Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
John Cross was transported on the Alexander, departing 13th May 1787 and arriving 30th Nov 1787 with 11 passengers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Fleet http://www.jenwilletts.com/convict_ship_alexander_1788 The Alexander was built at Hull in 1784 by Walton & Co. She was taken up by the East India Company in 1786. Convict Transport-Barque built Ship. 452 tons, 114ft long, 31ft wide. Arrived with 177 male Convicts (14 dv) Carried 30 Crew + 41 Marines Master: Duncan Sinclair She was the largest of the eleven vessels of the historic First Fleet to Australia. The First Fleet consisted of two Royal Navy escort ships, HMS Sirius and HMS Supply accompanied by six convict transports, the Alexander, Charlotte, Friendship, Lady Penrhyn, Prince of Wales and the Scarborough, and three store ships, the Borrowdale, Fishburn and Golden Grove. Convicts on the 1st Fleet Alexander are listed under Lady Penrhyn, Scarborough & Alexander.
AlexanderReferences
| Primary Source | Cross: His Mark. Author Lorraine Prothero |
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Convict Notes
The First Fleet Enters, then Leaves Botany Bay. On Sunday 13th May, 1787 eleven small ships carrying about 1,500 people set sail from Portsmouth, England on an epic voyage of over 13,000 miles (20,900 k kilometres) and founded the nation of "Australia". On 25 November, Phillip had transferred to HMS Supply. With Alexander, Friendship and Scarborough, the fastest ships in the Fleet, which were carrying most of the male convicts, HMS Supply hastened ahead to prepare for the arrival of the rest. Phillip intended to select a suitable location, find good water, clear the ground, and perhaps even have some huts and other structures built before the others arrived. This was a planned move, discussed by the Home Office and the Admiralty prior to the Fleet's departure. However, this "flying squadron" reached Botany Bay only hours before the rest of the Fleet, so no preparatory work was possible. HMS Supply reached Botany Bay on 18th January 1788; the three fastest transports in the advance group arrived on 19th January; slower ships, including HMS Sirius, arrived on 20th January.[ On Friday, 25th January, the HMS. Supply made history by being the first ship of the First Fleet to sail into Port Jackson where she dropped anchor at Sydney Cove, (now Circular Quay) at 7 p.m. The following morning at day-break, Commander in Chief Arthur Phillip and his party went ashore and raised the Union Flag which marked the first settlement of Europeans in Australia. The other ten ships arrived in Sydney Cove late that afternoon, after experiencing difficulties in getting out of Botany Bay. Reference. http://www.fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au/datum.html
The Voyage - taken from: Convict Ancestors Story - Lynette Barnes The transport Alexander and the First Fleet One of the vessels in the first fleet, the Alexander, the largest transport, was a three-masted barque with two decks. She was considered plain looking as she had neither galleries nor a figurehead. [1] On 6 January 1787 she loaded 192 of her first convicts from the hulks moored in the Thames as well as direct from Newgate Goal. [2] February saw them anchored on The Motherbank, a shallow sandbar off the northeast coast of the Isle of Wight, where they were occupied washing, smoking and whitewashing the vessel as there was sickness on board. [2] Along with the Lady Penrhyn, the Alexander sailed to Portsmouth in March to meet the rest of the fleet. Two months elapsed before the fleet finally left in May. Three weeks later they were taking on fresh water and vegetables at Teneriffe in the Canary Islands, before an eight week voyage to Rio de Janeiro. It would take another five and a half weeks before they reached the Cape of Good Hope. [2] During the voyage an attempted mutiny was thwarted on the Alexander. Five convicts, along with several seamen, intended to overpower the guards and sail the ship to the nearest landfall. It seems the convicts weren’t the only ones who weren’t keen to go to the other side of the known world. [1] Finally, on the 12 November, the fleet left the Cape of Good Hope and sailed for Botany Bay. Two long months later they passed Tasmania on 16 January 178 and Arthur Phillip on the Supply, along with three of the fastest ships, the Alexander being one, sailed on ahead. [1] On the 18 and 19 January 1788 the fleet had reached their destination – Botany Bay. References [1] "Alexander (1783 Ship)." Wikipedia. Accessed May 19, 2016. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_(1783_ship). [2] "First Fleet Fellowship Victoria Inc." First Fleet Fellowship Victoria Inc. Accessed May 19, 2016. http://firstfleetfellowship.org.au/ships/hms-alexander/.
Feb 1787. Departure on convict ship Alexander. Sources. Source Citation Class: HO 11; Piece: 1 Source Information Ancestry.com. Australian Convict Transportation Registers – First Fleet, 1787-1788 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Home Office: Convict Transportation Registers; (The National Archives Microfilm Publication HO11); The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England. Source Citation State Library of Queensland; South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Cross: His Mark. Author Lorraine Prothero Source Information Ancestry.com. Web: Australia, Convict Records Index, 1787-1867 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018. Original data: Australia Convict Records Index, 1787-1867. State Library of Queensland, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. https://convictrecords.com.au/: accessed Sep 2017
11 Jan 1781. Marriage? Many researchers have listed John Cross as marrying Keren Happuch Burden at Semley, Wiltshire, England on the date shown above. While sources for this event are available, I can find no solid evidence that this is the actually the convict, John Cross. Source. Source Citation Place: Semley, Wiltshire, England; Date Range: 1777 - 1783; Film Number: 1239309 Source Information Ancestry.com. England & Wales Marriages, 1538-1988 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: Genealogical Society of Utah. British Isles Vital Records Index, 2nd Edition. Salt Lake City, Utah: Intellectual Reserve, copyright 2002.
23 March 1757. Birth Sources. Title Australian Convict Index, 1788-1868 Author Reakes, J., comp Publisher Ancestry.com Operations Inc Detail State Library of Queensland; South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Cross: His Mark. Author Lorraine Prothero Source Information Title Web: Australia, Convict Records Index, 1787-1867 Author Ancestry.com People Australia An initiative of the National Centre of Biography at the Australian National University http://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/lifesummary/cross-john-24099
John was 29 years old and was transported for stealing 1 wether sheep. John worked on the farm of James Furzer. John married Mary Davidson, a convict, who arrived on the Lady Juliana in 1790, they had 9 children. 4/6/1804: Received a grant of 100 acres, and had to survive floods and hostile natives. 1806: was recorded with crops, an orchard and vegetable garden and some livestock. John got into difficulties soon after and gradually sold off his assets to repay his debts. He was a poor man when he died. He died on 25/12/1824, aged 68 and was buried at St. Matthews, Windsor. Mary died on 13/12/1827, aged 59.