Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
Robert Cox was transported on the Hooghley, departing 5th Jan 1825 and arriving 22nd Apr 1825 with 194 passengers.
The Hooghley was built in London in 1819. Convicts were transported to New South Wales on the Hooghley in 1825, 1828, 1831 and 1834. 1831 Voyage - Hooghley. Shipping; Intelligence. ARRIVALS. From Cork, on Tuesday last, whence she sailed the 24th June last, the ship, Hooghley,309 tons, Captain Reeves, with- 184 female prisoners. Surgeon superintendent, James Ellis, Esq. this vessel brings out ten free settlers and 20 children, as steerage passengers. Source; The Sydney Herald. Mon 3 Oct 1831. Page 4. Shipping Intelligence.
Hooghley (generic)References
| Primary Source | Irish Convict Database by Peter Mayberry. Sydney Gazette, 18 Oct 1826 |
Claims
No one has claimed Robert Cox yet.
Photos
No photos have been added for Robert Cox.
Convict Notes
In 1827, Robert was sent to Moreton Bay penal settlement as a volunteer, not for having committed a colonial offence. Moreton Bay Convict Register. Arrived 20 October 1827, per ship Governor Phillip. Robert Cox, per Hooghley, tried Dublin City, 16 July 1824, Bigamy, 7 years. Trade, Sawyer. Volunteered from Sydney. Returned to Sydney 28 Jan 1828. (It is strange that his trade is recorded as a sawyer - perhaps the clerk misread Lawyer?) Correspondence from Moreton Bay throws some light on this. Moreton Bay Letters. From P. Logan, Commandant at Moreton Bay, to the Governor, dated 6 Feb 1828. Para 2: Mentions 2 men sent as overseers not qualified – being returned to Sydney Margin William Cox/ “Hooghley” James Toole/ “Ann & Amelia” ------------------------------------------- 20 Feb 1828, Letter from the Principal Supt, of Convicts Office to Hon. Sec. Letter re Harvey & employment Mentions 2 prisoners sent to Moreton Bay as constables & overseers – returned to Headquarters Margin Robert [previously William] Cox/ “Hooghley” Thomas [previously James] Toole/ “Ann & Amelia” Notes re above. ------------------------------------------ Letter from Robert Cox, Sydney, to Principal Supt of Convict Office. Dated 28 Jan 1828. Letter re his duty at Moreton Bay – recounts his pursuit of a gaol gang & being fired upon by soldiers by mistake. Pursued runaways into bush, mentions Myres was killed. Suffered severe illness – mentions ticket of leave.
His full name was Robert William Cox. In ca 1827 he sired William Robert Cox followed by 3 daughters who did not survive birth. On 12th December 1835 he fathered Elizabeth with former convict Catherine Dowling (or Hennessy).Catherine was living with Robert William Cox at an address referred to as ‘opposite Leather Bottle, Castlereagh Street’. Robert William’s abode is elsewhere described as simply Castlereagh Street or North Castlereagh Street. It is possible that this refers to the same address. The location of the Leather Bottle is given in Francis Low’s City of Sydney Directory for 1844–5 as being on the western side of Castlereagh Street between King and Hunter Streets; its street number was 315 according to the numeration of the times. Robert William Cox was a merchant’s clerk according to his daughter’s baptismal record of 7th May 1837. Further children followed: Mary (1st July 1837), Sarah Ann (15th June 1840), and John Robert (5th September 1842); and the couple took the momentous step of marrying. On 19th February 1840 they were united in St. James Church, King Street, and the church records actually contain Robert William’s signature and Catherine’s mark. The celebrant was Robert Allwood and the witnesses were Wm. Partington of Clarence Street and Sarah Crane of Castlereagh Street.We can assume that James Hennessey had died in 1839 which would explain the significance of delaying marriage until 1840. The Hennessey/Dowling marriage would be well known to the authorities.1840 was to prove a difficult year for Robert William. He was admitted to the General Hospital labouring under Delirium Tremens (from excessive drinking) and the Superintendent of Police obtained permission to remove the servants under his control. The female servant or servants were probably maids of one sort or another and Robert William must have been of some standing in the Sydney community to have been thought worthy of their services. To lose such a cheap source of domestic labour would have been a considerable deprivation. But worse was to follow. The same Superintendent of Police wrote to the Colonial Secretary on 14th December 1840, requesting his removal as Clerk of the Market as being “upon Trial totally unfit for the duties of his Appointment being deficient in intelligence and Activity”. No doubt the position was a relatively important one as the George Street Market, which was conducted in the area now occupied by the Queen Victoria Building, was the main scene of market activities in the Colony. The expression ‘upon trial’ suggests that Robert William’s tenure of the office was conditional on his proving his worth and that he filled it for only a short period. This is corroborated by the baptismal record of his second daughter, dated October 1840, where he is described as a labourer. Two months before, in August 1840, he had been a merchant’s clerk as is stated on his third daughter’s baptismal record (why his third daughter was baptised before his second we do not know). But his dismissal from the George Street Market did not banish him forever from the ranks of clerks. On his son’s baptismal record, September 1842, he is recorded as working in a merchant’s office. When he died the following year, 12th May 1843, the record of his funeral at St. James gives his profession as ‘clerk’.
POLICE INTELLIGENCE, Head Police Office— lnformations having been lodged at this office against Mr. Robert Cox, apprentice to an Attorney, charging him with bigamy, peace officer Hartley took him into custody in Talbot-street Wednesday. Yesterday he underwent examination before the Magistrates. Miss Waugh, a very respectable young lady, proved that she bad been married to the prisoner the 26th of February, 1821, in due form, according the rites and ceremonies the Established Church, by the Rev. Mr. Wood, of the Hay-market, Smithfield; she produced the certificate of her marriage. She had been married a second time the desire at her parents, by the Rev. Mr. Shultz, officiating Minister of the Dutch Church, in Poolbegstreet: they cohabited, she said, as man and wife, until she learned that Catherine Ford had ... Saunders Newsletter, 28 May 1824 Robert Cox was next put to the bar upon the following charges :—That upon the fifth of December, he married one Catherine Ford, widow, and that upon the 26th of February, 1821, he married Isabella Waugh, spinster, his former wife being alive, prisoner was found guilty—but the passing of the sentence was delayed until this day, upon an objection taken the Counsel to the framing of the indictment. Drogheda Journal, 17 July 1824
Irish Convict Database by Peter Mayberry. Robert Cox, age 25, ship - Hooghly 1(1825),tried 1824 at Dublin, sentence 7 years, native of Waterford, trade or calling, - Attorney lawyer. COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, 17th OCTOBER 1826. HIS EXCELLENCY the GOVERNOR has been pleased to approve of the following Alterations in the Police of the Colony: Windsor Gaol Lodge - Robert Cox, by the ship Hooghy, to be Turnkey and Clerk, in the Room of Mountjoy, dismissed. By His Excellency's Command, In the Absence of the Colonial Secretary, H. DUMARESQ, PRIVATE SECRETARY. Sydney Gazette, 18 Oct 1826.