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Sarah Chandler

Date of Trial: April 1817

Where Tried: Radnor Great Session

Crime: Forgery & escape from gaol

Sentence: Life

Est YOB: 1777

Stated Age on Arrival:

Native Place: Beguildy, Radnorshire

Occupation: Servant

Alias/AKA:

Marital Status (UK): Thomas Chandler, Farmer

Children on Board:

Surgeon’s Remarks: Quiet

Assigned NSW or VDL NSW

If I was asked to choose just one word to describe Sarah Chandler it would be ‘Celebrity’. Her story has been well

publicised and so this account draws on the work of other researchers, but I would like to particularly acknowledge

the work of Naomi Clifford for her story ‘Sarah Chandler: The one that got away (1814)’.1

Sarah’s life prior to her transportation to New South Wales was circumscribed by two places in Radnorshire,

Wales – Beguildy and Presteign – just over 14 miles apart and both very close to the border between Wales and

England. More obliquely, the market town of Kington, located on the ‘Welsh’ side of the nominal border of Offa’s

Dyke but actually in Herefordshire, had some bearing on Sarah’s fate.

“Chandler Territory”, Radnorshire, Wales2

Sarah Chandler had been born, and presumably baptised, as Sarah Bowen about 1777 in Beguildy, Radnorshire,

Wales, and we know that she had at least two brothers – Francis born about 1776 and William born about 1783.3

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She and her brothers laid claim to an impressive criminal pedigree, as chronicled in an article published in April

1845 in Eddowes’s Journal.

GREAT FATALITY IN ONE FAMILY. – The Bowens, of the parish of Beguildy, in the county of Radnor, have been

a family long known as living chiefly by plunder, and were always a terror to the neighbourhood. There are at

present in Presteign gaol five of this family, namely Francis Bowen, senior, under sentence of twelve months’

imprisonment for stealing a quantity of oats. His wife and son are under sentence of transportation for ten years

each for sheep stealing. William Bowen, brother of the first-named Francis Bowen, and his son, William Bowen

Jones, are undergoing four months’ imprisonment each; and a son and nephew of the same Francis Bowen,

namely, Morgan Bowen and Richard Chandler, were severally transported, within the last twelve months, from

Presteign. The sister of this same Francis Bowen, a remarkably fine woman, was, after three days’ trial before

the late humane Judge, Mr Justice Harding, found guilty of forgery, and sentence of death was passed upon her,

the offence being at that period, now upwards of thirty years ago, capital, and the law being almost invariably

allowed to take its full effect ….4

Thus the stage is set for the account of Sarah Chandler. If they were just skimming the pagers of the Hereford

Journal of 23 March 1814 readers may well have missed the following brief item at the bottom of page 3.

On Friday last was committed to Presteign Gaol, Mrs. Chandler of the Doly, on a charge of altering three One

Pound Kington Bank Notes to Five Pound each.5

Sarah Chandler, age 37 and married, was charged with two forgery offences – (1) altering a promissory note to

defraud Thomas Cooper, Presteign, innkeeper, and Thomas Beaumont, Presteign, baker; (2) forgery, thus

defrauding John Owen. There was ‘no prosecution’ on the second charge.6

A month after reporting on the committal of Mrs. Chandler the Hereford Journal noted that the business dealt with

at the Radnor Spring Great Sessions held at Presteigne was much greater than it had been for several years.

Only one case was reported on, but only the alert, and those in the know, would have correctly identified the

offender.

Mary [sic] Chandler, for altering three Kington one pound notes to five pounds each, was found guilty, and

condemned.7

But there were plenty ‘in the know’ – and according to one account great excitement was manifested in the town

and neighbourhood when the fate of Sarah Chandler, a respectable farmer’s wife and inhabitant of the parish of

Presteign, was announced.8

Sarah may have been regarded as ‘a respectable woman’ by some, but she was in fact a devious one who knew

very well what she was doing when, having asked a neighbour to write down the words FIVE and TWO for her,

she, together with her servant, visited a local printer to have the numbers printed in the style and format adopted

by the bank. She then ‘doctored’ three one pound notes which she tried to pass off at local businesses.9 How

close did she come to replicating a genuine note? Perhaps the earlier notes were less intricate, but to counterfeit

the 1820 note illustrated below would have called for a high level of skill.10

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Perhaps the description ‘devious’ is a bit harsh and ‘desperate’ might better describe her state of mind and motive

when she set out to defraud her unsuspecting victims. At her trial Sarah presented as a pitiful woman with a sorry

tale to tell in her defence. This wife of sheep-farmer Thomas Chandler, and mother of seven children under the

age of ten, pleaded her case by stating that, for fear of being beaten, she dared not ask her tight-fisted husband

for the money she needed for essentials, including buying shoes for her children. Forgery, she claimed was her

last resort. Devious and/or desperate, her pleas fell on unrelenting legal ears. She was afforded no sympathy by

Judge George Hardinge, the renowned severe stickler for the law.11

However, and whether or not she really was pregnant when sentence was pronounced, Sarah was able to buy

some time by ‘pleading the belly’ and her execution was deferred. Meanwhile, the lack of sympathy demonstrated

by the court was vigorously countered by community petitions. ‘Everything was done in her favour by petition to

the crown for a commutation of the sentence’.12 One of those petitioning on her behalf was her husband Thomas

Chandler (was he really as mean as Sarah had made him out to be?). There were also three collective petitions

signed variously by 64 individuals, including the High Sheriff of Radnor, members of the grand jury and even

members of the Kington and Radnorshire Bank.13 Meanwhile, and apparently even before the death warrant was

issued, Sarah and two of her brothers – Francis and William Bowen - took direct action in an attempt for her to

avoid the gallows, as reported by The Cambrian on 8 October 1814.

