Robert Moxon, a butcher by trade,
was baptised at St Mary’s, Nottingham on 4 April, 1803, the son of John and
Phebe Mugson. In every other record, his
parents were named Moxon. A John Moxon
had married Phoebe Teel in South Lynn, Norfolk in 1794, the only recorded
marriage of a John Moxon and a Phoebe. A
son John was born to the couple in 1796 and a daughter Elizabeth in 1805. Sadly Elizabeth died the same year.
In 1818, his older brother John
was convicted of larceny and sentenced to seven years transportation. He arrived in Port Jackson on the Lord
Sidmouth in March 1819 and was assigned to Captain Piper, a naval officer after
whom the now affluent Sydney suburb of Point Piper is named.
John appears to have been highly
regarded by his master, who found him “an honest, sober, industrious character,
having faithfully served his master” (note 1), and recommended for a ticket of
leave in 1823. Being a seaman, he became a ferryman on Sydney harbour and
married a daughter of the well-known ferryman William Blue. (See Moxons Down
Under Newsletter - May 2013)
The year after John’s conviction
in 1818, younger brother Robert came to the attention of the law in Nottingham. After a sentence of 12 months in October
1819, followed by an acquittal for a second offence, he was again convicted on
11th January 1821 of stealing from a shop (where he worked maybe?) and
sentenced to seven years transportation.
He was sent to the convict hulk Justitia moored at Greenwich and on 26th
March 1821 sailed for Port Jackson on the Adamant.
 |
| Adamant 1821 |
His behaviour suggests he might
have been looking for a sentence of transportation after a positive experience
by his brother, but then again maybe he just couldn’t help himself.
Robert was noted in the 1822
muster as also working for Captain Piper, but maybe the latter was disappointed
in his work and character.
By 1825, Robert was re-assigned
to a landholder at Bathurst, a Mr Hawkins.
The very same year, he used his brother John’s Certificate of Freedom,
and absconded. Quickly caught, he was
subjected to 50 lashes, and returned to his master at Bathurst. Imagine his scars: by the fourth lash of a
leather cat o’ nine tails, his skin would be broken, and by 50 lashes, his
backbone would have been exposed. The
punishments were inflicted by other convicts, sometimes the convict’s fellow
workers, in order to break loyalties.
Robert would have been expected
to go back to work immediately, and his back may not have been washed until the
following day. (note 2)
This event did not seem to have
extended his sentence, because by 28th January 1828, he too had gained his
certificate of freedom. However Robert
seemed not to be able to avoid temptation.
In 1830 he was tried for stealing beef and acquitted, but in 1833, he
was gaoled for larceny.
It is assumed that John Moxon
died before 1834 because Susannah Moxon married George Lavender in 1834. No death record can be found.
Robert too, fades into oblivion. Nothing further is heard of him in either
Australia or England.
1. Ancestry.co.uk New South
Wales Colonial Secretary’s papers, 1788-1856. Downloaded 20/11/15
