Researchers who have claimed this convict
There is currently one researcher who has claimed William Collins
Biographies
This is my 3xgreat-grandfather: his daughter Ruth (1822-1890) married my 2xgreat-grandfather Thomas Bateman, the widowed village blacksmith, in Slindon in 1853.
William Collins, 44 years old, shepherd from Sussex was transported to Sydney NSW from Portsmouth on 6 Nov 1837, arriving Sydney on 9 Feb 1838 aboard the 'Emma Eugenia'. 200 men embarked, 199 arrived. William Squib Collins (parents Thomas Collins and Mary Squib) was 44 years old in November 1837, and is absent from the family on the 1841 census (and all censuses thereafter). In her book 'Portrait of a Village' Josephine Duggan-Rees says that only one person, a man named Collins, was ever transported from Slindon (for sheep-stealing). The newspaper trial report refers to his being apprehended in "Slindon, his place of residence". On the record of his time on the Portsmouth prison hulk 'Leviathan' between trial and transportation he is a 44 year-old drover, of "generally good" character, married with seven children. Richard Hasler, whose sheep they were, lived in Aldingbourne House, and by 1851 was Deputy Lord Lieutenant and a Justice of the Peace - not a man to be inclined towards leniency perhaps!
This is an extract from the 'Brighton Patriot and South of England Free Press', Tuesday, March 28, 1837 (Issue 110) of the proceedings on the second day of the Sussex Lent Assizes, County Hall, Lewes, Wednesday March 22nd 1837 before Mr Justice Vaughan:
William Collins, was charged with having, on the 15th March, in the parish of Aldingbourne, stolen 15 sheep the value of £10, the property of Richard Hasler.
(...)
Robert Pasco, constable, of Chichester: I apprehended the prisoner on Sunday last at Slindon, his place of residence.
(...)
He said, "it is no use, I may as well tell the truth. I was in Chichester market last market-day, at five o'clock in the morning, and met a man with the sheep, who asked me to sell them for him. I did so and paid him in the street; and the man gave me a shilling for my trouble." I asked "who the man was?" He said "I never saw the man before, and do not think I should know him again." - The Jury immediately returned a verdict of Guilty. - The learned Judge, after remarking that all discretionary power was taken out of the hands of the Court by a recent enactment, passed the sentence of Transportation for Life, at the same time pointing out to the prisoner that a mitigation might possibly be made of his sentence on application to His Majesty, through the Secretary of State's office.
From email correspondence with a fourth cousin, Ruth Elkins 19 Apr 2011:
"The back of the sampler says
William Squibb Collins Born February 13th 1793
Sarah Collins the Wife of the above
Born January 10th 1816
William Squibb Collins Born May 2nd 1818
George Collins Born February 28th 1820
Ruth Collins Born October 19th 1822
Thomas Collins Born January 29th 1825
Jane Collins Born May 20th 1828 (changed at a later date to 1827)
Richard and Henry Collins Born February 19th 1830
Edward Collins Born June 15th 1832
Charles and James Collins Born May 26th 1834
Under this is a large flourish!
The sampler which is in a poor state - I remember it lying in the full sun on the top of my mother’s desk with a broken glass in the early 50s! It did get reglazed and even hung on a wall out of direct sunshine soon after that!!! It is fairly standard flowers trees crowns hearts birds etc. all well faded. At the bottom it says ' Mary Collins her sampler aged 16 1832' The happy (!) verse is 'not all the skill that mortals have can stop the hand of death or save our fellow mortals from the grave'. Mind you they did see a lot of death in their young lives."
(George had died in 1826, and the three youngest died in infancy, leaving the seven referred to above.)
Submitted by Researcher (18021) on 17 September 2024
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Disclaimer: The information has not been verified by Claim a Convict. As this information is contributed, it is the responsibility of those who use the data to verify its accuracy. Research notes
There are currently no research notes attached to this convict. Sources
- The National Archives (TNA) : HO 11/11, p.186
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