Researchers who have claimed this convict
There is currently one researcher who has claimed Martin (the younger} Butler
- Researcher (Jeff Osborne)
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Biographies
LifeSketch:
MARTIN THE YOUNGER Martin's birth is recorded in the parish church of Elm in 1813 but there may have been other births before Martin as his father's death certificate says there were 5 children deceased. When I found the death of a Mary in the right parish I added her, even though no parents are named. This Mary’s birth was either not recorded, or recorded in some other parish – perhaps where they came from, but where? 3 May1813. The first birth we have is of Martin Butler “the younger” in Elm. Martin the Younger used to walk in his sleep. He once got up in the night, went out to the tank, got himself a glass of water, went back upstairs and didn’t remember a thing the next morning.
He married an Irish colleen Joanna Crane on 24th October 1834 and they had a baby in 1835, but young Harriet died 19 days later. (She was the first grandchild of Martin and Elizabeth). Their son Charles Martin Butler was born about 1836 but was not baptized until he was ten -- long after his father had been transported to Australia. Martin the Younger’s transportation was the result of being convicted at the Isle of Ely Assizes of “feloniously stealing six bushels of wheat (value five shillings).” That was on 4 April 1838 and by the time of the trial, he had already been jailed for 3 months. He pleaded not guilty, but the jury found him guilty and he was sent to the hulks (shades of Dickens’ Great Expectations) for six months from whence he boarded the “HMS Gilmore” on 3rd of October, their destination the infamous penitentiary at Port Arthur (Van Dieman’s Land, now Tasmania).
His Port Arthur records tells that he was in the hulks, (probably since April) before boarding the “Gilmore.” When all 279 convicts were safely if not comfortably on board – along with the 21st and 51st regiments to guard them – the ship left Spitshead on 5th Oct 1838 and arrived 111 days later in Hobart Town on 24th Jan 1839. The state keeps good records, so we know more of what Martin the Younger looked like than any of the other members of the family, as his prison records describe him. After Martin the Younger had served 5 of his 7-year-sentence, he was given a “ticket of leave” and ended up in the Mt Alexander gold-fields. (When someone was gone for 7 years, it was assumed they were not coming back, and there was an automatic divorce.) So he married an Edinburgh lass Ann Pitullo.
They had one child Bessie, only one of whose sons had children, so there are some descendants there. Martin died in North Melbourne. Martin the younger’s sentence had left Joanna and his 2-year-old son Charles Martin penniless and to fend for themselves. She had 2 children by a boarder she took in, a Mr. Bonnet, and the record notes “Husband long absent.” There was an epidemic and it appears the children and the boarder, and later Joanna, died. Charles Martin went to London but returned and married Ann Rose in Elm 3rd Jun 1860 and had a son James William. He later married Frances Eyles in London. So Martin the Younger had descendants in both England and Australia.
Submitted by Researcher (Jeff Osborne) on 2 December 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.339
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