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Hi Charlotte,

Sometimes you just have to be lucky!  I haven't had much time lately to do any research, but did a few searches today.

I came across these baptism transcriptions in Soberton:

Children of Benjamin & Lucy Wild/Wilde:

Page 14 no 109  January 4 1818 James son of Benjamin & Lucy WILD Soberton  Labourer

Page 17 no 135 February 14 1819 John son of Benjamin & Lucy WILDE Soberton Labourer

Page 22 no 176 Dec 3 1820 Ann dr of Benjamin & Lucy WILDE Soberton Labourer

Page 27 no 212 January 20 1822 George son of Benjamin & Lucy WILDE Soberton Labourer

Page 33 no 259 Nov 9 1823 Charles son of Benjamin & Lucy WILD Soberton Labourer

Page 40 no 314  Dec 25 1825 Elizabeth dr of Benjamin & Lucy WILD Soberton Labourer

Page 49 no 390 Apr 10 1828 Henry son of Benjamin & Lucy WILD Soberton Labourer

Page 54 no 431Oct 18 1829 Martha dr of Benjamin & Lucy WILD Soberton Labourer

Page 64 no 506 Apr 14 1832 Levi son of Benjamin & Lucy WILD Soberton Labourer

Page 84 no 667Nov 27 1836 Stephen son of Benjamin & Lucy WILDE Soberton Labourer


Children of James & Ann Wild/Wilds:

Page 121 no 965 January 6 1847 John son of James & Ann WILD Soberton Labourer

Page 128 no 1022 June 11 1848 William son of James & Ann WILDS Soberton Labourer

Page 133 no 1063 February 2 1850 Privately Baptised Clara dr of James & Ann WILD Soberton Labourer

I'm still trying to locate which Wilds was the convict, but that might have to wait until I get back from New Zealand.

regards,

Darren

Thanks for the reply, Aussie Pom.

You're right, it is possible that James returned to England after he served his sentence...then married and later returned to Australia when the gold rush started. 

I do now have doubts that James was the John Wilds who was sentenced in 1838.  Its a bit hard to believe a court would get someone's name wrong.  Its more believable that their name was spelt incorrectly once they reached Australia.  If something can be found for Benjamin Wilds and Lucy Kemp, that might help.  I realise that some records are not accurate.  Example, my grandmother's death certificate shows her father being a Jolly (it was in fact Harvey) - her aunt had been married to a Jolly...so Lucy Kemp might have been a relative of Ann Kemp, and Benjamin Wilds might have been another relative to James...next of kin at time of death?

I have just had a break-thru (just before I posted this message...lucky I did one more search!)...I found when James & Ann came to Australia!

Ship Lady McDonald, July 1852:

WILD   JAMES   34
WILD   CLARA   2
WILD   ANN           31
WILD   JAMES   11

I know information can get distorted over the years as its passed down the generations, so I'm not discounting the notion that it was James' father or brother who was the convict in the family.

I did find on another topic some info on James Wiles the convict:

1823 19 Jul Convicted at Huntingdon 1823 Age 35years

1823 Sentence Life transportation

1824 Jul 17 convict landed from the "Countess of Harcourt" (3) and forwarded to Minto for distribution

1824 Sep 3 & 10 prisoner assigned Richard Kemp, George St Prisoners Barracks Sept. 10 John Gaggin, George St

1824 Ticket of Leave #38/768

1825 Mar 8 Servant of William Elderkine, tailor. Petition for free passage for his wife Isabella and five children

1825 Jul 19 convict who has money lodged in the Savings Bank of New South Wales

1844 Conditional Pardon #761

It also said the last child was born around 1818 and that they had 6 children (yet only 5 came with her).  I wonder, could this be James Wilds' parents?

I'm glad there's so much stuff online these days and I look forward to delving right into it once the World Cup is over!  And hopefully someday we can put this one to bed

cheers,

Darren

Hi, I just stumbled upon this forum since renewing my interest in family history research, and thought the following might be of some interest to some of you.

I am descended from James Wilds. My late grandmother's grandmother was Harriet Wilds, daughter of James Wilds & Ann(i)e Kemp.  In the late 70s, my grandmother told us that one of her ancestors, a Wilds, was a convict, transported to Australia for stealing.  My sister had written the name down into her school assignment, but this has since been lost.  All I remember was that the name started with a "J".  Years later, I searched indexes and found the connection to James Wilds and Anne Kemp but got no further.  For some reason I thought the convict ancestor was John, not James, so I didn't think that I had found the convict ancestor.

Anyway, I just conducted another search on convictions in England which resulted in transportation and found a John Wilds who was transported to Australia in 1838 for pickpocketing (10 year sentence).  He was 21 years of age.  The James Wilds who died in Talbot in 1896 at age 79 would have been born around the same time (~1817) as John Wilds, so there is a possibility that they are one and the same.  John might have changed his name to James, perhaps to get away from his convict past.  If James Wilds Jr was born around 1847/1848, that is around the time John/James would have completed his 10 year term. One wonders if he had fathered the child while he was a convict and didn't want to later confess to this? (speculation, I know...)

Further information for those not local...Cochranes Creek is the area around Bealiba and is not far from Molliagul.  Its west of Bealiba, between Logan and Molliagul.

I hope this helps some of you.  I appreciate the information you all have provided.

cheers,

Darren