Thank you for your thoughts & insights Grahame, Ray, Russell & Trisha Trisha's revelations were a particular surprise - That there may be 3 James Osburnes (sp?)all baptised in 1823 to a William & Mary! The two Vol 162A records of James Osborne baptised in the Wesleyan Methodist Church Sydney & another in the Roman Catholic Church in Newcastle are indeed curious. Up until now, everything suggested only 1 pair of William & Mary. Best regards Jim -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Grahame Thom Sent: May-23-11 4:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PJ] Meaning of NSWBDM Reg Nos for births and deaths? Hi Jim You have raised a challenging area of research. I dont think any of the reels could be said to be indexes. I have never heard of the term Bishop's Transcripts used in relation to church records in Australia. Even in the UK it only relates to C of E records I think. I suggest you consult Nick Vine Hall's Tracing your family history in Australia. As well as giving a detailed description of early church records, he also lists articles by others. I believe all the records on the Archives Kit reels can be said to be original records. As you have found, one event can have multiple entries. One simply has to look at all of them and if there are differences then, in some cases, there is probably no way one can say which is correct. There can be errors the first time an event is recorded. In writing up one's family history you probably need to refer (by note perhaps) to all entries. Hope you solve your particular challenges. Grahame On 24/05/2011, at 5:16 AM, Jim Loftus wrote: > Hello Grahame: > Thank you for sending the link to this guide. It has been a help. > > Is there a way to distinguish various indexes and transcriptions from > original pre 1856 records? Indeed, are there any original pre 1856 > church B,M,D records? As an example of my query, the NSW B,M,D index > has 16 records covering just six of the events I am looking at. Four > of those events have multiple spellings. > > Can you or another lister tell me if I have made correct conclusions > regarding the following volumes: > - are Volumes 1-3 indexes > - are volumes 147-149 & 162 indexes > - are Volumes 4-44 Bishop's Transcripts? > > Also, are the letters A,B,C in a volume # of some significance? > > > Best regards > Jim Loftus > ---------------------- To send a message to the Port Jackson Convicts List, send an email to [email protected] ------------------------------- 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 ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1375 / Virus Database: 1509/3655 - Release Date: 05/23/11

Hi Jim The "Indents" were made up overseas prior to sailing. There was more than one copy made at the time, at least one copy would have been retained by the Home Office and one copy given to the ships Master. Given that many of the early Indents contained convicts who did not sail, or received a reprieve prior to sailing, were too sick or had died prior to sailing then they would have been made up well before sailing. You will note that on some, the destination states Africa. Later Indents were actually musters taken on board on arrival to gather more information about the convicts. I believe you will not find a muster taken on board on arrival of the convicts who arrived on the Speedy in 1800 Regards Lesley Uebel http://www.claimaconvict.net/index.html CLAIM A CONVICT email: [email protected] On 24/05/2011 12:41 AM, Jim Loftus wrote: > Hello Lesley > When were the indents recorded - on departure or arrival or some other time? > > For example, I am interested in the Hillsborough 1798& Speedy 1799. The > "Lists" I have (I assume these are the indents) both seem to have been > written in the same hand but I wonder if there were also written at the same > time. I also have what I think is the Hillsborough's ship's muster taken in > 1799 which is by a different hand. I have not been able to find the > comparable document for the Speedy. > > Can you confirm that the "Lists" are the indents? And when they were > recorded? > Should I be able to find an arrival muster for the Speedy? > > Best regards > Jim Loftus > > >

Thank you for the clarification Lesley I assume then that I have the Home Office copy. They are labelled HO 11 / 1 Best regards Jim -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Lesley Uebel Sent: May-24-11 1:22 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PJ] Indents Hi Jim The "Indents" were made up overseas prior to sailing. There was more than one copy made at the time, at least one copy would have been retained by the Home Office and one copy given to the ships Master. Given that many of the early Indents contained convicts who did not sail, or received a reprieve prior to sailing, were too sick or had died prior to sailing then they would have been made up well before sailing. You will note that on some, the destination states Africa. Later Indents were actually musters taken on board on arrival to gather more information about the convicts. I believe you will not find a muster taken on board on arrival of the convicts who arrived on the Speedy in 1800 Regards Lesley Uebel http://www.claimaconvict.net/index.html CLAIM A CONVICT email: [email protected] On 24/05/2011 12:41 AM, Jim Loftus wrote: > Hello Lesley > When were the indents recorded - on departure or arrival or some other time? > > For example, I am interested in the Hillsborough 1798& Speedy 1799. > The "Lists" I have (I assume these are the indents) both seem to have > been written in the same hand but I wonder if there were also written > at the same time. I also have what I think is the Hillsborough's > ship's muster taken in > 1799 which is by a different hand. I have not been able to find the > comparable document for the Speedy. > > Can you confirm that the "Lists" are the indents? And when they were > recorded? > Should I be able to find an arrival muster for the Speedy? > > Best regards > Jim Loftus > > > ---------------------- To send a message to the Port Jackson Convicts List, send an email to [email protected] ------------------------------- 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 ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1375 / Virus Database: 1509/3655 - Release Date: 05/23/11

