Judith Myers

341

Maureen Withey on 17th July 2022

From: http://foundersandsurvivors.org/pubsearch/convict/chain/c31a31290239 Information originally submitted by JohnMeyers66 http://foundersandsurvivors.org/node/114 (plus the additional word document sent by John meyers). FREDERICK AND JUDITH MEYERS Frederick Meyers, son of Herman Meyer, was born on 5 June 1785 in Bremen Germany. It has to be assumed at this point that this same Frederick Meyers emigrated to the UK. In April 1818 Frederick was arrested with four others on a charge of stealing 200lbs of lead valued at 20 Shillings from a dwelling house in Mortimer Terrace, Kentish Town, London. He appeared in court at Middlesex Gaol Delivery on 6 May 1818 and was duly convicted of larceny and transported to Van Diemens Land for seven years. In the ‘remarks’ column of the Criminal Register there is a notation as follows: ‘In Newgate (Prison) before’. Frederick (convict No. 49266) arrived in Hobart from Portsmouth on the Caledonia (1) on 17 November 1820. The muster roll for the Caledonia on its arrival in Van Diemens Land described Frederick as a sugar refiner, 36 years of age, 5’8½” tall with grey eyes and brown hair. He appeared in the General Muster of 1821 as residing at Pitt Water in receipt of “Government Stores” in the employ of J. L. Roberts at Hobart Town. In the muster of convicts for 1822-3 he is shown as married with three children (unnamed) and still employed by Roberts. Judith, his wife, was born in 1788 in London, England. They were married in England in 1811 or 1812 and together they appear to have had three children. On 23 March 1820, Judith Meyers was convicted of larceny at the Surrey “Lent” Assizes and sentenced to transportation to New South Wales for seven years. {It is interesting to note that one Jane Wilson was convicted in the same court on the same day – The same Jane Wilson was later bracketed with Judith on the Muster list for the ‘Morley’ on their arrival in Sydney. Was she a relative?} Judith arrived in Sydney as a convict with three children on the “Morley (3)” on 12 September 1820. The children were listed as follows; 1 boy aged 8, one boy aged 6 and 1 girl aged 3. The records of the Church of the Latter Day Saints list the children as follows: Frederick b.1812, Charles b.1814 and an unnamed female b.1817. Upon arrival, she and the children were dispatched with 28 other women to the infamous Female Factory at Parramatta. At the time that she arrived, the Female Factory consisted of one long room on the second floor above the Parramatta Gaol, which had a fireplace at one end for the women to cook on. Their work at the Factory usually involved rope making and scanning and carding wool. This building was replaced by Governor Macquarie during Judith’s time there by a three storey barracks factory which was first occupied by the inmates on 12 February 1821. The first floor was set up for cooking and meals while the second and third floors were taken up with sleeping quarters. It is unsure whether or not Judith’s three children resided with her at the Factory or were admitted to local orphanages. Mothers were usually allowed to keep children under the age of four, after which time they were sent to orphanages with little further contact with their mother until her release from the Factory. There was no doubt that Frederick Meyers was anxious to have his wife and children join him in Hobart. In a letter from the Colonial Secretary to Henry Grattan Douglass, in relation to charges for postage of letters from Sydney to Parramatta, unfairly inflicted upon female convicts with no means, Judith Meyers is mentioned as having received nine letters in the previous six months from her husband at the ‘Derwent’. Letters were sent in June and July 1821 to the Colonial Secretary’s Office from Lt. Governor William Sorrell in Van Diemens Land on her husband’s behalf requesting her release and allowing her to join him there. On 18 August, she was informed by the Colonial Secretary, Frederick Goulburn, that she was to be discharged from the Female Factory and was permitted to join her husband in Van Diemens Land at the first opportunity. On 25 August 1821 she and the children boarded the brig Campbell Macquarie bound for Hobart. In the 1821 Muster of Convicts, taken just after Judith’s arrival in Van Diemens Land, she is listed as living at Pitt Water, but there is no mention of her children. In the subsequent musters of 1822 and 1823 she is noted as ‘wife of Frederick Myers’ and living at Pitt Water. Judith was drowned on 18 June 1825 at Pitt Water according to the newspaper account of the