Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Thomas Bookin was transported on the Castle Forbes, departing 28th Sep 1823 and arriving 19th Jan 1824 with 142 passengers.
The Castle Forbes was a 439-ton merchant ship built by Robert Gibbon & Sons at Aberdeen, Scotland in 1818. She made two voyages transporting convicts from Ireland to Australia. Castle Forbes arrived at Port Jackson, New South Wales on 27 January 1820. After their arrival in Sydney, 136 men were sent on to Van Diemen's Land Colony (now named Tasmania), arriving in Hobart 1 March 1820. 4 men remained in New South Wales and 4 deaths recorded on this voyage. Alexander Pearce (the infamous bushranger) was one of these men. (Incomplete register of persons transported - records are currently being inputted)
Castle Forbes (generic)References
| Primary Source | Irish Convict Database, by Peter Mayberry. |
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Convict Notes
Absconded. 1. Bodkin, Thomas Castle Forbes, 29, Galway, 5 feet 8, dark grey eyes, dark brown hair, brown complexion, Emu Plains. Sydney Gazette, 10 Mar 1825.
Thomas was 5'8" tall, dark complexion, brown hair, light blue eyes, a piece of right ear cut off. 3/4/1829: COF - known in the colony as Thomas Bodkin. 15/8/1836 Sydney Herald: CAUTION. IT having been distinctly ascertained, by reference to documents in the Office of the Principal Superintendent of Convicts, that the man mentioned, THOMAS BODKIN, became free by servitude about the year 1831; and whereas the said Thomas Bodkin has lost his Certificate of such freedom, this is to caution all constables and others against molesting him, as he will hold all who illegally do so strictly responsible at law. Description-Native place, County Longford ; age, 40 years ; height, 5 feet 8 inches ; complexion, fair; eyes, grey; general remarks, a piece of right ear cut off. Sydney, August 10, 1836. 14/10/1845 Sydney Morning Herald: CHARGE OF HIGHWAY ROBBERY. John Sullivan, late of Camperdown, was indicted for having, on the highway at Cobbity, on the 9th August, 1845, assaulted one Thomas Bodkin, and robbed him of 12s. 6d. in cash, with groceries and other articles to the value of 6s. or 7s. It appeared by the evidence of the prosecutor, that in the early part of the day charged in the indictment, he (prosecutor) and the prisoner had been in company drinking, after which they parted company, and while he (Bodkin) was on his way home a man with a crape on his face, and answering the description of the prisoner, came up to him, knocked him down, and took from him the money in question, together with several other articles which he (prosecutor) had purchased from a small store in Cobbity in the presence of the prisoner, and who left the store about ten minutes after the prosecutor had set out for home. It was also given in evidence that although the prosecutor was in liquor when he left the store, yet he returned about an hour after, reported the robbery, and described the prisoner by name, and also stated where he was living. It also appeared that the prisoner had given the prosecutor a £1 note, in order to induce him not to proceed farther in the case; and that on an evening subsequent to the robbery the prisoner, while drinking with the prosecutor, said "if ever I rob a man again, I will kill him and eat him, stump and rump, with his shoes and stockings. "The prosecutor admitted, on cross-examination by the prisoner, that he had made the proposition to the prisoner to pay £1 in order that the matter might be hushed up. The prisoner in defence denied the charge, and asserted that he had given him the £1 note rather than have his name brought before the Court, as if it was brought forward he feared that being merely a " ticket-of-leave holder, "he would be deprived of that indul- gence. After the case had been put to the Jury, they retired for a few minutes, and returned a verdict of guilty, on which the prisoner was ordered to be worked on the roads of the colony for three years. 1858: Thomas Bodkin died at Liverpool, NSW., aged 68. (NSW BDM).
Thomas was transported for making base coin.
Irish Convict Database, by Peter Mayberry. Thomas Bookin, age on arrival, 27, Castle Forbes (2) 1824. Tried Longford, 1822, 7 years, DOB 1797. Native place Galway Co. Soldier artillery man horsebreaker.