SMITHS

�� John Smith is the most interesting of the Oliver ancestors as he was a convict, one of the 162,000 who were transported to Australia from 1788 to 1868 and who were so well documented in official papers and records.� To understand why so many were transported, it is necessary to understand the social conditions at that time prevailing in England. It was the period of the Industrial Revolution, machinery had replaced the cottage industries, and displaced rural cottage workers flocked to the cities seeking work in the factories.� As a result cities like Manchester, where John lived, grew so fast that they could not cope with the problems of servicing the population.� Living conditions for the workers were appalling; they were packed into tenements with no running water, no organised transport, no sanitation and inadequate health facilities.�� The social conditions of the time are well described by such contemporary writers as Mary Gaitskill, Charles Dickens and others.� Wages were totally inadequate, and working conditions in the mines and factories made the workers little better than slaves. Hours of work were long, even for children, and time for recreation very limited.� There was no compensation for injured workers and no help for the unemployed, apart from the Parish workhouses.

�� It is no wonder then that many people turned to crime just to stay alive.� The law was harsh and oppressive, made by and protecting the rich and privileged, who were still afraid of a French style revolution, and the severity of court sentences out of all proportion to the seriousness of the crime.� What John Smith's circumstances were in Manchester in 1833 when he was convicted is impossible to know, but his occupation in the printed and written indents is �plumber's labourer� - how or where he lived and whether with his family or on his own.� Nevertheless a great deal has been learned of him.

�� John Smith was the eldest of a family of ten children (three of whom died in infancy) of James Smith and his wife Jane, nee Fletcher.� All of the children were born at Culcheth, a town of 2503 people about 11 miles from Manchester on the Railway line from that city to Liverpool, according to Phillimore's Parish Map of the area in the 19th century.� All children were christened at "Newchurch by Culcheth" which is described as a "Chapelry in the Parish of Winwick Lancashire, established 1563, and composite borough of Newton in Mackerfield, which comprises the Chapelries of Ashton in Mackerfield, Lowton, Newchurch, township of Culcheth, Golborne, Haydock, Houghton with Middleton, Arbury, Kenyon, Southword with Croft, Winwick, population 17,691, three miles north east of Warrington, Archdiocese of Chester".�� His death certificate shows that he was the son of James Smith "cotton manufacturer", but the Parish record shows James' occupation as "weaver" which is more likely, for if James Smith was a "manufacturer" it is unlikely that his son would have had to resort to "picking pockets", for that is the crime for which he was transported with a sentence of seven years at the Salford Michaelmas Sessions in Manchester on 21st October 1833.� The charge before the court, as shown in the record obtained from the Lancashire Records Office by a researcher engaged for the purpose, was that:-

�The Jurors of our Lord the King, upon their Oath present, that John Smith in the Township of Manchester in the County of Lancashire, Labourer, on the ninth day of October in the fourth year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord William the Fourth, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, at Manchester aforesaid, in the County aforesaid, one piece of the current silver coin of the realm called a half crown of the value of two shillings and sixpence, one knife of the value of one penny, one key of the value of one penny and one comb of the value of one penny of the monies, Goods and Chattels of John Challinor from the person of the said John Challinor by Force and Arms feloniously did steal take, and carry away, against the form of the Statute in such case made and provided, and against the Peace of our Lord the King, his Crown and Dignity�.

�� There were two signatures at the foot of the charge, both indecipherable, one solicitor and the other apparently the arresting officer.� Beneath that again were the word �Tried and guilty�, and �Remanded to hard labour for� crossed out with a line through it, and �Transported for seven years�.� John had already been convicted of the same offence (of larceny against a person) at the Epiphany Sessions on 6th January 1833 for which he had received a prison sentence of three months, and that accounted for the amendment of the sentence as it was mandatory that the second offence brought a sentence of transportation.

�� Irrespective of parentage though, what prompted he and thousands upon thousands of men and women of his time to commit a crime, knowing full well that they faced transportation, cruelty and hardship if they were apprehended? No doubt� for the majority of them it was sheer necessity that drove them to crime at a time in England when the poor were very poor indeed, and if you were going to starve, then you may as well starve in gaol as at home, if you had a home.

