RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Lincolnshire => Topic started by: balcowa on Saturday 17 July 10 08:39 BST (UK)
-
Hi everyone,
My ancestor was George MORGAN of Wyberton, Lincs.
He was tried at the Lincoln Assizes on 27 July 1816 for Highway robbery (of Mr G.B. Colley of Wyberton on May 3, 1816). He was sentenced to Death, commuted to Transportation for 14 yrs, sent to Australia in 1817 and died at Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia in 1840. He was said to be 25 years old when tried (so born circa 1791), and believe he had fought in the Napoleonic Wars.
During his trial he said that "his mother-in-law could have proved him to be in bed at the time spoken of." I thought this may have meant a stepmother, however have just found a marriage (on IGI) of a George MORGAN to Mary WARNER on 5 OCT 1814 at Boston, Lincoln. Can only find one child, that being a son called Wilford MORGAN born on 7 Oct 1815 at Boston, Lincoln.
If this George and Mary had other children in UK, then obviously this isn't my bloke, otherwise it fits timewise. If it is him, Mary and Wilford didn't follow him to Australia as he remarried in 1819. Thought I would ask for your thoughts or does any one know of this family?
Does any one have access to Wyberton parish records; seems that MORGANs are thin on the ground and wonder if George was actually born in Ireland as he was called.... "Irish George", had a very strong irish brogue and was a known character.
Love to learn more or connect with other MORGAN of Wyberton researchers. Cheers, Andrea (Vic, Aust)
-
Actually he got off quite lightly; a relative of mine William Luffman was found guilty of a similar offence in 1832, sentenced to death, commuted to transportation for life. He died in Scone NSW in 1841. Interestingly he had married the day before the robbery, to the sister of one of his accomplices, with the third robber as a witness to the wedding. No known children, though his wife later had two illegitimate children.
-
Hi Redroger,
Unfortunately, George didn't keep his nose clean in Tasmania, although mostly minor things such as being drunk, abusive, refusing to carry a tool. His Ticket of Leave was renewed in 1825 but in 1834 he was sentenced to Transportation for life after being found guilty of stealing & killing cattle. He died at Port Arthur in 1840.
Cheers, Andrea
-
My relative got his ticket of leave 3 months before he died on doctor's recommendation. His goods were sold and fetched £4 something which was used to part pay for his funeral.
-
Andrea,
I thought the term mother-in-law, meant the mother of the wife. So in Irish George's case, that would be Mary Warner's mother, not step-mother.
So you are looking for the baptism of a Mary Warner in Boston, looking for the mother of Mary seeing as the marriage took place there.
I have seen a newspaper article of Irish George's trial, reported in a Cornwall newspaper. I can send it to you if you want it.
As for Morgan marriages in Wyberton well there was this one: Mary Morgan= John Fletcher of Wyberton 15 May 1783 (Both wid)
Then in Boston, Elizabeth Morgan = Charles Lundy 16 Apr 1819, Boston
Mary Warner Morgan = Robert Torry 09 Nov 1829 at Sibsey (just outside Boston)
I can't help with baptisms as yet.
Tom
-
Mary Warner Morgan = Robert Torry 09 Nov 1829 at Sibsey (just outside Boston)
Robert TORRY was widowed by 1841 - Mary was buried 21 July 1840 (50), Robert 3 Aug 1852 (67). She seems the right age to have been married to George.
Wilford MORGAN was buried at Spalding 16 Jan 1838 (22)
-
Earlier societies specially the Victorian used terms in a different context to today, so then "Father in law" etc. meant just that, a man who was the individual's legal father, whether natural, adoptive, or whatever. These terms only attained their current status fairly recently.
-
Yes that makes sense now. I can't see Irish George being too pleased to have his wife's mother checking to see he was in bed!
-
Pleased to be of help.
-
Thank you all so much for your help!
I guess another box to tick on whether this George is mine or not may hang on whether a George MORGAN died between 1815 (birth of Wilford Morgan) and 1829 (remarriage of Mary Warner Morgan to Robert Torry).
Tom, I would love a copy of the article, thanks.
Cheers, Andrea
-
Trewman's Exeter Flying Post or Plymouth and Cornish Advertiser (Exeter, England), Thursday, August 22, 1816 19th Century British Newspapers (Gale Databases)
LINCOLN ASSIZES-George MORGAN, aged 25, late of Wyberton, labourer, was indicted for highway robbery.
