RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: Geordie daughter on Wednesday 05 March 14 16:29 GMT (UK)
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Does anyone have this man in their tree or know what happened to him after his arrival in Australia? The information I currently have is this: he was tried at the Cornwall Assizes in August 1787 for highway robbery, imprisoned at Bodmin jail, and subsequently transported, in early 1790, to New South Wales, on the 'Neptune.' He had originally been given a life sentence but this was commuted to seven years in the colony. I am hoping that someone will be able to provide details of his birthplace in Cornwall and his approximate age, as I am trying to establish whether he is the father of an illegitimate child called Benjamin Dunstone John, born in Wendron, Cornwall, in 1787.
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There's this one... Baptism Benjamin Dunstone 17th Feb 1765 Wendron Cornwall
Father-Nicholas Mother -Frances
Jackie
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Hi, I just did some checking and Benjamin Dunstone was to have sailed on the second Fleet, but may not have. His name is down but not all who were listed actually sailed. Some spent their time in prison Hulks in England or had their sentenced reduced on appeal. Another possibilty is he sailed but died on the way, a massive problem with the second fleet. He is not listed that I can see, for either a ticket of leave, or a certificate of freedom in NSW ::)
Have you checked for deaths in England?
Neil ;)
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He is listed as deceased by 1790 as shown on the record:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0ybh/
The Second Fleet was known as the 'Death Fleet' with hundreds of deaths. Some before they sailed also at sea & upon arrival. I suggest you read up on the history of the Second Fleet :'(
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0ybi/
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Merlin, I'm obviously being a bit thick tonight as I couldn't see any reference to Ben being deceased by 1790 on the linked document, or is that what those very faint pencil marks are to the left of their names? I have seen the details of conditions in the 'Death Fleet' on Ben's entry on the Cornwall OPC website, and it must have been pretty horrific. If Benjamin did die prior to departure, it was probably just as well. There is mention of the convicts' leg irons digging so deeply into the flesh that they had all but exposed the bone.
Jackie
Yes, the Ben you found is the one I had in mind, but I need to prove that the two men are one and the same. I was hoping to unearth a report on the trial that might indicate what part of Cornwall he hailed from, not to mention fuller details of the crime ;), but have so far drawn a blank.
Neil, thank you for checking the listings for me. I had desperately hoped that Australian records could provide the details I was unable to unearth on the UK side, but it seems that's not to be!
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The dd in the first left hand column is the notation for deceased ;)
A copy of the Neptune's original indenture is available:
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0ybj/
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Thanks Merlin, I knew I was being thick!! I shall see if I can dredge up a likely death in the parish records for Bodmin, in case he died while imprisoned in the jail there. Failing that, I'll have to see what other avenues there are.
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Hello
Did you ever get to the bottom of the story of Benjamin Dunstone and his transport to Australia?
I would be very interested in any information from the 1700s. the earliest Benjamin I have in my tree is Benjamin Odgers Dunstone ( 1816 - 1898) son of Robert Dunstone (1786 - 1842).
Paul Dunstone
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Hi Paul
Unfortunately, no I didn't, but the relevant information has a way of turning up when you least expect it, so I live in hope! Records going back earlier than the late 1700s are often pretty patchy. Do you know where in Cornwall your Dunstones originated, as forum members may be able to help you dig up something more about them? It took me a long time to find anything on the particular Dunstan I was originally looking for, as there were quite a few possibles in Wendron parish and the surname has several spelling variations, but I managed it eventually by a process of elimination and a lot of help from other family tree researchers.
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Thanks for replying. Its all very interesting to me. Most of my Dunstones are from the Veryan parish but some from Wendron. I have a Robert who left Cornwall in the 1840s and went to Australia on the 'Java' and James Michael (another ancestor) went to Australia on the 'Cleveland'. I have just discovered the Cornwall OPC and so am now busy validating my information. Paul.
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The OPC is brilliant, and it helped me to unearth a few useful baptisms and so on. Your Wendron Dunstones may be linked to mine somewhere along the line, as there were quite a few families of that name in the area. The particular family I was researching proved to be quite a challenge as they bounced all over the place. My Benjamin Dunstan (the one I suspect may actually be Benjamin Dunstone John/s) went out to Australia on the 'Cressy' with his wife and several of their children in 1847, and then some of them came back to Cornwall again around mid-1851. Another daughter (my paternal 3x great grandmother) who'd remained in Cornwall, suddenly went off on a ship headed to Port Natal, South Africa (possibly she'd thought it was en route to Australia, possibly not) in 1850, and when it was wrecked on the Bar outside what is now Durban, settled down there, and married a Scots ship's carpenter who had been a crew member on the same ship, a year or two later.