Good evening, I am seeking help in finding the parents & date of birth of my ancestor, Thomas Ward alias Brown. He was convicted at the Essex Lent Assize in 1831, age 17, of stealing two calves at Great Parndon. He was sentenced to be hung but was reprieved & sentenced to be transported to Tasmania for life. The public Records Office indictment " Thomas Brown late of the parish of Romford in the county of Essex, labourer, otherwise called Thomas Ward, on the 26th day of January did steal two heifers value 8 Pounds of John Holmes." He arrived in Hobart, Tasmania on the :"William Bentinck" on 29 August 1832. Thomas Brown was listed as a native of Roydon/ Royton Hamlet, Essex. His convict record states" Married- proper name Ward, Wife Mary Ward at Edmonton. His death registration in 1901 shows his age as 97 ( suggesting a date of birth as 1894?) His father was shown as John. I would be grateful for any help in resolving his date of birth, his parents & where he lived in Essex. As he married Ann Crosland at Hobart in 1838, Iwould also be interested in his previous marriage. Thank you Norman Full Sydney, Australia

A little geographical help: Gt Parndon is now part of Harlow newtown; it is in the south-western part of that town and is virtually next door to Roydon. As Dick says, Roydon is only just within Essex, being on the eastern bank of the river Lea (or Lee), which forms the county boundary with Hertfordshire. Just above Roydon, a large tributary river flows from the east into the Lea; it is called the Stort (Bishops Stortford a few more miles north is named after it). South of the Stort and to the east of Roydon is the new town of Harlow, which was formed out of several ancient parishes just after WW2. All the parishes still exist as 'suburbs' or housing estates within the newtown, and one of these is Great Parndon. It lies in the south-west part of Harlow and is virtually next door to Roydon. If you go to these sites and click on the 'Find Us' tab in each, you'll find maps of the modern parish boundaries which (at least for Roydon) haven't changed very much over time: http://www.achurchnearyou.com/roydon-st-peter/ http://www.achurchnearyou.com/great-parndon-st-mary/ A few miles down the Lea from Roydon, on its western banks, is Edmonton, then and now a big suburb of metropolitan London, and in the county of Middlesex which is to the south of Herts. In contrast, Roydon was and still is a remote agricultural parish. Travelling to Edmonton would have taken a few hours back then but would have been a very ordinary journey to make. Another mapping resource is http://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html. It looks like you have to pay to see the maps, and they try to get you to buy nice glossy prints of them, but viewing is free. Simply type Roydon Essex (etc.) into the search box. At first you'll see a modern map, but in the right-hand menu box you'll find links to older maps of the same locality. Familysearch produces 72 results on a search for a Thomas Ward married to a Mary during 1820-1831 in England. I would think many of them could be eliminated by identifying them in the 1841 census. This would be a very shaky way to try to find him I admit, but it would be a start. Jack Baxter's Marriage Index mentioned by Dick would be very useful if he married in Essex; for Hertfordshire the equivalent would be the Allen Index here: http://www.hertsdirect.org/services/leisculture/heritage1/hals/indexes/indexes/marriages/ Good luck, Lawrence in Waltham Abbey (on the eastern banks of the Lea between Roydon and Edmonton). On 08/06/2013 10:25, Norman Full wrote: > Good evening, > > I am seeking help in finding the parents & date of birth of my ancestor, > Thomas Ward alias Brown. He was convicted at the Essex Lent Assize in 1831, > age 17, of stealing two calves at Great Parndon. He was sentenced to be > hung but was reprieved & sentenced to be transported to Tasmania for life. > The public Records Office indictment " Thomas Brown late of the parish of > Romford in the county of Essex, labourer, otherwise called Thomas Ward, on > the 26th day of January did steal two heifers value 8 Pounds of John > Holmes." He arrived in Hobart, Tasmania on the :"William Bentinck" on 29 > August 1832. Thomas Brown was listed as a native of Roydon/ Royton Hamlet, > Essex. > > His convict record states" Married- proper name Ward, Wife Mary Ward at > Edmonton. > > His death registration in 1901 shows his age as 97 ( suggesting a date of > birth as 1894?) His father was shown as John. > > I would be grateful for any help in resolving his date of birth, his parents > & where he lived in Essex. As he married Ann Crosland at Hobart in 1838, > Iwould also be interested in his previous marriage. > > Thank you > > Norman Full Sydney, Australia > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > 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 >