RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: upthetree on Wednesday 14 October 20 18:28 BST (UK)
-
Hi my ancestor was a convict transported aboard the Hashemy in 1850 to Fremantle.
He gained his ticket of leave in 1851 and asked for permission to marry in 1853 although I have never found a marriage record although I have found one childs birth record in 1853 in Fremantle.
The next child I can not find any birth record and the third was born in Rangoon in 1858.
My query is why would he have gone to Rangoon and where can I find any records of travel to Rangoon?
-
Some names might be helpful. Do you have a baptism record for the one born in Rangoon? If so is the father's occupation shown?
-
Related threads ...
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=838729.msg7043808#msg7043808
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=838733.msg7043847#msg7043847
-
Some names might be helpful. Do you have a baptism record for the one born in Rangoon? If so is the father's occupation shown?
Thank you for the reply. My 3xGreat Grandfather who was transported was Thomas Ensor born 1829 in London. He was a clerk both before and after he gained his ticket of leave.
The child born in Rangoon along with the other two siblings were all baptised in Stoke Newington in 1858 on the same day.
My Great Great Grandmother was born Harriet Ensor in 1856/7 . On the 1871 and 1891 census she gives her birthplace as Rangoon but on the 1881. 1901 and 1911 Australia. I can not find a birth record for her. On all census records she has her mothers surname, Wilson.
Her brother has Rangoon on all his census records and again he uses the surname Wilson (Richard Lewis Wilson). All three children were baptised as Ensor.
-
Thomas ENSOR was issued with a Conditional Pardon on 10 June 1854 as per the Fremantle convict database.
ADD
so with that Conditional Pardon, he was free to quit Western Australia, so he was able to travel to Rangoon. Possibly the main Condition attached to his Conditional Pardon was a restriction prohibiting his return to England. I am sure that the surname WILSON would be far more popular than ENSOR and thus an easier option for his children to be known by .
JM
-
Thomas ENSOR was issued with a Conditional Pardon on 10 June 1854 as per the Fremantle convict database.
JM
Hi thanks for that information. Just had a quick google does that mean he should have stayed in Australia ?
-
Thomas ENSOR was issued with a Conditional Pardon on 10 June 1854 as per the Fremantle convict database.
JM
Hi thanks for that information. Just had a quick google does that mean he should have stayed in Australia ?
No, ;D I have just added to my post, a Conditional Pardon's usual condition stopped the person from returning to the country that convicted him, but not from travelling anywhere else. So he could travel to Rangoon as ENSOR ... but likely if he returned to England he would have become known as WILSON as it would have been far more popular and therefore far less likely to have highlighted any previous conviction... thus protecting his offspring from discrimination...
JM
-
Ah ok thank you so he probably returned to England? I found a death for a Thomas Ensor ,clerk in 1885 in Rangoon aged 52 on FindMyPast and I presumed this could be my one. Harriet married twice in Sheffield on both marriage certificates she names her Father as Thomas Wilson, Solicitors Clerk.
When he was convicted in 1847 he was described as a clerk from the East India company. His brother George Lewis Ensor was a clerk in a tea company in Hackney.
Do you know why a convict would go to Rangoon at that time?
-
I am thinking that he stayed in Rangoon and that his wife and children went to England from there, possibly travelling as WILSON and becoming known as that surname. Likely he found work in Rangoon and remitted funds to his wife. People with clerical admin skills and good English language skills would find employment in international trading companies in most counties, particularly if he had a working knowledge of 'legalese' from his wife's connections.
JM
-
Thank you for that information. Thomas's family were from Highgate and quite well off. Mary Ann's Father was a pensioner guard who came to Australia aboard the Minden convict ship.
George Lewis Ensor became the children's guardian.