�� Following the American War of Independence England had no way of disposing of the unwanted convicts from the overcrowded gaols, and it was this that led to the settling of Australia in the light of Captain Cook's voyage of discovery and Sir Joseph Banks' glowing reports of the East Coast as being suitable for a penal settlement.� In due course Governor Phillip with the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay in 1788, with settlement quickly transferring to Port Jackson.� From then on the "convict ships" brought their miserable cargo in increasing numbers till public outcry from the colonists brought the transportation of convicts to NSW to an end in 1840.

�� 825 voyages were made by the convict ships in the period 1788 to 1868, and of those John Smith came out on the third voyage to Sydney of the "Roslyn Castle", William Richards Master, and Robert Espie Surgeon Superintendent. Following sentence in Court, convicts for transportation were removed to a prison and then a prison "hulk� to await the sailing date of their ship.� There were ten such hulks moored at various ports and docks in England in 1830, and presumably still in 1833.� These had been converted from large ships of the line after the cessation of the French wars to take the overflow of prisoners from the gaols. �Between them the hulks averaged each a daily number of 443 convicts on board.� Here in these hell holes convicts were jammed, receiving inadequate food, no amenities, taken out each day to work on the docks and harbour works, and treated harshly by the prison guards; many of them died from dysentery, fever, and other diseases.

�� The name of the prison or hulk to which the prisoner was sent was generally noted in the court record, but no such notation was made against the entry for John Smith, although it certainly would have been noted somewhere in the records of the Manchester court.

�� Nevertheless, John and at least twelve other men who were convicted on 21st October 1833, were lodged in the Salford prison at Manchester, and at some time prior to 31st December were transferred to the prison hulk "Fortitude" at Chatham in Kent to await transportation, as they are listed in the "Sworn List of the Fortitude Convict Hulk Quarter Ending the 31st Day of Dec 1833".� This list is ended with the statement:-

"I Samuel Owens Overseer of the Fortitude Convict Hulk at Chatham make oath, that the foregoing Return commencing with Thomas Hughes and ending with John McLeod contains the Name, Age, Crime and Sentence, Date and Place of Conviction, Present Behaviour, and Former Musters of every Prisoner who has been in my custody, Discharged, Escaped, Died, or remaining in my charge, between the First Day of April and the Thirtieth Day of June last, both inclusive.

S Owens

Sworn before me at Chatham

this Eleventh Day of July 1834

James A Gordon

Magistrate."

�� These lists were a quarterly return applicable to all prisons and hulks and were in printed book form with numbered pages, containing 25 names to a page, showing the details above. The signature of Mr Owens is very flamboyant, and the writing very good indeed, but nothing compared with the beautiful copperplate of Overseer William Hatton on the Hulk "Retribution" at Sheerness in his December 1833 return.

�� In the June 1834 return Mr Owens was the still the Overseer on the �Fortitude� and the same Magistrate James A Gordon witnessed his signature.� There are 925 names on this return of whom 26 had been "Pardonned", 11 "Transferred to the Penitentiary", 2 to "Euralyius", 4 "Discharged", 15 "Died", 2 "Escaped", 207 "NSW 17th May 1834" and 66 "NSW 21st June 1834". That left 596 still in his custody on the "Fortitude".

�� So then, John, along with the other twelve would have been on the "Roslyn Castle" for ten days before she sailed for Port Jackson on the 27th May.� The twelve of course also appear on the "Bound Indents", as well as the "Printed Indents".� All of the convicts bound for NSW on the "Roslyn Castle" must therefore have come from the Hulk "Fortitude", except the 21 "in chains" mentioned later.