Sarah Chandler, who was capitally convicted at the last Spring Great Sessions, at Presteign, for altering a one-

pound Kington bank-note into a five-pound, but whose execution was deferred until the succeeding Sessions,

on account of alleged pregnancy, has since broken out of gaol, and has not yet been taken.14

Eddowes’s Journal described how the escape was effected.

… the friends of the condemned woman assembled one very windy dark night, and by placing a long ladder at

the back of the old gaol wall, let down some of the party by a rope into the court. These silently removed the

large stone steps which let down to the condemned cell where the object of their search was confined, and

drawing her to the top of the wall, she descended the ladder and got clear off. The rescue occasioned a great

sensation and the Governor was dismissed from his situation.15

The day after her escape a reward of ten guineas was offered for the capture of Sarah, described as a ‘jolly good

looking Woman, with a fresh colour in her Face, dark grey Eyes and dark brown Hair’.16 Within a few weeks the

reward was doubled. From the description of Sarah Chandler in the reward notice ‘drawing her to the top of the

wall’ must have been quite a feat.17

Six months later, and with Sarah still on the run, the reward for anyone who should apprehend the said Sarah

Chandler, ‘late of the Dolly, in the Parish of Presteign, in the said County, (a Prisoner under sentence of Death for

Forgery, some time since escaped from the County Gaol of Presteign)’, had been increased to Fifty Guineas.18

When the law finally caught up with Sarah Chandler she had been ‘free’ for just over two years. A number of

newspapers picked up on the story of her capture, the following item being from the Hereford Journal of 6

November 1816.19

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Apart from learning that Sarah had earned a subsistence living by selling milk, the article makes no mention of

how and exactly where she had been found. Was she being harboured by family and/or friends? Did she have all

or any of her children with her and if so, did this include the child of the ‘plea of the belly’? Why choose

Birmingham? Was it because it was large enough for a distinctive looking woman like Sarah to maintain

anonymity, but not too far away from friends and family at home? Ironically, a current promotional profile of

Presteigne boasts, as one of the town’s benefits, that it is ‘just over an hour and a half from Birmingham’.20

Once again Sarah was taken down to the cells of the Presteigne Gaol, this time for a longer stay. During her

absence, in April 1816, Judge George Hardinge who was adamant that Sarah was not to expect or receive any

mercy, had died. There was, of course, no guarantee that those reviewing her case in April 1817 would not simply

rubber-stamp the previous verdict. Fortunately for Sarah, and no doubt in consideration of ‘exertions’ made on

her behalf, the death sentence was commuted to transportation for life. The next we hear of Sarah is that in mid-

June she was on her way to Deptford.21

In December 1817 the Hereford Journal published the annual financial statements of the Treasurer of the Borough

of Radnor. One of the disbursements was ‘To Wilson Payn, the Reward Advertised for Apprehending Sarah

Chandler, £52 16s 6d.22 At the time the recipient was the Keeper of the Prison at Birmingham, and the reward

would have been a handy supplement to his salary.

Only three of the female convicts who were taken aboard the Friendship had been tried in Wales, and Sarah

Chandler, who would have been in her mid-forties was the oldest by about fifteen years.23 Perhaps they messed

together for the voyage. Peter Cosgreave, the Surgeon Superintendent must have been relieved that Sarah

Chandler was a ‘quiet’ passenger. Perhaps she was ‘resting between engagements’, because her life in the colony

was far from ‘quiet’.

The Friendship arrived at Port Jackson on 14 January 1818 but it was not until 30 January, once all the formalities

of mustering and organising their ‘disposal’ had been finalised, that the women were finally landed. Sarah

Chandler was in the group who were to be assigned as servants or sent to the Female Factory at Parramatta. It

is not known whether Sarah did find an assignment placement, but we do know that she spent some time at the

Factory in 1818.24 We also know that she had committed some offence, of unknown nature but serious enough

for her to be included in the schedule of prisoners, 20 male and 3 female, who left Sydney on 18 February 1819

on board the HMC Brig Lady Nelson, bound for Newcastle, the penal settlement established to accommodate

convicts who re-offended. Sarah had appeared before the Magistrates on 13 February and sentenced to serve 2

years. Incidentally one of the other women on board was Mary Anne Buckley, another Friendship woman, but

who was to serve only one year at Newcastle.25

By March 1821 Sarah had been returned to Sydney and placed again in the Parramatta Factory, from which,

together with yet another Friendship woman, Mercy Cotsworth, she had absconded. The public was alerted to

their ‘escape’ and urged to use ‘their utmost Exertions in apprehending and lodging them in Custody’.26 Almost

inevitably Sarah was returned to the Factory, but she did find a position as servant to the family of Captain Philip

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Parker King, at Parramatta.27 But, seemingly unable to keep out of trouble, Sarah was brought before the

Parramatta Bench on 22 July 1822, accompanied by William Crow from the Lumber Yard and his wife Mary Crow.