Mr. G. B. Colley of Wyberton, stated that on Friday evening the 3rd of May, being about a mile from Boston, on the Spalding road, the prisoner met him, presented a pistol on a level with his breast, and demanded money, which the prosecutor promised to give him, but begged he would not use him ill; prosecutor delivered two notes of £1, and some silver; prisoner was dissatisfied, and demanded more; prosecutor said he had no more, but that one of the £2 he had given him, was probably a £5; this was said to get rid of him. The moon was cloudy, so that he could not see the prisoner’s face, but he seemed very tall and straight, and his speech was remarkable for a very strong Irish brogue. The prosecutor had seen the prisoner once before, had heard him speak a good deal, and could swear to him. An hour afterwards he saw a watchman at Boston, and described the man; the watchman suspected the prisoner, who was called by the name of Irish George and was a known character.
John Rose, constable, at Boston, apprehended the prisoner on the Saturday night following in Boston market-place: he found a pistol loaded with ball. The pistol produced in court was indentified by the prosecutor, who said that the prisoner supported the pistol on his left arm, and his hands shook violently. The prisoner upon this evidence observed , that that was not the way to hold a pistol, and denied that his hand could have shaken, saying he had served his Majesty, had faced 30,000 Frenchmen, and was not likely to tremble at the prosecutor! When called upon for his defence, he said, that there were thousands who spoke like him, and that his mother-in-law could have proved him to be in bed at the time spoken of. He put several questions to the witnesses, with a view of proving that they had contradicted themselves before the Magistrates at Boston. The Jury retired for a few minutes, then found him Guilty-Death.
Tom
-
I think that the commutations of the death sentance in both this and the case of my relative (1832) was probably to due to a directive written or spoken that the sentance was to be commuted unless there had been a killing, this is the implication in the judgement given in my relative's case. I guess it was to populate Australia.
-
Many thanks for the article Tom! Every little bit helps.
I had hoped that just maybe George Morgan's family had petitioned the court to get a reduced sentence, but Redroger has just dashed that a bit. Still, maybe worth looking into.
Thanks for replies.
-
I do know from the case of another relative (Wiltshire Machine Breaker early 1830s) this time, and another William Luffman, that his sentence of 7 years transportation was commuted to 12 months imprisonment in England after representations were made on his behalf by a local landowner. Just for information my family has now reformed!!
-
Hi,
I found these deaths and burial which might be of interest,
Wilford MORGAN Mar Q 1838 Spalding 14 531
Wilford MORGAN
Date of burial: 16 Jan 1838
Age: 22
Place of burial: Spalding, Lincolnshire
Dedication: St Mary & St Nicholas
Mary could have remarried even if George hadn't died, I've seen it before when someone was transported, emigrated or even just left the family. I found this burial which makes her about the right age if she's the same Mary WARNER/MORGAN.
Mary TORRY
Date of burial: 21 Jul 1840
Age: 50
Place of burial: Sibsey, Lincolnshire
Dedication: St Margaret
This looks like Robert TORRY with no wife in 1841,
1841 HO107/644/2 f.12 p.16 Sibsey
Higher Fenside
TORRY
Robert 55
Robert 12
John 8 All born Lincolnshire
There are these baptisms in Sibsey with parents Robert and Mary,
20 Jun 1819 Elizabeth TORRY
21 Jan 1821 Martha TORRY
29 Dec 1822 Clark TORRY
29 Aug 1824 Henry TORRY
04 Feb 1827 Frederick TORRY
16 May 1830 Robert TORRY
so was Robert married before to another Mary? I can't find that marriage or a burial for an earlier Mary TORRY so did Mary WARNER/MORGAN just live with Robert TORRY before thay married. It must have been a very hard life to bring up a child alone then.
Maybe when George's sentence ran out he told Mary he wasn't coming back or when he didn't come back she thought he had died, so freeing her to marry Robert. Divorce was quite uncommon then but I've seen quite alot of remarriages when the original spouse was still alive, bigamy was more common than people think and there was the seven year rule.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigamy_Act_1603
http://books.google.com/books?id=Ubk3AAAAMAAJ&printsec=titlepage&lr=#v=onepage&q=bigamy&f=false
see pages 457 & 458 section LXX. the other sections also make interesting reading.
Regards,
Daisy
-
My relative's wife Frances Luffman lived with a man at Newark named Hewitt while her husband was in Australia, and had two children with him. In accordance with the then law they were baptised Luffman although they had no relationship to the Luffman family other than their mother had been married to William Luffman for at most 72 hours before his arrest. As she and Hewitt never married, though William died in Australia in 1841 I think this suggests that there was next to no notification to relatives of what had happened to transported prisoners, so far as government was concerned with lifers iot was a case of out of sight, out of mind. Also it should be remembered that much of the population was illiterate, with an extreme class divisionm between the rulers (mostly literate) and the ruled (mostly illiterate) resulting in little scope for communication and the passing of messages etc.