Hi Jim, I may have something to help out. I tried making sense of the reels once, so I wrote out the titles as I went through them frame by frame at the Genealogical Society of Queensland. I don't have them all, but this is what I recorded (verbatim): AOReel 5002 NSW Pre 1856 Registers of Baptisms, Burials & Marriages Vols 3-10: 1. C of E Marriage Register 5-4165 R.G. Vol. 3. February 10 1788-1831 (p.282) then 1855 for some pages until end of book (All areas). Book spine illegible. 2. C of E Bap. Marr. Bur. Register SZ1022 R.G. Vol. 4. Book spine - St Philip Syd. BMD 1787-1809 Norfolk I. 1797-1806. 3. C of E Bap. Marr. Bur. Register SZ1023 R.G. Vol. 5. Book spine - St Philip Syd. BMD 1809-1811. 4. C of E Baptisms Register SZ1024 R.G. Vol. 6. Book spine St Philip Syd. B. 1809-1825 (?). Starts at No. 19 in May 1810. At entry No. 382 (20 Nov. 1825) or also 635 a note says 'see other end of this book'. The next page starts at No. 1 (26 September 1809). Ends soon after. 5. C of E Bap. Marr. Bur. Register SZ1025 R.G. Vol. 7. Book spine St Philip Syd. BMD 1809-1818. Christenings 27 Aug. 1809- Note says 'See christenings after marriages'. Marr. start then at 5 Jan. 1812-10 Mar. 1818, then, Chr. 1812-27 Dec. 1818 then Churchings 1812- Dec. 1818 then Funerals 1812-29 Dec. 1818. 6. C of E Bap. Marr. Bur. Register SZ1026 R.G. Vol. 8. Book spine St Philip Syd. 1819-1825 Marrs 1819-1825 then Chr. 1819-1825 then Funer. 1819-1825. 7. C of E Newcastle Marr. Bur. Register 5-4167 R.G. Vol. 9. Book spine C of E Marr. 1818-1825 Deaths 1821-1825. Very short. 8. C of E Bap. Marr. Bur. Register 5-4168 R.G. Vol. 10. Book spine illegible. This has Baptisms for 1826 in these areas: St John Parra., St Philips Syd., Liverpool, Castlereagh, St James Syd., Windsor, Richmond, Christ Church Newc., St Peters Campbelltown, Port Macquarie, Bathurst, Kelso, Pitt Town, Wilberforce, Sackville Reach, Field of Mars then followed by Marrs 1826 and Burials 1826 for the same areas. AOReel 5002 NSW Pre 1856 Registers of Baptisms, Burials & Marriages Vols 11-16: 1. C of E Bap. Marr. Bur. Register 5-4170 R.G. Vol. 11 Book spine Chronological Register Bap. Marr. Bur. 1827. 2. C of E Bap. Marr. Bur. Register 5-4174 R.G. Vol. 12 Book spine Chronological Register Bap. Marr. Bur. 1828. 3. C of E Bap. Marr. Bur. Register 5-4175 R.G. Vol. 13 Book spine Chronological Register Bap. Marr. Bur. 1829. 4. C of E Bap. Marr. Bur. Register 5-4176 R.G. Vol. 14 Book spine Chronological Register Bap. Marr. Bur. 1830. 5. C of E Bap. Marr. Bur. Register 5-4177 R.G. Vol. 15 Book spine Chronological Register Bap. Marr. Bur. 1831. 6. C of E Bap. Marr. Bur. Register 5-4178 R.G. Vol. 16 Book spine Chronological Register Bap. Marr. Bur. 1832. And that's all I bothered recording as it seemd to be fairly organised and straightforward by then. Make of my notes what you will. I hope it helps. Regards, Russell Kelly Brisbane Jim Loftus wrote: >Hello Grahame: >Thank you for sending the link to this guide. It has been a help. > >Is there a way to distinguish various indexes and transcriptions from >original pre 1856 records? > >

