C is for Convicts

 In earlier years, I have written eight posts about Moxon/ Moxan/ Moxham/ Moxom convicts transported to the colonies of New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land. Strangely enough, I have found - so far - that just ONE of these convicts established a family dynasty in Australia.  This is the Moxom family of Victoria and New South Wales which I mentioned yesterday in my post about Robert Moxon of Bathurst.  His brother "William Moxon/Moxham, convict 1842, Tortoise" established the "Moxom" family.

Many of these convicts died without death certificates that are discoverable in New South Wales.  At least one of them did marry.  John Moxon, Lord Sidmouth, 1819, married Suzannah Blue, daughter of the very famous Billy Blue, after whom Blue's Point was named.  However, by 1834 she had married George Lavender, after whom another bay in Port Jackson was named (after originally being called Moxom's Bay).

Thomas Moxham, a Third Fleet (Matilda, 1791), the first namesake to reach these shores did marry and produce children.  One died in infancy and is buried in the first cemetery in 1798. A son, another John Moxon was born in 1806 to Thomas and his wife Maria McNally, an Irish convict.  He certainly survived and settled on the McDonald River near the Hawkesbury River but there is no indication that he married.

However, despite no record of descendants of most of these convicts, a number of them left families in England or Ireland.  Jacob Moxon, a former soldier in Dublin who died before completing his sentence left a wife and family in the UK. The family may have returned to Jacob's birthplace in Yorkshire.

The earlier mentioned Thomas Moxham (Moakson) from Silkstone left a wife, Mary Garside and two infant sons in Yorkshire.  One child died before Thomas left England, but the other - another Thomas (1786-1824) married Sarah Sleigh (1788-1873) and created an English Moxon sub-branch of the Moxon Society's "Moxons of Silkstone - MX27" tree.

William Moxon (Tortoise 1842) left a family of five surviving children of his marriage to Elizabeth Emerton in Stewkley, Buckinghamshire.  He also had four stepchildren to his second wife, widow Hannah Chandler. 

So it is clear that there are descendants of Australian colonial convicts all over the world, not just in Australia - probably mostly in England!

It is now considered - at least in Australia - to be an honour to have a convict in the family.  Whilst my husband John Bruce Moxon does not have direct Moxon convicts to boast about or cover-up, he has claimed two - James Bruce (1791-1874), a convict on the Surry(2) 1831, convicted for life for burglary and Peter Colgan (Callaghan), an Irish convict from County Meath, convicted for highway robbery.

Two of John's Egan ancestors - Irish free settlers who were his 2x great grandfather and great grandfather - were convicted for perjury and sent to gaol for three years each.  And the latter's brother John Egan, for whom they gave a false alibi was convicted for bushranging, given a sentence of 14 years and sent into exile to San Francisco after seven years with no permission to return.

Member Mary Moxham's free settler ancestor (The Society's tree "Moxhams of Ebbesbourne Wake - MX37" - John Moxham (1795-1870) - migrated to New South Wales from Dorset in 1849.  He picked a fight with a fellow shell collector in the Hunter district and was convicted for violent assault and sentenced to 12 month's gaol.  This incident is described in the Moxon Down Under Newsletter No 11, 2018.

We are lucky in many ways to have convicts - whether convicted and sentenced in Australia or the British Isles - in our families because unless we have aristocratic roots, our families are not well documented.

James Moxham, Prince Regent 1820

Born in 1794, James Moxham was a son – probably the oldest – of Thomas and Sarah Moxham of Birmingham, baptised on 20^th July, 1795.

In 1813, James joined the Foot Guard during the Napoleonic Wars.

This Moxham family established themselves as gunsmiths and later, maltsters and were upwardly mobile in Birmingham throughout the 19^thcentury.

James’ brother, Thomas (born 1804) was originally a gun stockman, then a gunsmith, and at his death was described as a gun manufacturer, leaving an estate of “less than £12,000” at his death in 1878. His son Thomas, a maltster was also wealthy, leaving just under the same amount.

However, in February 1819, James Moxham was convicted at the Northampton Assizes of uttering forged notes and transported to New South Wales for fourteen years. He arrived on the Prince Regent in early 1820 and was sent to Parramatta for distribution.  At one stage he was located at Port Macquarie, but returned to Sydney well before obtaining his ticket of leave in 1831. He was given a certificate of Freedom in early 1833 when his sentence expired.

