Robert Kingston

75

iain Frazier on 1st November 2024

Family connections for Robert (Kingston) are: KINGSTON Robert (Kingston) was born about 1770 at Ilchester Somersetshire. He was tried for housebreaking, on 20 7 1789 & stealing from John (Hancock) of Ilfracombe at Devon Summer Assizes at Castle Exeter Devonshire on 3 8 1789, sentenced to death by hanging reprieved to 7years, held at Castle Exeter & perhaps hulk at Plymouth & arrived at Port Jackson Sydney Cove via Jervis Bay NSW as a convict on 20 8 1791 after a voyage of 5months on Fleet ship ATLANTIC; he was sent to Norfolk Island about September 1789 according to this Website-but is recorded as arriving in 1801 in Ref:'People...'. He is recorded in February 1805 as Free by Service bull carrier (bullock driver) on stores on Norfolk Island. He left Norfolk Island with his partner on 3 9 1808 on CITY OF EDINBURGH as part of the first evacuation (for which volunteers apparantly had been called with appropriate compensation offerred & for which he may have tried to decline as some successful farmers were asked to stay) to Derwent Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) arriving on 2 10 1808. He married Esther (Barrisford/Banisford age14) on 31 10 1808 at St Davids CofE Hobart. He was Free by Servitude by 1811. He is recorded on 2 10 1818 off stores at Hobart Town. He died on 28 11 1825 age55, speared by aborigines while cutting bush timber. [Some details taken from this Website] Esther (Barrisford/Banisford) was born on 11 8 1794. She is recorded as Esther (Beresford) in February 1805 as off stores on Norfolk Island. She was baptised on 21 9 1805 age11 w/Sarah on Norfolk Island. She left Norfolk Island with her partner on 3 9 1808 on CITY OF EDINBURGH to Derwent Van Diemens Land (Tasmania) arriving on 2 10 1808. She died in 1867 age about72 at Richmond Victoria. Details of Esther (Barrisford/Banisford)s family are given in entry for George (Wood ALEXANDER 1788) on this Website. Robert (Kingston) & Esther (Barrisford/Banisford) produced 2children: 1.Elisha (Kingston) was born in 1808. 2.Hannah (Kingston) was born in 1811 & baptised on 26 12 1811 at St Davids cofE Hobart. REFERENCES Craig James Smee 'Births and Baptisms Marriages and Defacto Relationships Deaths and Burials New South Wales 1788-1830' ..a complete listing from church & other records in the early colony. Irene Schaffer & Thelma McKay 'Exiled Three Times Over! Profiles of Norfolk Islanders Exiled in Van Diemens Land 1807-1813' James Hugh Donohoe 'Norfolk Island 1788-1813-The People and Their Families' Reg Wright 'Forgotten Generation of Norfolk Island & Van Diemens Land'

12

Ken Thomson on 2nd March 2024

Robert Kingston 1770-1825 Robert Kingston was born in Ilchester, in the ancient County of Somerset, in the south-west of England, an exact date is unknown. It is uncertain who his parents were, however, the most likely connection is with the Kingston family at Barnstaple, in the county of Devon, which borders Somerset. It is also not known if he had any siblings. Ilchester is a village and civil parish, situated on the River Yeo or Ivel, five miles north of Yeovil, in the County of Somerset. There are no actual records of his birth day and month, only the year. It was not uncommon for people in those times to not know their birthdays as many were illiterate. It was Devon Summer Circuit of 1789, held at the Castle of Exeter, that reported that 19-year-old Robert Kingston was sentenced on 3rd August 1789 to be hung for feloniously breaking, and entering the dwelling house of John Hancock at the Parish of Ilfracombe (near Barnstaple, in the county of Devon) around 4pm of 20th July last. His crime was stealing goods valued at £5-17-6. Robert pleaded not guilty to the charge. Felony was a serious charge, breaking, and entering were considered to be serious as the offender had deliberately ‘forced’ himself into the building as opposed to just entering, which implied no force had been used to gain access. He was tried in the Exeter Assizes in the county of Devon, England, on 3rd August 1789, although he was sentenced to be hung, mercy was granted and he received 7 years of transportation to the Colony in New South Wales, never to return to England. According to the records Robert was not immediately shipped to the NSW Colony, he would be held in the Exeter goal to await the journey to the prison hulks moored in Plymouth. Young Robert Kingston was to be transported from the hulks at Plymouth, England to Port Jackson’s colony at Sydney Cove as a convict, sailing on the “Atlantic”, one of the 11 ships that made up the 3rd Fleet to the NSW Penal Colony. The “Atlantic” sailed from Plymouth with 220 convicts, all male, one being young Robert. The “Atlantic” sailed with the “Salamander” and “William” and “Anne” to Rio de Janeiro. After Rio, they sailed around Cape Horn, then the ships became separated, and the “Atlantic” was the first to sail non-stop to Port Jackson, taking around 146 days. The evening before they arrived at Port Jackson, the “Atlantic” anchored in a deep bay…… Jervis Bay. The “Atlantic” anchored at Sydney Cove about midday on 20th August 1791, a voyage of 147 days. Robert Kingston the first of my convict ancestors, my 3rd Great-grandfather, had arrived in Point Jackson at the NSW Penal Colony. After arriving in Sydney Cove, he was shipped several weeks later to the penal Colony on Norfolk Island where he remained till 1808. While there, he met Esther Beresford, daughter of free settlers John and Hannah Beresford. John and Hannah Beresford had arrived in Sydney Cove as part of the First Fleet, John was a Marine at the time but several years later resigned from the Military to become a Settler in Norfolk Island. In September 1808, the penal Colony on Norfolk Island was closed down and everyone was shipped to Van Diemen’s Land. Esther and Robert married soon after arriving in Hobart Town and had two children. Robert Kingston died violently in 1825 by being speared to death by Aboriginals while he was out in the bush cutting timber. Esther is recorded dying in 1867 in Richmond, Victoria.

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Ken Thomson on 2nd March 2024

Robert came as a convict with the Third Fleet