Jim and Grahame: Jim: I have not looked into them very deeply, in order to undertake any sort of overview analysis, but my perception is that in those cases where you find multiple entries for what seems to be the one event for the same person, on the NSW online BDM indexes; each 'event' will indicate a different Register. My perception is that in many cases there will have been two 'original' registers held by the church. Perhaps one was a rough 'day' register, and the other a more formal one completed later by the Minister from his 'day' register. Just guessing at this. In my own case, my Edward HAWKINS (convict per "John Barry" 1 in 1819 who was married by the legendaryRoman Catholic priest: Reverend Father John Joseph THERRY; has entries for the same marriage in what the R.C. archivists recorded as his Register "A" and his Register "B". Each with slightly different information in it -- or perhaps interpreted slightly differently by the transcribers. It seems to me that Father THERRY filled out rough details on the spot at the Hunter River at the time of the marriage, and then upon his return to Sydney he completed an 'official' register with the details. Accordingly, one interpretation has the marriage occurring at the Hunter River; and the other has it occurring at the old St.Mary's Cathedral in Sydney. Luckily, the Reverend Samuel MARSDEN complained to the Governor about Father THERRY's having performed several marriage ceremonies at the Hunter (after having been alerted to the fact by the Maitland C of E minister Rev. G.K. RUSDEN); so that I now know that the marriage was performed at Maitland. (This correspondence was found in the NSW State Records holdings via the Convicts Permission to Marry register entries.) Returning to multiple index entries for the one event: around the time of the inauguration of official civil registration, it is not uncommon to find in the NSW online indexes, 3 entries for an event: being the two different church registers and the civil registration. HTH: Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Grahame Thom" <[email protected]> > Hi Jim > > You have raised a challenging area of research. I dont think any of the > reels could be said to be indexes. I have never heard of the term > Bishop's Transcripts used in relation to church records in Australia. > Even in the UK it only relates to C of E records I think. I suggest you > consult Nick Vine Hall's Tracing your family history in Australia. As > well as giving a detailed description of early church records, he also > lists articles by others. > > I believe all the records on the Archives Kit reels can be said to be > original records. As you have found, one event can have multiple entries. > One simply has to look at all of them and if there are differences then, > in some cases, there is probably no way one can say which is correct. > There can be errors the first time an event is recorded. In writing up > one's family history you probably need to refer (by note perhaps) to all > entries. > > Hope you solve your particular challenges. > > Grahame ...

Hi Jim You have raised a challenging area of research. I dont think any of the reels could be said to be indexes. I have never heard of the term Bishop's Transcripts used in relation to church records in Australia. Even in the UK it only relates to C of E records I think. I suggest you consult Nick Vine Hall's Tracing your family history in Australia. As well as giving a detailed description of early church records, he also lists articles by others. I believe all the records on the Archives Kit reels can be said to be original records. As you have found, one event can have multiple entries. One simply has to look at all of them and if there are differences then, in some cases, there is probably no way one can say which is correct. There can be errors the first time an event is recorded. In writing up one's family history you probably need to refer (by note perhaps) to all entries. Hope you solve your particular challenges. Grahame On 24/05/2011, at 5:16 AM, Jim Loftus wrote: > Hello Grahame: > Thank you for sending the link to this guide. It has been a help. > > Is there a way to distinguish various indexes and transcriptions from > original pre 1856 records? Indeed, are there any original pre 1856 church > B,M,D records? As an example of my query, the NSW B,M,D index has 16 > records covering just six of the events I am looking at. Four of those > events have multiple spellings. > > Can you or another lister tell me if I have made correct conclusions > regarding the following volumes: > - are Volumes 1-3 indexes > - are volumes 147-149 & 162 indexes > - are Volumes 4-44 Bishop's Transcripts? > > Also, are the letters A,B,C in a volume # of some significance? > > > Best regards > Jim Loftus >

