George Faulkner and Jane Williams, Sutton Forest, 1835

In August 1835 George Faulkner and Jane Williams's names appear in the NSW Register of Convicts' Applications to Marry.

It is the right George Faulkner - transported on the Eliza (2), sentenced to life, and 32 years old. He would turn 33 the following November.

Jane Williams was 22 and free. She had been transported on the Louisa which landed in Sydney on 2 December 1827. A needlewoman, born in London and convicted in Kent, she had been sentenced to seven years. On 3 October 1834 she received her Certificate of Freedom.

The Register of Convict Applications to Marry gives the clergyman's name - which is difficult to make out - but the place is Sutton Forest in the Southern Highlands of NSW. George Faulkner stated that he was single. Jane Williams, however, said that she was married and had one child. Like other applications where one or both parties were already married, the application was not granted.

I wonder if George Faulkner and Jane Williams let the absence of a marriage certificate get in the way.

Marks of punishment on his back

One thing I hadn't looked at was George Faulkner's gaol admission record from when he was arrested in 1872 and imprisoned in Goulburn Gaol. But someone else did, and they put in on ancestry.com.

In the Remarks column there's a description of his distinguishing features:

"Right lower eyelid of ----- nose. Short scar over right eye and scar under right eye. Marks of punishment on his back. Back much curved. Scar on left wrist."

The marks of punishment were presumably from when he was flogged in Newcastle almost 50 years before, for stealing coal from the mines. Twenty-five lashes.

He was 70 when he was admitted to Goulburn Gaol and had shrunk from his original five feet, three and a half inches to just five feet. His complexion was still "Fresh".

The Education column records that he could read and write.