A very Happy New Year to all. I hope someone out there with more experience than I have can give me some advice here. In 1842 my 4 x gt-grandfather William Sayers (born c1794)and his brother John (born c 1802)were sentenced to 10 and 7 years transportation respectively for stealing fleeces from Willliam's employer in Chelmsford.I have found them on the hulk Leviathan in Portsmouth, presumably awaiting transportation. However after that I can't find any trace of them until the 1851 census, when they are back in Chelmsford. They have apparently resumed their lives as normal, except that unsurprisingly William is now described as a labourer, not a fellmonger's labourer as in 1841. I have found a lot of online resources for convicts in Australia, but even allowing for the variations in the possible spellings of Sayers I can't see them. I've considered the possibility that I'm chasing the wrong William Sayers, but I can't find another who fits the bill. Can sks suggest where to go next?

Patsy, To help determine whether these two convict SAYERS are yours, it might be helpful to find out what happened to them. If you can't find them in Australian databases (and, after only a brief look, I couldn't either), it may be because they were pardoned, or their sentences commuted. Transportation was seriously winding down by the early 1840s. A licensing system was introduced in the 1850s, but in the interim convicts could be kept hanging around in the hulks for years until the politicians reached agreement about what was going to happen to them. Eventually some were transferred to other prisons, and others were released. The relevant hulk register for Leviathan at Portsmouth (HO 9/14, available via Ancestry) shows that these men were transferred from there to the prison hulk Stirling Castle on 31 Oct 1844 (HO 9/14). Stirling Castle was previously at Devonport, but by late 1844 I believe it had been moved to Portsmouth. To pursue this in more detail you would need to visit the National Archives, Kew, or have someone go on your behalf. You would need to look at the registers of prisoners for Stirling Castle at the appropriate date (PCOM 2/134), which should show if/when these men were discharged. To find out whether they were pardoned or their sentences commuted, the Correspondence and Warrants in HO 13 could also be checked from October 1844 (piece HO 13/85 onwards), as well as the Criminal Petitions in HO 18 (indexed in HO 19). If you don't have access to Kew, or don't want to commission paid research, there may be LDS films of PCOM 2 (though I think not of HO 18). So you may be able to hire some films and look through them yourself at a local Family History Centre. HTH Judy London, UK -----Original Message----- From: essex-uk-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:essex-uk-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of patsypilgrim In 1842 my 4 x gt-grandfather William Sayers (born c1794)and his brother John (born c 1802)were sentenced to 10 and 7 years transportation respectively for stealing fleeces from Willliam's employer in Chelmsford.I have found them on the hulk Leviathan in Portsmouth, presumably awaiting transportation. However after that I can't find any trace of them until the 1851 census, when they are back in Chelmsford. They have apparently resumed their lives as normal, except that unsurprisingly William is now described as a labourer, not a fellmonger's labourer as in 1841. I have found a lot of online resources for convicts in Australia, but even allowing for the variations in the possible spellings of Sayers I can't see them. I've considered the possibility that I'm chasing the wrong William Sayers, but I can't find another who fits the bill. Can sks suggest where to go next?

Hello I had a similar situation some years ago with an ancestor from Worcestershire sentenced to transportation in 1838 who was clearly back in England by 1845 as a marriage record for him proves. It transpired that he was not sent to Australia but to Bermuda where labourers were needed to build a naval dockyard. See http://www.bermuda-online.org/rnd.htm If this turns out to be where they went I have other links that may be of interest. Dick Mathews On 11/01/2013 11:33, patsypilgrim wrote: > A very Happy New Year to all. I hope someone out there with more > experience than I have can give me some advice here. > > In 1842 my 4 x gt-grandfather William Sayers (born c1794)and his brother > John (born c 1802)were sentenced to 10 and 7 years transportation > respectively for stealing fleeces from Willliam's employer in > Chelmsford.I have found them on the hulk Leviathan in Portsmouth, > presumably awaiting transportation. However after that I can't find any > trace of them until the 1851 census, when they are back in Chelmsford. > They have apparently resumed their lives as normal, except that > unsurprisingly William is now described as a labourer, not a > fellmonger's labourer as in 1841. > > I have found a lot of online resources for convicts in Australia, but > even allowing for the variations in the possible spellings of Sayers I > can't see them. I've considered the possibility that I'm chasing the > wrong William Sayers, but I can't find another who fits the bill. Can > sks suggest where to go next? > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > Any problems, please contact the List Admin: Essex-UK-admin@rootsweb.com > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ESSEX-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message