Hi A Special thank you to everyone who replied to my query on Richard Belchamber.I now can say he is from my tree,his birth year and the fact he is from Sussex confirms that, plus theres no other Richrad Belchamber who fits the bill.So I wonder what happened to him,did he take up a life of crime in the end or just disappeared into the interior,changed his name maybe.Again thank you all very much. Regards John Belchamber UK

Hi Ian, The 34A is the Volume number and the 1848 is the entry number, which on the BDM films is in the first column. I do have more information on this, but due to moving house it's all packed away, and I can't access it, so I'm sorry this is the best I can do for you. It would be a good idea to visit your nearest library that has the ARK (or is the the GRK now, I always get mixed up since they changed it) and the pre-1856 BDM films, because amongst the guides or reference material of the ARK you will find the explanation for the Vol/entry no's of the films. And yes, there is a list giving the churches for the Volume no's, but that is only denomination, not individual churches. I have a feeling that anything beyond Vol 26 is not available on the films and you'll need to get it from the Registry. This information *may* also be available in one of the SR Guides or Short Guides, which may or may not be online at SR website. Hope this points you in the right direction. Kind regards Pam At 17:43 23.05.2011 +1000, you wrote: >Hi Listers, > Does anyone know if I can get the registration district from >a pre 1856 NSWBDM registration number? > For example in a reg number V-------- 34A/1848 does the 34A refer to a >district? If yes, how do I find the list, if there is a list? I'm interested >34A, 32B and 39B. > I had no difficulty finding the meaning of the Early Church Record Codes >for marriages, but could not find births and deaths districts. > Best regards.........Ian.

Thanks Grahame.......Ian.

Hi Ian If you live in Sydney you can see these entries by looking at the Archives Kit films at no cost at several libraries. The reference numbers, eg, 34A, will enable you to find the particular film to check. If you cant access the films because of where you live, then your local public library may be able to get the films on interlibrary loan. Also the purpose of the Archives Kit was to make films available to anyone, and therefore you could find the reels in a library near you. When the Registrar General's staff obtained access to these registers many years ago, they created the number sequence that has resulted in the reference numbers on the online index. The difference is caused by post1856 being administered by the public service and pre1856 by the various churches, ie, they were not organised by district, but, in a way, by church denomination. Not everything can be solved by the internet. cheers Grahame On 23/05/2011, at 9:33 PM, Ian Nicholls wrote: > Hi Grahame and Listers, > Thanks for your reply. I was using the > term pre 1856 index to distinguish entries for birth/death that do not show > a district in the online NSWBirthDeath indexes, whereas the post 1856 > entries do show a district, for birth, deaths and marriages. > I've looked at the State Records site and I must admit I'm none the > wiser, except to say the numbers, e.g., 34A may refer to the books > containing the records. > My basic problem is, I'm looking for a birth pre 1856 and I know the > general area in NSW where it occurred, but I can't use the online NSWBirth > index to eliminate people with the same names but are most probably from the > wrong area. > This is a great pity, because the pre 1856 marriage indexes do show a > church or a district. > Best regards.....Ian. >

Hi Grahame and Listers, Thanks for your reply. I was using the term pre 1856 index to distinguish entries for birth/death that do not show a district in the online NSWBirthDeath indexes, whereas the post 1856 entries do show a district, for birth, deaths and marriages. I've looked at the State Records site and I must admit I'm none the wiser, except to say the numbers, e.g., 34A may refer to the books containing the records. My basic problem is, I'm looking for a birth pre 1856 and I know the general area in NSW where it occurred, but I can't use the online NSWBirth index to eliminate people with the same names but are most probably from the wrong area. This is a great pity, because the pre 1856 marriage indexes do show a church or a district. Best regards.....Ian.

Hi Ian There was no such thing as registration districts pre1856. The records relate to church parish registers, see link below for an explanation. I have not seen or heard of a list of which registers relate to which reference numbers. http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/short-guide-4/short-guide-4 cheers Grahame On 23/05/2011, at 5:43 PM, Ian Nicholls wrote: > Hi Listers, > Does anyone know if I can get the registration district from > a pre 1856 NSWBDM registration number? > For example in a reg number V-------- 34A/1848 does the 34A refer to a > district? If yes, how do I find the list, if there is a list? I'm interested > 34A, 32B and 39B. > I had no difficulty finding the meaning of the Early Church Record Codes > for marriages, but could not find births and deaths districts. > Best regards.........Ian. > > > > ---------------------- > To send a message to the Port Jackson Convicts List, send an email to > [email protected] > ------------------------------- > 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