By 1826, James had requested and been approved to marry another convict Diana Hughes, also known as Mary Anne Rycroft, a dressmaker from London who was sentenced to transportation for life, arriving on the Midas in 1825.

By 1829, he was working for a Mr Jennings in Castlereagh Street, making shoes for children with misshapen feet, and gaining an excellent reputation for such work.  When he gained his certificate of freedom, he set up in his former calling as a gunsmith.

There is no NSW record of any children being born to James Moxham and his wife Diana/Mary Anne. It would appear that James died in 1848 in the Goulburn area, aged 55.

More about Robert Moxon, convict, Adamant 1821

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. 

Here is more about Captain John Piper. 

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.

Notes:

1. Ancestry.co.uk  New South Wales Colonial Secretary’s papers, 1788-1856. Downloaded 20/11/15

2. http://www.convictcreations.com/history/punishments.html. Downloaded 18/11/15

William Moxon, convict on the Tortoise, 1842

William Moxon, born about 1801 in Stewkley, Buckinghamshire was convicted of sheep-stealing at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire on 9th March 1841.  He was the son of John and Rebecca Muxeon.  He married twice in Stewkley, the first time in 1821 to Elizabeth Emerton who bore him 8 children, three of whom died in infancy. After her death in 1839 he married a widow, Hanna Chandler who already had four children.

William was sentenced to transportation for 10 years for stealing a sheep on 6th January 1841.  It was his second conviction. He stated that he had been convicted and sentenced to one month's imprisonment for stealing a turnip about 18 years earlier.

He arrived in Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) in February 1842. on the Tortoise.

In 1853 William married Mary Hurst, another convict who was born in Meltham, Yorkshire.  They had had a son William born 1852.

The family sailed from Launcestonto Port Phillip District (Melbourne) in 1855 under the name Moxom and settled in the Kingower area, where Henry, Alfred, George and Mary Ann Moxom were born. The descendants have all taken the name Moxom.  Earlier William was known variously as Moxham and Moxon.

William died in 1869 and is buried in the Kamarooka Cemetery (Victoria).  Mary remarried after his death to John Piggott and she died in 1879.

Further information about their descendants can be found at The Moxon Society's website (MX01 family tree available for members only).

In 1849, William's younger brother Robert Moxon (b1811) migrated to Bathurst, NSW with his wife Sarah.  There is no record of the brothers ever having met again.  Both brothers have many descendants, with the NSW branch retaining the name Moxon.

Much of this information can be found at foundersandsurvivors.org/pubsearch/convict/chain/om24153 .  The Founders and Survivors website is a

"partnership between historians, genealogists, demographers and population health researchers. It seeks to record and study the founding population of 73,000 men women and children who were transported to Tasmania. Many survived their convict experience and went on to help build a new society."

Jacob Moxon, convict on Heber, 1837

Jacob Moxon was born on 18th May 1807 in Badsworth, Yorkshire, the son of Samuel Moxon and  Ann Brook. He married Sarah Beale in Badsworth on 16th January 1826 and had two children, a son and a daughter Mary Anne born in 1827.  He is listed in the Moxon Society tree MX06.

Jacob enlisted with the 82nd Foot Regiment in Sheffield on 22 September 1826 and saw service in was convicted of desertion at Dublin Barracks in 1836.

He was transported for 14 years on the Heber in March 1837.  He is mentioned in a surgeon's journal which can be found at http://www.jenwilletts.com/ConvictShipsH.htm :

"The Surgeon reported that the Heber had a remarkably fine run out of the channel and the prisoners who were not suffering from sea sickness were able to go on deck. For those who suffered sea sickness their health was extremely reduced and some remained convalescent for the remainder of the voyage. 

Alexander Neill's first patient Jacob Moxon was treated on the very first day at sea.  Jacob Moxon, a 31 one year old former soldier from Dublin who was court-martialled for desertion had been held in Kilmainham gaol for some time without shoes or stockings and complained much of the cold. He was suffering from fever and a cough which the surgeon successfully treated. Other patients suffered from bilious complaints, rheumatism and fever."