accident and was buried 5 days later in the parish of Sorell according to Church of England custom. She was described in the account as leaving a ‘most affectionate husband’ and a ‘large family’ to lament her passing. There is some dispute about which children travelled with Judith on the Morley in 1820. The 1827 Van Diemens Land Census Papers for Children lists three motherless boys living in separate households apart from their father, Frederick. These three are as follows; FREDERICK MYERS (Jnr) – Born c1811 in London. At 16 he was living in Murray Street Hobart with Ticket of Leave holder William Figg a tailor by trade who arrived on the Commodore Hayes in 1823. Frederick also listed as a tailor. He died of consumption on 2 January 1844 at Port Arthur. 3 BENJAMIN MYERS – (Also known as James) Born c1813 in London. At 14 he was living with Ticket of Leave holder, Benjamin ‘Hines’, a bootmaker by trade who arrived on the Lord Melville in 1818. Benjamin eventually worked as a bootmaker, having a long relationship with Benjamin Hines, later becoming his brother in law. THOMAS MEYERS – Born c1815 in London. At age 12 he was living in Elizabeth Street………..and was indented to a Mr Lightfoot. He died 8 October 1849 in Tasmania. The Census papers mentioned above do not include any female Meyers/Myers children. The three year old girl listed with Judith on her arrival in New South Wales on the Morley in September 1820 was probably born about 1817 and would have been 10 by 1827. Frederick (Snr) initially applied for an allotment of land at Sorell in 1822 while still listed as a prisoner. In November 1831, he made a further application for land at New Norfolk, stating that he intended to build a brick or stone house of 35 feet with a substantial fence and that he did not own any other allotments. In his application he referred to the house he had built at Sorell (Pitt Water) as having been sold. This appears to confirm that his original application for land at Sorell had been successful. The New Norfolk land consisting of 3 Roods and 1 Perch allotted to him on 9 December 1831 was sold to William Barton for ?15 on 25 July 1832. On 28 April 1833 Frederick and an unnamed son left Hobart Town on the barque “Adventurer” bound for Sydney. According to the Sydney Morning Herald of 26 April 1833 the passengers were named as Frederick and Henry Myers both tailors from Hobart Town. The name Henry may have been a clerical error as Frederick (Jnr) was a tailor by trade. On 7 October 1833 Frederick married again, this time to Rebecca Wylde. The service was held at the Scots Presbyterian Church, Elizabeth Street, Sydney. This union produced five children. Their first child, Richard Joseph Meyers was born in July 1834 and baptised in the Church of England Parish of Maitland during September the same year. The couple appear to have returned to Launceston sometime after Richard’s birth. We know this because three of their children were born in Launceston namely William b.1836, Benjamin Henry b.1837 and Alfred George b.1839. Frederick was also noted as a licencee of two hotels in Launceston, The Crown in 1837 and the Queen’s Head in 1839. Sometime later the family moved to Hobart where a daughter, Henrietta was born in 1842. A further son, Charles may have been born on the return of the family to Sydney in the late 1840s. Frederick died in Sydney 1 August 1851 and was buried two days later at the Presbyterian Church, possibly the Scots Church where he was married. ---------------------------------------------------

341

Maureen Withey on 17th July 2022

Colonial Secretary Index. 22 Sep 1820. Judith Myers, forwarded by Government boats to Parramatta, to the Factory, with three children, 1 boy aged 8, 1 boy aged 6 and 1 girl aged 3.

10

Guinevere Hall on 4th January 2015

Travelled with her three young sons on board

221

D Wong on 6th May 2014

Colonial Secretary Papers: MYERS, Judith. Per "Morley", 1820: 1820 Sep 22: On list of convicts disembarked from the "Morley" and forwarded to Parramatta for distribution; with three children (Reel 6007; 4/3502 p.274) 1821 Aug 25: Sent to join husband at Hobart; with three children (Reel 6051; 4/1750 pp.76-7) Hobart Town Gazette 1/7/1825: On the 18th inst., as Mrs Judith Myers of Pittwater was proceeding the the ferry-boat towards the bluff, it unfortunately upset, in consequence of which she almost immediately expired, leaving to lament her large family and a most affectionate husband.

7

John Meyers on 5th May 2014

There is no evidence of Judith's maiden name as at 2014. She married Frederick Meyers in 1812 in London, Middlesex England