Help to decipher entry in gaol entrance book

[ozeannie]

Help please with entry no 395 - John Coleman. The first bit under "Disposed of" - looks like Int... I can read the part "to Brisbane Water 31st March 1843." 

Also under "Admitted - purpose" it says "Bench Brisbane Water". Can someone please explain what this means? John was a convict (arrived in 1835 ) and was first assigned to Bathurst, then Botany and then Brisbane Waters. He was already at Brisbane Waters from 1839 to 1841. He got his ticket of leave in 1839 and certificate of freedom 18 July 1843. I'm just not sure what this entry in the Darlinghurst Gaol Description and Entry Book means - was it a confinement for another crime or was he simply being transferred from one jurisdiction to another?

[Alexander.]

Looking at other pages of the document, I can see that Int^r stood for Interior, as opposed to other entries which read Transpⁿ (Transportation). It think the distinction is that he was transferred to Brisbane Waters (within the colony) rather than transportation to another colony.

Alexander

[ozeannie]

Thanks yes I thought it might have meant "Internal" as in an Internal transfer - much the same as Interior. I'm just confused because he was already at Brisbane Waters earlier, and these transfers were recorded on his ticket of leave. This comes just before his Certificate of Freedom was issued so it may have something to do with that... 

[Billyblue]

Ozeannie, You probably know but in case you don't (or others who maybe are wondering where it is) - Brisbane Waters is nowhere near Brisbane, Qld.  It is near Gosford, on the Central Coast of NSW.

Not sure about the supposition that Int means in the Colony as opposed to Transported meaning outside the Colony - the 5 at the top of the page appear to say Transported to Cockatoo Island which was still in the Colony of NSW (in Sydney Harbour).  Maybe it means Interim? Which would fit if he was about to get his C/F.  Perhaps an email to NSW State Records might clear it up? They would (one hopes) know what the different terms meant in those days?

Dawn M

[majm]

I wonder if this thread should be moved to the Australia board so that some of the regulars there can help with explaining the records.    I can assure you that "Interior" is referring to the inland districts of the colony of New South Wales.  Dawn is right re Brisbane Waters .... this is just an hour's drive north of the CBD of Sydney.   And of course, NSW State Records can be very helpful in their email replies.

I will have a good look at their (NSW SR) hardcopy of their guidebook to Convict Records.

http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/archives-in-brief/archives-in-brief-2

Cheers,  JM

[majm]

Looking at other pages of the document, I can see that Int^r stood for Interior, as opposed to other entries which read Transpⁿ (Transportation). It think the distinction is that he was transferred to Brisbane Waters (within the colony) rather than transportation to another colony.

Alexander

   Yes, could be so .....

Re a secondary transportation .... Convictions for secondary crimes within the colony of NSW could result in a civil court trial and a possible sentence of transportation to another colony but in 1840s this could be transportation to Van Diemen's Land or Norfolk Island (no other colony available at that time).    Transportation of convicts from UK and other parts of the British Empire effectively ceased to NSW in 1840.   

Cheers,  JM

[ozeannie]

Thanks all for all the helpful comments.

Yes I agree Intr must stand for Interior - I didn't think to look back at other pages as the abbreviation was used elsewhere on the same page, but after going back several pages I did find an entry "Interior to Parramatta" and there were also several "Intr to Parramatta" references.

It makes sense because in those days anything outside the Sydney township was considered "the Interior".

Dawn, thanks for your suggestion of contacting State Records. I will do that to see if I can get more information. The Entrance book doesn't give any indication of why John was incarcerated. I did check the archives guides, and the description there of these books indicated that there should be such information and a lot more, but this particular book doesn't have that sort of detail. Perhaps different gaols kept books of different detail. Oh and yes I do know the location of Brisbane Waters, but thanks because it could be a wild goose chase for anyone who didn't realise!

John arrived in 1835 on "England" - he was at Liverpool in 1837, followed by Bathurst in 1839, where he first got his TOL. He next went to Botany and then Brisbane Waters in 1840. His TOL from 1839 was updated with each move showing his new location. In February 1841 he applied for permission to marry a Mary Green and there are a couple of records of this application and banns of marriage were pronounced. However it appears that the marriage did not go ahead for some reason as there is no record of the marriage and shortly afterward in August 1841 Mary married a Samuel Pearse.

John eventually married Catherine Moran in 1855, by which time they already had 6 children (!) though 3 had died. The first, my g-g-grandmother was born around 1845 in East Gosford.

I have only just become aware of this episode in 1843 in between the time he broke up with Mary and took up with Catherine, thanks to the records becoming available on Ancestry.

I will post back if I hear anything further from State Records (might take a few weeks!)

Thanks again

Anne

[ozeannie]

I thought I had responded to this but just found that I hadn't. I did get a very timely response from State Records which was as follows:

Dear Anne
Thank you for your email.
The Bench Brisbane Waters means the Bench of Magistrates (now Local Court) at Brisbane Waters. It seems to me without undertaking research as though
he may have been held to give evidence or to be interviewed in relation to matter coming before the bench.