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George WELLS
George Wells was convicted at York Assizes on March 15th, 1823 of
housebreaking. The York City Archives holds a printed summary of
trials of this period (called the Calendars of Assize), and this states, for
the Lent Assizes of 1823:
"Andrew STEWARD (aged 38) and George WELLS (aged 18) -
committed 19th November 1822 charged upon oath of Mary
DRIFFIELD with having, early in the morning of Friday the 15th
November 1822, burglariously broken and entered into her
dwelling house, situate in the parish of Saint Olave, Marygate, in
the North Riding, and stolen and carried away therefrom five
silver teaspoons, seven metal teaspoons, two plated teaspoons,
one pair of plated sugar tongs, a pair of scissors, and other
articles, of the value of twenty shillings, the property of the said
Mary Driffield."
For this crime, George was sentenced to be hanged, but this was
subsequently commuted to transportation for fourteen years. He arrived
in Sydney on March 5th, 1824 aboard the Guildford.
George was at the Wellington Valley settlement from mid-1825 until
early 1828. At Wellington, he kept a low profile, and there is not much
known about his time there, except that in October 1825 he was one of
a large party of convicts which deserted the remote agricultural farm. He
was obviously recaptured, as most of them were. Two years later, in
October 1827, the Wellington Commandant recommended he be
removed from the station, being described as an "indifferent
blacksmith". At this time the authorities were winding down the
establishment, trying to dispose of all but the essential labourers.
He is shown in the 1828 census as working as a blacksmith for W G Sutton
of Bathurst. His Ticket of Leave was granted on April 30th, 1830
(ref 30/840). Little is known of his movements during the next 6 years,
but it is doubtful that he moved from the Bathurst area.
On August 23rd, 1836 he was sentenced to 3 years' jail at Bathurst for
having a gun in his possession with intent to commit a felony. He was
apparently released after serving less than half of this sentence, as he
applied to Thomas Ryan (Chief Clerk at the Convict Office, Sydney)
for his Certificate of Freedom on January 12th, 1838. Although his
application seemed to be in order, his certificate was not granted until
April 2nd, 1840 (ref 40/608).
The certificate stub has "Wollongong" written in the left margin. Other
stubs of certificates issued about this time also contain various place
names in the margin. Presumably it refers to either the location of the
holder at the date of issue, or when the certificate was collected. In any
case, George did not collect his certificate for over two years -
comments written on the stub indicate it was "written for" on November
2nd, 1842 and collected on December 26th.
Although he had not collected his Certificate of Freedom at the time of
his marriage (September 23rd, 1839) or when the 1841 census was
taken, he considered himself free. No application to marry was made,
and he showed himself as "now free" in the census return.
We can get some idea of his physical appearance from details recorded
on the indent for the Guildford, his Ticket of Leave, and Certificate of
Freedom:
Guildford - a whitesmith, aged 18 (ie born c1805), height 5ft 2in
T of L - a whitesmith, born 1804
C of F - a blacksmith, born 1806, height 5ft 4½in, dark brown hair
mixed with grey, dark brown eyes, a pale and pockmarked complexion.
He had tattoos on both arms, including the initials JH GW SW.
George married Harriet VIDLER at St. Michaels CofE, Wollongong on
September 23rd, 1839. Harriet had arrived in the Dapto district late in
1838, after arriving with her parents (William VIDLER and Harriet, nee
WATERS) aboard the Maitland on November 5th, 1838.
Following their marriage, George and Harriet shared a house at West
Dapto (owned by William KEEVERS) with Henry and Ann FOWLER.
It is believed that both George and Henry were employed by William
KEEVERS, a Waterloo veteran and large landowner in the district.
George and Harriet had three children. The two eldest (Rebecca b. 1841
and Phoenix b. 1843) were born at Dapto. The third (Edward b. 1847)
was born at Liverpool.
George entered the Sydney Benevolent Asylum on August 9th, 1849 and
died there on August 27th. He was buried 2 days later in the Parish of
Camperdown - probably in the old Sandhills Cemetery.
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