Esther Salamon

75

iain Frazier on 23rd January 2025

Family connections for Esther (Salamon) are: SALAMON Esther (Salamon) was born about 1774. She had a first relationship (1of4) with ??? (Spencer). She was tried, as (Spencer), for theft at Old Bailey on 16 7 1794, sentenced to death commuted to Life, probably held at London or Middlesex Gaol Delivery & at Newgate Prison & arrived in NSW as a convict on 30 4 1796 after a voyage of 6months on INDISPENSABLE: she was Jewish 5'4" dark complexion dark hair dark eyes. She had a second? (2of4) relationship with ??? (Fitz) & produced perhaps 1child:>>> [Some details taken from this Website] [1.male (Fitz) was buried at St Phillips CofE old Sydney burial ground (where Thomas (Stubbs) & Godfrey (Stubbs) were later also buried.] .. >>>Esther (Salamon/Spencer) had a third (3of4) relationship with Thomas (Stubbs) & produced 9children.>>> Thomas (Stubbs) was born about 1774 & perhaps became a builder. He was tried for stealing cloth coat etc, on 8 3 1790, of William (Cook) & John (Weyman) at Old Bailey on 26 5 1790, sentenced to 7years, held probably at London or Middlesex Gaol Delivery & arrived in NSW on 9 7 1791 after a voyage of 6months on Fleet ship ALBERMARLE. He worked as a builder & with his wife as a dealer. He was Free by Servitude by 1801. The family was living in Lane Cove in 1814. He died on 11 1 1815 age41 as an emancipist & was buried at St Phillips CofE Old Sydney burial ground. [Some details taken from this Website] .. >>>Esther (Salamon/Spencer) worked with her husband (Stubbs) as a dealer. She was Free by Servitude by 1803. She may have had other relationships producing more children. She was granted 80acres in February 1815 as Hester (Stubbs).>>> .. [Noted a Joseph (Bean) produced a child with Esther (Stubbs): ] [1.Robert (Bean) was born on 12 6 1816 & baptised on 30 6 1816 at St Phillips CofE Sydney.] .. >>>Esther (Salamon/Spencer) married (her fourth known relationship) Joseph (Bigge) dealer on 25 4 1822 at St Phillips CofE Sydney. After her husband died in 1833 she sold the livery stable & established a bathing house for women & children & families & for ritual bathing 'Mykveh' by Jewish women at Woolloomooloo Bay Sydney Harbour. She died on 27 10 1855 age81/6 at Phillip Street mother of 12known children, although 13/14 are claimed form 4/5relationships, & was buried at Devonshire St cemetery Jewish section, later removed to Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park.] [Joseph (Bigge) was born about 1768 & became a coachman in London. He arrived in NSW as a free servant/coachman for Governor (Macquarie) in December 1809 on HMS DROMEDARY. He kept a boarding house & livery stable. He was a dealer in 1822. He died in 1833 age65 after falling into a fire at Phillips St during some form of insanity.] [Esther (Salamon/Spencer) & Joseph (Bigge/Biggs) produced 2children:] [1.Robert (Bigge) was born on 12 6 1816.] [2.Louisa (Bigge/Biggs) was born on 12 7 1817 & baptised on 25 1 1818 at St Phillips CofE Sydney. She died in 1854 age about36.] Reference: 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.

54

Phil Hands on 27th July 2017

Old Baily Trial Transcription. Reference Number: t17940716-64 447. ESTHER SPENCER was indicted for stealing, on the 17th of July , two silver salt holders, value 18s. two silver salt spoons, value 2s. two silver pepper castors, value 1l. a silver table spoon, value 14s. the goods of Jacob Ruffy . JACOB RUFFY sworn. On the 17th of this month, I lost some two silver pepper castor, two silver salts, two silver spoons, and a silver table spoon; I was not in the way when they were taken; I had seen them before I went out, I went out about a quarter after two, I was going out to dinner, I had seen them in the forenoon on our side board; I know nothing at all of the prisoner, she was quite a stranger to me; they were missing near three, before I came home; and when I came home, I was informed of the circumstance. Q. When did you next see this property? - In the constable's hands. ROBERT HUGH sworn. I am an apprentice to Mr. Ruffy, he is a taylor ; I was at work in the afternoon, and master's daughter came up, and told me that a person had been in the parlour and taken part of the plate away, and I came down stairs, and a servant of the house told me which way she had run; and I went out and caught her near Bethnall-green; my master lives in Wilkes's-street, Spitalfields; I took her in Air-street, and brought her back to the place where she had taken the property from, and found two pepper castors in her bolom, and the two salt cellars and two salt spoons, and a table spoon were in her pocket; I see them taken from her. SARAH PEARSON sworn. I live near the prosecutor; there is a brass knob a the outside of the door to lift up the latch; I saw the prisoner lift it up and go into the parlour, and she came out again to the door, and then returned to it again; then I thought she was a bad woman; I went to call Mr. Ruffy's daughter, and she sent the apprentice after the prisoner. JOHN THOMPSON sworn. I am a constable; the prisoner was searched in my presence; there was found on her two pepper castors in her bosom, two salts, two salt spoons, and a table spoon, all silver; I have got them here. Prosecutor. They are all my property. The prisoner called three witnesses who gave her a good character. Prisoner. It is the first offence I ever did in my life, I hope you will forgive me. GUILTY . Death . (Aged 19.) Recommended to mercy by the Jury and prosecutor, because she had a good character from her master, and appeared never before to transgress. Tried by the second Middlesex Jury before the Lord CHIEF BARON.

