John Moxon of Ferrybridge in Yorkshire, born about 1795, was convicted of highway robbery at the York Assizes on 8th March 1817, aged 22. He was sentenced to death, but like many others at the time, this sentence was commuted to transportation for life.
There is a query about his place of origin, since the conditional pardon states he was from Thorpe. There is a Thorpe-on-the-Hill near Leeds and Carlton.
In November 1818 he was on the list of prisoners sent to Newcastle per "Lady Nelson".
Early records have him working for the well-known Throsby family at Liverpool. He was given a ticket of leave in 1838, meaning he could work for himself under strict conditions. In 1842 he was in Darlinghurst gaol, so it seemed he could not keep out of trouble.
He was described as 6 feet tall, sallow complexion, hazel eyes, Catholic and a farm labourer.
He was given a conditional pardon in 1849 - NSW State Records New South Wales, Australia,Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons 1791-1867. A conditional pardon meant that he could not return to any part of the United Kingdom or Ireland.
Ferrybridge is just north of Pontefract and the intersection of the M1 and M62 motorways. No doubt it is much changed since his birth in about 1795. I wonder if one of our Moxon families has claimed him?
More research needs to be undertaken for this convict. It is fortunate that convicts were usually described by the ship on which they arrived in the colony, since it is otherwise difficult sorting out all the John Moxons! A popular name even in the early nineteenth century.
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