Sarah was charged with ‘Stealing a quantity of Property from the Premises of Capt. King of Parramatta’, and the

other two with having received the stolen property. Mr. Crow was sent to the Prisoners’ Barracks for three months

on half rations, and Mrs. Crow was to be confined in a solitary cell for one month. Sarah Chandler was dealt a

much harsher penalty – she was to be sent to Port Macquarie for seven years.28 Thus we find her name on a list

of eleven prisoners transported to Port Macquarie on 30 July 1822, again on the brig Lady Nelson.29

If Sarah was to complete her sentence she could expect to be at Port Macquarie until 1827. However, there is an

1825 muster record showing her to be at the Parramatta Factory. This is either a clerical error or she had somehow

negotiated a reduced sentence at Port Macquarie.30

Confirming that she had returned early is yet another ‘mention’ in the court records. On 15 September 1826 she

was found to be ‘Illegally at large’ and was ordered to spend time in the 3rd class at the Parramatta Factory – the

severest of penalties at that institution.31 And she was definitely back at Parramatta in late 1827 because it was

on 6 November that she and Denis Morrow were granted permission to marry.32

It was on 10 December that the couple married at St. John’s Parish Church, Parramatta. The Reverend Marsden

officiated and the witnesses were Joseph Jones and Ann Smith. The only member of the wedding party able to

sign their name was Joseph Jones.33

Denis Morrow (aka Morris), a native of County Fermanagh, had been born about 1768 and in 1812, at the age of

45, had been tried at Enniskillen and found guilty of horse-stealing, for which he was sentenced to be transported

for life. He embarked from Ireland on the two-decked vessel the Archduke Charles, which was one of the last

convict ships to carry both male and female prisoners – in this case 147 men and 54 women, and it is surprising

that there were only two deaths during the 277-day passage. The ship departed Cork on 15 May 1812 and arrived

at Port Jackson on 16 February 1813.34 Denis was one of 15 men sent for distribution at Parramatta, assignment

to be conducted by ballot. 35 In 1817, on the recommendation of his employer Isaac Nichols and the Rev. William

Cowper, Denis was granted a ticket-of-leave. The grounds for his petition for this indulgence were -

Petitioner having a Wife and being a Govt.-man is very much harrassed [sic] as it impedes him very much having

so little time to support his family therefore he earnestly prays your Excellency will be pleased to Grant him a

ticket of leave.36

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Denis Morrow’s petition was favourably considered and he received his ticket of leave. The ‘wife’ referred to was

probably Mary White, a confectioner by trade, who had been tried at County Kilkenny in 1813, was sentenced to

7 years transportation, and who, at the age of 32, arrived at Port Jackson on the Catherine in 1814. 37 This

relationship resulted in a daughter - Mary Ann - whose birth in 1822 was registered under the name ‘Morrough’38

Mother Mary White and her daughter are listed in the 1825 muster respectively as ‘wife of Dennis Morrow’ and

‘daughter of Mary White’. Separately, Mary Morrow is listed as a ‘child of Dennis Morrow.39

For the same muster Dennis Morrow is recorded as being at Port Macquarie. I am sure that this was a clerical

error by the colonial clerk who confused Dennis Morrow with John Murphy aka Morrow who definitely was at Port

Macquarie in 1825.40

Another 1825 record, the Windsor Population and Stock Book, shows that Denis Morrow held a grant of land, on

which he resided, and that he ran 8 horses, 4 sheep and 10 hogs, identified by his brand DM.41

By September 1828, and presumably before Sarah and Denis married in 1827, Mary White had found a new

partner – Bryan Meara – and it was with him (under the name Mar) that she, daughter Mary Ann, and a one year

old son Thomas, were living at Bringelly for the 1828 census. The same census finds Denis, aged 64, a tailor with

a ticket of leave, and his wife Sarah, a 55 year old general servant, at Pitt Town. Employed by Denis, and included

in his household is Daniel McGoveran. Living elsewhere, but also employed by Denis, were Peter and Walter

Duggan. All three men were ‘free’, having ‘done their time’.42

Sarah Chandler’s dealings with the law were not yet over. It was under her married surname Morrow that, on 22

January 1829, Sarah was found guilty by the Sydney Bench of having committed a felony and was sentenced to

three months in 3rd class at the Factory and to have her head shaved. At the age of 59, and as Sarah Chandler,

her name was recorded in the 1833-1834 Parramatta Gaol Entrance Book in which she was described as being

5’ 5” tall, with a pale complexion, gray hair and grey eyes. On 12 June 1834 she had been delivered to the Gaol

from Windsor and on 14 June was ordered to be sent to the Police Office.43 Details of the offence and the outcome

have not yet been established but it is likely that, once more, she was dispatched to the Parramatta Female

