Genealogy Chat

If you're lucky, you may find that a London ancestor was involved in a court case (as defendant/victim/witness etc.) at the Old Bailey between 1675 (I think) and 1834. I struck it lucky and found an ancestor who had been a victim of an assault & robbery (so he wasn't so lucky!) and found a verbatim transcript of actual words he spoke, including his address!! Better than diamonds IMHO!! http://www*oldbaileyonline*org/ Good luck - let me know if you find anything worthwhile. Sue (in NZ)

This is an excellent resource. I found one of my folks on there as a victim. He had walked through the backyard of a pub to get to his sister's house when he was pushed over and someone stole his hat and jacket. The suspect aged 17 was found guilty of robbery and transported for life. Hows that for a short sharp shock ? dave

didnt mess about did they - this 46 year old woman was accused and convicted of stealing an umbrella ... transported ! Prisoner's Defence. I met the little child carrying a baby, who was crying; I said, 'Little girl, you are not able to carry that child and the umbrella;' she gave me the umbrella to hold while she took up the child and carried it a little way, and then put it down; the man came up, and said, I wanted to swindle the child out of the umbrella - I am a widow and have had six children. JOSEPH MOULTON. She said it was her own property, and was running as fast as she could; she very nearly struck me with it. GUILTY. Aged 46. Transported for Seven Years.

What an excellent site. I'm not sure whether any of the people listed under the surnames I checked are 'mine' as yet because I've only just started on my London ancestors and it's all a bit woolly right now. But have saved it to favourites and as soon as I'm more sure of names and dates I'll go back and have a look. Agree that they didn't mess about though....found one (obviously a prostitute) stole 4 shillings from the man's coat pocket while his back was turned. Transported for 7 years! Lou

Hi Sue, Thanks for the tip - I'm on a high - got sooo much info out of the site. Knew both gtgtgtgrandparents were transported to Aust for breaking and entering. Good read Elizabeth Phipps & James Westbrook. Now I know the story, and I also know now that gtgtgtgtgrandmas name was Susannah Phipps, the wonderful people have given me some colour to an otherwise dull (due to lack of info) period of my family tree. Once again thanks for the tip regards Laurie

My 3x great grandfather was transported for 14 years and he was lucky because he got good character references. Here's a taste of what happened to criminals of that time (From The Times) - should appeal to the many hardliners on this site ;o) Old Bailey, Thurday, Feb 22 1827 The Sessions having terminated yesterday, the RECORDER proceeded to pass the awful sentence of death on the following prisoners:- John Smith, for burglary in a dwelling house; Sharpe England, for forgery;Evan Jones, for forgery;John Eagles, for stealing a letter while in the employ of the Post-office;John Clarke, for stealing in a dwelling house to the amount of 40s and upwards; Charles Sewart, for the same offence;John Davis, for highway robbery;William Blanchard, for burglary; Wm. Rust, for horse-stealing; George Avery, for housebreaking and stealing therein to the amount of 40s and upwards; R.Ironmonger, for stealing in a dwelling house in the day time to the amount of 40s and upwards; Henry Spizey, for robbing in a dwelling house;W.Austin for the same offence;John Oliver,John Howard, alias John Austin and Edward Laycock, for horse stealing;William Cox,John Duxbury and Rebecca Mullins, the two former for breaking into a dwelling house during divine service, and stealing therefrom to the amount of 40s and upwards, and the latter for aiding and assisting therein; Samuel Jones for horse stealing;Benjamin Sanders for highway robbery;Hugh Donald and Jerimiah Connor, for burglary. Pearce, who stabbed himself when convicted at the last sessions, has had a relapse, and was not sufficiently recovered to be brought up for judgement this day. Seven were ordered to be transported for life, three for 14 years,and 41 for seven years. A great number were sentenced to be imprisoned for various periods, and kept to hard labour; and a greater number than usual of juvenile depradators were ordered to be whipped in the gaol and discharged.

I Love hearing about these treasures! Nudge for the Northern hemisphere Friday night shift. Sue (in NZ)

Great site, but how can you be sure if the person you're looking for?

In some cases they give names, occupations, ages and addresses as part of the evidence. matching that to other info I already had made it 'add up' as my ancestor. Others may be seen as possibilities until we can verify them. Even if there's no-one of your own there, it's an excellent window to the world of the time - and we ALL had ancestors alive then! Sue (in NZ)

Unfortunately no professions on the ones I'm looking at, grrrr! Typical! My ancestors never did anything interesting!!!

Hi Jay, I think that those lucky enough to be able to get to Kew can find at least some transportation records, though not all survived, I think. Try the A2A site (Google) perhaps. In another of the lines I've followed, I got a lucky break when Frances of Norwich spotted a piece on my ancestor in the Norfolk Roots mag. We followed that up with queries to the Norfolk Record Office for the Quarter sessions (much like you have from the Old Bailey) which gave dates etc. I then had a great contact in Aus with the same line, who looked up the convicts from there, and discovered records showing he'd been sent to Tasmania, not Port Phillip as we'd thought previously. Ask on the Record Office for a specific look-up for your name & date, and maybe Tony Hull or someone else in Aus may have some suggestions. Or was yours transported to the Americas. You'll have to do some background reading to work out what period it was and where the likely destination was. Good luck. Sue (in NZ)

Yes, it is excellent website. My great great great grandfather Henry Godfrey and his two friends were arrested at Hackney on Easter Sunday for housebreaking. They were guilty death but later changed to transported for life to Tasmania on October 1832. Unfortunately, his family are still unknown to me. See my message 'Godfrey' in general. Cheers, Steven from Melbourne, Australia.

Nudge for the weekend crew

Wow thought I'd have another go, and found same man gtgtgtgrampy as a 12yr old got nicked for pinching cheese - guilty, public flogging and 6 months at Newgate. The Good Old Days ? cheers Laurie