William (the Younger) Mepham

William Mepham (The younger), one of 250 convicts transported on the Surrey, 16 March 1842

Name, Aliases & Gender

Name:	William (the Younger) Mepham
Aliases:	none
Gender:	m

Birth, Occupation & Death

Date of Birth:	1823
Occupation:	Ploughman/farm labourer
Date of Death:	-
Age:	-

Life Span

Male median life span was 57 years*

* Median life span based on contributions

Conviction & Transportation

Sentence Severity

Sentenced to 15 years

Crime:	Malicious wounding
Convicted at:	Kent, Maidstone Quarter Sessions
Sentence term:	15 years
Ship:	Surrey or Surry
Departure date:	16th March, 1842
Arrival date:	11th August, 1842
Place of arrival	Van Diemen's Land
Passenger manifest	Travelled with 253 other convicts

References

Primary source:	Tasmanian Libraries. "Mepham, The Innocent Convict.-The friends of." Times, 26 Jan. 1844, p. 3. The Times Digital Archive, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS51410490/GDCS?u=nzsocgen&sid=GDCS&xid=5b614b68. Accessed 27 June 2020. Gale Document Number:GALE\|CS51410490
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 Project.

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Community Contributions

Vivienne Lintott on 28th June, 2020 wrote:

In January 1844, Mepham (the ‘innocent convict’) arrived in London on the ship Eudora, having been provided a free passage home [from Tasmania] by the Government, two years after he was convicted.

Summary of Narrative from The Times (26 Jan 1844)
Two weeks after his conviction, Mepham was moved to the Fortitude Hulk at Chatham. Five months later, as part of a group of 250, he boarded the Surrey Transport which arrived at Hobart in August 1842, and from there he was sent to Port Arthur on a schooner which ran on to rocks. The Schooner was refloated the next day and Mepham was sent to the Cascade Station to clear forests.
Twelve months later he read of his pardon in a Maidstone newspaper that had reached the colony and in a further nine weeks the superintendent of the station received an official letter about his free pardon.
He made his way back to Hobart and after a week was awarded a free passage home on the Eudora.

Iris Dunne on 28th June, 2020 wrote:

Conduct Record: aged 18, Tried 19 Oct. 1841, Transported for Maliciously cutting & wounding, Single, Protestant, can neither read nor write, Trade Ploughman & Farm Labourer, Free Pardon 5 Sept. 1843
https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON33-1-27P152

Convict Changes History

Vivienne Lintott on 28th June, 2020 made the following changes:

source: "Mepham, The Innocent Convict.-The friends of." Times, 26 Jan. 1844, p. 3. The Times Digital Archive, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS51410490/GDCS?u=nzsocgen&sid=GDCS&xid=5b614b68. Accessed 27 June 2020. Gale Document Number:GALE|CS51410490 (pre

Iris Dunne on 28th June, 2020 made the following changes:

date of birth: 1823 (prev. 0000), gender: m, occupation, crime

Iris Dunne on 28th June, 2020 made the following changes:

source: Tasmanian Libraries. "Mepham, The Innocent Convict.-The friends of." Times, 26 Jan. 1844, p. 3. The Times Digital Archive, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS51410490/GDCS?u=nzsocgen&sid=GDCS&xid=5b614b68. Accessed 27 June 2020. Gale Document Number