Summary
Personal Information
Transportation
John Dowde was transported on the Forth, departing 1st Jan 1830 and arriving 26th Apr 1830 with 120 passengers.
118 Prisoners - 3 deaths May 1830. Embarked on board the Fourth at Cove form the Penitentiary in Cork for passage to New South Wales; 120 Female Convicts. 10 Children belonging to 8 Free Women and 19 Children of
Forth (generic)References
| Primary Source | Irish Convict Database by Peter Mayberry. State Records NSW .Box 4/2338.2-letter-36/10380-Dec.10,1836 SRNSW List: 1008, Certs of Freedom, Vol. number 4/4365; Book entry number: 26377. Various NSW Gov Gazettes as listed below, |
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Convict Notes
Causing trouble for Roger Corcoran During this first time illegally away from Thomas Raine, Dowd went to an Irish ex-convict named Roger Corcoran on the Boorowa River (Yass area). By December 1836 Corcoran had already been squatting on this Crown land for seven years. That month, he obtained a licence to occupy the Crown land by going directly to Sydney to get his licence approved, since the Yass Bench of Magistrates had refused him on suspicions that he operated an illegal still. After John Dowd turned up at Corcoran’s, he was re-captured after three weeks, “about a quarter mile from [Corcoran’s] house”. The Yass magistrates later tried to get Corcoran’s occupation licence withdrawn. At the Yass bench on 15 April 1837, Corcoran was charged with harbouring John Dowd as a bushranger. This term simply meant an escaped convict, however if the escapee was specifically named as being a bushranger instead of being named as a runaway, then the person apprehending him was entitled to a reward. JOHN DOWD gave sworn evidence. He said “that he absconded from Mr.Thomas Raine at Bathurst about two months ago. For three weeks of that time he was employed by Roger Corcoran at Burrowa, who is now before the court, and [he] was taken about a quarter of a mile from his [Corcoran’s] house. “Corcoran being called on for his defence admits that he employed the prisoner, John Dowd. Corcoran is found guilty of harbouring a bushranger and is sentenced to pay a fine of £10 sterling, one half to the informer and the remainder to the King.” John Dowd was sent back to Thomas Raines, where it was only about another five weeks before he absconded again! Meantime, the Yass magistrates used Dowd’s presence on Corcoran’s place to try and get his occupation licence withdrawn. Here, we learn more about how John Dowd came to get work with him. The Commissioner of Lands, Mr Evelyn Sturt, wrote: “Yass June 24, 1837. Roger Corcoran … states that in April last he engaged a man who showed him a character signed by Capt. Raine of Bathurst which he now concludes must have been forged; that after having the man ten days employed, the police apprehended him and Corcoran was fined £10 under the harbouring act. He declares his perfect ignorance that the man was unlawfully at large. Corcoran has resided eight years on his present station and has been a good character among neighbouring settlers.” State Records NSW .Box 4/2338.2-letter-36/10380-Dec.10,1836 In “Beyond the Boundaries: Squatting and Squatters” by Max Young, 1990, Mitchell Library of NSW https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/1l4pXE21 John Dowd absconded again, on 22 June 1837, from Thomas Raines. (Gov Gazette notice 12/07/1837, p 503). He was apprehended after four months’ absence, in the week prior to 24 October (NSW GG, 25/10/1837 p. 803) After this, he was sent to another stockade and road gang, though the specific one is not stated: on 31 December 1837, the 1837 convict Muster was conducted and Dowd was recorded as being aged 28 (Tried at Fermagh [sic], Arrived per ship Forth 1830); Employment: Govt. Residence: Vale of Clywdd. This was probably the stockade at Hassans Walls (existing from 1835 -1839). The convicts here worked on the construction of Mitchell's Road in the areas of River Lett Hill and Forty Bends, south of Lithgow. (from ‘Convict Stockades of NSW. https://www.comleroyroad.com/convict-stockade-mt-walker.html accessed 24 Feb 2026) 1841 Cert of Freedom, 5 Apr 1841. No 41/0435. Remarks on his certificate of Freedom: "colonial conviction as Francis Moran, book entry number 10344; but transported as John Dowde" **************************