54

Phil Hands on 27th July 2017

Esther, a Jew, was tried and convicted under her married name of Spencer at the Old Bailey on 16th July 1794 for theft, sentenced to death, on recomendation from the Jury this was commuted to transpotation for life on 17th September 1794, Esther managed to survive the appalling conditions of Newgate Prison for 18 months before boarding her transportation vessel. The Newgate Prison entry book describes her as being "19, 5'4", dark hair, dark eyes, dark complexion, London, married woman Jewess". Left England mid October 1795. Ship:- the 'Indispensible' sailed with 133 female convicts on board of which 2 died during the voyage. Arrived on 30th April 1796. By August 1806, as indicated in the NSW General Muster, it seems that Esther had been classed granted a pardon at the discretion of the Governor, and her official status had become "Free By Servitude". Esther was in a defacto relationship with convict Thomas Stubbs, until his death in 1815, the couple had 9 children between 1801-1814. Three months after their ninth child, Godfrey, was born Thomas died, on 11th January 1815, aged 41. He was buried in the Old Sydney Burial Ground, where his two infants Sophia and Godfrey had previously also been interred, along with Esther's son by John Fitz. Esther was now a single mother to 9 children, the oldest of whom was only 17 and probably having to fend for herself or assist her mother with the upbringing of the younger children. Esther though seems to have continued to be an enterprising woman. Less than a week after Thomas's death she was awarded a grant of 80 acres of land, for which she was recommended by a Mr Oxley, who was a noted explorer and surveyor in the early period of British colonisation in Australia. It was noted in the records that she was a widow with a large family. The record doesn't though reveal where the land so awarded was, though her name was recorded as Hester Stubbs. With a significant imbalance in the ratio of men to women in the colony it seems to have taken Esther little time to find another "husband", Joseph Bigge. This time Esther had got together with a free settler. Joseph had arrived as a freeman on "HMS Dromedary" in December 1809. He was one of five servants taken to NSW by Governor Lachlan MacQuarrie and was employed as coachman. Prior to his departure for Australia Joseph was for a number of years coachman in London to Mr Stephen Rolleston, Chief Clerk of the Foreign Office. Joseph was aged about 41 when he arrived in Sydney. Not long before he and Esther got together there was a report in the newspaper about a tragic incident featuring Joseph. On 6th October 1814 he accidentally ran over and killed a young boy aged three named Charles Thomas, while driving Mrs Macquarie in her curricle (a two wheeled open horse drawn carriage) along George Street, Sydney. A coronial inquest followed and Joseph was cleared of any charges of negligence or reckless driving. Elizabeth Macquarie was so distressed by the experience that she suffered a nervous collapse that confined her to bed for several weeks. For the first and only time Esther was officially married, in 1822, when she and Joseph were wed on 25th April in St Phillips Anglican Church, Sydney, the couple had 2 children, Robert in 1816 and Louisa in 1817. By the time Joseph was in his 60's he had developed some form of insanity. In 1833, aged around 65, he suffered a fall into the fire at his residence in Phillips Street and died instantly from severe burns. Newspaper reports of this event referred to him as "Joe the Coachman" who kept the first respectable boarding house and livery stables in Sydney for many years, and was well respected by all who knew him. Esther apparently sold the livery stables after Joseph's death. She had accumulated sufficient capital to set up the first public baths for ladies, at Woolloomooloo Bay on the shores of Sydney harbour. Women and children who wished to bathe could do so for a price: "1 pound per quarter for a lady and three children – for a single lady ditto 10s, and a single baths 6d." The site was a natural rock shelf into the harbour where Aboriginal people had been bathing for centuries. The baths served as a "mykveh", a place for ritual bathing by Jewish women. There is a memorial to the baths on the site. The baths were a feature for some time but failed to pay their way and were eventually let go. Esther died on 27th October 1855, at her residence, Phillip Street, after a long and painful illness, and was buried in the Jewish section of the Devonshire Street Cemetery. In 1901 the cemetery site was needed for Central Railway Station, and Esther's remains were re-interred at the Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, known then as Bunnerong. Unfortunately there is no headstone to mark her grave. Sydney Morning Herald Monday 29th October 1855 p. 8 DEATHS... On the 27th instant, at her residence, Philip Street, after a long and painful illness, Mrs. Esther Bigge, aged 86 years.

4

Janelle Collins on 5th February 2012

Born abt 1775, maiden surname Salamon, was 5'4" 19yo married Jewess with dark eyes, dark hair, dark complexion when convicted. Had 13 or 14 children to 4 or 5 partners though her life. Established a bathing house for women and children/families beside Sydney Harbour in 1833.