removal from the settlement".

"The punishment for offences at Newcastle", Bigge wrote, "consists of work in the chain gang, and flogging inflicted with more severity than at other settlements."

Bigge goes on to describe the inadequacy of rations (convicts often ate their day's ration at one meal), the frequency of escape attempts, the role of local Aborigines in recapturing escapees, the establishment of a settlement at Wallis Plains (Maitland), the measures taken to restrict alcohol, the requirement for convicts to attend church services, the opening of a school for children of soldiers and convicts, and the completion dates of Newcastle's public buildings, houses and boats.

Bigge's Report of the Commissioner of Inquiry into the state of the Colony of New South Wales [London] 1822

The section of Bigge's report dealing with The Convict Settlement at Hunter's River is published online by Hunter River Genealogy.

Newcastle barracks

In the early years of New South Wales, general musters were held annually to count the population of each district and record whether they were victualled, or on government rations. In an episode of the television series The Colony, a government officer arrives at the settlement to collect the details of every man, woman and child present - except, if I remember correctly, the Aborigines. In 1828, writes NSW State Records, the first census was conducted "after it was found that the Governor had no power to compel free men to come to a muster".

George Faulkner, his name misspelt Fawlkner, is recorded in annual musters held in 1823, 1824 and 1825 as being in "Govt Employ" in Newcastle.

In November 1828, when the first census was conducted, his residence is "Newcastle barracks".

Short Guide 12 - Muster and census records, 1788-1901, NSW State Records
General Muster Lists of New South Wales for 1823, 1824 and 1825
1828 Census

"The pulse of the deceased was very low..."

"CORONER'S INQUEST.---Yesterday, an inquest was held before the Coroner, at the Sportsman's Arms, Pitt-street, on view of the body of George Falkner [sic], then lying dead in Goulburn-street. From the evidence of Mr. Robert French, residing in Goulburn Street, it appears that deceased, who was his brother-in-law, and about 31 years of age, had care of witness's horses. On Saturday morning deceased was in the stable-yard, and was passing a horse which witness had just purchased, when the animal kicked him in the lower part of the abdomen. Dr Fullerton was immediately sent for, who prescribed for deceased, but the latter lingered until about eight o'clock on Sunday morning, when he expired. The horse was stated to be a very quiet one. Dr Fullerton stated that he was called in on Saturday last to attend deceased, who, he was told, had been kicked by a horse. He complained of injuries received at the right groin and over the lower margin of the liver. He said the horse had kicked him with one foot only, which caused Dr. F. to remark that one foot could not have injured both parts at the same time. The pulse of deceased was very low, and his extremities very cold, and he appeared to be suffering greatly. Dr. F. prescribed for him, and in about two hours found that the pulse had slightly rallied, although the pain continued to be equally severe. Leeches and other remedies were applied, but he died on Tuesday morning. There were no external marks of violence, and without making a post mortem examination, Dr. F. could not say what was the immediate cause of death. Verdict, died from injuries accidentally received." – Sydney Morning Herald, 6 July 1852

George Faulkner's death certificate leaves blank his "quality or profession", but his age is stated to be 31 and his religion Wesleyan. He was buried the day after the inquest, on Tuesday, 6 July. The funeral took place in Sydney South Circuit, performed by the Rev. B. Chapman.

Is he the George Faulkner who arrived with his family in 1839?

Sydney Morning Herald, 6 July 1852, p.2
NSW Burial Registration 521 Vol 110

Faulkners in Britain in the 1881 Census

In the 1881 Census, there were more Faulkners in Lancashire (1242) than in any other UK county.

While Birmingham had more Faulkners than any other town (144), there were 110 in Manchester and 100 in Salford - just under 1% of the town's total population.

http://www.britishsurnames.co.uk/surnames/FAULKNER/1881census

Faulkners arriving from Sussex in 1839

On Tuesday 28 May 1839, the Sydney Gazette reported the arrival the previous Sunday of the Roxburgh Castle from London via the Cape of Good Hope with 308 bounty immigrants. There had been 15 deaths on the voyage so the ship went to the Quarantine Ground at North Head, before landing her passengers and cargo at Messrs. Walker & Co.'s wharf (Sydney Gazette, 30 May) .

The passenger list gives each person's name, age, occupation, native place, religion, whether they can read and/or write, and the bounty paid for them.

One of those deaths at sea was Stephen Faulkner, age 40, whose name is crossed out, marked "Died on the passage". Under his name are those of his wife and three children.

Mary 37 Farm Servant Sussex Wesleyan Read and write
George 13 Sussex Wesleyan Read and write

Stephen 12 Sussex Wesleyan Read and write
Mary Ann 3

There is also a Jane Faulkner, aged 20, Dairy Maid, listed with the single women. She may be an adult daughter. Many of the single men and women share the same names as families on the ship but are listed separately, possibly because once they were over 15 a higher bounty was paid for them.

