Henry Tyer

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David Owens on 20th January 2020

Henry Tyer Henry was born in London in 1813. On 5 February 1833, Henry was indicted for stealing a greatcoat, the property of George Harden. George was a butcher and lived in Drury Lane in London. On 11 April 1833, Henry was tried at the Old Bailey in London and subsequently found guilty and sentenced to be ‘Transported for seven years’. At the time of sentencing Henry was aged 20 and was working as a brick maker. Henry was one of 300 males that were transported from Portsmouth, England on 4 July 1833 aboard the ‘Aurora’ and sent to New South Wales. Arriving in Sydney Cove on 3 November 1833, a voyage of 122 days. Prisoners transported on the Aurora were convicted in counties throughout England. None of the prisoners of the Aurora were convicted in Scotland. Three men were court-martialed at Guernsey. Many, even the young boys, were held on the hulk ‘Hardy’ at Portsmouth to await transportation. They were transferred from the hulk to the Aurora on 26 June 1833. There were seventeen boys under the age of 16 on the Aurora. The youngest included William Banghust 13; Thomas Westley 13; Jame Welsh 14; Henry Pike 14; George High 14; Thomas Boulter 15; John Smeathman 15; and Henry Walker 15. The Aurora arrived into Sydney on 3 November 1833. The Aurora had embarked with 300 male convicts, and she landed all of them. The convicts were mustered on board on 7 November 1833 where details such as age, education, religion, family, native place, trade, offence, when and where tried, physical description, sentence and prior convictions were recorded. The men were landed on Thursday 21 November 1833 and taken to Hyde Park Barracks where they were assigned for service. Records show that during 1833 and 1834, Henry was assigned to a J.H. Broughton from Patterson’s River. On 19 February 1838, Henry was issued with a ‘Ticket of Leave’. Tickets of leave allowed convicts to live and work for their own wages wherever they wanted to as long as they remained within their Police District. Tickets of leave were generally given to convicts with good behaviour. With good conduct, a convict serving a seven year term usually qualified for a Ticket of Leave after four or five years, whilst those serving 14 years could expect to serve between six to eight years. 'Lifers' could qualify for a Conditional Pardon after 10 or 12 years. A convict was required to carry their Ticket of Leave at all times. Once a year the convict had to report in at the Ticket of leave muster. Persons neglecting to produce their Ticket of Leave, or their Conditional or Absolute Pardon at time of muster would be considered Prisoners of the Crown and returned to Government Service. On 20 January 1841, Henry was granted his ‘Certificate of Freedom’. A Certificate of Freedom was given to a convict at the end of their sentence. The document stated that the convict’s sentence had been served and that the convict was now free. Certificates of Freedom were usually given to convicts who had served 7, 10, or 14 year sentences. Convicts serving life sentences could only receive pardons and were therefore ineligible to receive Certificates of Freedom During the early 1840’s Henry was living and working at Canning Downs station. On the 23 October 1847, the Moreton Bay Courier reported: SUDDEN DEATH. - On the 12th instant, at the station of Messrs. Leslie, Canning Downs, a man named Henry Tyre expired suddenly. A post mortem examination was held on the body by Dr Miles, when it was ascertained that death had been caused by effusion of blood from an artery, brought on by former intemperate habits. Henry was aged 33.