Hi Rosemary, Thank you for those references. They may come in handy and I don't have the CD. However, Lesley seems to have completely shot down in flames the idea that My James Hogan was a convict because he did not need to ask for permission to marry in 1846. The family moved to Orange before 1859. I will get hold of birth registration details for one of the later children. Thanks again for your ideas and information, Linda --- On Wed, 11/2/09, Rosemary Martin <rosemary.e.martin@gmail.com> wrote: From: Rosemary Martin <rosemary.e.martin@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [AUS-CON] James Hogan lived Carcoar/Bathurst/Orange ~1840 - ~1885 To: linda_necia@yahoo.com.au Received: Wednesday, 11 February, 2009, 6:08 PM Hi Linda Lesley has already asked you about his death certificate, which could hold the answers (if the Informant knew). But I'd also strongly suggest the birth certificates of one or more children who were born after civil registration began in 1856. They have space for both parents' place of birth & ages, & the information was stated whilst the parents were still alive. If one certificate doesn't answer, try another. (do you know that it's cheaper to use a Transcription Agent? You can also buy part-transcriptions.) Don't assume that because they married in a Catholic Church that both were Irish. I have an Irish girl in our family tree who also worked at Montifiore & lived in Wellington. She married an Australian-born Anglican in the Mudgee Catholic Church. The AGCI2 cd (taken from NSW Govt Gazettes) shows a James HOGAN of Wellington received a 'Convict Indulgence'- advertised 12 Feb 1845. (GG1845 Page 176) He would seem a likely candidate. This would probably be - NSW Index to Certificates of Freedom HOGAN James John Barry 1836 45/0451 2 Apr 1845 4/4397 1019 TL 45/392 There are other references on this cd that could be him. a 'Postal' reference, 5 Jan 1847, Wellington (unclaimed mail) 'Land Transactions' on 7 July & 15 Aug 1855, & 25 June 1856, all Wellington County. If you don't have access to this cd & can access the NSW Govt Gazettes, I'll give you the page numbers for these entries. Good luck Rosemary Linda Combe wrote: I am a new subscriber to this list. I have an ancestor about whom I know very little, who may have been a convict. I do not have a concrete reason to suspect he was a convict except the fact that so little information was passed on about him that a big secret seems likely. Can anyone please help with more information about my ancestor or a guide to how to find it? This is what I do know: James Hogan was my gg grandfather. He married Bridget Collins at the old St Michael's Catholic Church in Bathurst on 11/8/1846. He was listed as from Frederick's Valley on the marriage registration. Their first child Ellen Hogan was born on 12/9/1847 and baptised in the parish of Carcoar on 20/2/1848 by M. McGrath. James Hogan was listed as a Labourer and his abode as Wellington. This is conjecture: I found at least 3 James Hogan's arriving on convict transports. The one I favour is the one who arrived on the ill-fated Hive (2) in 1835. (The ship ran ashore south of Jervis Bay on 10/12/1835 and 248 prisoners and crew had to be taken to Sydney on 3 other boats.) >From the General Return of Convicts 1837 page 302 I found: #12654 James Hogan age 21 Ship Hive 1835. His master was Charles Booth of Bathurst district Page 148 in the Original. >From the Peter Mayberry website, I found that this man was tried at Limerick on 10/3/1835 and sentenced to life for the crime of Stealing Sheep. His native place was Tipperary. he was born in 1813 and married with 1 child (another reason for secrecy if his marriage to Bridget was bigamous?) I looked at his ticket of leave 44/816 granted 18/3/1844 and it said "Allowed to remain in district of Carcoar". There is a very faint note on the side of this  saying - Altered to Bathurst 21/12/1846. The reason I chose this James Hogan was that the place he was sent to work and subsequent place of Ticket of Leave agree with my known facts re him. I would be grateful for any assistance at all, Thank you Linda ------------------------------- 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