John Mcpeake

3

Robyne Moulds on 18th June 2016

Denis you have date of death 1825 aged 52y. John appeared in the 1828 Census with his wife and 2 daughters.

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Denis Pember on 16th January 2016

Sainty & Johnson; 1828 Census of New South Wales: [Ref M1275] McPeake, John, 55, absolute pardon, Anne, 1803, life, farmer, Baulkham Hills, 60 acres, 12, acres cleared, 8 acres cultivated [Ref M1276] McPeake, Margaret, 50, free by servitude, Minstrel, 1812, 7 years. [Ref M1277] McPeake, Ann 15, born in the colony. [Ref M1278] McPeake, Elizabeth, 7 born in the colony.

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Denis Pember on 16th January 2016

In the colony, John married Margaret Murphy (Convict, Minstrel, 1812). John McPeake of the parish of St John Parramatta and Margaret Murphy of ditto were married in this church by banns this 15th day of July 1813 by me Samuel Marsden Both John and Margaret made their X marks in the register in the presence of John White who signed the register and Sarah Ellis who made her X mark. Margaret has a lovely Irish name but she was sentenced in Warwickshire so I have no knowledge of her background. The couple had two children located, Ann 1815 and Elizabeth 1821.

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Denis Pember on 16th January 2016

Large numbers of the so called 'United Irishmen Rebels' were transported from about 1796 to the early 1800's. The intriguing and ill-discipline of the exiled Defenders which so dismayed Governor John Hunter and frightened Governor Philip King was very apparent during the voyages of the ships with Defender convicts and United Irishmen. One man was summarily executed for mutiny on the 'Sugar Cane' and some details of a plot on the 'Boddingtons' reached the colony. While mutiny and escape were undoubtedly common topics of conversation among all convicts, the Defender /United Irishmen of the 'Britannia' and 'Marquis Cornwallis' planned uprisings which resulted in the deaths of about 26 men and two official enquiries in Port Jackson. The rebellious conduct of the convicts on the 'Britannia' and 'Marquis Cornwallis' before and after arrival in New South Wales seems to have prejudiced the colonial administration against later shipments of prisoners who had taken part in 1798. That two mutinies of a similar nature had been suppressed on successive voyages must have struck Hunter as either a grim coincidence or the probable consequence of transporting Defenders and United Irishmen en masse. That serious trouble also occurred on the Anne, Hercules, Atlas I and Minerva in 1800-2. Opposition to such transports by Hunter and his successor Governor King is a matter of record but neither man had any real control over the numbers or type of prisoners embarked for New South Wales.63 The Governors were also remarkably ill-informed as to the character of Irish prisoners in general as documents setting down their names, crimes and sentences generally only arrived years after the ships if at all.64 This omission on the part of Dublin Castle engendered a sense of paranoia in the colony that was accentuated by the United Irish plots of 1800 and the Castle Hill uprising in March 1804. It is recorded that the 'Porpoise' set sail with the Irish to Norfolk Island.' It was not long before Governor King was again vacillating, as by June 14, talk of a recall of the Irish and a fortnight later their return is almost confirmed. The 13 convicts sent to Norfolk on the 'Porpoise' were a diverse group. Patrick Courtenay from the Anne was joined by his shipmates, John McPeake, a United Irishman from Castlebar, County Mayo, and John Fitzgerald, a robber from Waterford...

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Denis Pember on 16th January 2016

John McPeak, crime - United Irishman. Sentenced to transportation for life and transported aboard the ship Anne. Arrived in NSW 21 Feb 1801.