I had another look - checking the information available via ancestry.com it appears that John GAST was: mentioned in the Australian Convict Transportation Registers – Other Fleets & Ships, 1791-1868 Name: John Gast [John Robinson] Vessel: Strathfieldsaye Convicted Date: 23 Nov 1835 Voyage Date: 11 Feb 1836 Colony: New South Wales Piece: HO 11/10 Place of Conviction: Central Criminal Court PLEASE NOTE: the use of the alias john ROBINSON - so maybe we should look for a Robinson and not a GAST? John GAST was mentioned in the muster -New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1790-1849 Name: John Gast [John Robinson] Vessel: Strathfieldsay Arrival Year: 1836 Date of conviction: 23 Nov 1835 John GAST was also mention in the New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia, Convict Pardons and Tickets of Leave, 1834-1859 Name: John Gast [Robinson Gast] Vessel: Strathfieldsay Piece: HO 10/54 Province: New South Wales Title: Pardons Year(s): 1846-1849 So it seems that GAST had some sort of "pardon" by 1849. BUT this is quite possibly the most tantalizing piece of information - the arrival in NSW of a John GAST from Melbourne in 1865 - New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922 Name: John Gast Estimated Birth Year: abt 1836 Age: 29 Port of Departure: Melbourne Port of Arrival: Sydney, New South Wales Voyage Arrival Date: 17 Oct 1865 Vessel Name: Wonga Wonga Origin Location: British Is it possible that this is the missing person John GAST? or somebody else maybe? Could the record keepers have made a mistake about the age? Maybe GAST himself told people that he was born about 1836 - coinciding with his "rebirth" in Australia??? Definitely worth a little more investigation? Was the child born in 1866 born just a few months into the year? hmmm.. should we look for the death of a John ROBINSON in NSW sometime after 1865? ... hmmm good luck Robert in Melbourne. Pauline Stuart wrote: > Can anyone shed any light on the death of John Gast who mined on the > Caledonian Diggings from possibly 1850. His last known address was > Queenstown in 1866 when his last child was born. I can not find him in > either the Victorian or NSW GRO's. He was an ex convict who came to the > goldfields from Maitland in NSW. We know that his family continued to > live in the area of Diamond Creek. His wife Catherine died in 1895. > Could it be possible that he died in a mining accident in the mines and > is it possible that some of these deaths were not registered. > > Regards > > Pauline > > > ------------------------------- > 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 > > >