Researchers who have claimed this convict
There is currently one researcher who has claimed Oscar Davies
Biographies
Oscar(Osr)(Asher)Davis. Born 1777 Prussia. Died Nov 1st 1835.Tasmania,Australia.
Oscar,was born in 1777 in Prussia, but nothing else is known about parents. He obviously moved to England ,because Oscar was arrested attempting to pass forged notes to a Mary Murrell at Macclesfield, east of Chester, on January 6th 1815. He was tried on 21 March 1815 in the Lent sessions of the Chester Assizes and sentenced on the 30th March to 14 years for "having forged banknotes in his possession.
According to newspaper reports , Oscar and a woman companion, Weald, were en-route from Manchester to Liverpool when they stopped in Macclesfield at the house of a Mary Murrell. He paid her with forged notes. She went to the Nags Head pub “in the Water-Cotes” to have the notes changed . When the publican recognised them to be forgeries, Murrell led him back to Oscar.
Oscar turned Kings evidence leading to the arrest of the others in the forgery gang - John Phillips, Eleazor Lazarus and John Ivy Wilson - in Derby. Ironically, they were given the same sentence as Oscar, in spite of his assistance to the police.
Oscar is described in the transportation records as being 30 years old (the Fanny's indent says 38 years old), 5' 4", black hair, black eyes and of dark yellow complexion. Later, in Tasmania, he is recorded as having a “burn mark above the wrist” . Note that he is recorded as Osa in these records and as Oser in the Chester Assizes records. Rabbi John Levi, a Jewish historian, stated in a letter that Oscar's first name was really Asher but there is no evidence for this belief.
He was assigned as a Constable at the Police Office of the District of Hobart Town in September 1817, some 18 months after his arrival.
He resigned as Constable in 1819 . He had gained his conditional emancipation in 1819 for "general good conduct" and he received his conditional pardon (No 1331) on 31st January 1820 . By then he was married with one child, as the February 1820 ration books show.
He had married Jane Elizabeth Forbes on 11th March 1817 in the District of Hobart Town. In the marriage records he is described as a convict of 35 years of age (c.f. the transportation records) and she as a free woman of 21 years . The marriage certificate also shows that she could write but that he was illiterate . Subsequent letters he wrote to the Governor are in different handwritings, implying that scribes wrote them.
Oscar and Jane went on and had nine children.
After resigning as a constable in 1819, Oscar moved to New Norfolk. This town, about 20 miles up the Derwent River from Hobart, was the site of the settlement of the residents of Norfolk Island when that colony was closed in 1807. It was to be Oscar’s home until his death.
He held the licence to the King of Prussia - presumably named after his birthplace – from 1828 until 1834 . The King of Prussia became known as the haunt of Irish agitators and he became unpopular with the authorities . The King of Prussia is still standing and is well cared for. It is just upstream and opposite the town.
During the five years that he owned the hotel he was charged with a number of offences, principally harbouring or serving convicts . Official papers record a concerted attempt by the New Norfolk Police Magistrate, to have him convicted for harbouring the convict, Ellen Leslie . This was a messy case that is well described in the records of the solicitor, Mr Gellibrand, hired by Oscar to represent him. These original papers, including numerous letters, are held in the Tasmanian Archives . Oscar was initially convicted of the offence in March 1830 under the Harbouring Act and fined £40.
Space doesn`t permit all the details, but Oscar (who was a Jew, and married to a Protestant)was labelled "a gentleman" by some ,and "a rogue" by others.
This bio is based on resea
Submitted by Researcher (David Lee) on 19 August 2014
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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 11/2, p.221
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