William Jude

Level 46

JD Stubbs on 27th July 2024

William Jude was born in 1813 at Enfield, Middlesex, Greater London, England to parents William Jude and Sarah Beal Durrant. At this stage not much is known about William’s life before his transportation, other than he had a brother named John and two sisters named Charlotte and Mary Ann. William first appears in the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) on 5 January 1832 charged with the theft of potatoes from the field of John Walpole on 2 November 1831. From the time of his arrest William was in Newgate prison waiting for his trial for two months. For the crime of simple larceny of potatoes William was sentenced to one year in Gaol, so back to Newgate he went. On the 5 September 1833, William again appeared in the Old Bailey Court room, this time charged with stealing a cart from a man called William Dickenson on 20 July. Due to his previous conviction, William was shown no leniency and was sentenced to fourteen years transportation at the age of 20. On 3 October William was transferred from Newgate to the prison hulk Justitia which was moored at Woolwich. This is where he stayed until he was again transferred to the Susan. William was one of 302 convicts transported to NSW onboard the ship Susan which left on 7 March 1834 and arrived in Sydney on 8 July 1834. Convict Indents report that at the time of William’s arrival in Australia he was an ostler and carman back in England, 21 years old, single, Protestant, illiterate, 5’6 tall, dark ruddy complexion, brown hair, blue eyes, scar on left cheek near nostril, large scar ball of left thumb, scar between the the fore finger and thumb of left hand, scar back of little finger left hand, and a tattoo of a woman inside lower right arm. On 17 July, William was assigned to Thomas Collins at Sydney after being processed through Hyde Park Barracks. He continued to work on Thomas’ properties at Sydney and Bathurst until 1837. From 1837-1841 William was assigned to the government road gangs as a carter on the brick fields and was housed at the Carters Barracks House of Correction located on Pitt Street, running along what is close to contemporary Eddy Avenue. Sometime after this William must have been assigned to a settler at Patrick Plains (Singleton) as on 18 July 1841, he was given his first Ticket of Leave to remain in the district of Patrick Plains, on a recommendation dated March 1841. On 10 December 1841 he was granted a Ticket of Leave Passport on the recommendation of Patrick's Plains Bench. In 1842 William submitted an application of marriage to the Convict board in order to marry Irish immigrant Catherine Leydon. This application was successfully granted on 30 December 1842 and they swiftly got married at West Maitland. This union resulted in the birth of 4 children: 1. Sarah Anne Kelly neé Jude (1844-1935) 2. William Jude (1848-1848) 3. Mary Ann Chain neé Jude (1848-1870) 4. Bridget Mary Anderson neé Jude (1850-1926) Catherine was an Assisted Immigrant and came to Australia on condition that she would marry once she arrived. She was a single Catholic dairy maid from Kilroney, Roscommon, Ireland and was 19 when she arrived in Australia onboard the ship Brothers on 11 March 1841. On 3 July 1842, Catherine was admitted to Newcastle gaol from Singleton on a charge of having stolen property in her possession and was sent for trial. She was the daughter of John Leydon and Bridget McDermott. On her immigration record it states that her father was a labourer and was dead. However, it is actually believed that her father was a transported Irish Rebel convict. John Leydon was transported to NSW for life in 1835 onboard the Forth. Born in either county Mayo or Galway, Ireland, John was convicted of abduction in county Roscommon, along with his brothers Michael and Peter, as well as being part of a secret Irish agrarian organisation and rebel group known as The Whiteboys at age 35. It is said that they abducted a policeman. John received an Absolute Pardon dated 4 April 1836. Before being transported John had 2 children with Brigid McDermott, a boy and a girl, the girl being Catherine. Other than an attempt to have his wife and children sent over to join him in Australia in 1837, nothing more is known about John Leydon or what happened to him after he received his Absolute Parson, so it is possible that he returned home to Ireland and had died by the time Catherine immigrated. After William’s marriage to Catherine, the next record we find for him is another Ticket of Leave on 25 January 1843. This record informs us that he had been assigned to a new master and was to proceed to Pages River in the service of Henry Dangar for 12 months on recommendation of the of Singleton Bench, dated 9 January 1843. Henry Dangar was a pastoralist, businessman, surveyor and explorer of Australia in the early period of British colonisation, infamously remembered for his abhorrent role in the Myall Creek Massacre of 1838. Many places have been named after him including Dangar Falls. On 14 May 1844 William received yet another Ticket of Leave Passport, and then again on 24 March 1845, both on the recommendation of the Singleton Bench. No Certificate of Freedom for William has yet been found. William and Catherine’s first child, Sarah Ann Jude was born 5 May 1844 and was registered in the Roman Catholic Church of Moreton Bay (QLD); New England District. This means she could have been born anywhere from Brisbane to Tamworth. William and Catherine’s next children were twins, William and Mary Ann, born in 1848 and registered in the Roman Catholic Church of Singleton (inc. New England), St Augustine's, Co.Northumberland. This means they could have been born anywhere from Singleton to Tamworth, although it is assumed that they were most likely born in Tamworth or Wallabadah. William Jr died shortly after his birth and is buried at Wallabadah. William and Catherine’s final child, Bridget, was born 18 April 1850 in either Tamworth, Wallabadah, or Singleton. On 5 July 1861, William Jude passed away at Lowes Creek, Wallabadah, New South Wales, Australia at the age of 48 and is buried at Wallabadah cemetery in the Roman Catholic section. His wife survived him by 20 years, passing away 30 June 1881 also at Wallabadah, she is buried next to him.

Level 81

Gail Robyn Newman on 14th April 2022

Born at Middlesex Crime: Stealing cart-- Previous convictions: 1 year--Description Height in feet & inches: 5' 6" Complexion: Dark ruddy; Hair: Brown; Eyes: Blue

Level 81

Gail Robyn Newman on 14th April 2022

Ticket of Leave 41/1480 to remain in the district of Patricks Plains -- married Catherine Laydon; Age: 22 years; Arrived per ship Brothers; Came free; Application year 1842 Clergyman: Lynch; West Maitland