Leicester Mercury 31 July 1812 reporting on prisoners in the County Gaol: ". . . John Mackley, for stealing of a five pound note and other articles at Saxelbye . . ."
Thanks, and that's part of my problem
'My' John Mackley married Ann Richards in 1793 as John Coy Mackley of Freeby. His presumed parents (John Mackley & Mary Coy) had married in Freeby in 1764.
Freeby and Saxelbye appear to be about 8-miles apart on opposite sides of Melton Mowbray, so there's just this niggling doubt.
John Coy Mackley had to sell his farm and make an arrangement with his creditors in 1809 so its possible he was driven to theft in order to feed his family and went to somewhere he was less likely to be known, but I still don't feel confident enough to claim him as mine!
The lack of a YoB for him and the 'missing' middle name in Australia are still a concern.
Note - His death date (Sept 1835) as recorded on find a grave site may not be accurate.
The actual church register is online so I'm satisfied that the 1835 burial date is correct. Its a puzzle!
Thank you for those additional records - I kept looking & looking at the Colonial Secretary image but couldn't see him until the penny dropped that there were two columns of names to each page

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