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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => London and Middlesex => Topic started by: Kate-Birchtree on Friday 04 August 23 02:18 BST (UK)
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I'm hunting a very elusive Emma Groom, who was (according to very vague convict records) born around 1795 (possibly March) though I've seen 1794 and 1796 recorded as well. She's noted as being from Middlesex, though this could easily refer to her place of residence and not her actual place of birth.
In 1815 she was tried at the Old Bailey for pickpocketing, but found not guilty. In 1817, she was tried again and this time, sentenced to 7 years' transportation. She was sent to New South Wales on the Friendship and arrived in January 1818. She later moved on to Tasmania, where she died in 1830.
I suspect an alias (due to many exhaustive searches with almost no useful outcomes), but can't be sure.
Prior to her conviction, the only clues I have are that:
- Her occupation was recorded as a "mantua maker"
- That she possibly lived, in about 1816 (at the time of her final crime), on Adam-and-Eve Street in what I understand to be the parish of St Marylebone. In her Old Bailey transcript, her victim explains that she asked him to come inside what she claimed to be her home on that street (though it's quite possible it was a fake address). It may still suggest she lived in the general area, if not that street.
- Her future children (born in Australia) were named Francis Henry Groom and Emma Frances "Fanny" Groom. The 'Francis/Frances' emphasis makes me wonder whether (assuming "Emma and/or Groom" were aliases) her real name was either Frances or Fanny (or if a parent/brother/sister was called Francis/Frances/Fanny. (To confirm: her children took her name in Australia).
- There are some records for both a Frances and Fanny Groom born around the right time period (c 1795) in Middlesex, but initial checks seem to suggest that those people lived in England past 1818.
- Her alleged year of birth makes it possible but not wildly likely that she married before her conviction and transportation. There are no mentions of a marriage in any of her convict records.
- I can't imagine these were her first crimes - I suspect other possible run-ins with the law, but I assume they must be under a different name.
FamilySearch can't/won't show me the majority of the parish register images for St Marylebone (assuming, of course, she was born in that exact parish...) :'(
I've tried searching National Archives and some occupation/poor law records (or at least those that are available to me or that I know of). I can't turn up anything around Emma or potential parents. I was hoping to find some kind of apprentice record for Emma (being a mantua-maker) but no such luck.
Any help would be so appreciated!
P.S., it looks almost certain that Emma was not (directly) connected with the Groom family of Harefield, Buckinghamshire. (That would have been convenient, because one of them was a Francis Henry Groom...)
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She was tried again 1816 listed as 21, 1817 she was 22 so the Old Bailey records are consistent with
a birth year of 1795.
No help though.
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There is a Timothy Groom born circa 1794 convicted of burglary in 1 July 1812 Old Bailey -related?
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She later moved on to Tasmania, where she died in 1830.
She didn't spend any time in NSW, she was transhipped to Hobart on arrival.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2177726
Yesterday morning, 28 of the female prisoners arrived in the Friendship were landed; 16 of whom
having husbands in the colony were allowed to join them, and the remaining 12 went as servants into various families. Thirteen others who were afflicted with scorbutic diseases, were sent to the General Hospital; and 56 were transhipped from the Friendship to the Duke of Wellington, to be conveyed to Hobart Town, together with 28 artificers and mechanics, sent from this settlement to be employed on the Government works there.
https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON40-1-3 (image 214)
https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON13-1-1 (image 111)
Debra :)
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She later moved on to Tasmania, where she died in 1830.
She didn't spend any time in NSW, she was transhipped to Hobart on arrival.
Yes, that's absolutely correct :) Poor choice of word in my original post (was really intended to be "then" rather than "later") ;D