Thomas Roper

Level 218

Dianne Jones on 27th March 2021

1838, 16 July: Thomas Roper, 42, assigned to Samuel McKee, died in Launceston Hospital (see https://stors.tas.gov.au/RGD34-1-1p238j2k). 1838, 17 July: A Coroner's Inquest found he had been in an infirm state of health for a long time before his death and that "he died in a natural way, to wit epilepsy" (see https://stors.tas.gov.au/SC195-1-4-209). 1838, 21 July: Thomas Roper was buried at Launceston (see https://stors.tas.gov.au/RGD34-1-1p238j2k). His Burial Record does not refer to epilepsy, rather it attributes his death to "the visitation of God" (see https://stors.tas.gov.au/SC195-1-4-209). --00-- ABOUT HIS AGE: Two separate records - one from England (Justitia prison hulk admission record) dated 5 November 1831 and the other from VDL (his Description Record) dated July 1832 - list Thomas Roper as 31 years old. As a result, this page gives his year of birth as 1801, which means he could not have been 42 years old when he died.

Level 218

Dianne Jones on 27th March 2021

1831, 17 October: Convicted at Gloucester for stealing from the person. He had a previous conviction for a similar offence and was jailed for 12 months; he was also acquitted on an assault charge. 1832: On arrival in VDL, he was listed as 31, single and a groom. He was assigned to the VDL Company which had land grants of hundreds of thousands of acres in north-west Tasmania. Geoff Lennox describes the VDL company's operations and dependency on convict labour: "[Edward] Curr [VDL's chief agent] admitted being a 'coercive master' who doled out strict justice and discipline. Despite the benefits of rations, wood and water, differences between Company and colonial wages led indentured servants to abscond or seek legal loopholes to escape Company servitude. Such problems led Curr to proclaim that the Company 'owed everything we are and have' to the favour of convict labour. While settlers clamoured for convicts, the Company was (by deduction from quit rent) theoretically paid for taking them. Moreover, arrangements were made for agricultural workers sentenced in England for protest activities to be assigned as Company convicts. When convicts were no longer assigned, the Company still pressed for special consideration. As regards numbers, these ranged from 35 convicts in 1827 to a peak of 117 in 1835. Although Company convicts had a good reputation, incidents such as the escape of six convicts in a sealing vessel in 1828 or the 1835 plan to capture Circular Head and seize the Company schooner Edward are worthy of note." (see https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/V/VDL Co.htm)