Black Sheep Sunday

Hobart Town from the New Town Road by J.S. Prout (1844)

via NotoriousStrumpets.com.au

Carrying on from last week's Black Sheep Sunday post. I have managed to have find some more snippets of information of my Black Sheep duo - George WHITE and Elizabeth ALLEN.

World Vital Records offered free records until the 18th (tomorrow) so I took them up on their offer. I must say, I do find the site a bit of confusing. Searches for records of specific places (such as UK, Australia and New Zealand) tend to also include the American records in the results. This may be something an experienced user can combat but for me, time is of the essence!

Tucked away in the Hobart Town Gazette of 1844 were 2 references for each of my beloved convicts.

Hobart Town Gazette - 8 March 1844

Elizabeth Allen, Margaret, to Zachary Pocock, Hobart

Hobart Town Gazette - 16 August 1844

George White, George III., from J. & R. Meikle, Murray-street,

to Thomas Allcock, Hobart Town.

Hobart Town Gazette - 12 November 1844

George White, George the Third, by Thomas Allcock, Liverpool-street,

2 months, 21st ditto [October]

Hobart Town Gazette - 8 October 1844

Elizabeth Allen, Margaret, by George Lewis, Restdown, 1 month, from 10th ditto [September].

These snippets refer to whose private service they entered as a passholder.

From 1840 convicts usually served an initial period of "probation" in government work gangs, before becoming "passholders" who competed in the labour market. In the context of high unemployment, this meant that thousands of serving convicts joined ticket-of-leave holders and emancipists to roam the island in search of work. The sight of these workers, who by necessity or choice often lived rough in the bush, horrified and frightened the free settlers... (Source: Van Diemen's Land by James Boyce - found via Google Books).

Next steps:

• Search for other issues of the Hobart Town Gazette
• Research the employers listed for some background information