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There is currently one researcher who has claimed William Townshend
Biographies
William TOWNSEND was found guilty, on the oath of George Webb, of Cowlinge, a farmer, with having on the night of 16th, or early in the morning of the 17th, broken into a barn belonging to the said G. Webb, and stolen nine bushels of wheat and three sacks, his property.
On 16 July 1830, he was convicted of larceny and sentenced to be transported to Australia for a period of seven years.
He was taken from Bury St Edmunds Gaol to Portsmouth by road and transferred to HMS Leviathan, on the 12th August 1830 and is listed in the Convict Prison Hulks: Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849.
He was transferred to The John, which set sail from England on the 14th October 1830 and was at sea for a total of 106 days before arriving at Hobart Town, Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) on 28th January 1831. She departed from Spithead with two hundred male convicts aboard. The master was one John R Norsworthy and the ship’s surgeon was Thomas B Wilson. It was Thomas Braidwood Wilson’s sixth assignment as surgeon superintendent of a convict ship. He wrote a journal in the days leading up to the voyage and whilst at sea, the following, an excerpt from his journal, describes what occurred before they set sail.
September 1830, I was appointed Surgeon and Superintendent of the transport ship John fitting out at Deptford to convey 200 convicts from the hulks at Portsmouth to Van Diemen's Land. On the 20 September a detachment of the 17th Regiment (consisting of 30; officers included) embarked to serve as a guard over the prisoners, 8 women and 9 children were attached to the party. On Saturday we sailed from Deptford and arrived at Spithead on the 1 October, early on the morning of the 5th I examined the prisoners (100 on board the York and 100 on board the Leviathan, who were under orders for transportation. On the 14th October we sailed from Spithead.
William TOWNSEND appeared in an article in the Hobart Town Courier on Friday 7th July 1837 announcing his certificate of freedom, the end of his sentence, which meant that he was presented with the option of returning to England.
Submitted by Researcher (14181) on 26 May 2021
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- The National Archives (TNA) : HO 11/7, p.503
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