Factory. It was at Parramatta, on 6 September 1835 at the stated age of 69 and the wife of a tailor, that Sarah

Chandler was buried by the Reverend Samuel Marsden.44

We have no way of knowing how Denis Morrow coped with his incorrigible wife or, indeed, if he really cared. He

would have been greatly relieved, however, to receive the good news in 1833 he had been granted a pardon. On

6 April Governor Bourke signed the document by which he conditionally remitted ‘the Remainder of the Term or

Time which is yet to come and unexpired of the original Sentence or Order of Transportation’, provided and on

the condition that Denis Morrow continue to reside ‘within the Limits of this Government’ for the rest of his life.45 It

was not until December 1835 that the pardon process was finalised with the Government Gazette notification to

recipients, including Denis Morrow, that

The Conditional Pardons granted to the undermentioned Persons are now lying at this Office, and will be

delivered to the respective parties on payment of the fees due thereon to the Public.46

A Pitt Town marriage was registered in 1836, for which (assuming there was no other Pitt Town man of the same

name) the redoubtable Denis was one of the parties. The bride was Mary A Hogan.47

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And also (again assuming there was no alter ego) in 1836 Denis had become a father again – Eleanor Morrow,

daughter of Denis Morrow and Mary Ann, was born on 23 March 1836 and baptised later that year on 10 October

at Pitt Town.48

I have not located a death record for Dennis Morrow. However one researcher has recorded that he died in 1839

at the age of 71.49

Postscript

As noted at the beginning of this account, Sarah Chandler was only one of the numerous Bowen/Chandler criminal

fraternity, several of whom, like her, were sentenced to transportation. This account will conclude by briefly

following through on just two of them – her sons Peter and Richard Chandler.

Peter Chandler

The proceedings of the Presteigne Great Sessions at which Peter Chandler was tried commenced on 28 March

1825 with the presiding judge noting that there was a much heavier calendar of prisoners than usual. He also

drew attention to the poor state of the gaol, from which he understood ‘a short time back some desperate prisoners

had nearly effected their escape’. If Peter Chandler had heard this comment the irony may not have been lost on

him. He was aged 20 when he was charged and found guilty of having stolen clothes from the dwelling house of

Mrs. Bradley of Presteign, the property of Mr. Hopton. Because the stolen property was valued at more than 40

shillings he was sentenced to death. It would not have helped his cause that he had been imprisoned for two

months in 1824 for larceny.50 What a relief, then, to learn from a letter from Whitehall dated 30 April, that his

sentence had been commuted to transportation for the term of his natural life. After a short spell on the hulk Justitia

Peter Chandler was taken aboard the convict ship Medway which departed on 28 July 1825 and arrived at Van

Diemens Land on 14 December 1825 where he was issued with prisoner number 712.51

His conduct sheet shows that he was not a model prisoner. His first offence was booked in by J. Archer on 23

December 1826 when Peter had absconded from his master on the Sunday night and had come in to Hobart

Town without a pass – for which he was sent to P.W. [public works?] until he could be returned to Launceston.

On 5 May 1827 J. Archer ‘threw the book’ at Peter, reporting him for having absconded from his master’s service,

for neglect of duty, disobedience and insolence, and for cruelty to his master’s cattle. Reflecting the seriousness

of these offences, Peter Chandler was sentenced to 75 lashes and removal to a penal settlement for three years.

In August 1828 Peter earned a further 25 lashes for cutting part of his paillasse.52

There is a notation on file that Peter had petitioned the Colonial Secretary for a remission of sentence, but nothing

further to indicate when and whether this was received and/or considered.53 From the following newspaper item

from The Hobart Courier of 11 September 1830 we learn that in 1830 he was at Macquarie Harbour, and that any

remission of sentence would have been immaterial.

It is with much regret we have to announce a melancholy and fatal accident which has happened at Macquarie

harbour. In the morning of Monday the 23d August last, the signal being hoisted by the pilot, Mr. Bowhill, for the

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brig Tamar from Hobart town having arrived in sight, a boat was dispatched from the settlement with Serjeant

Dawson and a crew of 7 prisoners, as usual, for the dispatches. On arrival at the heads, the pilot boarded them,

and proceeded with them to sea to meet the vessel and conduct her safe to harbour. Shortly, however, after

leaving the land, it came to blow a severe gale, and Mr. Bateman of the Tamar states, that he found it necessary

to turn the ship head to sea in order to ensure her safety. The boat was then lost sight of from the settlement,

and, we regret to add, has never since been heard of. It is, we fear now but too certain that she and all on board

have fallen a prey to the waves. Every exertion was made by Capt. Briggs, the commandant, in hopes of

discovering some vestige of the boat or its unfortunate inmates but in vain, and a military party narrowly examined

the coast all the way to port Davey, but also without success. The following are the names of the nine persons

who were in the boat, viz. – Mr. George Bowhill; the pilot, Serjeant Henry Dawson of the 63rd regiment, and the

7 following prisoners … 712, Peter Chandler, Medway …54

Richard Chandler

While Sarah Chandler may have heard about the fate of her son Peter, she had been dead nearly ten years when

her other son Richard arrived at Van Diemens Land in 1844. He had been tried at the July Radnorshire County

Sessions and his trial attracted quite an audience, as reported in the Hereford Journal of 10 July.