Hi John, My records show that Richard Belchamber was convicted on 3 May 1815 not 1813. He was convicted on the same day as Job Hamilton and James Fitzpatrick. All three men were Labourers and all received a life sentence. Job and James received Conditional Pardons although there is no record that Richard received one. H did obtain two Tickets of Leave in 1828 and 1830 for the districts of Bathurst and Prospect. I cannot find him listed in the 1828 NSW Census. I cannot find his death although the spelling used may be different and because the NSW Birth Deaths & Marriages no longer allow the use of a wildcard for more than one letter at a time, it becomes time consuming. The Indent does state his native place was Sussex, that he was 23 when he arrived, that he had brown hair, hazel eyes and a fair sallow complexion Regards Lesley Uebel http://www.claimaconvict.net/index.html CLAIM A CONVICT email: [email protected] On 23/05/2011 2:17 AM, John Belchamber wrote: > > Hi Listers > > This is my first post on the list > I am researching a Richard Belchamber b 1792 in Sussex,England.Richard was convicted of desertion from the navy(not sure yet whether merchant or royal) in St.John,Canada in 1813. He was then transported back to England where he spent some time on a prison ship in Portsmouth,UK.On the 16th Jan 1816 Richard was transported to NSW aboard the Atlas (1 of 188) arriving 22 July.Thats where the story ends at the moment. > There seems to be records available,but I cannot see how to access them,can SKS give me some pointers to where I can go. > TIA > Regards John Belchamber(UK) >

Hi Listers, Does anyone know if I can get the registration district from a pre 1856 NSWBDM registration number? For example in a reg number V-------- 34A/1848 does the 34A refer to a district? If yes, how do I find the list, if there is a list? I'm interested 34A, 32B and 39B. I had no difficulty finding the meaning of the Early Church Record Codes for marriages, but could not find births and deaths districts. Best regards.........Ian.

Hello Grahame: Thank you for sending the link to this guide. It has been a help. Is there a way to distinguish various indexes and transcriptions from original pre 1856 records? Indeed, are there any original pre 1856 church B,M,D records? As an example of my query, the NSW B,M,D index has 16 records covering just six of the events I am looking at. Four of those events have multiple spellings. Can you or another lister tell me if I have made correct conclusions regarding the following volumes: - are Volumes 1-3 indexes - are volumes 147-149 & 162 indexes - are Volumes 4-44 Bishop's Transcripts? Also, are the letters A,B,C in a volume # of some significance? For clarity, the six events I am looking at & trying to figure out which are the most original records are: c George Burden V1803366 148/1803 c Mary Osborn V18092971 1A/1809; V18091893 1A/1809; V1809145 7/1809 c James Osburne V1823 38 149/1823 c James Osborne V1823 1557 162A/1823; V18231377 162A/1823) c James Osburn V1823 319 13/1823 c James Osborn V1823 8958 1C/1823 m George Lilly & Mary Osburn V18263820 3B/1826 m George Lilly & Mary Osburne V1826183 10/1826; V1826501 44B/1826 m George Boyden & Elizabeth Lilley V1807364 147A/1807 m Elizabeth Boyden & Elizabeth Lilley V1807740 3A/1807 d William Osburne V183477 149/1834 d William Osbourne V18341994 18/1834 Best regards Jim Loftus -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Grahame Thom Sent: May-23-11 2:41 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PJ] Meaning of NSWBDM Reg Nos for births and deaths? Hi Ian There was no such thing as registration districts pre1856. The records relate to church parish registers, see link below for an explanation. I have not seen or heard of a list of which registers relate to which reference numbers. http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/guides-and-finding-aids/short-g uide-4/short-guide-4 cheers Grahame On 23/05/2011, at 5:43 PM, Ian Nicholls wrote: > Hi Listers, > Does anyone know if I can get the registration district > from a pre 1856 NSWBDM registration number? > For example in a reg number V-------- 34A/1848 does the 34A refer to > a district? If yes, how do I find the list, if there is a list? I'm > interested 34A, 32B and 39B. > I had no difficulty finding the meaning of the Early Church Record > Codes for marriages, but could not find births and deaths districts. > Best regards.........Ian. > > > > ---------------------- > To send a message to the Port Jackson Convicts List, send an email to > [email protected] > ------------------------------- > 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 send a message to the Port Jackson Convicts List, send an email to [email protected] ------------------------------- 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 ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1375 / Virus Database: 1509/3655 - Release Date: 05/23/11

