Hi Jan, Yes, I have my Robert Lean's death certificate and his marriage cert and his wife's death certificate and the birth certificates of 6 of their 7 children. >From these, I know for sure that he was in Victoria by Nov 1852 (date of marriage) and that he died in Victoria in Feb 1900. Place of birth is given as Bodmin, Cornwall on the birth certs of two of the children - simply Cornwall or England on other certs. Stated ages imply probable year of birth between 1827 and 1832, although I have not been able to find this in any records from Cornwall, despite numerous attempts. Arrival in Victoria is consistent with what I know about the convict Robert McLean. I have to say that the possible birth years for my Robert do cast some doubt on the theory that these two might be the same person, as Robert McLean was convicted in Canada in 1845 - would he have been under 20 at the time? So to get any further with my comparison, I reckon I need to know a few more definite facts about the convict Robert McLean, such as where was he born, when did he die, when did he marry etc. Actually, on looking just now at the marriage certificate of my Robert, I was reminded that he couldn't write at the time - signed as Robert Lean his mark. So if anyone has the convict indent for Robert McLean, and if that says he could read and write, then I would probably call this a wild goose chase and give up on it. (Just hoping - long shot, I guess - that someone on this list already knows these things about Robert McLean!) Sue |-----Original Message----- |From: [email protected] [mailto:aus-convicts- |[email protected]] On Behalf Of Neil & Jan Hearn |Sent: 02 September 2008 07:38 |To: [email protected] |Subject: Re: [AUS-CON] Robert McLean, Neptune 1849-50 | |Dear Sue, | I guess you already have the death certificate of your |great grandfather X 2. This will tell you his birthplace and will usually |give a break up of how long he lived in each state and his overall length of |time in Australia. With the information you've already discovered you should |be able to verify whether or not he was the convict described. |Good luck, | |Jan |----- Original Message ----- |From: "Sue Ahrens" <[email protected]> |To: <[email protected]> |Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2008 8:33 AM |Subject: [AUS-CON] Robert McLean, Neptune 1849-50 | | |> Dear list, |> |> Does anyone have any information about what happened to the convict Robert |> McLean, Neptune 1849-50, after he reached Melbourne in 1851? |> |> He might or might not be my gg-grandfather Robert Lean, whose arrival in |> Australia remains an unresolved mystery to me. Since coming across this |> Robert McLean a couple of days ago, I have been thinking about what sorts |> of |> evidence I could look for that might at least show that he isn't my |> ancestor, such as did this Robert stay in Victoria, did he marry, did he |> have children etc? |> |> Here's all I know so far. |> |> The Queensland Library database says that Robert McLean was: |> "one of 289 convicts transported on the Neptune, 18 April 1849 |> Sentence Details: Convicted at Court Martial, St Johns Newfoundland for a |> term of 7 years. Ticket of Leave. |> Vessel: Neptune (Ship) |> Date of Departure: 18 April 1849 |> Place of Arrival: Van Diemen's Land" |> |> The Tasmanian archives say, under Convicts: |> "[Database no. 46410] McLean Robert [Date of arrival] 05 Apr 1850 Neptune |> (2) [Date of departure] 21 Feb 1850 [Port of departure] Cape of Good Hope |> [Remarks] Conditional pardon on arrival" |> and under Departures: |> "McLean Robert Steerage [Ship of departure] Shamrock [Date of departure] |> 19 |> Feb 1851 [Port of departure] Launceston [Where bound] Melbourne [Ship to |> Colony] Neptune [Status] Conditional Pardon |> |> The Ancestry database 'Convicts transported 1849-50' says that the date of |> Robert's Court Martial was 21 Oct 1845. |> |> According to the blog http://nebuchadnezzarwoollyd.blogspot.com/ on 29 Aug |> 08 - the writer is really telling the story of the Irish revolutionary |> John |> Mitchel, convicted of treason and on that ship - the Neptune landed its |> convicts in Van Diemens Land only after attempting to offload (at least |> some |> of?) them in South Arica. After a stand-off of several months, this |> attempt |> was successfully resisted by the British settlers there. |> |> Hope someone out there knows a bit more, especially about Robert's life |> post-1851. |> |> Thanks for reading this. |> Sue |> |> |> ------------------------------- |> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to |> [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the |> quotes in the subject and the body of the message |> | | | |------------------------------- |To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to AUS-CONVICTS- |[email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject |and the body of the message

[I don't know why or how, but the message I sent an hour or so ago seems to have arrived at the list with some bits missing. So here's another try (but I've removed the copies of previous messages in the thread, to keep it simple and hopefully problem-free).] Hi Jan, Yes, I have my Robert Lean's death certificate and his marriage cert and his wife's death certificate and the birth certificates of 6 of their 7 children. >From these, I know for sure that he was in Victoria by Nov 1852 (date of marriage) and that he died in Victoria in Feb 1900. Place of birth is given as Bodmin, Cornwall on the birth certs of two of the children - simply Cornwall or England on other certs. Stated ages imply probable year of birth between 1827 and 1832, although I have not been able to find this in any records from Cornwall, despite numerous attempts. Arrival in Victoria is consistent with what I know about the convict Robert McLean. I have to say that the possible birth years for my Robert do cast some doubt on the theory that these two might be the same person, as Robert McLean was convicted in Canada in 1845 - would he have been under 20 at the time? So to get any further with my comparison, I reckon I need to know a few more definite facts about the convict Robert McLean, such as where was he born, when did he die, when did he marry etc. Actually, on looking just now at the marriage certificate of my Robert, I was reminded that he couldn't write at the time - signed as Robert Lean his mark. So if anyone has the convict indent for Robert McLean, and if that says he could read and write, then I would probably call this a wild goose chase and give up on it. (Just hoping - long shot, I guess - that someone on this list already knows these things about Robert McLean!) Sue