�� It is indicative of the harshness of the law at the time, to note the crimes for which John and the twelve others were convicted.� They can only be described as petty by today's standards, the sentences out of all proportion to the seriousness and the apparent inconsistency of them when compared with each other, viz:-

Bartley Doran 17, 14 years for "stealing wearing apparel";
John Bratt 19, the same; John Smith 19, 7 years for "Stealing a knife etc.";
John Robinson 25, 7 years for "Stealing shoes, a foreign pipe etc.";
John Robinson 22, 7 years for "Stealing beef" (appropriately enough he was a butcher by trade);
Robert Butterworth 22, 7 years for "Assault with intent to rob";
Peter Middleton 31, the same;
Mathew Whittle 19, 7 years for "stealing geese";
Robert Fleming 25, the same;
George Hawley 17, 7 years for "Stealing a frock etc.";
William Hulme 40, 7 years for "Stealing brass weights etc"; and
Henry Cooper 18, 7 years for ":Stealing wearing apparel".

�� The youngest person noted in this return was a boy merely 12 years of age, transported for seven years.

�� The "Roslyn Castle" sailed from London on the 27th May 1834, and arrived in Sydney on the 15th September; she was a three masted barque of 450 tons, 116 feet long with a beam of 29 feet 5 inches, built in Bristol in 1819 and was class "AE1".� She made five voyages to Australia as a convict ship from 1828 to 1836, taking an average of 117 days for the outward voyage.� Altogether she brought out 889 convicts, of which only nine died on the way, indicating that she was a fair sort of ship with competent masters and surgeon superintendents.� (This record is not quite as good as that of a Surgeon Superintendent Peter Cunningham who made 5 voyages to Australia on convict ships and only lost 3 of the 747 convicts carried). The voyage on which John came out took only 111 days and three died on the voyage.� On such voyages the Surgeon Superintendent was required to keep a "Medical and Surgical Journal", listing the cases he had with the nature of the disease or hurt, name, age, qualities, time when and where taken ill, how disposed of, and the� history, treatment and daily progress.� On this voyage only six cases were listed by Surgeon Espie. The first related to Pat Bond, and commences: - "This man was received on board this ship from the Fortitude Convict Hulk 17th - then followed a long entry for 18th to the 22nd and then on 23^rd �About 4am I was informed of his death by the person attending him".� The second case was:-"William King, pneumonia; 3rd Henry Prendergast syphilis; 4th Jas Morris opthalmia; 5th James Ridley asthma died; and 6th George Gurner debilitated."� The journal finishes with a long report by Surgeon Espie on the cases on which he complained that one should not have been embarked.� There is no mention of John Smith, so he must have been reasonably healthy.� In the report Surgeon Espie also explains:-

"In reference to the foregoing journal and its being so very short, I beg here to remark that the seven cases I have particularly noted were the only ones of any important shape which occurred during the short period the convicts were embarked on board the Roslyn Castle viz from the 17th May to the 30th September 1834".

�� Apparently Surgeon Espie did not think that four months was a very long time to be incarcerated in a convict ship, nor apparently a journey half way around the world of much consequence.�� The Roslyn Castle returned to London with a cargo of oil, wool and passengers.

�� The arrival of ships at Port Jackson was recorded and duly reported by the Harbour Master to the Colonial Secretary on a form for the purpose.� It listed the name of the vessel, tonnage, Master, whence came, when sailed, and lading - in this case 227 (sic) male prisoners - apparently convicts were cargo, not passengers!!� The particular form for the Roslyn Castle showed that the passengers were:-

Lieut I B Dahomy, 2nd Queens Own Regiment,
James Andrew Doumoulin Esq Surgeon 50th Regt,
Mrs Doumoulin and eleven children, and
Robt Espie Esq RN Surgeon Supt.

In steerage were 29 rank and file of the 50th Regt, 2 ditto 2nd ditto, 7 women and 14 children.

�� In the decade in which John Smith came out, 1831-1840, 51,200 people were transported to Australia; the most active year was 1833 when 6779 convicts were shipped to NSW and Van Diemans Land.