Interestingly, while all the Roxburgh Castle's passengers are described as "British subjects", Jane Faulkner was born not in Sussex, but in France.

Along with those of other bounty ships, the Roxburgh Castle's passenger list has been digitised. It can be viewed here:

http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/nrs-lists/nrs-5316

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 28 and 30 May 1839

"Sixty pence, sixty half-pence, and one knife..."

"George Faulkner and Richard Bond have been committed to our Castle, since our last, charged with having assaulted Thomas Holliday, on the King's highway, at Salford, and violently stolen from his person sixty pence, sixty half-pence, and one knife, his property" – The Lancaster Gazette and General Advertiser, 29 December 1821

On 23 March 1822, George Faulkner and Richard Bond were sentenced at Lancaster Assizes to "to be severally hanged by the neck until they be dead" for highway robbery.

On 24 April, Justice John Bayley, Chief Justice, commuted their sentences to transportation for life. On that day, 47 men and two women sentenced at Lancaster Assizes for highway robbery, burglary, stealing in a dwelling house, forgery, horse-stealing, stealing a heifer and sheep-stealing had their death sentences commuted.

Richard Bond was transported to Van Diemen's Land on the Morley. On 31 July 1831, in Hobart, his name appears on a list of convicts granted tickets of leave.

The Lancaster Gazette and General Advertiser, for Lancashire, Westmorland, &c., 29 December 1821, Issue 1073
[no title] DDCM 1/20 24 Apr. 1822, Lancashire Records Office
One Search database (http://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au), State Library of Queensland
Hobart Town Courier, 30 December 1831, p. 2

Master and convict

In 1824 (or thereabouts), George Faulkner's name appears again in the Colonial Secretary's correspondence. He is an assigned convict mechanic, or tradesman - his trade is given as blacksmith, his ship the Eliza (2) - whose master Chas. McLeod is "a defaulter in payment".

His residence is Hunter's River (Newcastle).

NSW State Records, Colonial-Secretary's Correspondence, Reel 6061; 4/1778, p.265f

Prisoners punished at Newcastle

In April 1824, George Faulkner's name appears on a list of prisoners punished at Newcastle. His name is misspelt Fawlker, but the details are correct - he is a blacksmith and his ship is the Eliza (2).

He receives 25 lashes "for stealing coal at the mines".

NSW State Records, Colonial-Secretary's Correspondence, Reel 6023; 4/1718, p.181

"You bloody Scotch bugger..."

In 1873, William Affleck was a big man in Gundaroo, the owner of the Caledonian Store, licensee of the Royal Hotel (now Grazing Restaurant, above) and son of Arthur Affleck, one of the JPs who'd sentenced George Faulkner to three months in Queanbeyan Gaol the previous year.

On 14 June, George Faulkner abused William Affleck on the main street: "You bloody Scotch bugger, I'll break your bloody door and smash your bloody machinery'".

What sort of machinery? Why smash it?

The Royal was a staging post for Cobb & Co. According to its National Trust plaque, the hotel's stone stables "once served as a blacksmith's shop for travellers enjoying the Royal's accommodation".

Was George Faulkner the blacksmith? Did Affleck owe him money? Had he sacked him?

The Yass Courier reported the outcome: "On Saturday last, George Faulkner, better known as Old Blocker, was brought up at the Police Court, before Messrs. Styles and Affleck, under the Vagrant Act, for using obscene language in a public place, and was sent to Queanbeyan Gaol for three months."

Yass Courier, Tuesday 24 June 1873

Inverary in 1841

The 1841 Census lists 17 establishments in Bungonia, a small town about 20km south-east of Goulburn in the district of Inverary. After early explorers followed rivers and creeks inland, free settlers were granted leases here from 1822. In 1831, the site for Bungonia was excised from one of those leases, surveyed and divided up into allotments.

The Census gives the name of the head of each household. Other members of the household are not named, but their details appear in household totals for age groups, sex, marital status, civil condition (whether born in the colony, arrived free, other free persons, ticket of leave holders, or convicts in government employment or private assignment), religion and occupational group. The Mulwaree Heritage Study fills in some of the details.

Bungonia's 17 householders include the Revd. George Wood, police officer Patrick O'Brien, John Sceales (misspelt Scales in the Census), storekeeper John Lynch, ticket-of-leave holder Matthew Bull, and Edward Hughes and his wife who ran the Ship Inn.

The total population is 82, 51 males and 31 females, and predominantly they are young. There are 6 children under two, 13 aged two to under seven, and 5 aged seven to under 14. Of the 16 women, not one is over 45. Five men are aged 45 to 60.

If George Faulkner lives in one of these households, it must be one of the six that include ticket of leave holders. Four of these six also have "mechanics", or tradesmen. These are the households headed by John Armstrong, David Brown (or Browne), the Revd. George Wood and Patrick Kelly. John Armstrong and Patrick Kelly's households can probably be excluded - everyone under their roof was Catholic.

