| Name: | Sylvester Hall |
| Aliases: | Silvester |
| Gender: | m |
| Date of Birth: | - |
| Occupation: | - |
| Date of Death: | 1822 |
| Age: | - |
Life Span
Male median life span was 51 years*
* Median life span based on contributions
Sentence Severity
Sentenced to 14 years
| Crime: | Forgery |
| Convicted at: | Stafford Assizes |
| Sentence term: | 14 years |
| Ship: | Fortune |
| Departure date: | November, 1812 |
| Arrival date: | 11th June, 1813 |
| Place of arrival | New South Wales |
| Passenger manifest | Travelled with 199 other convicts |
| Primary source: | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 87, Class and Piece Number HO11/2, Page Number 88 |
| Source description: | This record is one of the entries in the British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database compiled by State Library of Queensland from British Home Office (HO) records which are available on microfilm as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project. |
Penny-Lyn Beale on 22nd August, 2021 wrote:
New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters. Year - 1825
Name; Silvester Hall
Age; -
Class; F. S.
Ship; Fortune - 1813 - 7 years
Remarks\Assigned; DEAD - Date
Robin Sharkey on 3rd September, 2021 wrote:
Sylvester Hall had a lot of aliases, perhaps indicating he was deeply embedded in criminal activity:
Nottingham Journal, 2 November 1811 p.3-4.
“Last week was committed to Stafford county gaol, T. Pritchard, otherwise S. Dickson, otherwise D. Tyson, otherwise L. Timms, jun. otherwise Silvester Hall, charged with having feloniously altered a Bill of Exchange from eight pounds eighty, by adding the letter “y” to the eight, with intent to defraud Messrs. Messrs. Charles Forster and Son, of Walsall, of-the sum of seventy.-two pounds; also with altering in the same manner, another Bill of Exchange with intent to defraud Mr. John Stubbs, of Walsall, of of a like sum, and also with altering another bill of exchange, in the same manner, with intent to defraud ... ...”
He was tried for forging a bill of exchange and found guilty at the Stafford Assizes for Lent 1812:
Leicester Journal, Fri 27 March 1812, p.3
“At Stafford Assizes, nine prisoners were condemned to an ignominious death viz;
“Silvester Hall for forgery
“All the capital convicts were reprieved before the judges left the town, except Mycock ...”
He sailed on “Fortune” as convict for Life, arriving in NSW in June 1813.
In NSW he was put into service of T. Burke but he wrote to government asking to be allowed to leave this service and come to Sydney for more “congenial” work.
He was given a Ticket of Leave soon after arrival. This may have reflected his usefulness with an ability to red and write.
In December 1813 he was appointed a Constable at Liverpool
In 1816 he was placed into a responsible government post (replacing Timothy Laughlin previously in the role):
“Sylvester Hall, to be Inspector of Cattle in-
tended for Slaughter at Liverpool, and adjacent
Districts (in the room of Timothy Loughlin, dismissed).” Sydney Gazette, 25 May 1816, p.1
In 1822 Sylvester Hall died. He lived on Throsby Park in the county of Argyle. He had accumulated some property but had died intestate (without a will) since a notice calling interested parties to apply for formal Administration of his deceased Estate was placed in the Sydney Gazette dated 2 January 1823. Charles Throsby was involved in 1824 in the administration of his estate.
In the same newspaper as his estate notice, 2 Jan 1823, he was listed as one of many persons whose deeds for their land grant were ready for collection.
ROAD OVER THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS
In 1819 Charles Throsby of ‘Throsby Park’ had been given the job by Gov Macquarie of putting a road through the Southern Tablelands. Joseph Wild (emancipated convict and known to be very “intelligent and useful in the woods” per Throsby to Gov Macquarie 1819) was directly in charge of the road building and Sylvester Hall was the secretary to the road party (implies he had worked for Throsby).
On 30 October 1820, Sylvester Hall had to give evidence to the Bigge Commission about the work on the Southern Highlands Road. (Bigge Commission evidence 1820, Folios 5216-5210). He said he’d been clerk to the road party for 15 months. He kept the a/c of the issue of provisions to the road party. There’d been 18 men to start but lately never more than 12, not including himself and Mr Wylde. “Four only now remain of the original men, the rest being useless”. “The journal is kept fair from 3 October 1819 to Monday 20 December 1819”.
EXPLORING to LAKE GEORGE
In 1820 Joseph Wylde was sent by Charles Throsby (for Macquarie ) to locate the lake Throsby had heard about from the Aborigines, which the colonists later named “Lake George”. Sylvester Hall was sent with the exploring party to record the details of the country for Wylde, since Wylde was illiterate. Departing from Throsby Park on 19 Aug 1821 they reached the lake on 28 August. Hall wrote a letter dated August to Charles Throsby on 28 Aug 1820 reporting that Joseph Wild had discovered Lake George. He said of it that “a strong westerly wind occasioned a heavy rolling Surf, like the Ocean.”
In 1821 Sylvester Hall, ex-forger from Stafford, petitioned for a Conditional Pardon, supported on recommendation from Charles Throsby. Later in 1821 he also sought a grant of land.
Sadly, his death came before he could enjoy this indulgence.
Penny-Lyn Beale on 22nd August, 2021 made the following changes:
date of death: 1825 (prev. 0000), gender: m
Robin Sharkey on 3rd September, 2021 made the following changes:
alias1: Silvester, date of death: 1822 (prev. 1825), crime
This record was discovered and printed on ConvictRecords.com.au
