Hi Carol, Thomas Smith is shown in the Hobart Town Gazette, 15/02/1823 - MONDAY.- Thomas Smith was indicted for feloniously and burglariously breaking and entering the dwelling-house of Messrs. Curr & Mason, in Bathurst-street, on the 25th of August, 1821....This I presume is the offence you mentioned he had a late comeuppance for with all his other mates ending up in places like Port Macquarie in NSWs. He also appeared the next day - TUESDAY. - Thomas Smith, who had been the day previously tried and acquitted for being concerned in Messrs. Curr and Mason's robbery, was again put to the bar on an information. which charged him with receiving goods and chattels, the property of the same prosecutors, knowing them to be stolen.... They're just snipped highlights from the articles but the piece de resistance was a document I found on Ancestry and I'll send you a copy off list but it was from a series titled 'Returns of convicts convicted of Colonial Courts 1810-23' - Name: Thomas Smith Ship: Ganges Original Sentence - Where: Chester When: 12 May 1872 Term: Fourteen Years Crime: - Indulgence: C.P. , 18 Jan. 1801 Colonial Conviction - When : 7th Feb. 1823 Term: Two Years Crime: Charged with receiving Goods feloniously stolen well knowing [them to be such]... He was tried at the Chester Goal Delivery in 1872 but didn't get transported on the 'Ganges" until April 1796 arriving 2 June 1797. His age is given as 33 in 1792 so born circa 1759. In 1823 that would have made him 64. Would Ann Elizabeth Ashton have been living with some-one who by the then days standards - pretty long in the tooth??. Anybodies guess what became of him after his appearance at Alexander Pearce's trial? Cheers, Peter On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 12:40 PM Carol Brill <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi everyone, > > Having failed completely in my quest to find the origins of the Thomas > Smith > who was living with my many times great-aunt, Ann Elizabeth Ashton nee > Cockerell, in 1821, I'm turning to the brains trust here for help. Thomas > Smith, a free man, was involved in a huge hoist from Edward Curr's store in > Bathurst Street, along with a host of convicts, and my free rellie A E > Ashton. Details follow: > > " Richard Foster, John Meadowcroft, John Maybery, Wm. Day, Gustavus Lucas, > Wm. Hone, and James Kemp, prisoners, and Thos. Smith and Ann Elizabeth > Ashton, free persons, charged with being concerned in the burglary and very > extensive robbery on the premises of Messrs. Edward Curr and Mason, in > Bathurst street, in the night of the 24th ult. were fully committed for > trial. > > Thos. Smith and Gustavus Lucas were also fully committed for trial before a > Court of Criminal Jurisdiction on a charge of stealing sheep, the property > of James Hooper, of Mount Direction Valley."- Hobart Town Gazette and Van > Diemen's Land Advertiser (V.D.L.), 8 September 1821 > > Ann E. got away Scot free - talk about Nepotism. The gang were captured by > her brother-in-law, Hobart Town District Constable John Dacres and her > former next door neighbour at New Town, Hobart Town Chief Constable Richard > Pitt. Her father William Cockerell, who arrived with Collins in 1804 as a > free settler, and her cousin-in-law Michael Mansfield, Derwent River Pilot > and former New Town Chief Constable, bailed her for £100 - £50 each. Her > name appears to have been erased from the trial transcript too! > > Because this is such a long and complicated tale, that I won't detail all > of it. But it does state that Ann E. and Smith were living together, even > though Ann E was married to the convict William Ashton - thus my interest > in > him. My last "sighting" of Thomas Smith was when he appeared in court > giving evidence at the trial of Alexander Pearce - he'd been sent to > Macquarie Harbour for three years following his trial in Nov. 1822 for the > 1821 theft recorded above. (I won't explain why the trial was held so long > after his co-conspirators were tried - it's too complex too.) > > There are conflicting statements in the Colonial Secretary's Correspondence > relating to Smith's origins - he was either "Thomas Smith, Born in the > Colony, .. " or " SMITH, Thomas. Per "Ganges", 1797…" > > Fingers crossed that someone can help pin down this mysterious man's > identity. > > Best wishes, > > Carol Brill, > > now in Echuca. > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > AUS-Tasmania Mailing List Website http://www.rootsweb.com/~austashs/ > Contact Admin [email protected] > _______________________________________________ > Email preferences: http://bit.ly/rootswebpref > Unsubscribe and Archives > https://mailinglists.rootsweb.com/listindexes/search/aus-tasmania > Privacy Statement: https://ancstry.me/2JWBOdY Terms and Conditions: > https://ancstry.me/2HDBym9 > Rootsweb Blog: http://rootsweb.blog > RootsWeb is funded and supported by Ancestry.com and our loyal RootsWeb > community >