�� Microfilm Reel Number 2427 at the Archives Office of NSW contains "Musters and Other Papers re Convict Ships - Ships Randolph - Surprise (2)".� There is, starting on P95 of the Ledger filmed, an "Assignment List of 224 persons convicted of felony embarked in the Roslyn Castle for New South Wales, 22nd May 1834".� There are 67 names on the first four pages, 34 serving seven years, 16 fourteen years and 17 for life.� John Smith duly appears as the last entry on P97, viz, "John Smith, Lancaster Quarter Sessions 21st October 1833, seven years."� Also on the same reel is the following letter, which, although it is not relevant to our John, gives an insight into conditions, harshness and reality of the times:-

�� Sir,

�� With reference to Mr Secretary Stanley�s despatch No 33 of the 21st August last, relative to the classifications of convicts who may in future be sent to the Australian Colonies, I am directed to transmit to you the enclosed list of 21 convicts, embarked in the ship "Roslin Castle" for New South Wales, whom from the nature of their offences and characters, it is deemed advisable to place in the second class, viz, those kept to labor in chains and I am to express Mr Stanley's desire that you will take the necessary steps for disposing of these convicts on their arrival in the colony, in the manner and under the restrictions proposed with respect to Prisoners of the class before mentioned.

I am, Sir, your obedient, humble Servant

John Ley---.

To

M.General Bourke.�

Then followed the list of these 21 convicts, and in a column headed "Character", fourteen of them were "Transported before", two were "Good respectable connexions", five were "Bad", one "Notoriously bad", and one "Bad, Twice in prison before".

�� The Surgeon Supt on John Smith's ship, Robert Espie, made three voyages to Australia, as far as research has shown, viz, the "Lady Rowena" 17/5/1826 from Ireland, the "Roslyn Castle" from London 15/9/1834, and the "Elizabeth" from London 12/10/1836.

�� There are, according to David T Hawkings, in his book "Bound for Australia", 24 records from which information on convicts can be gleaned, from the time of their apprehension to the time of their pardon or release.� It has not been possible to get access to them all, and one particular convict would not be mentioned in all 24 records, but nevertheless at least thirteen have been perused researching John Smith.� The most important record is the "Bound Indents" which are handwritten (in our case in beautiful copperplate) lists of convicts transported on each voyage of the convict ships.� These were also transcribed to the "Printed Indents".� They give the convicts standing number, his indent number, his name, age, education, religion, marital status, children, native place, trade, offence, tried where and when, sentence, former convictions, height, complexion, colour of hair and eyes, particular marks or scars and his colonial history.� Our John Smith's number was 34/1822, indent number 48, age 20, could read, Protestant, single, from Cheshire, plumbers labourer, convicted of picking pockets, tried at the Lancaster Quarter Sessions on 21st October 1833, former conviction of three months for the same offence, height 5 ft 5 1/2 inches, fair ruddy, hair sandy brown, blue eyes, had lost one upper tooth, scar outer corner of left eye, wart back of forefinger of right hand, small scar back of left thumb, small wart inside left thumb: his only colonial history was the insertion of his ticket of leave number.� These particulars and description followed him on most documents to do with his sentence carried out in Australia.

�� On arrival in Port Jackson the Surgeon Supt summarised a� muster of the convicts, in this case "Mustered 218, sick on shore 5, sick on board 4, died on board 3, total number as per indent 230 (sic).

