A Battle against the odds, Chapter 12, part 4

A continuation of my transcription of the NSW family history book, A Battle against the odds, Chapter 12, part 4

 Part 4 describes my GG grandfather John Smith's journey to New South Wales.

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Sir William Bensley

This is the name of the ship which brought John Smith and 198 other convicts to Australia. The ship sailed carrying 200 convicts but one died

Sir Wm Bensley was 584 tons built Ipswich 1802. Master Lew E Williams, Surgeon Wm Evans.

A V.I.P.
 

Also on board was William Sorell who had been appointed Lieutenant Governor of Tasmania to succeed Thomas Davey. Sorell went on to Hobart where he arrived on 8th April 1817. For seven years he administered the government with such ability and vigour that he earned the respect of Governor Macquarie.

Distribution

 
On 21st March 1817, 11 days after the arrival of the ship Sir Wm Bensley, Secretary Campbell sent a list of 84 convicts from his ship to Rev. Samuel Marsden J.P. at Parramatta. The 84 men "are now sent forward to Parramatta by water and you are to distribute them according to the list" wrote Mr. Campbell. They were assigned as follows to settlers in the following districts:
    

     23 Parramatta 

    25 Windsor
    20 Liverpool
    16 Bringelly

John's name was no. 19 on the list for Windsor "for general distribution". Three of the 25 were assigned to Mr. Cox and two sawyers to Mr. Howe. With a little imagination you can picture John Smith and 83 others sailing up the Parramatta River from Sydney to the wharf at Parramatta where perhaps they may have had a speech from the Rev. Gentleman himself before being split up for distribution in accordance with the list.

Fate is Kind

 
From the time John's life was spared his fortunes improved. He had a good journey to NSW aided not doubt by the presence on board of William Sorell who would have kept a critical eye on the conduct of crew and passengers alike. Now in Windsor his master was Richard Fitzgerald, himself an emancipated convict.
Author D.G Bowd in his book "Macquarie Country - a History of the Hawkesbury " published by the Library of Australian History in 1979 wrote:
"If ever a man justified Macquarie's humane treatment of emancipists Richard Fitzgerald did. Macquarie wrote much in his favour which may be summarised in his own words that he was 'a most honest, upright, good man'."
John Smith remained assigned to Richard Fitzgerald from March 1817 until March 1820.

Samuel Terry

 
John Smith was assigned to Samuel Terry "on his farm in the District of the Chain of Ponds" and he remained under Terry from march 1820 until 19th march 1825.
Samuel Terry, often referred to as "the Botany Bay Rothschild" because of his wealth and the way he acquired it, had taken over Box Hill Farm from Robert Fitz and needed and needed some workers for this and his other holdings around Windsor.

Marriage

 
On 31st July 1820 Chaplain John Cross sought the approval of Gov. Macquarie for the marriage of John Smith and Mary Ennis. Approval arrived in a letter dated 5th August 1820 and the ceremony took place on 4th September 1820 at St. Matthews Church of England Windsor. Chaplain John Cross conducted the marriage. Eleanor Barry and Joseph Harpur were witnesses. Joseph Harpur was Parish Clerk and father of Charles Harpur (1813-1868) described in the Australian Encyclopaedia as "the first Australian poet worthy of the name". 

Ticket of Leave

 
The Return of Convicts 1817-1821 shows John Smith with "co convictions". On 19th March 1825, a certificate of conduct for John was issued at the Windsor Court House signed by -
Wm Cox Magistrate
John Cross Chaplain
Rs Fitzgerald Master
Sam. Terry Present master 5 years.
A Ticket of Leave was granted on 24th March 1825 (No. 158/1632)
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This is the end of the transcribed section concerning John Smith (1795-1866) in Chapter 12 of the book The Battle against the odds. The next section will be about his wife Mary Tully