LIST 30 - COMPOSITE INDEX
This fourth reference list, titled "Composite Index" is the only list in the book which contains the full complement of the First Generation, that is all the births and all the childhood arrivals from 1788 to
1800, 1,978 entries in all. The only names not found on this list are those children who died at sea before reaching the colony (which can be found in List 11 - Childhood Arrivals).
The information recorded for each entry includes;
Christian name,
father's surname, mother's maiden name, year of birth, year of death, and where applicable;
shipping movements to and from the colony and within the colony, all the musters that the person appears in, year(s) of marriage, other significant colonial events (for example service with
the New South Wales Corps)
and where the year of death is unknown;
the last known record of the person (often this is the year of
birth of the last known child).
The list is in the child's name order, Surname then Christian name,
with the year of birth as the secondary sorting criterion, if two children should have the same name.
This list attempts to bring together all the other lists in this book to create one amalgamated and comprehensive reference point. But it is more than just a index, it also documents the lives of the entire
First Generation.
If one were to take a line from this list such as:-
Catherine SHAW NEALE 1799 1894 m1818 m1833and expand all the codes to give the sentence:-
Catherine Shaw was born in 1799, married firstly in 1818,
secondly in 1833 and died in 1894.then by looking at each of the lists referenced in this sentence quite a nice little biographical paragraph can be generated:-
Catherine Shaw was born on the 1st January 1799 and baptised at St Johns Parramatta on the 25th December 1801. She was
the legitimate daughter of William Shaw, an emancipist who
arrived on board the 'Atlantic' in 1791 & Catherine Neale, a
convict who arrived on board the 'Marquis Cornwallis' in
1796, her parents having married at St Johns Parramatta in
1796. She married firstly at the age of 19 on the 23rd
February 1818 at St Johns Parramatta to Thomas Carpenter, a conditionally pardoned convict who was 12 years older than herself and by whom she had 4 children. She married secondly at the age of 34 on the 30th July 1833 at St Albans to John
Medworth, a free settler who was 4 years younger than
herself and by whom she had 5 children. She died on the 8th
August 1894 at Wyoming near Gosford at the age of 95.As an another example, taking the line:-
Edward MUNDAY MRS 1783 1832 A1788 NI1791 NSWC1802 M1802 PJ?
73Reg R1814 d1826 NSW1826 HT1826and expanding the codes:-
Edward Munday was born in 1783, arrived in the colony in
1788, travelled to Norfolk Island in 1791, joined the NSW
Corps in 1802, was recorded in the 1802 Muster, returned to
Port Jackson where he joined the 73rd Regiment, left with
that Regiment in 1814, was discharged in 1826 and returned
to New South Wales the same year, he preceded to Van Diemens Land and died in 1832. then referencing the relevant lists generates:-
Edward Munday was born in 1783 at Stonehouse Plymouth
Devonshire, and arrived in the colony with his parents;
Private John Munday of the Marines and his wife Ann, on
board 'HMS Sirius' in 1788 at the age of 5. He accompanied
his father when he was transferred to Norfolk Island in
November 1791 where he joined the NSW Corps as a private on
the 25th January 1802 at the age of 19. He was recorded as
being in the military at the muster taken on the island that year. He returned to Port Jackson where in 1808 he was
recorded as being 5'6" tall. He transferred to the 73rd
Regiment in 1810 and remained with that regiment when its
tour of duty in the colony ceased in 1814 and was with the
British Army until his discharge in 1826 with 24 years
service. He returned to New South Wales the same year and
then proceeded to Van Diemens Land where he died in December 1832 at Clarence Plains Van Diemens Land, aged 49 years.As an another example, taking the line:-
Jane - JONES 1780 1849 A1788 NI1790 PJ? m1800 M1806 M1814 d1822 M1822 C1828and expanding the codes:-
Jane Jones was born in 1780, and arrived in the colony in
1788. In 1790 she was transferred to Norfolk Island
returning to Port Jackson some time before her marriage in
1800. She appears to have formed a defacto relationship
around 1822. She appeared in the 1806, 1814, 1822 musters
and the 1828 census and died in 1849. then referencing the relevant lists generates:-
Jane Jones was born in London in 1780, the daughter of
convict Elizabeth Jones and an unknown father. She arrived
in the colony with her mother on board the 'Lady Penrhyn' in 1788 aged 8. In 1790 she was transferred to Norfolk Island
with her mother returning to Port Jackson some time before
her marriage on the 24th May 1800 at St Phillips Sydney to
Thomas Rose, another childhood arrival, one year younger
than herself, with whom she had 2 children. She appears in the 1806 Muster under the name of Jones and
is surprisingly listed as a concubine of Matthew Conroy with four illegitimate male children. In the 1814 Muster she is
listed under the name of Rose, free, living in Sydney, the
wife of Thomas Rose. In the 1822 Muster she is listed under
the name of Rose, having come free to the colony, living in
Windsor, the wife of Thomas Rose. She apparently left Rose
about this time to form a de facto relationship with
emancipist James Walsh. In the 1828 Census she is listed
under the name of Walsh, aged 44 years, having come free to
the colony, living in Airds, the 'wife' of James Walsh. Jane died on the 29th August 1849 at Wollongong aged 69
years and buried under the name of Walsh.In contradistinction to the fulsome narrative above there are sadly many
entries such as:-
Willliam STANFIELD - 1795which expands into:-
William Stanfield was born in 1795then referencing the relevant lists generates:-
William Stanfield was born on the 10th January 1795 at
Sydney Cove and baptised at St Phillips Sydney on the 25th
the following month, the son of William and Alice, both
parents being unidentified at this time. There is no further documentation of his activities in the colony. The information in this composite list also gives an indication of the fate
of the First Generation.
