Catherine Kean

53

Beth Taylor on 4th February 2026

TIMELINE NOTES: BC: 1794 Sentenced: 01/12/1813 Middlesex [see trial record below] to 14 years transportation Crime: Forgery Previous Occupation: Servant Age on Convict Indent: 20 1813 –Trial #1 - CATHERINE KEENE, Royal Offences > coining offences, 1st December 1813. 27. CATHERINE KEENE was indicted for that she, on the 26th of July, had divers forged and counterfeit notes in her custody and possession. To this indictment the prisoner pleaded GUILTY, aged 26. Transported for Fourteen Years. First Middlesex jury, before Mr. Recorder. 1813 –Trial #2 - CATHERINE KEENE, Royal Offences > coining offences, 1st December 1813. 28. CATHERINE KEENE was indicted for that she, on the 26th of July, feloniously did dispose of and put away a forged 1 l. note, with intention to defraud the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. Mr. Knapp, counsel for the prosecution, declining to offer any evidence, the prisoner of this charge was ACQUITTED. First Middlesex jury, before Mr. Recorder. (Source: Old Bailey on-line http://www.oldbaileyonline.org ) Ticket of Leave 776 (indent) 1814 Muster: Catherine KANE (?), con, Brox, off stores, to W Henshall, Sydney (6928) [William Henshall, Alexander 2, free, off stores, silversmith] 1814 Muster: Hannah HINSHALL, free, Brox, off stores, wife to John Hensell (?), Sydney (6114) plus 2 children John HENSHALL, Surrey, con, off stores, to W. Henshall, Sydney (5173) [W. Henshall was William, free, Alexander 2, a silversmith. Also assigned here were Mary Harris & Catherine Kean, convicts per Brox. Was he a relation to John?] [Note: There appears to be 2 William Henshall’s in the Colony. William Henshall, Convicted: Assizes 26 Mar 1805 Warwick [WAR ENG] 7 years; Transported per Alexander/(Fortune), Arrived 20 Aug 1806 Sydney. Source: Convict Indents &c. SRNSW ref: 4/4004 pp219-240; SRNSW ref: 2/8259 pp271-296; TNA ref: HO 11/1 pp369-382, Reel 87; Alexander/(Fortune) 1806 Entry No. 21571] 1822 Muster: Catherine CAIN (?), TL, Brox, housekeeper, Sydney (A03107) 1823-1825 Muster: Catherine KERR (?), FS, Brox, housekeeper to Sir John Jamison [her lover] (28355) [no record found of children] & 2nd entry - Catherine CAIN, TL, Brox, 14 years, housekeeper, Sydney (14682) & children - Harriet aged 7 & John aged 4 - both BC & children of Catherine 1825, 6 Oct. – Catherine Kean received her Ticket of Leave #498/1972 on 06/10/1825 for the district of Sydney. Described as per ship Brox. 1814, native of Kent, born 1794, a servant, tried Middlesex GD 1813,14 year term, 5’4” tall, fair complexion, dark brown hair, hazel eyes (Source: SRNSW Convict Tickets of Leave, Reel 890, 4/4060) 1828 , 29 Jan. – Catherine Kean received her Certificate of Freedom #28/100 on 29/01/1828. Described as per ship Brox. 1814, native of Kent, born 1794, a servant, tried Middlesex GD 01/12/1813,14 year term, 5’6” tall, florid complexion, light hair, blue eyes, had a ticket-of-leave # 498/1972 now cancelled. (Source: SRNSW Convict Certificates of Freedom, Reel 983, 4/4292) [Note: Different descriptions of Catherine] 1828 Census: Catherine CAIN (?), 33, Brox, FS, 7 years (?), prot, dressmaker, lodger at Jas. Wild, Macquarie St, Sydney (C0038) - Also Elizabeth ROGERS, aged 23, CF Brox., 1814, prot., dressmaker, to James Wild, Macquarie St., Sydney (R1266) John HARDY, aged 22, servant Catherine COONEY, aged 20, dressmaker James WILD, aged 67, CF Elizabeth 1823 & his wife Jane WILD, aged 77, CF Elizabeth 1823 NSW BDM: 1) No marriage found for Catherine Kean/Cain Children born to Sir John Jamison & Catherine Cain/Kean: • Rebecca JAMISON born 26/11/1815 Sydney (birth reg as Jamieson, bapt. 26/11/1815, V1815-508-6 & 3878-1B), died 1817 Sydney • Harriet Eliza JAMISON born 28/01/1819 Sydney (birth reg as Jamison, V1819-562-6), marr 20/4/1837 (Witnesses were – John Jamison, KSV of Regentville [father of the bride], J Gibbes, MC, Collector of Customs [father of the groom?], & Richard Bourke, KCB, “Governor in Chief” [of New South Wales]. V1837-1475-21) Sydney to William John Gibbes Esq. (of Pont Piper), died c1896 Burwood (DC 1896/9473) • Thomas (or John?) JAMISON/KAIMS bc1822 (see SMH 08/11/1845, p2 re child of the late Sir John) 2) No death found for Catherine Jess’ Girls – SAG:  1814 – Muster  1822 – Muster  1825 – as Cain, TL, housekeeper, Sydney – plus Harriet 7 & John 4  1828 – Census  Indent – TL 776  Reel 890 – as Ryan (?), born 1794, tried Kent, fair complexion, dark brown hair, hazel eyes. 144/776 to replace 498/1972 returned mutilated. 