I am trying to find more information about James and Sarah Bowring who were tried at Dorchester in 1830 and sentenced to be transported - James for 14 years and his wife Sarah for 7 years. They had eight children and came from Fleet in Dorset (although they were living at Winterborne Herringstone near Dorchester when they were arrested). Sarah travelled on the Kains and arrived in Sydney on 11 March 1831, she received her certificate of freedom on 23 Jul 1839. James travelled on the Isabella and received his certificate of freedom on 9 Apr 1844. When Sarah was taken to prison she had an infant with her. Would she have taken this child with her to Australia and what would have been the situation re their other seven children? I would really appreciate some advice on how to find more information about this family and what happened to them. Kind regards Maddy

Hi Maddy, We will need a little more information to be able to help. Do you have the names and ages of the children? If so a look at the 1841 or 1851 British census will probably tell you if they are still in England. Also Free BMD has a lot of Bowring people marrying in Dorchester and southern Dorset in the years from 1840 to 1860 but without the full names of the children it is not possible to know if it is them. Dorset has very good entries on the Online Parish Clerks website and covers most parishes in Dorset. As these children would have been born before compulsory registration (late 1837) they should be listed. If you can't find them on the census a look at the indent for both ships that the parents came on might help. I have come across situations before where 6 or more children were left behind, some in the care of relatives, when both parents were transported. Alternatively I have also found children who were allowed to accompany their parents either on the same ship or a later one. As there were 7 children the older ones may have been able to look after the youngsters. The British Govt were not keen on spending unnecessary money on convicts and to send 7 or 8 children to Australia would have been a considerable expense. Would the children have been able to raise the funds to pay their own fares? Unlikely. Were they old enough to emigrate without an adult to accompany them? Also unlikely. Could the parents have raised the funds the send for the children later? Possibly but also not likely. The Dorchester Records Office should have details of the trials of the parents. These records may mention the children. Also do you know what part of NSW the parents lived when serving their sentences? There is a 1837 convict muster in book form which I do not have access to but someone else on the list may be able to help you with this. Both parents should be listed with details of who they were assigned to work for. Do you have copies of the Certs of Freedom? If not you can get these from the State Records of NSW website and copies of Tickets of Leave from the Society of Australian Genealogists website. There is a James Bowring who died in Lithgow NSW in the 1890s which gives his parents' names but we have no way of knowing if this is the correct one. I cannot find a Sarah Bowring dying in NSW. The NSW BDMs are on the net. The Colonial Secretary's Index is on micro fiche and may mention the parents, especially if they petitioned the Governor to have the children join them in Australia. The Index is on micro fiche but sorry I don't have access to it. Hope the above suggestions are useful. Carol

