Travis from Wyndonham 1825 birth

[Pete T]

No problems, no hurry 
Our local town archivist has now also become fascinated by this slice of local history.
Best wishes
Pete

[thylacene]

Hi pete,
Finally have a reply from tasmanian records office concerning Robert Drake.
They have sent me a photocopy of his "record of behaviour" whilst a convict in Tasmania.
They state this is the only surviving record of Robert Drake.
It is quite dark and difficult to read the script so I will scan it to a high resolution and try to make some sense of it.
I will send you a copy of the scan & translation in the next couple of days.

cheers

Mike

[thylacene]

Pete,

you may like to check out this website, the Abbey is 10 min from my house and am going to check out the tournament next week. Its quite an event here

http://www.abbeytournament.com

cheers

Mike

[Pete T]

Thanks
The event looks fun! Very similar to what we do here in the UK -only we have REAL castles, abbeys and battlefieldsto play in. Have a look at this... (if it doesn't open easily, press "refresh". I'm the apothecary 
http://www.itvlocal.com/central/news/?player=CEN_News_26&void=70348

[Pete T]

Hi there,
Yes, PDF arrived safely.
Right, obviously there are more than one person called Robert Drake.
The Robert Drake of Wymondham (who lived near us)  is obviously not the same one, as he is in the 1841 census as being aged 10. His father is a publican.
The Sheep Stealing Robert Drake is recorded as being 21 when convicted in 1844. Following that one through on the same census, there is only one Robert Drake of the right age in Norfolk in and he is at Cold Harbour, near Ludham -which is a very obscure corner of the Norfolk Broads. He is listed as an Apprentice, but listed next to him is a Thomas Ford -shoemaker. Robert is listed as having been born abroad.
By the time we get to the 1851 census, there is a Robert Drake, shoemaker, in Norwich -married to Mary Anne. The convicted Robert married Martha Anne, but names can change.
I'm not familiar with convict records, but I do note that the page appears to have been signed off in either 1849 or 1850. Could he have been released and returned to England?
Intriguing!!!!
Thanks a lot,
Pete

[thylacene]

You may be right.
I can find no trace of him after his convict records finish!
Even searched in all Australian States!

He may have returned to England but from what I have been told this was very rare and discouraged.
Marriages before transportation were even considered annulled & most remarried in oz.

cheers

Mike

[Pete T]

Got him!
More records have just been released on Ancestory.
It looks like he was pardoned after serving 6 years and 3 months. That would have been May/June 1850. Just enough time to get back to Norwich before the 1851 census

[Pete T]

By the time we get to the 1851 census, there is a Robert Drake, shoemaker, in Norwich -married to Mary Anne. The convicted Robert married Martha Anne, but names can change.

I really ought to read and post more carefully. According to the original records he was already married -to a Martha Anne.
But if his marriage was considered annulled, then it makes sense that he was now "interested in"  Mary Anne Alfred. Looking up her records, she was convicted in 1844 on a 7 year term, but was at some point pardoned. (The records are not clear as to when), but it must have been in 1850 or earlier. So she would have been free to return to the UK with him when he was pardoned.
However I've now found that Robert Drake's original 1842 marriage in Norwich was to a Mary Anne Elizabeth Pointer , despite the records saying Martha Anne. And in the 1871 census his wife is named as Mary Anne E Drake. So maybe the relationship with Mary Alfred did not work out and he returned to Norwich to live with his UK wife.
It could of course be that there are two Robert Drakes here, but I think that the combination of name, correct age and profession (shoemaker) are enough to identify him.
Any comments anybody?
Pete