Alexander Arthur

Level 6

Brad Thompson on 27th July 2025

The Story of Alexander Arthur (NSW Corps) Born: Abt. 1763, highly likely in Newcastle Upon Tyne Died: 30 May 1829, Windsor, buried at St Matthew's Church, Windsor, NSW (no marker is present) Career: 1. 62nd Wiltshire Regiment Foot Bet. 24 Aug 1784-13 Oct 1801 Served in the West Indies during the French Revolutionary Wars, fighting at Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) in 1796. 2. New South Wales Corps (102nd Foot) – Otherwise known as the Rum Corps, Botany Bay Rangers Bet. 13 Oct 1801- Abt. 1810 Served during Rum Rebellion and possibly took part in the convict rebellion at Castle Hill on the 4 – 5 March 1804. Later, he went on LtCol William Patterson’s expedition to claim Tasmania in the name of King George III, and settle Launceston, Tasmania, arriving on HMS Buffalo on the 11th Nov 1804. 3. Veterans Corps Bet. 1810 - 1822 Alexander Arthur was a participant in the early days of colonial Australia. He arrived in Sydney thirteen years after its founding and subsequently helped settle northern Tasmania. He also served in the same regiment as key figures in the downfall of Governor Bligh. According to his death certificate, Alexander Arthur was born in about 1763. He enlisted in the 62nd Wiltshire Regiment in 1784. During 1784, the regiment was located in Trowbridge, England, before marching to Hilsea for embarkation to foreign service, but peace had taken place, so this order was cancelled. Instead, they marched north through Berwick, Musselburgh and onto Dundee. This march would have taken them through Newcastle Upon Tyne, where it is likely Alexander was either drummed into service or joined voluntarily. From Dundee, they embarked for Ireland, where the regiment began a four-year posting to Ireland, garrisoning in the following towns: Galway 1785/6 Dublin 1786/7 Killarney 1787 Ross Castle 1787 After Ireland, the regiment embarked for Canada: Youghall, Canada, 1788 to 1793 Jamaica, West Indies 1793/94/95 St. Domingo, West Indies 1795/96 Portsmouth, 1796/98 Exeter, 1798 Cornwall 1799 – During the year of 1798, recruiting from the supplementary militia took place. They were formed into a Light Infantry Battalion and detached to Cornwall with some militia light companies. Headquarters of the Battalion moved to South Molton and, from there, to Helston in Cornwall, recruiting from militias to form two battalions and moved to Poole, Dorset 1800/01 Ordered to Fermoy, Ireland. It is likely that from Fermoy, Alexander was recruited into the NSW Corps on 13 Oct 1801. The Atlas sailed from Dublin to Cork with prisoners, where he joined the vessel. They then sailed to Australia, leaving on the 28th November 1801. Now a Corporal, Arthur arrived in Sydney, Australia, on the Atlas on 7 July 1802. Governor King, who had arrived in Sydney two years earlier, described the colony thus: "Vice, dissipation, and a strange relaxation seem to pervade every class and order of people… The children are abandoned to misery, prostitution, and every vice of their parents…". Indeed, corruption was a significant characteristic of the colony, and the force behind it was the military/landowner caste. Governor King immediately attempted to rectify this situation through masses of legislation and a degree of stubborn quarrelsomeness. One must wonder what Arthur thought of his new home. In 1803, a daughter and a yet-unknown woman were born to Arthur. The daughter was named Jane. Arthur was soon transferred to a detachment under Captain George Johnston, a First Fleet Officer and gentleman farmer. In 1804, Governor King sent this detachment, under Colonel William Paterson, to Port Dalrymple in Tasmania (then known as Van Diemen's Land) to ensure that Bass Strait remained guarded. Paterson was granted the title of Governor of Van Diemen's Land. The regiment sailed from Sydney on 15 October with 67 soldiers, 74 convicts and 40 free settlers. Four vessels were used: the King's ship Buffalo and the colonial vessels Lady Nelson, Francis and Integrity. It was a stormy passage, and even once anchored close to their destination at the Tamar River, the Buffalo was driven by gales onto shoals, taking three days to free. Port Dalrymple proved less than Colonel Paterson had hoped, with hostile aborigines and poor land leading the settlement to move to Yorktown, which proved even less suitable, and then to Launceston in 1806. The year 1808 was significant for Australia in that a conflict arose between Governor Bligh and influential elements of the colonial forces. Bligh charged Macarthur and six officers with treason. In response, Arthur's former Captain, now Major George Johnston, who was sick in Sydney, declared himself lieutenant governor, released the prisoners, marched on Government House and took Bligh into custody. However, in Tasmania, William Paterson was still Johnston's commanding officer at a military and civil level. As such, he eventually travelled to Sydney to overrule Johnston and assume authority as acting governor-in-chief. Meanwhile, after some argument, Bligh retired to Tasmania. In 1810, the subsequent Governor of the Colony, a Scottish chieftain turned professional soldier named Lachlan Macquarie, formed an Invalid or Veteran Company comprising men of the 102nd Foot who had served for 21 years or more and who wished to remain in Australia. The rest of the New South Wales Corps was sent back to England, as Macquarie had brought his own regiment, the 73rd Highlanders, with him. Arthur, who had returned from Tasmania, joined the Veteran Company on 20 April 1810, aged around 47. He was first stationed at the Hyde Park Barracks, built by Macquarie as shelters for convicts. Subsequently, he was stationed at Parramatta and later Windsor, probably guarding convicts engaged in Macquarie's road-building projects. On 26 June 1820, Arthur married Jane Morris at St John's Church of England. Jane Morris had been transported to Australia aboard the Indispensable in August 1809 for stealing clothing and other items from her employer's home in Lothbury. She was 35 at this time. After spending a few years working as a convict in stores, Jane Morris received her Ticket of Leave on 28 February 1811. A few years after marrying Arthur, Jane Morris commenced work as a servant of the McDougall family of Windsor. The only mention of the daughter, Jane Arthur, around this time is in the 1822 muster, where Jane is mentioned as being 19, single and living in Windsor. The following year, Jane gave birth to a son named Henry Arthur, whose father was listed as Henry Langton, a local convict. In 1823, there were marriage plans with Thomas Calcutt, but these ultimately fell through, and it was not until the following year that Jane married, being wed to ex-convict Miles Lake on 24 December. On 29 September 1825, Jane gave birth to James Lake, and two years later, on 28 January, Thomas followed. In May 1829, while still a member of the Veteran Company and when Jane was four months pregnant with another grandson for him, Arthur died and was buried at St Matthew's, Windsor.

