LIST 14 - DEPARTURES
In determining the fate of the First Generation, apart from death, the
other terminating event for many of them, at least in terms of their colonial experience, was their departure from the colony. This list presents the known
departures of the First Generation and the ship upon which they sailed. It
is by no means complete and undoubtedly many who left have been overlooked. But for what it is worth 219 (or more than 11%) of the First Generation
are known to have left the colony, most never to return.
The information on each departure includes:
date and ship age at time of departure birth date Christian name father's family name
father's Christian name mother's family name mother's Christian name parents' civil status at the time of the child's birth
parents' marital status at the time of the child's birth year and ship of arrival - where applicable year and place of death - if known & abroad.The list is ordered firstly by date of departure and secondly on the child's father's name. Family groups are listed according to age.One of the earliest myths of Australian History is the idea of "for the term
of his natural life". A surprisingly large number of convicts returned to
England at the completion of their sentences as well as many others
associated with the early history of the colony. The First Generation were
no exception in this regard.It is interesting to contemplate that there must be many hundreds of descendants
in England who have no idea that one of their ancestors had their formative
experiences in the English colony of New South Wales. One of the hopes of
this book is that any such connections might be brought to light.
The first of the colonial born to leave the colony did so under somewhat
adventurous if illegal circumstances. The two young children of Mary Braund;
Charlotte and Emmanuel - aged four and one, escaped with their mother with a group of daring convicts in a whale boat in October 1791. Sadly Emmanuel died
in Batavia and after being picked up by 'HMS Gorgon' Charlotte also died at
sea on the return voyage to England.
There were four great departures of the First Generation from the colony, all
associated with the various British Regiments sent to garrison the colony. The
first being when the First Fleet Marines were relieved by the New South Wales Corps - 52 young colonists returned to England on board 'HMS Gorgon' in December
1791. The second being when the first enlistments in the New South Wales
Corps had completed their 14 years term of service - 11 young colonists
returned to England on board 'HMS Glatton' in May 1803 and 3 on board
'Coromandel' in July 1804. The third being when the New South Wales Corps
itself was relieved by the 73rd Regiment - 37 colonists returned to England
on board 'HMS Dromedary' and 'HMS Hindostan' in May 1810. The fourth being
when the 73rd Regiment in it's turn was relieved by the 46th Regiment - 21
colonists returned to England in April 1814 on board 'Wyndham'.
Several other military families are known to have returned to England but
it has not been discovered yet on what ships they travelled and undoubtedly
some would have been on these particular ships. John Cox and Nathaniel
Griffin both transferred to the incoming 73rd Regiment and have no further
records in the colony so presumably they left with that regiment in 1814.James Hopkinson, Anthony Hughes & David Pugh were all discharged from the NSW Corps and then disappeared from colonial records, so they too can reasonably
be assumed to have left the colony.
This list presents the minimum numbers of the First Generation who are known
to have left the colony. John Cox left Norfolk Island on board 'HMS
Investigator' in 1805 and was never heard of again. This raises the question of just how many other colonial born lads went to sea and disappeared ?Sadly many young colonists did not survive the return journey nor their first experience of an English winter. Fourteen are known to have met a lonely watery grave.
The profile of these departing First Generation showed some distinctive
characteristics. Firstly since the majority of those departing were the children of the military, it is not surprising that as a consequence a relatively
high proportion were childhood arrivals. Nearly one third, or 60, were in
this category. Secondly, and this obviously relates to their military background again, four out of five, or 174, had fathers who had arrived free
in the colony.
Regrettably the date and ship of departure is unknown in 22 instances but
nearly all of these were adult departures and of these nine returned to the
colony so they were probably making overseas visits rather than permanent
separations.
Once the First Generation had reached maturity they obviously showed a
preference for remaining in the colony. In the 177 cases where the age at
departure is known 152 (85%) where below the age of 20. Sarah McHenry(Fulton)
was the eldest known person to leave the colony at the age of 53 and unfortunately
she did not survive the voyage.
The First Generation by all accounts had a great love for their new birthplace
as a sizable proportion, nearly a quarter, of those who left eventually
returned. Of the 220 First Generation who left the infant colony 52 are known
to have made a return voyage and they are identified with an asterix (*)
and listed below along with return date and ship where known. Table 14.1. - Return VoyagesName Ship Age
------------------------------------------------------------John William Balmain 1828 Caroline 28y
Elizabeth Beckford ? ?y
Mary Ann Carne nee Broughton ? ?y
George Reynolds Collins 1799 Albion 5y
Marianne Letitia Collins 1799 Albion 9y
Elizabeth Dell 1818 19y
Joseph Dell 1818 18y
Joseph Eades 1817 Shipley 28y
Thomas Griffin ?
