My husbands ancestor, Melancthon Balcombe (alias Buckland) arrived in Sydney, Australia, on the 10th of July, 1837. He was aboard the convict ship, "MANGLES 8". The records show that he was 5'8" tall, had dark brown (almost black) hair, dark brown eyes and that his complexion was dark, sallow and freckled. He had a scar and a hairy mole on his left cheek, his nose inclined to the right side and he had several warts on the back of his right hand. He was`committed on the 10th of June, 1836, by T. Budgen, esq.,charged on the oaths of William Snelling and others, with feloniously stealing, at Burstow, Surrey, a bullock's hide, his property.' He was held in custody until Tuesday 28th of June, 1836, when he appeared at the General Quarter Session at Guildford, Surrey, and was sentenced to Seven Years Transportation. Thus, he came to Australia. He had previously been convicted on the 6th January, 1835, and sentenced to six months hard labour at Brixton, for stealing one truss of hay valued at two shillings from John Creasey.
Would there have been a newspaper article re his crimes/trial and if so, what would be the likely newspaper to search please? Also, are there records for Brixton prison?
Cheers, Andrea. (in SW Vic, Australia)