�� On arrival in Australia convicts were assigned to work for free settlers who applied for them or to gangs building roads and public works for the Government. Our John was assigned to a man named Thomas Shadlow according to the "General Return of Convicts in New South Wales 1837".� In this return there are 28,299 names listed alphabetically with each name allotted a consecutive number.� Of these there were 142 John Smiths, but our John, number 23664, is easily recognised as his particulars are shown as age 21, ship Roslyn Castle, year 1834, Master Thomas Shadlow, District Penrith.� It can only be assumed that he worked for Shadlow from the time of his arrival in 1834 till the time of the above return; note the apparent error in his age, when convicted he was 20 but was 21 on arrival, to which this age refers, so it is he alright.� Thos Shadlow's name is shown in the same book in the section "Index of Employers" as the master of 23664, and he only had the one assigned convict at that time. In the "General Muster and Land Stock Muster of NSW 1822", Shadlow himself is shown as a convict, number A18863, arriving on the ship "Baring", occupation Govt Servant, sentence 7 years, and his employer was Jacob Russell at Windsor.� By the time our John came out Shadlow had served his time.� In the 1828 Census Shadlow was "28 years, free by servitude, came out on the Baring in 1821, religion Protestant, Farmer, Residence Evan(?), wife Lucy born in the colony, William age 3, Eliza age 1".�� Unfortunately there is no reference to him in the 1841 Census Return for the Windsor area, but in the Marriage Register 1840-1940 of St Mary Magdalene Church of England, St Marys, two Shadlows appear, George Shadlow married Elizabeth Sarah Marsden, both of South Creek, on 6th February 1855, and Elizabeth Shadlow married William Ransley both of South Creek on 28th September 1853.� In the "Nepean Times" for 8th August 1883 there appeared a short notice:-

"DEATH OF ONE OF OUR OLDEST RESIDENTS ----We have this week to record the death of one of the pioneers of this district.� Mr Thomas Shadlow, who had been a resident of the district for upwards of sixty years, joined the great majority last week, at the ripe old age of 84.� Mr Shadlow built the first house in the town of Penrith, and while in his prime occupied a leading position in society.� For a number of years he has resided on his farm at Eagle Vale, but of late years his intellect was somewhat affected, and he took no part in the doings of the district.� His family long since grown up, married and settled, are numerous.� His widow, who by the bye, is native of the Colony, still lives and is apparently in good health.� She has ever been a good old soul, a loving wife, a kind mother, and a most obliging neighbour; she has now passed the three score years and ten."

�� On the same list mentioned above (and same page) at the Penrith City Library in alphabetical sequence is the marriage of our John and this list was the first indication that he was a convict (and leading to all the foregoing information) - his entry is "Smith, John, 27, came Roslyn Castle 1833, (sic) 7Y, South Creek", and immediately underneath "Elizabeth Grahame, 19, free imm, South Creek, parents consent, 18th Aug 1845".

�� A convict transported for seven years became eligible for a "Ticket of Leave" after four years satisfactory service under one master, or five years under two masters, and had not been in trouble.� Such was the case with John and why there is no record of him in the "Reports of the Superintendent of Convicts of Crimes Committed in NSW".

�� "The ticket of leave was issued to convicts to allow them to acquire property or work on their own behalf on the condition that they reside within a specified district.� Attendance at� church every week was compulsory, as was appearing before a Magistrate when required, and not moving to another district without permission (if he did his TOL could be cancelled). In order to be eligible for a TOL, prisoners had to apply though their masters to the Bench of Magistrates.� The Bench would then recommend that the convict receive a TOL".

�� No record has been found of a written application by John or someone on his behalf for his TOL, but it was duly issued, number 38/1930, on 20th November, 1838.� The butt of his TOL is incomplete, insofar as the spaces for Native Place, trade or calling, offence, year of birth, height, complexion, hair, eyes, and general remarks are not filled in, Magistrate Evan apparently satisfied just to give his number, ship, master of ship, year, place of trial and sentence, and he was allowed to remain in the district of Penrith on recommendation of "Evan Bench dated July 1838".

�� The next information on John is the butt of a "Ticket of Leave Passport" number 39/191 issued to him on the 29th June 1839.� The TOL restricted him to the Police District of Penrith but the passport allowed him to "proceed to the station of Mr George Cupitt at the Lachlan river to muster cattle etc for 3 months on the recommendation of the Penrith Bench", his name, ship, year of arrival, where tried, when tried, sentence, TOL number, besides the foregoing quote, are also shown on the printed form.� Whether John, by now, had left the employ of Thomas Shadlow and working for George Cupitt is not clear, or even if he was working on his own behalf, but it appears to be the former.�� In the "General Muster and Land and Stock Muster of 1822" there is a John Cupitt of Windsor, Landholder age 22, Lucy 17 his wife and G and F, children of them.� Unless there was another George Cupitt in the Windsor area, the G Cupitt of the muster (now a man) and the George Cupitt owner of the property at the Lachlan River, must be the same George.� In the Stock and Land Muster entry number "B00379 Windsor" is shown as Cubitt (sic) John, how held - Grant and tenant, resided on farm; he had in acres nine of wheat, eight of maize, two of barley, cleared ground 40, and a total of 80; 13 head of horned cattle, 55 hogs, and had in hand seven bushells of wheat and 150 of maize.

