Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Transportation
Priscilla Kelly was transported on the Louisa, departing 21st Aug 1827 and arriving 3rd Dec 1827 with 90 passengers.
Ship News- Arrivals. Monday, the ship Louisa, Captain Smith, from London 24th August, with 90 female prisoners, and 21 children. Surgeon Superintendent, James Cook, Esquire, R.N. The Australian, 5 Dec 1827.
Louisa (generic)References
| Primary Source | National Archives of Scotland JC 26/498 & JC 12/38 |
| 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 Pro |
| Original Source | Great Britain. Home Office |
| Compiled By | State Library of Queensland |
| Database Source | British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database |
Claims
"Priscilla Kelly, wife of my 2xgguncleJames Wemyss was transported to NSW 1828. He followed her, free. Both wrote to family in Kilmarnock. Their letters 1829-46, given by my Dad to Canberra National Library inspired me to research their lives."
Photos
No photos have been added for Priscilla Kelly.
Convict Notes
SCOTTISH INTELLIGENCE . CIRCUIT COURT OF JUSTICIARY . AYR , April 20 . Priscilla Kelly and Mary Pollan and Henry Hughes , convicted or uttering forged notes, were sentenced to transportation, the first for seven and the last .... The Scotsman, 2 May 1827.
1827 - Web: Scotland, High Court Criminal Indexes Residence Kilmarnock, Ayrshire wife of James Wemyss, shoemaker Pled not guilty. Changed plea to guilty of first charge 1834 - Certificate of Freedom. 22 April 1834. Prisoners No 27/2826 Wife of Jas, Weymess. CAME FREE. Children of James & Presilla Wemyss 1832 - Thomas H Wemyss. Registration number; 2771/1832 V18322771 45A 1829 - Benjamin Wemyss. Registration number 88/1829 V182988 45A Elizabeth Wemyss. Registration number 89/1829 V182989 45A 1835 - Hercules Wemyss. Registration number 114/1835 V1835114 47 1830 - Precilla Memyss. Registration number; 157/1830 V1830157 45A 1836 - Death of James Wemyss. Registration number 76/1836 V183676 103. Age 38 1837 - Priscilla Wemyss. Marriage to John Munro. Registration Date 1837 Registration Place Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Volume Number V A Children; 1840 - John Munro. Registration number; 857/1840 V1840857 47 1838 - Alexander Munro. Registration number; 3238/1838 V18383238 45B 1850 - Death Index Name Priscilla Munro Death Date 1850. Sydney, New South Wales Volume Number V1850504 105 1850 - Death. MUNRO PRISCILLA Registration number; 504/1850 V1850504 105 AGE 50
Priscilla did not herself forge banknotes, but was found guilty of "using and uttering" them. She was one of a ring of "mules" recruited by the forger to purchase cheap items from unsuspecting shopkeepers using fake notes, and then to pass back the change to him.
FOOTNOTE 1: Priscilla was granted a Certificate of Freedom No.34/410 on 22 April, 1834. FOOTNOTE 2: Priscilla's younger sister, Elizabeth Wright, was also transported to NSW -- in 1833 per the Buffalo. Although married, she was transported as a single woman, Elizabeth Kelly. Her profile can be found at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/kelly/elizabeth/37224.
Convict Index, 1791-1873. Priscilla Kelly, alias Weymess, per Louisa, 1827, Ticket of Leave, 30/274. District, Sydney; Born, Glasgow; Trade, Servant; Tried , Ayr CJ.
Priscilla Kelly was accompnied by her child, who died on the ship. -------------------------------------------------- Louisa Surgeon’s Journal. ADM 101/45/6/11827 Folios 29-30: Surgeon's general remarks. The convicts commenced embarking on 26 July [1827] and were all on board by the 17 August [1827] consisting of 90 women accompanied by 23 children. They generally complained of indisposition from jail confinement and low diet, however the general health was good except two infants, the first of whom died on 29th August as stated in case no 2. The other a female aged 15 months brought from Ayr, by the mother's account became sickly on the passage from Scotland. Previously when brought on board she was sallow and emaciated, disposed to sleep [?full] during the day and feverish at night belly costive, thirst and loss of appetite, in which purgative medicines were employed but she gradually became weaker and diarrhoea [superceeding?] and she died on the 3rd September. Folio 26: [Sarah?] Weymess, aged 1 year and 3 months, passenger; sick or hurt, atrophia; put on sick list 4 August 1827, died 3 September 1827.
Married (Mauchline,Ayrshire 1823) to James Wemyss, shoemaker, who followed her out as a free settler in 1828. After his death in 1836, she remarried to John Munro, ex-mariner and Ginger Beer Manufacturer, in Sydney 1837
she had an inclined nose to the right and she is 5.3 feet