David Brown's household numbered 11 people, 7 males and 4 females, living in an unfinished timber house. Four of the men, including David Brown himself, held tickets of leave. Three were assigned convicts. One female arrived free. The other three females are young girls, one under 2 and two aged 2 to under 7. Eight were Church of England and three were Catholics. The household appears to comprise David Brown and his wife, their three young girls, three men who hold tickets of leave and three assigned convicts. Four of the men were "mechanics".

The Revd. George Wood occupied Bungonia's only stone dwelling. His household comprised 9 people in total, 4 males and 5 females including 2 young girls. Two males and two females were married. Two men and one woman were single. Two men arrived free and two held tickets of leave. One woman arrived free, one held a ticket of leave and one was assigned. Eight gave their religion as Church of England, one was Catholic. Their occupations ranged from top to bottom of the scale, from "landed proprietor" to "servant". So they might have been George Wood and his wife who both arrived free, a free "mechanic" and his ticket of leave wife, two children, two ticket of leave men (a mechanic and a gardener) and an assigned female servant, possibly the only Catholic. Or some other permutation of male and female, married and single, ticket of leave holder, assigned convict and free.

David Brown's establishment seems the more egalitarian place to be.

1841 Census, Abstracts of Householders Returns, State Records NSW, Reels 2222 and 2223
Mulwaree Shire Community Heritage Study 2002-2004, p.125–146

As good as a photograph

George Faulkner received his ticket of leave on 31 March 1834. On 28 July 1835 it was "surrendered mutilated and cancelled", and a replacement issued.

Tickets of leave contained all the information needed to identify someone: the ship they came on and its master, year and place of birth, trade or calling, the date and place of trial and physical description (height, hair, eye colour and general remarks).

George Faulkner was a blacksmith, in his early thirties, five feet three and a half inches, with dark brown curly hair and grey eyes. He had two cuts on his chin and one on his forehead. He would have had a Manchester accent.

His ticket of leave was as good as a photograph. He had to carry it with him at all times, present it to a constable on demand and report to ticket of leave musters.

After twelve years and three months in New South Wales, he was free to work for himself. The only condition was that he remain in the district of Inverary.

Ticket of Leave 34/1001
Ticket of Leave 35/581

Victoria Park, Mt Russell, c. 1901

Taken from a slight elevation, this photo of "Victoria Park", Mount Russell was probably taken by H. Billington & Co of Inverell, according to the State Library's curator of photographs.

George and Maria Faulkner's son, George, stands in the foreground, his back to the camera. His wife Mary Ann (nee Selmes), an older daughter and the youngest, a baby, are close to the house. Two women have just arrived. In a semi-circle, four young children are playing a ball game. Horses, sheep and cows are grouped to the right. In the distance is an open-doored shed, a smaller shearing shed (with an indistinct figure, perhaps a farm worker, outside) and fences. Two widely spaced lines of small trees radiate out from the house - the beginning of the orchard or, perhaps, only the suggestion of an orchard. My brother says they are tree branches stuck in the ground. And how can the buggy have just arrived when a small boy is in its path?

Distributions from Emu Plains

On 26 November 1822, George Faulkner and other convicts from the Eliza (2) were sent to Emu Plains "for distribution".

Three months later, the first of the Eliza (2) convicts absconds. He is J. Dawson, a fresh-faced 26-year-old from Skipton, and it seems he is not alone. Also missing from Emu Plains are W. Goggerly, J. Sinnot, J. White, Jos. Jones, J. Truelove, Pat. Connelly and W. Bradley. Their names appear toward the end of the list of "prisoners having absented themselves from their usual employment" published in the Sydney Gazette. They have been gone a week. At the top of the list is J. Bailey, a 22-year-old from Wiltshire, who "absented" himself from his employment with J. Pritchard 49 weeks earlier.

NSW State Records, Colonial-Secretary's Correspondence, Reel 6009; 4/3506, p.474
Sydney Gazette, Thursday 27 February 1823, p. 1S

Convict ship Eliza (2)

The Eliza (2) arrived in Sydney on 22 November 1822, after a 125-day voyage from Sheerness.

Her arrival was reported by the Sydney Gazette: "On Friday last arrived from England which she left the 5th of August, the ship Eliza, Captain Hunt. She brings 160 male prisoners, under guard of a detachment of the 3d Regt. (Buffs.), commanded by Captain Innis. The Surgeon Superintendent is Dr. Rae, R. N. Passenger, Mr. Innis." (29 Nov 1822, p.2)

All George Faulkner's fellow convicts survived the voyage. Only one, Joseph Windle, has his brief story recounted on Convict Tales. With his brother Alfred he had been transported for seven years for stealing 48 rolls of ribbon. After the expiry of his sentence he may have returned to England.

Source: Convict ships to New South Wales 1801-1849 at http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/shipNSW2.html