�� By now, 1839, John Smith would have been well qualified for the life which followed.

�� It is shown in the story of the Grahames that John was living with them at the time of the census, or at the very least, under their roof on the night of the census in 1841.� That same year John was granted his Certificate of Freedom, and he was now free to do what he liked and go where he liked.� The certificate showed the same particulars as the TOL, but this time all the details are filled in entirely - no doubt because of it's importance. His �Trade or Calling� is shown now as �Plumber & Glazier� � and this is the only indication that he was a glazier as well as a plumber; on the �Indents� he is shown as a �plumbers laborer�, which is probably what he was.� His description now reads "lost one front upper tooth, scar outer corner of left eye, scar inside top of left thumb, two scars back of hand, small scars back of middle and third fingers of left hand", slightly different from the description on the indents, and his eyes now grey instead of blue, with his height now 5 ft 5.� On the bottom of the form is written an initialled note "Held TOL 38/1930 dated 20 Nov 1838 now surrendered", and another "noted", followed by another set of initials, both indecipherable.� Apparently John had given no trouble as a convict as there is still no record of him in the "Superintendent of Convict Reports" for the period of his sentence.�

�� Whether John still worked or lived with Duncan Grahame from 1841 is not known but the next record of him is his marriage to Elizabeth, who was now 18 years old, so it is probable that he did.� The marriage took place at St.Marys Church of England in the Parish of South Creek, county of Cumberland "by banns" on 18th August 1845, the ceremony being performed by the Rev B Lucas Watson with the "consent of the Father of E Grahame".� The witnesses were Elizabeth's brother Duncan and sister Helen.� Neither Elizabeth nor Helen signed their names on the certificate of marriage, but made their mark with an "X" which is strange, as Helen subsequently signed her name at her own marriage in South Australia.�� St.Marys is right on the old main road at St Marys, and now hardly recognisable as the church it must have been, being now used as a recreational hall since the building of the new church.

�� The next record is the birth of their first child Sarah Ann, born on 3rd August 1846, and baptized as a Presbyterian on 18th September by the Rev Mathew Adam at St Mathews Church Windsor.� In this record John's occupation is shown as "farmer" and abode �Robbs Creek�, apparently a phonetic error for "Ropes Creek", and here again it is a pity that no record of John's farm, if he had one, can be found.� St.Mathews is a magnificent church built at the instigation of Governor Macquarie and completed in 1821 to the plans of the famous convict architect Francis Greenway; it has beautiful stained glass windows and many elaborate memorials around the walls.

�� Apparently all convicts had to apply for permission to marry to the Superintendent of Convicts, even though they may have served their term.� These permissions are listed in "AO Fiche 801 Applications to Marry 1842-1851� - Reel 4/4514" which supports this contention, also an alphabetical list of marriages from the marriage register 1840-1940 of the St Mary Magdalene Church of England St Marys gives the same particulars which are shown on AO Fiche 801, i.e. name, age, ship, sentence.� However John and Elizabeth are not on this Fiche nor the companion Fiche "Refusals or Permission to Marry".

�� Unfortunately nothing is known of the parents of John Smith and the rest of their family other than their names, years of birth of the parents and two children, and date of birth and christening of the other eight children. Initially the marriage of James Smith and Jane Fletcher and the birth of our John was found in the 1992 IGI when it came out, and finally Family Group Record (F5 030 7207/8, taken from the Parish Register of Newchurch by Culcheth) was obtained from the CLDS at Utah with details of the whole family.� There is no knowledge as to whether John kept in contact with them, but apparently not, otherwise something would have been handed down through oral or written family history.