Level 221

D Wong on 4th September 2020

Alexander Arthur was not a convict. Alexander Arthur enlisted in the 62nd Wiltshire Regiment in 1873. In County Cork he volunteered for the NSW Corps in 1801. As a corporal, he sailed from Cork to Sydney aboard the ship Atlas, arriving 7 Jul 1802.

Level 338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 28th June 2020

New South Wales, Australia, Convict Death Register, 1826-1879 30/02/1829. Age 66. Ship: Atlas. Died at Windsor. Free

Level 338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 23rd April 2020

1820 - New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Papers, 1788-1856. Name: Alexander Arthur Event Date: 5 Jun 1820 Event Description: Re permission to marry at Parramatta Page: 59 Alexander Arthur - Free and Jane Morris - Prisoner Ship Indispensable ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1820 - Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 Name: Alexander Arthur Spouse Name: Jane Morris Marriage Date: 1820 Marriage Place: New South Wales Registration Place: Windsor, New South Wales Registration Year: 1820 Volume Number: V ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 1823 - Name: Alexander Arthur Event Date: 28 Oct 1823 Event Description: To receive a grant of 100 acres of land in any part of the Colony already surveyed Comments: Former Private, Royal Veteran Company Page: 485 This is to certify that Alexander Arthur Private late of the Royal Veteran Company disbanding on the 24th September last is entitled to a grant of land according to the instructions of His Excellency major General Sir Thomas Brisbane Wife and one child Dated this 5 day of November 1823. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1825 - Name: Alexander Arthur. Arrival Date: 1802 Vessel: Atlas. Province: New South Wales Title: General muster A - L. Year(s): 1825 Estimated birth year: abt 1801 Vessel; Atlas. 1802. Free Pensioner - Windsor ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1828 - Name: Alex Arthur Arrival Date: 1802 Vessel: Atlas. Piece: HO 10/21 Province: New South Wales. Title: Census A-B Year(s): 1828. Estimated birth year: abt 1736 No: 610. Arthur, Alex (died February 1829) Age 66. C P. Altas. 1802. Nailor? Windsor. No: 611. Arthur. Jane Age 50. G S Indespendable. 1809. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1829 - Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 Name: Alexander Arthur. Death Date: 1829 Death Place: New South Wales Registration Year: 1829. Registration Place: Windsor, New South Wales Volume Number: V18298516 2C -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1829 - New South Wales, Australia, Convict Death Register, 1826-1879 Name: Alexander Arthur Estimated birth year: abt 1763 Age: 66. Date of Death: 30 Feb 1829. District: Windsor Ship Atlas (Free) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------