According to the Convict indents (Ancestry) 166964, he was described as:

Age 31. Reads and writes, Married with two children. Labourer and soldier, native place Yorkshire. Tried for desertion at Royal Barracks Dublin (court-martial) on 15 September 1836 and sentenced to 14 years transportation. No prior convictions. 6ft 3 in, Dark sallow and freckled with grey hair and eyes. Long visage. Tattoos - woman, SM inside lower left arm, anchor back of left hand, scar ball of left thumb. 

He did not see out his term of imprisonment. At some stage he was sent to Newcastle where he probably worked on a property or in the coal mines.  It is unlikely that Jacob had been sent to prison for additional punishment since the military prison closed in 1822.

He was buried as Jacob Moxan on 26th March 1844 aged 40.  He died in hospital in Newcastle.  The burial record is listed in the Burial Register of Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle, page 13.

Sadly, it is unlikely he saw his family again after his imprisonment in Ireland in 1836.

Robert Moxon, convict on the Adamant 1821

Robert Moxon was convicted at Nottingham Town Assizes of shop robbery on 11th January 1821 and transported for seven years.  This was his second conviction.

He arrived on the convict ship Adamant on 8th September 1821, and worked for GLM Hawkins in Bathurst.  In April 1824 he was listed as returned to Government and assigned to settles in the district of Appin (south west of Sydney).

He received his certificate of freedom on 28th January 1828 and worked as a butcher.

John Moxon, convict on the Lord Sidmouth, 1819

Two years after the first John Moxon to be transported, another arrived.  He was John Moxon, a seaman born about 1798.  He was convicted at the Nottingham Assizes on 13th March 1818 and transported for seven years.  He arrived in 1819 on the Lord Sidmouth, and was later described as a basketmaker in Sydney.

In March 1823 he was listed as a servant of John Piper, a naval officer, who gave testimony as to his character for a ticket of leave. (Reel 6026; 4/1715 pp 534-5 - Colonial Secretary Index 1788-1825)

This John Moxon married Susannah Blue, at St Philip's Church of England, Sydney in 1827.  She was the daughter of Billy Blue, a convict who gave his name to Blues Point. Billy Blue was probably born in Jamaica, and was described in the Minorca (ship) records as a Jamaican Negro sailor but was living in Deptford in London.  More information about him - and a photo - can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Blue.

I cannot find a record of John Moxon's death, but in 1834, Susannah Moxon (nee Blue) married George Lavender who gave his name to Lavender Bay at North Sydney.

Billy Blue, John Moxon and George Lavender were all ferrymen on Sydney Harbour.

John Moxon, convict on the Larkins 1, 1817

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.

Thomas Moxon, third fleet convict, 1791

There were no Moxons on the first or second fleets which came to Port Jackson (also now better known as Sydney Harbour) in 1788 and 1789.  However, a Thomas Moxon, convicted at York Assizes in March 1788  was transported on the Matilda, part of the Third Fleet on 1st August 1791.  His term of seven years expired in 1795, but he settled in New South Wales.

In 1809, Lieutenant Governor granted Thomas Moxon, by now an emancipist, 50 acres of land along Salt Pan Creek, now Punchbowl, NSW (a Sydney suburb).  Thomas was described as a "hurdle-maker to the Government" - a fencing contractor in other words.  The land was mostly mangrove swamp, and although he may have cleared some of the land, he soon left.  However, his heritage is the name of a street - Moxon Road, Punchbowl.

More information can be found in The history of Punchbowl.

By the time of the 1824 muster, he was a land-holder at Wilberforce, near Windsor on the Hawkesbury River.

In the 1828 census, he is listed as a lodger at Jane Peacock's at Lower Portland.

There is an infant named Thomas Moxon buried in the old Sydney cemetery, located on the site of St Andrews Cathedral in 1798.  Was he the convict's son?  It certainly seems likely.

In the muster of 1828, there are two records for children of Thomas Moxon - their names are Edward born 1816 and Catherine born 1820.

There is no record of either Edward or Catherine Moxon marrying in NSW.  There is also no record of a death for either child.

In the 1828 census, there is also a John Moxon, aged 22 (born in NSW), a carpenter.  He is most likely a son of Thomas Moxon.  Again, there is no record of a marriage in NSW, or of a death.