Thanks, Carol. I will work through these and see what I can find. I have found five children (two George's which I suspect explains the difference between Sarah saying she has eight children and James saying he has seven). They are Sarah born 1816, Mary Ann 1819, John 1821, George 1822 and George 1824. All were baptised at Fleet. Many thanks for all your suggestions. Kind regards Maddy -----Original Message----- From: aus-convicts-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:aus-convicts-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Carol Wood Sent: 25 February 2009 23:20 To: aus-convicts@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [AUS-CON] James and Sarah BOWRING Hi Maddy, We will need a little more information to be able to help. Do you have the names and ages of the children? If so a look at the 1841 or 1851 British census will probably tell you if they are still in England. Also Free BMD has a lot of Bowring people marrying in Dorchester and southern Dorset in the years from 1840 to 1860 but without the full names of the children it is not possible to know if it is them. Dorset has very good entries on the Online Parish Clerks website and covers most parishes in Dorset. As these children would have been born before compulsory registration (late 1837) they should be listed. If you can't find them on the census a look at the indent for both ships that the parents came on might help. I have come across situations before where 6 or more children were left behind, some in the care of relatives, when both parents were transported. Alternatively I have also found children who were allowed to accompany their parents either on the same ship or a later one. As there were 7 children the older ones may have been able to look after the youngsters. The British Govt were not keen on spending unnecessary money on convicts and to send 7 or 8 children to Australia would have been a considerable expense. Would the children have been able to raise the funds to pay their own fares? Unlikely. Were they old enough to emigrate without an adult to accompany them? Also unlikely. Could the parents have raised the funds the send for the children later? Possibly but also not likely. The Dorchester Records Office should have details of the trials of the parents. These records may mention the children. Also do you know what part of NSW the parents lived when serving their sentences? There is a 1837 convict muster in book form which I do not have access to but someone else on the list may be able to help you with this. Both parents should be listed with details of who they were assigned to work for. Do you have copies of the Certs of Freedom? If not you can get these from the State Records of NSW website and copies of Tickets of Leave from the Society of Australian Genealogists website. There is a James Bowring who died in Lithgow NSW in the 1890s which gives his parents' names but we have no way of knowing if this is the correct one. I cannot find a Sarah Bowring dying in NSW. The NSW BDMs are on the net. The Colonial Secretary's Index is on micro fiche and may mention the parents, especially if they petitioned the Governor to have the children join them in Australia. The Index is on micro fiche but sorry I don't have access to it. Hope the above suggestions are useful. Carol ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to AUS-CONVICTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Hi Maddy Is this family connected to you ? regards Lesley Uebel mailto:ckennedy@bigpond.net.au CLAIM A CONVICT http://users.bigpond.net.au/convicts/index.html -----Original Message----- From: aus-convicts-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:aus-convicts-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of Maddy Duke Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 8:22 AM To: aus-convicts@rootsweb.com Subject: [AUS-CON] James and Sarah BOWRING I am trying to find more information about James and Sarah Bowring who were tried at Dorchester in 1830 and sentenced to be transported - James for 14 years and his wife Sarah for 7 years. They had eight children and came from Fleet in Dorset (although they were living at Winterborne Herringstone near Dorchester when they were arrested). Sarah travelled on the Kains and arrived in Sydney on 11 March 1831, she received her certificate of freedom on 23 Jul 1839. James travelled on the Isabella and received his certificate of freedom on 9 Apr 1844. When Sarah was taken to prison she had an infant with her. Would she have taken this child with her to Australia and what would have been the situation re their other seven children? I would really appreciate some advice on how to find more information about this family and what happened to them. Kind regards Maddy

Hi Lesley, No I am not descended from them but I am interested in tracing their family as I am working on a social history of Dorset prisoners (19th century) and they are the first couple I have come across who were both transported leaving a large number of children behind (possibly). I hope this does not constitute an abuse of this rootsweb site. Kind regards Maddy -----Original Message----- From: aus-convicts-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:aus-convicts-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Lesley Uebel Sent: 25 February 2009 23:56 To: aus-convicts@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [AUS-CON] James and Sarah BOWRING Hi Maddy Is this family connected to you ? regards Lesley Uebel mailto:ckennedy@bigpond.net.au CLAIM A CONVICT http://users.bigpond.net.au/convicts/index.html -----Original Message----- From: aus-convicts-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:aus-convicts-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of Maddy Duke Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 8:22 AM To: aus-convicts@rootsweb.com Subject: [AUS-CON] James and Sarah BOWRING I am trying to find more information about James and Sarah Bowring who were tried at Dorchester in 1830 and sentenced to be transported - James for 14 years and his wife Sarah for 7 years. They had eight children and came from Fleet in Dorset (although they were living at Winterborne Herringstone near Dorchester when they were arrested). Sarah travelled on the Kains and arrived in Sydney on 11 March 1831, she received her certificate of freedom on 23 Jul 1839. James travelled on the Isabella and received his certificate of freedom on 9 Apr 1844. When Sarah was taken to prison she had an infant with her. Would she have taken this child with her to Australia and what would have been the situation re their other seven children? I would really appreciate some advice on how to find more information about this family and what happened to them. Kind regards Maddy ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to AUS-CONVICTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message