William Wright

Level 345

Maureen Withey on 11th February 2021

A man named William Wright, late a seaman on board Britannia, was fully committed for trial by F. North, Esq. charged with stealing a watch on Thursday last, the property of William Warner, Fairlight Down. The prisoner was taken at the time and the property recovered but escaped from the local constable who had him in charge at Winchelsea. He was again apprehended on Sunday near Hailsham. Sussex Advertiser, 20 Dec 1841

Level 2

Peter Dillon on 12th November 2014

He stole the watch from his sister Eliza who is my ancestor. Eliza's husband was Richard WARNER aka VOLLER. Here's news items about William's thefts. Monday 20 December 1841 , Sussex Advertiser , East Sussex, England Prisoners committed to the Lewes House of Correction since our last for trial at the Assizes.....Wm. WRIGHT, by F. North, Esq., charged with stealing on the 9th Dec. inst, at Ore, one silver watch value 30s, the property of Richard VOLLER. Monday 10 January 1842 , Sussex Advertiser , East Sussex, England EAST SUSSEX SESSIONS. ..... TUESDAY. [Before the Earl of Chichester.] .....William WRIGHT, labourer, 23, and William Bevington, tinman and brazier, 18, were indicted for stealing at Brighton the 3oth December, two pairs value 12s, the properly John Mannering.-Not Guilty.... .....William WRIGHT, seaman, 22, was indicted for stealing at Ore, on the 9th December, one silver watch, value 30s, the goods and chattels of Richard VOLLER . Fourteen years' transportation..... [Before Mr Serjeant D'Oylv.]

Level 2

Peter Dillon on 21st February 2012

One can find out more about William by viewing his details at http://portal.archives.tas.gov.au/menu.aspx?detail=1&type=C&id=78939 and downloading his conduct records CON14/1/17 and CON33/1/32. He was born at "Elsham near Lewes" which I am confident is a phonetic rendering of Hailsham (dropping the h) which is near Lewes in Sussex. William was tried at Lewes on 3 Jan 1842 for, in his own words, taking duck trousers under false pretences and stealing his sister's watch, copping 7 years on each charge = 14 years altogether. The remarks column in the document CON14/1/17 says that his father James, brother Henry and sister Eliza are at Hastings. In fact his parents James & Elizabeth, brother Henry and sister Eliza were at Ore (Oare) which is right next to Hastings. The writing is extremely hard to make out and it may be that his mother Elizabeth and sister Amelia are also listed. Eliza his sister is my great great grandmother who married Richard WARNER at Ore in 1841 and went to New Zealand on the ship Olympus in 1842 to the new Nelson settlement. Two further sisters were Elizabeth Hannah who married Henry HEAD and went to Australia, and Amelia who married Edward CRUMP and lived in the Windsor area. Henry the brother married twice and continued to live at Ore. There were other siblings. The WRIGHT family was originally from Hailsham, Sussex descended from travellers who were possibly of irish origin. James the father took the family from Hailsham to Ore some time between 1829 (son Aaron baptised at Hailsham) and 1831 (Amelia baptised at Ore). Here's the family in 1820. I suspect that the parish tried to get rid of them on charges of vagrancy but it backfired when after a settlement examination their parish of settlement was determined to be Hailsham and Hailsham was made to take them back. http://www.a2a.org.uk/ East Sussex Record Office: PARISH OF HAILSHAM Catalogue Ref. PAR353 Creator(s): Church of England, Hailsham Parish, East Sussex Overseers of the Poor: settlement papers - ref. PAR353/32 FILE - Settlement examination - ref. PAR353/32/4/14 - date: 2 May 1820 [from Scope and Content] James WRIGHT married about 14 years ago to Elizabeth and has children James (10 yrs), Henry (8 yrs), Elizabeth (6 yrs), William (4 yrs) and Eliza (3 mths). Eliza was born 1/1/1820 but baptised at Hailsham in 1828. Such late baptisms were common among the travelling types. ---------------------------------------------------------- " After the expiration of seven days or upwards. Sussex, to wit: To the Keeper of the House of Correction at Lewes, in the said County and to his Deputies or turnkeys or either of them, and also to all Constables and other Officers of the Peace whom it may concern to receive and convey : And to the Churchwardens or Overseers of the Poor of the Parish of Hailsham in the County of Sussex, or either of them, to receive and obey. Whereas James WRIGHT & Elizabeth his wife and their five children were apprehended in the Parish of Hailsham in the County of Sussex aforesaid as a Rogue and a Vagabond, and was duly convicted as such before John ALYNN Esquire, one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace acting in and for the said County of Sussex, for that the said James WRIGHT and Elizabeth his wife and their said children did on the twenty ninth day of April now last past at the Parish last aforesaid, commit Acts of Vagrancy by wandering abroad and sleeping in the open air in the parish of Hailsham in the said County not having any legal settlement therein And upon Examination of the said James WRIGHT taken before me, one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace acting in and for the said County of Sussex, upon Oath, (which Examination is hereto annexed) it doth appear that the last legal settlement of the said James WRIGHT & his Wife and Children is in the Parish of Hailsham aforesaid in the said County of Sussex. These are therefore to require you, the said Keeper and Deputies, or Turnkeys, or one of you, or other Peace Officers aforesaid to convey the said James WRIGHT and their said five children in the next direct way to the said parish of Hailsham within the said County of Sussex, and there to deliver them to some Churchwarden or Overseer of the Poor of the same Parish of Hailsham to be there provided for according to law. And you the said Churchwardens or Overseers of the Poor are hereby required to receive the said persons, and provide for them as aforesaid. And I do hereby certify, that the said James WRIGHT and his said wife and children hath been confined in the shid [sic] House of Correction, for the space of seven days and wards, and is now discharged, and ordered to be passed home. Given under my Hand and Seal at Lewes in the said County, the Second Day of May in the Year of our Lord 1820. T. PARTINGTON. " ------------------------------------------------------------- At Tasmania William copped a number of punishments for absconding,having items not belonging to him in his opossession and the like. Eventually he settled down. He was pardoned in 1852 and made his way to Victoria in 1854. http://www.ancestry.com Convict Pardons and Tickets of Leave 1834-1859 - Tasmania - Pardons 1852-1853 WRIGHT William Moffat 3rd Lewes Jan 1842 Yr's : 14 Yr's.mo's : 9.2 Yr's.mo's : 2.? /Signed / W. NAIRN Ajustment? Comproller? 19th Feb'y 1852 http://portal.archives.tas.gov.au/menu.aspx?search=2 Family Name : WRIGHT Given Name : William Rank : Steerage Ship of departure : LADY BIRD Date of Departure : 28 Mar 1854 Port of departure : Launceston Where bound : Melbourne Ship to colony : Moffat Status : Conditional Pardon Remarks : Reference : POL220/1/3, p515. I have been unable to discover what happened to William after he arrived in Victoria.