Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Joseph Potaski was transported on the Calcutta, departing 31st Jan 1803 and arriving 4th Oct 1803 with 305 passengers.
HMS Calcutta was the East Indiaman Warley (1795), converted to a Royal Navy ship. This ship of the line served for a time as an armed transport. She also transported convicts to Australia. The French Magnanime captured Calcutta in 1805. In 1809, after she ran aground during the Battle of the Basque Roads and her crew had abandoned her, a British boarding party burned her. In 1803 the Calcutta sailed into Port Phillip bay where at least 4 convicts escaped , in Sydney in April 1804 it was reported that 8 had died on the trip. Of the four known escapees one was shot on escape, 2 turned back after 2 days to reattach to the group at the camp in bay before the boat left , one continued on ...into Australia's history books. At least 13 convicts were transferred on to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), Australia.The ship also carried officers, wives and free settlers.
Calcutta (generic)References
| Primary Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Potaski |
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Convict Notes
19 January 2021 - Joseph Potaski junior, the son of Joseph Potaski of this record, was tried in Hobart by Judge Advocate John Wylde L. L. B. the Honorable the Judge Advocate of the Territory, who was conducting a circuit court there. The jury was made up of six Officers of His Majesty's 48th Regiment. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1089384/123621
On 27 March 1802, Potaski was arraigned before the Sussex Spring Assizes at Horsham, Sussex. Along with a John O'Brien, he faced charges of stealing a woman's hair shawl from Mrs. Pollard's shop in Newhaven, Sussex. Joseph Potaski was a convict on both the Ocean and Calcutta; his wife Catherine and son Joseph also came out with him as free settlers. Potaski was the first Polish Jew to arrive in Australia. Catherine gave birth to a daughter, Catherine jnr. when the Ocean berthed at Risdon Cove, thus making Catherine the first European to be born and baptised in Van Diemen's Land. Joseph Potaski worked hard to establish himself as a successful farmer in colonial Hobart. This was however undone by the exploits of his family. Joseph Potaski reflects the attitudes of those convicts who never progressed beyond their criminal past. Catherine was granted land at Clarence Plains, and Potaski himself was freed in 1810. By 1816 the Potaski family was supplying the colony with more corn then was needed for a whole year. The Potaskis also supplied the whole commissariat with wheat. It is estimated that Potaski was born in 1764, in Poland. Not much is known of Potaski's early life. It has been suggested that Potaski was born into the aristocratic family of Potocki. It is also known that Potaski was a member of Kosciuszko's army. During this time Potaski would have been involved in the Warsaw siege and the Praga massacre. After the war Joseph Potaski arrived in London, probably as a refugee or asylum seeker. Joseph Potaski's, son Joseph jnr. was convicted in March 1821 at Sydney, New South Wales, for being a part of a party that burgled Mr. Thrupp's house. Potaski jnr. was hanged for the crime at Hobart on 28 April 1821. Joseph's sister, Catherine, had also been in trouble. In 1820, at the age of 16, Catherine had given birth to an illegitimate son, William. William died in 1823, at the age of three years. Catherine had also been accused of being a prostitute, and didn't enjoy the favour of Hobart's first Catholic chaplain, Father Connelly. However, Catherine was able to recover. She married on 29 June 1824, to Irishmen Edward McDonald, at St. Virgils church, Hobart, Tasmania. Catherine and Edward had a large family, and eventually migrated to Lara, Victoria. Catherine died in Geelong, Victoria on 30 January 1877. In the years before his death Potaski was once again in trouble with the law, this time for cattle rustling. He died on 31 August 1824 at Hobart. After his death the Potaskis left their land and migrated to Victoria. Potaski's wife, Catherine died in 1859 at Geelong, Victoria. Joseph Potaski is immortalised on a plaque in Hobart's St. David's memorial Park. On 9 October 2003, a concert was held in Hobart, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Joseph Potaski arriving in Australia. Television presenter Yumi Stynes, and politician Denis Napthine are amongst the Potaski descendants
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