The Queen against Richard Chandler, Francis Bowen, and Richard Bowen. This case excited very great interest,

and the Court was crowded with respectable farmers who had come from the upper part of the county to hear

the case. The two first prisoners were charged with stealing a quantity of wool, and the third with being an

accessory after the fact t the felony. It appeared that the Rev. Mr. Roberts, of Cwmheyop, had on his sheepwalk

on Sunday night, the 23rd June, a number of sheep which he intended to shear on the following morning, and

that on going to the Hill the next morning for the purpose he found that he was too late for that, they having been

shorn during the night. Two of the prisoners were seen about the Hill late in the evening and the prisoner Richard

Chandler was proved to have sold a fleece of wool, which the prosecutor swore to at Newtown early on the

Monday morning. The defence, which was very spirited, rested mainly on the identity of the wool. The jury found

Richard Chandler Guilty, and Francis Bowen, by direction of the Court, Not Guilty … The Court after a very

suitable address sentenced Chandler to ten years’ transportation.55

As soon as the verdict and sentence were handed down Mr. E.L. Jones, Richard Chandler’s defence attorney,

sent off a letter to Sir James Graham.

As the Attorney of Richard Chandler, I think it my Duty to lay the following Statement before you. At our

Radnorshire Quarter Sessions held last Friday, the said Richard Chandler with one Francis Bowen was indicted

for stealing 53lbs of Wool. Francis Bowen was proved to have been seen near the Sheepwalk of a Mr. Roberts

about 17 Miles from Newtown in Montgomeryshire and six Miles from the residence of the said Francis Bowen

and the Witness added that he believed that Richd Chandler was along but he would not prove to Chandler. This

was on Sunday Evening – the 23rd of June last, and the wool was supposed to be shorn from the Backs of Mr.

Roberts’s sheep, and between 8 and 9 o’clock the next morning. Chandler accompanied by one Morgan Bowen

sold about 501bs of Wool to Mr. Morgan, a woolstapler at Newton, stating that the Wool was Morgan Bowen’s

who received the Money for it.

Francis Bowen was found not Guilty, Morgan Bowen was not in Custody, and Richard Chandler was found Guilty

and the Court sentenced him to ten years Transportation ~ Now the Offence only amounted to simple Larceny,

and the utmost Term of Transportation that can be awarded is 7 years transportation … He was not convicted

of any Offence before … and I trust that as the Sentence is illegal, you will take the necessary steps to procure

the Prisoner’s Discharge … Edw. L. James, Presteigne 7 July 1844. 56

Mr. Jones and Richard Chandler did not have long to wait before they received a reply – the petition was refused.57

Somewhat pointedly, the sentence ’10 Years’ recorded in Richard Chandler’s entry in the Radnor Criminal

Register carries the annotation ‘an erroneous sentence’ reflecting Mr. Jones’ and perhaps others’ view of the

sentence.58

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The Hereford Journal of 28 August 1844 advised its readers that Richard Chandler, along with three other

convicts, was ‘under a proper escort, removed per the Cheltenham mail, on Wednesday, the 14th instant, to

Millbank Penitentiary’.59 The Millbank Register records him as having been received from the Presteign Gaol on

15 August. He was aged 36, single, able to read, and a tailor by trade. As noted, this was his first time in prison,

his connections were bad – and cited as an example was that his mother had been transported. In manner

however, Richard was ‘Temper and feeling good’. He was discharged from Millbank on 4 September 1844 and

taken on board the convict transport Sir Robert Peel.60 The vessel sailed from London on 9 September and arrived

at the port of Hobart Town on Boxing Day, carrying 253 male prisoners.61 Richard Chandler was assigned convict

number 14975 and his details, including a more comprehensive description, were entered into the conduct

register. So we can picture him as relatively short at 5’ 3” and rather stoutly built. He had a fresh complexion, an

oval head, blue eyes, dark brown hair and brown whiskers, with a broad face and large features. He also carried

scars on his right hand and wrist. Now he is also listed as being able to read a little.

On arrival he was assigned to the Deloraine Gang and remained there until 26 March 1846 after which he worked

for various employers. He did not have a clean conduct record, but his offences were relatively minor – being

drunk, absent without leave and refusing to work. He obtained a ticket of leave on 11 June 1850 and his certificate

of freedom on 7 July 1854.62

Marriage was the next event in Richard’s life. On 5 July 1853 approval had been granted for him to marry Charlotte

Hampson. The marriage took place on 22 September 1853 at the York Street Baptist Chapel, Launceston,

according to the rites of the Congregationalists. The respective ages of the groom and bride were 46 and 40. He

was a tradesman and she was a widow. The witnesses were Jesse Pullen and Robert Baird. The bride ‘signed’

the register with her mark and, despite the fact that it was thought that he was able ‘to write a little’, Richard too

made his mark.63

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Charlotte Cooksley, born about 1815 in Silverton, Devon, together with Elizabeth Warren, then both inmates at

the Refuge for Discharged Prisoners, were committed for trial at Exeter, charged with stealing various items of

wearing apparel belonging to the Matron of the Refuge and then absconding with the booty. At her trial in July

