Hi Robyn, The records you are looking for may no longer exist. As he stated that his native place was Porchester (or Portchester) in Hampshire does his death record provide this information. Does it record the names of his parents? As you are probably aware, his brother was Captain George King - Port Officer in VDL and RN..... which may be the reason why he was sent directly to PJ from VDL. Captain George died in 1858 aged 65, according to the VDL newspapers. Does his death record state the name of his parents? Edmund was more than likely aware that the convict establishment was being broken up in 1848 and may have thought that by absconding he would not be missed..... HRA XXVI Pages 32 – 33 Sir Charles Fitz Roy to Earl Grey Despatch No 218 per ship Ganges; acknowledged by Earl Grey, 14th April 1848 My Lord, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt by the last packet of Your Lordship’s despatch No 147 of the 4th May last ordering the Convict Establishment in this colony to be broken up, and those of the convicts remaining on the hands of Government, to whom Tickets of Leave or Conditional Pardons cannot properly be granted, to be transferred with as little delay as possible to Van Diemen’s Land. Arrangements for transfer of convicts to Tasmania I have now the honour to report that, on the receipt of these instructions, I took immediate steps for carrying them into effect, and that arrangements are now in progress by which, as soon as I am informed by Sir William Denison that he is prepared to receive these people, there will be no difficulty in forwarding them to Van Diemen’s Land; so that with the exception of the small portion of the Principal Superintendent’s Department, which it will be necessary to maintain until those prisoners, who are now holding Tickets of Leave, or who may receive that indulgence within the next two months, can obtain their Conditional Pardons, I can see no reason why the whole of the Convict Establishment in this colony may not be broken up by the end of the year. Number of convicts It may be satisfactory to Your Lordship to learn that, under the proposed arrangement, the number of convicts, exclusive of invalids and lunatics, will be but small as far as I am enabled to state at present, it will not exceed 125 men and 10 women; the number of lunatics and invalids will not exceed 350. I may further state that, with a view to the final abolition of the Convict Department, I propose to shorten the period for which, under existing regulations, holders of Tickets of Leave must remain under probation before they can petition for their Conditional Pardons, to 12 months with good conduct. The breaking up of the Convict Establishment at Port Macquarie, and the removal of the whole of the invalids and lunatics from that station to the hospitals at Sydney and Liverpool, which I was enabled to effect previously to the receipt of Your Lordship’s despatch, will render it more easy to carry out Your Lordship’s instructions. When the whole of the arrangements have been matured, I shall have the honour of transmitting them in detail, together with any information relating to them which Your Lordship may desire to possess. I have etc Charles A. Fitz Roy Regards Lesley Uebel http://www.claimaconvict.net/index.html CLAIM A CONVICT email: [email protected] On 26/06/2011 8:11 AM, Robyn Nesbitt wrote: > Hi Lesley > > Thank you for your reply. Yes I have the information for him arriving in > Tasmania and being sent to Port Jackson and also have all his trial details. > What I'm trying to find out is his movements between 1837 and 1851 as I'm > trying to prove that he was the Edmund King that married my Amelia Newton. > Thanks Robyn >