Elizabeth Guise 1807 Young William 8y
Richard Guise 1807 Young William 14y
William Guise 1807 Young William 11y
John Harmsworth 1820 36y
Elizabeth Harris-Underwood 1835 41y
John Harris 1821 31y
Jonathan Hassall 1817 19y
Samuel Otoo Hassall 1821 25y
Ann Heath-Flaherty-Moore 1823 24y
Sarah Henry 1810 13y
William Ikin 1816 Mariner 31y
George Johnston 1808 Lady Sinclair 18y
Julia Johnston 1813 James Hay 17y
Robert Johnston 1816 Mariner 24y
Margaret Beckford Kelly ? ?y
William Kent 1838 39y
Phillip Parker King 1800 Speedy 9y
Anna Maria King 1800 Speedy 7y
Elizabeth Laycock 1810 Canada 14y
Rebecca Laycock 1810 Canada 16y
Samuel Laycock 1810 22y
Thomas Laycock 1817 Chapman 31y
Edward Macarthur 1806 HMS Porpoise 17y
Elizabeth Macarthur 1805 Argo 13y
James Macarthur 1817 Lord Eldon 19y
William Macarthur 1817 Lord Eldon 17y
Ann Marsden 1810 Anne 16y
Elizabeth Mary Marsden 1810 Anne 11y
Duncan McKellar 1825 29y
Elizabeth McKellar-Drummond 1815 Marquis of Wellington 22y
William Mitchell ?
Isaac Moss 1821 Speke 27y
James Moss 1824 Aguilar 27y
Joseph Moss 1823 Christiana 30y
Charles Peat 1803 HMS Glatton 14y
Elizabeth Peck-Lette ?
Henry Richardson 1803 10y
Joshua Rose 1806 Lady Sinclair 23y
Thomas Rose 1806 Lady Sinclair 25y
John Rousseau 1809 10y
Elizabeth Nepean Stroud 1803 HMS Glatton 11y
John Stroud 1803 HMS Glatton 10y
Joseph Theakston 1799 Albion 11y
William Walbourne ?
D'Arcy Wentworth 1811 Admiral Gambier 18y
John Matthew Wentworth 1805 Alexander 10y
William Charles Wentworth 1810 Simon Cook 20y
Andrew Douglas White 1815 Northampton 18y
George Whittle ?
Sarah Redfern nee Wills 1824 Alfred 28y
The details of the return voyage are unknown in five cases but the fact that
they are known to have died in the colony confirms its occurrence.It is interesting to note that ten of the First Generation who joined and
departed with the NSW Corps eventually returned to the colony; Joseph Eades, Thomas Griffin, John Harmsworth, William Ikin, Samuel & Thomas Laycock,
William Mitchell, Edward Munday, William Walbourne and George Whittle.
Apparently soldiering was not quite as pleasant overseas as it was in New South Wales.
Of the 48 who made a return voyage, several are what one might call "frequent
sailors". The sons of John Macarthur come to mind as examples. Edward the eldest
made a short visit to the colony between 1806 and 1809, he returned again for a short time in 1824 and made his third trip to the colony between 1851 and
1860. William the youngest brother returned to the colony in 1817 on 'Lord
Eldon' and made a brief visit to England in 1862. James was the real seasoned
traveller, after returning in 1817 with William and his father he made three
further visits to England; 1828-1831, 1836-1838 and 1860-1864.
Similarly the Wentworth brothers made several voyages. William made several
trips to London, 1816-1824 to obtain his legal qualifications, 1854-1861,
before returning to England in 1862 and eventually dying there in 1872. His
brother John returned to the colony in 1817 leaving again on board 'General
Stewart' in 1819 only to die tragically at sea on 'HMS Borneo' in 1820. After D'Arcy's return in 1811 with the 73rd Regiment he left with the regiment for
Ceylon in 1814 before returning to settle in Van Diemens Land for good.
The King brother and sister are further examples. Anna Maria returned to
the land of her birth in 1800 only to leave with her retiring governor father in 1806 on board 'HMS Buffalo' but made her return voyage as Mrs Hannibal
Macarthur in 1812 on 'Isabella'. Phillip Parker made his first round trip
like his sister, returned in 1817 on 'Dick' for his historic hydrographic voyage
of circumnavigation, made another brief sojourn in the colony between 1822
and 1826 before finally making his final voyage to the colony for good.
Sarah Henry left for the second time in 1818 after her somewhat scandalous
activities in the colony involving her marriage to Dr Bland. William Kent
made a short visit between 1838 and 1839. Elizabeth McKellar left for the second
time as Mrs John Drummond after many years in Van Diemens Land. George Collins returned to Van Diemens Land with his sister and stepbrother in 1799 before
joining the Royal Navy and departing once more as a midshipman on 'HMS Porpoise'
in 1807.
To locate an entry on this list; firstly an alphabetical search on the name
would be made on List 1 from which the date and name of the ship of departure
would be retrieved, secondly using the appropriate date and vessel, the
departure would be located on this list and finally an alphabetical search
on the name would be made on the ship of departure.
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