Absconding from his master’s service John Dowde made a habit of absconding from his convict assignments. Technically this was when an assigned convict was being illegally away from his employment /master’s service. Notices would appear in the Government Gazette with a description of the convict, his master’s name and the date since he’d been missing. The convict Ship ‘Forth’ arrived at NSW with John Dowd on 26 April 1830. The first newspaper announcement of absconding appears less than three years after his arrival. 1833 – notice in January 1833 that he’d absconded from service with Mr Charles Throsby. He was now aged 22. The date he absconded isn’t stated. (NSWGG 30/01/1833, p 48) 1835, 26 February – absconded from no 11 Road party 1835, 21 April – from no 11 Road party (either he’d been found and escaped again, or this is a continuation of the initial escape of 26 February). Being assigned to a road party was like a secondary punishment to the convict. He may have been working in chains if considered particularly bad. In the 1830’s, the no. 11 road party was a gang working on fixing the road over the Blue Mountains. 1836 (date not found) – absconded from no 2 Stockade. Oct 1836 – he was Apprehended in the week 11-18 Oct 1836. (NSW GG 19/10/1836 p 8160. Two other convicts from No 2 Stockade were also apprehended, recorded in the same notice. No 2 stockade was a large convict stockade built in 1832 on the banks of the Cox's River at Mt Walker – the Mr Walker Stockade. The stockade enclosure was about 45m x 47m (147 x 154 ft). Inside it were rows of convict huts with skillion roofs, elevated security lanterns and a flogging triangles. Along with the stockade, there were overseers' huts, a guard house, barracks, sergeants quarters and store, military officers’ quarters, two hospitals, a cooking hut, blacksmith shops, a butcher's shop and a baker's shop. (from ‘Convict Stockades of NSW. https://www.comleroyroad.com/convict-stockade-mt-walker.html accessed 24 Feb 2026) Early 1837 - Assigned to Thomas Raine in the Sidmouth Valley. Next John Dowd was assigned to Thomas Raine at Bathurst. Raine had been captain on the ship “Surry” bringing convicts to NSW on four occasions from 1816, and Gov Macquarie had commended him on his human treatment of the convicts on his ship. After this he remained in NSW and engaged in a wide variety of business interests trading in goods from Tahiti, Mauritius, etc. As well in 1824 he was granted 2,000 acres of land at Bathurst near the Cox’s River in Sidmouth Valley. After bankruptcy and an arrangement with his creditors, Raine settled on the Bathurst place in 1831, named Raineville. He developed this and another property further west, and became highly respected. (see entry in the Austr Dict of Biography). He sold Raineville in 1838 (moving closer to Bathurst on ‘Rainham’), (Thematic History of Oberon Shire by Phillip Gennell, p.22). But in 1837, when Thomas Raine and his family were still on the 2,000 acre ‘Raineville at the Sidmouth Valley, we know John Dowd was working for him there as an assigned convict. However, Dowd absconded again. Absconded 3 March 1837 Dowde, John, Forth(1), aged 27 [usual descriptions of him follow] [absconded] from Thomas Raine, Bathurst since 3 March [1837], fourth time of absconding” (NSW Gov Gazette, 22 March 1837 p.272) ******************************
In addition to his personal particualrs about height, hair type etc, the ship's indent recorded that In addition the Indent recorded: Education: None; (meaning he couldn’t read or write) Religion: Roman Catholic; Marriage Status: Single.
War Office Records. Registers Court Martial. Private John Dowde, 86th. Regt, Tried at Fermoy, 23 July 1829, for Desertion & losing necessaries. Sentence: Transportation for as a felon for 7 years & marked D, sent to NSW; Case sent 6 Aug 1829 for confirmation before the King.
Absconded. John Dowde, No. 30-687, Forth, 22, Groom and Soldier, Longford, 5 feet 11½, blue eyes, brown hair, ruddy freckled comp. diagonal scar over right eye, D under left arm, from Mr. Charles Throsby. NSW Govt. Gazette, 30 Jan 1833.
NSW Convict Index. John Dowde, alias Francis Moran, per Forth 1830, Cert of Freedom, 5 Apr 1841. No 41/0435. Colonial Conviction as Francis Moran.
Irish Convict Database by Peter Mayberry. John Dowde, alias Dowd, age on arrival, 20, per Forth I, (1830), Tried 1829, Fermoy Cork Co, 7 years, for Desertion. 2 former convictions. Single. DOB, 1810, Native place, Longford. Catholic. Soldier groom indoor servant. Details of numerous colonial offences.