Does the following sound familiar to anyone with Reading, Berkshire ancestry? William Westall was tried and convicted in Reading, Berkshire, England in December 1930. His sentence was Life! He was sent to New South Wales, Australia aboard the Ship Eleanor to arrive in 1831. New South Wales, Australia,Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons 1791-1867 Name: William Westall Pardon Date: 9 Nov 1837 Vessel Name: Eleanor Year of Arrival: 1831 Trial Location: Reading, Berkshire, England Date of conviction: Dec 1830 Place of Conviction: Reading, Berkshire, England Record Type: Conditional E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (7.0.0.514) Database version: 6.14330 http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/

Hi Bob, This sounds like the same Wm Westall who was transported for life for his part in the Berkshire Swing Riots of 1830. He appears on the convicts list for the Eleanor, which sailed from Portsmouth for NSW on 15th Feb 1831 (he had been convicted at Reading Assizes on 27 Dec 1830 where he was given a Life sentence). He was freed on 9 Nov 1837 so he had served just 7 years of his sentence. It is not clear what happened to him after he was freed - maybe our Australian branch can shed some light. At the time of deportation it was stated he was 20 yrs old, which would have given a birth date of abt. 1810. There are a lot of Wm Westalls but none on my tree that were born in 1810. My nearest candidate was bap. in 1806 in Baydon and was the son on Thomas Westall and Sarah Bray, but this is complete speculation on my part. It was not that unusual for convicts transported to NSW on Life sentences to have these commuted after a few years. Fred -----Original Message----- From: westall-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:westall-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Bob Westall Sent: 10 February 2010 19:09 To: westall@rootsweb.com Subject: [WESTALL] William Westall, Reading, Berkshire Does the following sound familiar to anyone with Reading, Berkshire ancestry? William Westall was tried and convicted in Reading, Berkshire, England in December 1930. His sentence was Life! He was sent to New South Wales, Australia aboard the Ship Eleanor to arrive in 1831. New South Wales, Australia,Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons 1791-1867 Name: William Westall Pardon Date: 9 Nov 1837 Vessel Name: Eleanor Year of Arrival: 1831 Trial Location: Reading, Berkshire, England Date of conviction: Dec 1830 Place of Conviction: Reading, Berkshire, England Record Type: Conditional E-mail message checked by Spyware Doctor (7.0.0.514) Database version: 6.14330 http://www.pctools.com/en/spyware-doctor-antivirus/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to WESTALL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message