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Category Archives: Australia
The thief up the chimney: Old Bailey Online 10th anniversary post
This is a tale of larceny and pubs – and a certain amount of naivety. The combination was disastrous for James Thomas Richards, a 20-year-old Thames waterman, and lucky for me, since he’s my great-great grandfather and met my 2x … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Convicts, London, Trial
Tagged #OBO10, Central Criminal Court, Convict, Deptford, James Thomas Richards, London, New South Wales, Old Bailey, Old Bailey Online, Transportation, trial
7 Comments
My first Australian ancestor (Australia Day Challenge 2013)
This year’s challenge comes from Helen at From Helen V Smith’s Keyboard. She writes: “Your challenge… is to tell the story of your first Australian ancestor.” Now that does make it a challenge! Because the first-ever Australian in my family … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Convicts, Genealogy, Nicholas Delaney
Tagged Australia Day, Bayly, Elizabeth Bayley, Elizabeth Bayly, Elizabeth Delaney, John Delaney, Samuel Marsden
11 Comments
Support our archives! Guest post
After talking about International Archives Day recently, I have asked Patricia Owen, who has spent many years hunting down books and manuscripts in libraries and archives, to write a guest post about her experiences of using them. Archives The papers … Continue reading
Deep down in Deptford (and thumbs up for archives)
Deep into Deptford’s history, that is, looking for secrets in the streets. And possibly finding my great-great-great-great grandparents – how exciting! Today, June 9th, is International Archives Day and I’m hugely grateful to all the archivists and the archives, small … Continue reading
When John met Sarah – convict courtship
How did my 3x great grandparents, John and Sarah Simpson, meet? They were quick workers, we know that. John Simpson disembarked at Sydney Cove on January 16, 1818 and Sarah Marshall a week or so after. About a month later, … Continue reading
Some happy finds
Sometimes I come across a batch of lucky A Rebel Hand-related discoveries on the net and it’s good to share them, so here’s a round-up. The Convict Maid Following on from my last one, about women convicts and the early … Continue reading
Posted in 1798, A Rebel Hand, Australia, Convicts
Tagged A Rebel Hand, Australia, Billy Byrne, Convict, Ireland, Irish Rebellion of 1798, Secret River
5 Comments
The Factory above the Gaol – women convicts in 1818
When my great-great-great grandmother Sarah Marshall stumbled off the convict transport Friendship on January 14, 1818, she emerged from a traumatic journey of confinement and scurvy which became notorious for ‘indecent and licentious intercourse’ to find herself in an … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Convicts, Transportation
Tagged Australia, Convict, Female Factory, John Simpson, Macquarie, Sarah Marshall, Sarah Simpson, Sarah's grave, Transportation, women convicts
7 Comments
What did Mary do on Monday? Women’s work
Mary doing the washing at Moyne I love this picture of my great grandmother, Mary Maude Delaney (nee Wilson). In all the other family photos, she is posed, poised and very formal, a respectable Victorian matron. But in this one, … Continue reading
Family myths, cover-ups – what did Nicholas Delaney really do?
I’m researching my blog post for Twigs of Yore‘s Australia Day challenge. This year it’s about work. Shelley says: Choose someone who lived in Australia (preferably one of your ancestors) and tell us how they toiled. Your post should include: … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Blogging
Tagged A Rebel Hand, Australia Day, Convict, Macquarie, Nicholas Delaney, trial
10 Comments
What else was happening in Australia?
Reading other genealogy and family history blogs and posts is inspiring. One idea I’ve been impressed by is having a timeline of the historical background to someone’s life. So here is what was happening in Australia during the time Nicholas … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Nicholas Delaney
Tagged Atlas II, Bligh, convict ship, Free pardon, history, Major George Johnston, New South Wales, Rum Rebellion
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My first Christmas – a link with the past
I treasure this photograph. It’s of my grandfather, Laurence Thomas Delaney, holding me on his knee on my first Christmas Day. He’s my link to all the generations of Delaneys (and Marshalls, Simpsons, Wilsons and Henleys) in Australia over two … Continue reading
Posted in Australia
Tagged Delaney, family, genealogy, Laurence Thomas Delaney, Moyne, Sarah Marshall, Sarah Simpson
3 Comments
Was Sarah murdered? Is she a famous ghost?
For a change from thinking about Nicholas, I typed Sarah Marshall into Google. She’s my g-g-g grandmother, a convict who arrived in New South Wales on the Friendship in 1818. She married John Simpson (Ocean II, arr 1818) and later … Continue reading
Posted in Australia, Convicts
Tagged A Rebel Hand, family, genealogy, Heritage, history, Murder, New South Wales, Sarah Marshall, Sarah Simpson, Sarah's grave, Transportation
26 Comments