Hi John Have a look at these sites http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/indexes-online/indexes-online http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/familyHistory/searchHistoricalRecords.htm http://www.coraweb.com.au/convict.htm Also the National Archives at Kew holds many records relating to the Colony of NSW including much on convicts, try their online search facilities and catalogue. cheers Grahame On 23/05/2011, at 2:17 AM, John Belchamber wrote: > > Hi Listers > > This is my first post on the list > I am researching a Richard Belchamber b 1792 in Sussex,England.Richard was convicted of desertion from the navy(not sure yet whether merchant or royal) in St.John,Canada in 1813. He was then transported back to England where he spent some time on a prison ship in Portsmouth,UK.On the 16th Jan 1816 Richard was transported to NSW aboard the Atlas (1 of 188) arriving 22 July.Thats where the story ends at the moment. > There seems to be records available,but I cannot see how to access them,can SKS give me some pointers to where I can go. > TIA > Regards John Belchamber(UK) > > >

Hello Lesley When were the indents recorded - on departure or arrival or some other time? For example, I am interested in the Hillsborough 1798 & Speedy 1799. The "Lists" I have (I assume these are the indents) both seem to have been written in the same hand but I wonder if there were also written at the same time. I also have what I think is the Hillsborough's ship's muster taken in 1799 which is by a different hand. I have not been able to find the comparable document for the Speedy. Can you confirm that the "Lists" are the indents? And when they were recorded? Should I be able to find an arrival muster for the Speedy? Best regards Jim Loftus

Hi Aust Port Jackson Convict researchers and Ancestors. My name is Sandra I was a member of the email list some time ago, however, I never had enough time to research and suspended my membership until I had more time to devote to this fascinating time consuming subject. My ggg grandmother was Martha Wright (22 yrs) who came to Australia on the Louisa in about 1823 with her 6 months old baby daughter Martha. Martha married Benjamin Newcomb and emancipated convict and so our family story goes on. Martha later married Richard Worthing and had many more children. I have a lot of information about this family if any-one is researching this family. Currently I am struggling with another branch of my family and I have also seen that many others are also stumped on Charlotte Sutton and how did she arrive in Australia. I have her being married to William Britten in Australia . I also have Charlotte as being born in 1798 at St Nicholas, Ash near Kent. UK. I am in contact with a Sutton family researcher from the UK and he follows the Sutton family back to Kent with Mary Adams marrying Leonard Sutton in the early 1700s. My UK Sutton ancestor researcher also has Charlotte marrying William Britten who arrived on the Active in 1791 a private in the 102 Battalion NSW Corps . His marriage to Charlotte soon after his arrival was witnessed by School teacher of Windsor Thomas Berrington and Harriet Mitchell. Some researchers have Charlotte as being born in the colony but there are no records of her birth. There does not seem to be any records of her arrival as a convict although she would have been about 15 when she married William Britten. Maybe she came earlier with a convict mother and was placed in the female factory like my Martha Wright. I would love to hear from anyone who can help solve the question of how Charlotte arrived in Australia? Regards Sandra

Hi Listers This is my first post on the list I am researching a Richard Belchamber b 1792 in Sussex,England.Richard was convicted of desertion from the navy(not sure yet whether merchant or royal) in St.John,Canada in 1813. He was then transported back to England where he spent some time on a prison ship in Portsmouth,UK.On the 16th Jan 1816 Richard was transported to NSW aboard the Atlas (1 of 188) arriving 22 July.Thats where the story ends at the moment. There seems to be records available,but I cannot see how to access them,can SKS give me some pointers to where I can go. TIA Regards John Belchamber(UK)

I discovered that last night, Lesley; and investigating their information pages, discovered that they have not altered them to reflect this change. I agree with you that it is indeed a great pity; but at least having the ? is better than losing it altogether. On that topic, one of the things which I hate about google, is that it does not allow any wildcard character in its search query terms. grrrr..... Ray ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lesley Uebel" <[email protected]> > Hi all, > > Recently the NSW BDMs decided that the use of the wildcard * was too > much for their servers and was causing an overload. > > They still allow the wildcard ? in place of one character, but not the * > in place of many characters. > > Such a shame