1841 Charlotte was sentenced to 14 years transportation. As a general farm servant she arrived at Hobart on the

Emma Eugenia on 9 April 1842. By December 1844 she had been granted a ticket of leave and by November

1847 her conditional pardon had been approved.64 Charlotte referred to herself as a ‘widow’ when she married

Richard Chandler. Her previous husband was Thomas Hampson and they had been married at St. Matthew’s

Church, Clarence Plains, on 28 April 1845, the ceremony squeezed in between Thomas’ numerous offences and

consequent periods of punishment.65 A butcher by trade, he had been sentenced to transportation for life in 1831

for cattle stealing, and had arrived on the Katherine Stewart Forbes in July 1832. His conduct record chronicles a

litany of offences, with the last entry being for June 1846 when he was found in a brothel after hours and presenting

himself as a free man, for which he was ordered to 3 months hard labour at Bridgewater.66

On 26 August 1854, a few weeks after Richard had received his certificate of freedom and shortly before their first

wedding anniversary, Richard and Charlotte Chandler boarded the steamer Royal Shepherd at the Queen’s

Wharf, Launceston. Travelling steerage, they were headed for Melbourne.67

The lure of gold was what probably enticed the Chandlers, now in their 40s, to join the exodus from Van Diemens

Land to Victoria. And it was the quest for gold that ended Richard’s life in November 1869.68

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The death registration, while lacking in detail is actually quite revealing. The informant clearly knew very little

about Richard, apart from the fact that he had been born in Wales. It was not unusual for the names of a deceased

person’s parents not to be known, but in this case the informant was also apparently unaware of any wife. But

perhaps Richard was not a very communicative person. Or perhaps he and Charlotte had parted ways.69

Charlotte Chandler’s whereabouts when Richard died are readily identified by an item in the Melbourne newspaper

the Advocate of 15 July 1871 reporting on the weekly committee meeting of the Benevolent Asylum. One item on

the agenda was a report from the resident medical officer on the ‘state of the house’. He advised the committee

that a male patient had died on 7 July and that –

On the same day also, a patient named Charlotte Chandler, native of Devonshire, aged forty-eight years died of

epilepsy; residence in the house two years and two months.70

She would have been admitted around May 1867. And in her case, the death registration confirms that she was

born in Devon, and adds that her parents were John and Mary Webber. But again, the column for ‘Spouse at

Death’ is left blank.71

NOTES 1 Naomi Clifford, Sarah Chandler: the one that got away (1814), https://www.naomiclifford.com/sarah-chandler-1814/. 2 Google Maps, https://www.google.com/maps/. 3 No birth/baptism record has been found for Sarah Bowen but subsequent records point to an estimated birth year of 1777 and also to

the estimated birth years of her brother Francis and William. 4 Eddowes’s Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales, 16 Apr 1845, p.4. 5 Hereford Journal, 23 Mar 1814, p.3. The Kington and Radnorshire bank was established in 1808 and was sold to the Metropolitan Bank

of England & Wales in 1910 – Landed families of Britain and Ireland, https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/2019/01/362-banks-of-

ridgebourne-and-hergest.html. 6 National Library of Wales, Crime and Punishment database, https://crimeandpunishment.library.wales/index_s.htm. 7 Hereford Journal, 27 Apr 1814, p.27. 8 Eddowes’s Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales, 16 Apr 1845, p.4. 9 Naomi Clifford, Sarah Chandler: the one that got away (1814). 10 Stacks & Bowers Galleries, Kington & Radnorshire Bank £5, 1820, https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/ 11 The Twickenham Museum, Lawyers and Clergy, George Hardinge, http://www.twickenham-

museum.org.uk/detail.php?aid=306&cid=16. 12 Eddowes’s Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales, 16 Apr 1845, p.4. 13 National Archives, Reports on criminals: correspondence, Reference HO 47/53/20. This document lists not only all the petitioners but

also the names of all those who gave evidence during the trial - https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C10005357. 14 The Cambrian, 8 Oct 1814, p.3. 15 Eddowes’s Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales, 16 Apr 1845, p.4. 16 Newspaper item, Presteigne, 8 Sep 1814, cited in Naomi Clifford, Sarah Chandler: the one that got away (1814). 17 Hereford Journal, 12 Oct 1814, p.4. 18 Hereford Journal, 17 May 1815, p.1. 19 Hereford Journal, 6 Nov 1816, p.3.

