Richard Lees had a troubled career spanning a number of decades. Mostly he was a carpenter who ran to petty theft and other minor misdemeanours. In the early days, these seem to have been focussed on trying to provide food … Continue reading
Robert Scott was fifth Mate on the Earl Cornwallis. During his time on the Earl Cornwallis he wrote a series of more than ten letters to friends and family in England and Scotland. The ninth letter held a description of … Continue reading
Sydney N.S.Wales, 21st August 1801, Gentlemen, By the way of India I had the honor of writing you, a duplicate copy of which accompanies this. The Earl Cornwallis arrived here the 10th June. By that ship I received your letters … Continue reading
Soulden Lawrence first started working in Law in 1774. He was well known by 1794 he had become a judge and a Knight. He transferred to the Kings Bench where he served for fourteen years before returning to the Common … Continue reading
Nash Grose was a Justice of the Kings Bench. In 1766 he joined the bar and was considered a Barrister of note. Justice Grose became a Judge in 1780 and was considered to be a Sound Judge with very little … Continue reading
On the 28th of March 1799 at the Lent Assize at Tauton Castle Mary Stevens first encountered Justice Buller. Justice Buller had a reputation as a hasty and prejudiced judge who had once declared that a husband could thrash his … Continue reading
The Lent Assizes for the County of Somerset were held at the assize hall in the Castle of Taunton. Thus there was a gaol at Taunton that was used to hold the prisoners close to the Castle so that they … Continue reading
Just a couple of months after Mary Stevens was held at Ilchester gaol, Jane Leigh-Perrott was being held at the Ilchester gaol awaiting her own trial at Taunton. Unlike Mary Stevens, Jane Leigh-Perrott was in many of the local and … Continue reading
Over the last month and a half I have been working on my convict assignment for UTAS. There was a lot of other reading and research that I had to do as well. Some of what I have done has … Continue reading
For my UTAS course on convicts I have to write a story about one of my convicts and a series of break out stories. Not all of them are assessed but some of them are. This is the break out … Continue reading