Yes Alice, St Helens is an old convict island in Moreton Bay. Schoolkids now go there for excursions. Russell, Brisbane Alice Erickson wrote: >Lesley - this would be OT I suppose but I wonder if you know anything of a place called St Helens Island somewhere off shore from Brisbane where convicts were held. I have a man, presumably a convict, called CONTEST who says he was born St Helens. I started research at St Helens in Indian Ocean where Napolean was imprisoned. It was difficult though at this distance and considering my lack of any knowledge about the place. Another researcher suggested that there was a St Helens off Brisbane - hence my query. TIA, Alice > >---------------------- >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 > > > >

Any chance that it meant St Helens in merseyside near Liverpool in the UK? Sent from phone On 5 Jul 2011, at 03:08, Russell <[email protected]> wrote: > Yes Alice, > St Helens is an old convict island in Moreton Bay. > Schoolkids now go there for excursions. > Russell, > Brisbane > > Alice Erickson wrote: > >> Lesley - this would be OT I suppose but I wonder if you know anything of a place called St Helens Island somewhere off shore from Brisbane where convicts were held. I have a man, presumably a convict, called CONTEST who says he was born St Helens. I started research at St Helens in Indian Ocean where Napolean was imprisoned. It was difficult though at this distance and considering my lack of any knowledge about the place. Another researcher suggested that there was a St Helens off Brisbane - hence my query. TIA, Alice >> >> ---------------------- >> 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

Well, Russell, that's a wrinkle! As far as I can make out this man was of island appearance - now in the context of Aus that could mean coming from some of the Pacific Ocean islands - Melanesians etc near us. That's most likely. But some people say he came from the Caribean - that's hearsay - whether relying on his appearance or something that their elders knew at the time I don't know. He was accepted into community here in so far as his children went to school but aboriginal children weren't accepted at the schools. So people thought they knew there was something different about him. Islanders from Pacific Ocean were often treated as the aboriginals were. He had work on properties around here and was well known for herbal knowledge and remedies. And just today I heard that he went to jail at Dubbo when older so I have to follow that up. So unless that island in Merseyside near Liverpool was a place where this sort of person would be held I think not. However as a long-time researcher I never rule anything out until an alternative is confirmed so I'll keep your suggestion in mind. Thank you for taking the trouble to reply. Alice ----- Original Message ----- From: "Irelandcrokepark" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2011 4:58 PM Subject: Re: [PJ] Maybe OT query > Any chance that it meant St Helens in merseyside near Liverpool in the UK? > > Sent from phone > > On 5 Jul 2011, at 03:08, Russell <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Yes Alice, >> St Helens is an old convict island in Moreton Bay. >> Schoolkids now go there for excursions. >> Russell, >> Brisbane >> >> Alice Erickson wrote: >> >>> Lesley - this would be OT I suppose but I wonder if you know anything of >>> a place called St Helens Island somewhere off shore from Brisbane where >>> convicts were held. I have a man, presumably a convict, called CONTEST >>> who says he was born St Helens. I started research at St Helens in >>> Indian Ocean where Napolean was imprisoned. It was difficult though at >>> this distance and considering my lack of any knowledge about the place. >>> Another researcher suggested that there was a St Helens off Brisbane - >>> hence my query. TIA, Alice >>> >>> ---------------------- >>> 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 > > > ---------------------- > 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 >