The Fate of the First Generation
So what was the fate of the First Generation of the English colony
in New South Wales ? Like every other person who has ever lived their
ultimate fate was death but as was discussed in List 13 only just over a half have a known death.
One fifth, twenty percent, have no other known colonial record apart
from either the fact of their birth or their arrival in the colony. This represents over four hundred individuals. One possibility
is that they died as infants, or older, and their deaths were not
recorded by the colonial authorities or early ministers of the
church, but given that their very existence is known because their
parents had them baptised it would appear very unlikely that those
same parents would not give their children a Christian burial.
The other possibility is that they left the colony with no record
being made of the fact. Whilst this is undoubtedly true in many
cases, especially amongst the young men who may have been induced
to go to sea on various visiting sailing ships, it would not explain
the hundreds of cases left unresloved.
A further percentage, less than ten percent, left the colony and were never heard of again.
What of the remaining twenty percent ? The table below lists 291 cases
(14.7%) whose last colonial documentation was one of the colonial
musters or the 1828 census.
Table 30.1. - Fate of the First GenerationEvent Number %
---------------------------Death 1,040 52.5
Departure 123 6.2
1802 Muster 8 0.4
1805 Muster 20 1.0
1806 Muster 6 0.3
1811 Muster 25 1.3
1814 Muster 40 2.0
1818 Muster 5 0.3
1819 Muster 10 0.5
1822 Muster 63 3.2
1828 Census 114 5.8
Unknown 402 20.3
Added to these are 77 cases (3.9%) of a marriage or the birth of a child as the last recorded colonial event. These range from the
marriage of Elizabeth Munday in 1807 to the marriage of Mary Wells
in 1855. Five women; Charlotte Halfpenny, Sarah Hopkins, Mary Ann
McDonald, Sarah McHenry & Margaret Martin all had defacto
relationships of indeterminate dates. Table 30.2. - Marriage & Childbirth RecordsDate Range Number
---------------------1801-1810 6
1811-1820 20
1821-1830 24
1831-1840 17
1841-1850 3
1851-1860 2
unknown 5
Then there are 36 instances of shipping movements. There were 15 cases of children sailing from Norfolk Island to Port Jackson, 19 cases of
sailing from Norfolk Island to Hobart Town, John Cox and Margaret Lowe
sailed from Norfolk Island to Port Dalrymple in 1813 and all were
not heard of again.
James Hopskinson, Anthony Hughes, David Pugh and John Roberts were
all discharged from the New South Wales Corps and then disappeared
from further colonial records.
Joseph Theakston left the colony in 1796, returned to the colony in 1799 and then disappeared, as did John Stroud who left in 1798 and returned in 1803, as did Charles Peat who left in 1800 and returned
in 1803.
The abbreviations used in this list are explained below:
A = Arrival in ColonyC = 1828 Census
c = child born D = Death d = discharged from NSWC(male) d = defacto(female) M = Muster m = marriageR = Return to England
r = resigned commission from NSWC ? = date unknown HT = Hobart Town NI = Norfolk Island PD = Port DalrymplePJ = Port Jackson
NSW = New South Wales QLD = Queensland VDL = Van Diemens Land VIC = Victoria NSWC = New South Wales Corps
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