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20 Presteigne, http://www.presteigne.org.uk/. 21 Hereford Journal, 25 Jun 1817, p.3. 22 Hereford Journal, 17 Dec 1817, p.3. Mr. Payn resigned his situation as Keeper in late 1819, but retained his appointment as Chief

Constable of the Hundred of Hemlingford – Staffordshire Advertiser, 13 Nov 1819, p.4. 23 The other two were Margaret Jones and Ann Morgan, the latter of whom was transhipped to Van Diemen’s Land on arrival at Port

Jackson. 24 Beth Matthews and Anne Mathews, Females in Parramatta Female Factory, (Sep 2015). 25 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary’s Papers, 1788-1856, Series: NRS 937; Reel or Fiche Numbers: Reels

6004-6016, p.325. 26 The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 31 Mar 1821, p.2. 27 Biographical Database of Australia (BDA), Biographical report for Sarah Chandler, Person ID: X#14011191102. 28 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary’s Papers, 1788-1856, Series: NRS 898; Reel or Fiche Numbers: Reels

6020-6040, 6070, p.21. The penal settlement at Port Macquarie, established in 1821, took over from Newcastle as a place of secondary

punishment due to the opening up of the Hunter region to settlers, and thereby the loss to Newcastle of one of its prime benefits –

isolation. 29 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Convict Records, 1810-1891, Port Macquarie Penal Settlement, Port Macquarie: List of

Convicts, 1822-1825. 30 Ancestry, New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849, New South Wales, General Muster A-L, 1825. 31 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930, Entrance Book, Sydney, 1825-1832. 32 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Convicts’ Applications to Marry, 1826-1851, Granted, 1827. 33 New South Wales, Australia, St. John’s Parramatta, Marriages, 1790-1966, Vol 02 Baptisms, 1826-1834; Marriages, 1826-1834;

Burials, 1826-1834. 34 Peter Mayberry, Irish Convicts to New South Wales, 1788-1849, http://members.pcug.org.au/~ppmay/convicts.htm. BDA, Biographical

report for Denis Morrow, Person ID: B#10013234201. Free Settler or Felon? Convict Ship Archduke Charles 1813,

https://jenwilletts.com/convict_ship_archduke_charles_1813.htm. 35 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary’s Papers, 1788-1856, Series: NRS 935; Reel or Fiche Numbers: Reel 6002,

p.400. 36 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary’s Papers, 1788-1856, Series: NRS 900; Reel or Fiche Numbers: Fiche

3163-3253, p.247. 37 Mary White, a confectioner by trade, had been tried at County Kilkenny in 1813, sentenced to 7 years transportation, and arrived at

NSW on the Catherine in 1814 - Peter Mayberry, Irish Convicts to New South Wales, 1788-1849. 38 NSW Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages (NSW BDM), Birth registration, 266/1822 V1822266. Another record suggests that Mary

Ann Morrugh [sic] was the daughter of Mary Fitzgerald and Denis Morrugh and that her baptism at Pitt Town on 6 June 1822 was

registered at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church Sydney, the sponsors being Robert Thomas and Catherine Mason – BDA, Biographical

report for Mary Fitzgerald, Person ID: U#32021028103. 39 Ancestry, New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849, New South Wales, General Muster M-Z, 1825. 40 No record has been found to show that Denis Morrow was sent to Port Macquarie. However, John Murphy aka Morrow, who had also

arrived in the colony on the Archduke Charles as a ‘lifer’ and who in 1822 was a ticket-of-leave man residing at Windsor, was sent to Port

Macquarie per the Sally in March 1823 and, as John Murphy was still there for the 1825 muster – BDA, Biographical report for John

Murphy, Person ID: B#10013236001. 41 Ancestry, New South Wales, Census and Population Books, 1811-1825, Windsor Population and Stock, 1825. 42 Ancestry, 1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (TNA Copy). 43 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930, Entrance Book, Parramatta, 1833-1834,

Volume 4/6530. 44 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia, St. John’s Parramatta, Burials, 1790-1986, Vol 3, Baptisms, 1834-1838; Marriages, 1834-1838;

Burials, 1834-1838. Ancestry, Australia Death Index, 1787-1985, Vol Number V183516690 19, 45 Ancestry, New South Wales, Australia Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons, 1788-1870, Conditional, 1826-1835

(Reel 775), Pardon Number 75. 46 The Australian, 5 Jan 1836, p.4. 47 NSW BDM, Marriage registration, 259/1836 V1836359 20. 48 Ancestry, Australia, Births and Baptisms, 1792-1981, FHL Film Number 993951. 49 Peter Mayberry, Irish Convicts to New South Wales, 1788-1849. I have located, but not followed up on a death registration for a

Dennis Monagh at Pitt Town in 1840 – Ancestry, Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985, V1840838 24A. 50 Findmypast (FMP), England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935, Prison Registers, HO 8/4. Hereford Journal, 6 Apr

1825, p.3. Ancestry, England & Wales Criminal Registers, 1791-1892, Wales, Radnorshire, 1824. 51 FMP, England & Wales Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935, Correspondence and Warrants, 44/245-246. Ancestry, UK, Prison

Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849, Justitia, Register, 1803-1836. Convict Records, Medway,

https://convictrecords.com.au/ships/medway/1825. 52 Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO), Conduct Record, CON31-1-6 Image 243, https://stors.tas.gov.au/NI/1380092. 53 TAHO, Colonial Secretary Correspondence, File Number 5625, CS03-1-1 / C / Image 7, https://stors.tas.gov.au/NI/1590870.