6 Oct 1825, transferred 29 Jan 1828 & certificate 3/100 Notes re Harriet, daughter of Catherine Kean/Caine: Sir John fathered a number of illegitimate children by several mistresses. These mistresses included Mary Griffiths - the daughter of Regentville's dairyman. Sir John married Mary a few months before his death, thus enabling her to be styled Lady Jamison. One of his children by Lady Jamison, Robert Thomas Jamison (1829-1878), was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales from 1856 to 1860. Lady Jamison died at Hunters Hill, Sydney in 1874, aged 74. She was interred in Camperdown Cemetery in the inner-Sydney suburb of Newtown. Her grave, like Sir John's, is extant. Another of Sir John's mistresses was Catherine Cain(e), the convict 'housekeeper' assigned to him at his Sydney residence. Catherine gave birth to a daughter by Sir John, Harriet Eliza Jamison, in 1819. Harriet grew up to be a cultivated and pious young woman. In 1837, she married into the colonial establishment. Her husband was William John Gibbes (1815-1868) - a son of the Collector of Customs for New South Wales, Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes (1787-1873). The wedding took place at St James' Anglican Church, Sydney, in the presence of the governor. Harriet died in Sydney in 1896. [2] (Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Jamison ) Notes on William John Gibbes (1815–1868): Colonel Gibbes' second son was William John Gibbes (1815–1868), who had been born in the English garrison City of York. In 1837, William John married Harriet Eliza Jamison in the Anglican Church of St James, Sydney. Harriet's father was Sir John Jamison (1776 – 29 June 1844), an important Australian physician, pastoralist, banker, politician, constitutional reformer and public figure. Sir John fathered a number of illegitimate children by several mistresses. Her mother (one of Sir John's mistresses), Catherine Cain(e), the convict 'housekeeper' assigned to him at his Sydney residence. Catherine gave birth to a daughter by Sir John, Harriet Eliza Jamison, in 1819. Harriet grew up to be a cultivated and pious young woman. In 1837, she married into the colonial establishment when she wed William John Gibbes. The wedding took place at St James' Anglican Church, Sydney, in the presence of the governor. Harriet died in Sydney in 1896. By this stage, she had seen her three children, all sons, carve out successful careers for themselves in the political, legal and sporting/civil-service sectors of Sydney society. [16] William John Gibbes, incidentally, lived with his wife at Regentville House, near Penrith, New South Wales, following his marriage. Later, in the second half of the 1840s, he lived in Beulah House at Kirribilli, before moving to Camden Villa in the then Sydney garden-suburb of Newtown in the early 1850s. Beulah was later lived in by the Riley and Lasseter families. Regrettably, this elegant sandstone residence was eventually demolished and its grounds subdivided into numerous residential blocks which were auctioned off by developers in 1905.[17] William became a notorious libertine who sired a number of illegitimate children. He spent the 1850s in a state of bankruptcy with debts exceeding ₤20,000. William was convicted (in the NSW Supreme Court) of a smuggling charge in 1859 and sentenced to two years imprisonment at Parramatta Gaol in Sydney. Subsequently, he lived in Melbourne and East Sydney. He died at the latter location of a blood disorder, aged 52. William was estranged from his wife at the time of his passing, and the two lived separately. He lies buried in the Old Balmain Cemetery (now Pioneers' Park, in the Sydney suburb of Leichhardt. (Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_George_Nathaniel_Gibbes ) Notes from the book “Journey to a New Life…” the story of the ships Emu & Broxbornebury by Elizabeth Hook (3rd ed. 2014). I am the author & can be contacted on tbeth3370@gmail.com for further info

338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 23rd May 2020

OLD BAILEY Born - 1787. Tried. 1st December 1813. Age 26. Tried at Old Bailey, London. Accused of coining (she, on the 26th of July, had divers forged and counterfeit notes in her custody and possession). Found guilty, pleaded guilty. Sentenced to transportation. Sentence outcome was transported. Updated age to Old Bailey records, 1787 age 26 at date of conviction, Certificate of Freedom was 1794

338

Penny-Lyn Beale on 23rd May 2020

New South Wales, Australia, Certificates of Freedom, 1810-1814, 1827-1867 . Ticket of Leave Date: 26 January 1828 . No; 28/78 Native Place; Kent Height; 5 Ft 6 inches complexion; Florid Hair; Light Eyes; Blue