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54 The Hobart Courier, 11 Sep 1830, p.2. 55 Hereford Journal, 10 Jul 1844, p.3. The case against Richard Bowen did not proceed, the prosecutor declaring that he could not

support the case. Despite calls for the case to continue so that Richard could prove his innocence - ‘clearing his character from the foul

imputation’, the case was discharged. 56 FMP, England & Wales Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935, Home Office: Criminal Petitions: Series li, HO 18/137. 57 FMP, England & Wales Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935, Correspondence and Warrants, HO 13/85/12. 58 Ancestry, England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892, Wales, Radnorshire, 1844. 59 Hereford Journal, 28 Aug 1844, p.3. First opened as a penitentiary, the Millbank Prison Act 1843 converted the penitentiary into a

prison and a holding depot for convicts awaiting transfer to other convict prisons, hulk, or transportation – Prison History, Millbank Prison,

https://www.prisonhistory.org/prison/millbank-prison/. The Tate Britain gallery now occupies the old Millbank site. 60 FMP, England & Wales Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935, Millbank Prison Registers: Male Prisoners, Volume 1, HO 24/1. 61 Colonial Times, 28 Dec 1844, p.2. 62 TAHO, Conduct Record, CON33-1-63 Image 43, https://stors.tas.gov.au/NI/1380094. 63 TAHO, Marriage Permissions, CON52/1/6, https://stors.tas.gov.au/NI/1248230. TAHO, Marriages, Launceston, RGD37/1/12 No 1172,

https://stors.tas.gov.au/NI/849701. Note: The surname of the bride was given as Hampstone. 64 Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, 1 May 1841, p.3. Western Courier, West of England Conservative, Plymouth and Devonport Advertiser,

14 Jul 1841, p.3. Female Convicts Research Centre (FCRC), Female Convicts in VDL Database, Charlotte Cookesly, Convict ID 4580. 65 TAHO. Marriages, Hobart, RGD37/1/4 No 1764, https://stors.tas.gov.au/NI/832336. 66 TAHO, Conduct Record, CON31-1-203 Image 159, https://stors.tas.gov.au/NI/1398562. Thomas Hampson was probably the 79 year

old man of that name, and a cook by occupation, who died at the Launceston Benevolent Asylum in July 1897 – Launceston Examiner, 4

Aug 1897, p.5. 67 TAHO, Departures, POL220/1/3 p.667, https://stors.tas.gov.au/NI/533236. 68 Alexandra Times, 3 Dec 1869, p.2. 69Victoria Births Deaths and Marriages (VIC BDM), Death registration, 9390/1869. 70 Advocate, 15 Jul 1871, p.7. 71 VIC BDM, Death registration, 6542/1871.

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SELECTED SOURCES

Genealogy Websites

Ancestry

1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (TNA Copy)

Australia Death Index, 1787-1985

Australia, Births and Baptisms, 1792-1981

England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892

New South Wales and Tasmania, Australian Convict Musters, 1806-1849

New South Wales, Australia Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons, 1788-1870

New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary’s Papers, 1788-1856

New South Wales, Australia, Convict Records, 1810-1891

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930

New South Wales, Australia, Registers of Convicts’ Applications to Marry, 1826-1851

New South Wales, Australia, St. John’s Parramatta, Burials, 1790-1986

New South Wales, Australia, St. John’s Parramatta, Marriages, 1790-1966

New South Wales, Census and Population Books, 1811-1825

UK, Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849

Findmypast

England & Wales Crime, Prisons & Punishment 1770-1935

Other Websites

Biographical Database of Australia (BDA), http://www.bda-online.org.au/

Convict Records, https://convictrecords.com.au/

Female Convicts Research Centre, https://www.femaleconvicts.org.au/

Free Settler or Felon? https://www.jenwilletts.com/

Google Maps, https://www.google.com/maps/

Landed families of Britain and Ireland, https://landedfamilies.blogspot.com/

Naomi Clifford, Sarah Chandler: the one that got away (1814), https://www.naomiclifford.com/sarah-chandler-1814/

National Archives, https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

National Library of Wales, Crime and Punishment database, https://crimeandpunishment.library.wales/

New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths, Marriages, https://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/

Peter Mayberry, Irish Convicts to New South Wales, 1788-1849, http://members.pcug.org.au/~ppmay/convicts.htm

Presteigne, http://www.presteigne.org.uk/

Prison History, https://www.prisonhistory.org/prison/

Stacks & Bowers Galleries, https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/

Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office, https://stors.tas.gov.au/

The Twickenham Museum, http://www.twickenham-museum.org.uk/

Victoria Births Deaths and Marriages, https://www.bdm.vic.gov.au/

Online Newspapers

British Newspapers (Findmypast)

Eddowes’s Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales

Exeter and Plymouth Gazette

Hereford Journal

Staffordshire Advertiser

The Cambrian

Western Courier, West of England Conservative, Plymouth and Devonport Advertiser

TROVE

Advocate

Alexandra Times

Colonial Times

Launceston Advertiser

The Hobart Courier

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser

Publications

Matthews Beth and Mathews Anne, Females in Parramatta Female Factory, (Sep 2015)

© Leonie Fretwell, 2019