�� One avenue of research to find out whether the family remained in Culcheth where they had all been born is the record of the 1841 Census in the UK.� In the Census for Culcheth there are two households of Smiths which must be ours, both are houses in Twiss Green, and there is a third in Little London Street which could well be ours, viz:-

James Smith 55 Cotton Weaver:
Thomas Smith 7

Jain (sic) Smith Silk Weaver
Ann Smith 30 Silk Weaver
Betty Smith Silk Weaver
William Smith 15
Peter Smith 13
Sarah Smith 9
Eliza Smith
Mary Smith Silk Weaver

�� James, Jain, Sarah and Thomas match perfectly with the birth/christening records we already have; William and Peter were both christened in 1824 in our record which would have made them both 17 at the time of the census, but quite often a christening date is no indication of the date of birth: to make the census figure right, William would have been born in 1826 or 27, and Peter in 1827 or 28 and this would mean a transcription of typographical error by the person copying from the Parish Register for the "Lancashire Parish Registers Society" in 1987 or a similar error from there to the records of the Church of Latter Day Saints, but whatever the error is, it does seem, by virtue of the Census Record, that William and Peter are brothers and children of Jain at least; the baby Eliza's proper name is Elizabeth and daughter of Ann according to the IGI, but no father of the child is shown in that record; Betty could be Martha (Martha Elizabeth e.g.) but her age could not be more than 24, but ages and dates are only as good as the persons knowledge giving the information or in this case filling in the census form;� both Ann and Betty could have been relatives of James Smith living with them at the time;� Mary may have been living at the home of her employee which was quite a common practise at the time, and Sarah and Thomas fit in very well.�� The researcher engaged to search court records in Manchester advised that in the 1841 census returns ages up to 14 were exact, for persons 15 and older ages are given in five year groups indicated by the youngest year of the group; that is ages 15 to 19 inclusive are shown as 15, and this explains the age of 15 given to William when he would have actually been 17.� He advised a search of the 1851 census to confirm the conclusions made, but this was not done. Possibly others doing the same Smith family may do so.

�� In the census there are listed 2193 persons living in Culcheth of which 69 are Smiths, but the persons listed above are the only possible ones that can be ours, and it appears that we can accept this.

�� Like most towns of the time Culcheth had its workhouse in which there were 85 persons, including three Smiths, and goes to show what hard times these were.

�� The area in which the Smiths lived in Culcheth is described in the Enumerators Schedule as :-

"All that part of the Township of Culcheth lying on the Westerly side of the Highway beginning at the said Brook near the Raven and Extending as far as the Lane leading from the Harrow to Newtown and including the whole of Farley Common and part of Twiss Green then crossing the said Lane take the Westerly side of Cinders Lane comprising the remainder of Twiss Green".

Twiss Green and Twiss Green Lane can be seen on a 1928 Ordnance Survey Map sent by the Librarian at Manchester and also Little London Street.

�� As in the case of the Olivers in the 1851 census of Selkirk, it would be interesting to see a contemporary map of the area and relate it to a present day one. Probably there are descendants of these Smiths still living in Culcheth, and it would be an interesting exercise to try and find them.

THE OVERLAND TREK TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA

�� Why was it that John Smith and Duncan Grahame decided to overland to South Australia.� They were both shown as "Farmers" on birth/marriage certificates, and therefore reasonable to assume that they were settled and reasonably well off.� Could it have been that they had heard that South Australia was anxious to have settlers on the land; because it was only a new colony and land there was relatively cheap, did John want to start a new life away from his convict background, and had they heard that South Australia desperately wanted stock.� Nothing has come to light to indicate why they took such a long, hazardous and arduous journey.� The first such overland trek had been undertaken by two men, namely Bonney and Hawden, who left Cape Howe in January 1838 with 300 head of cattle; the explorer Sturt was the second, leaving Sydney with 300 cattle and some sheep in December 1837; the third was explorer John Eyre leaving Goulburn in April 1838.� No doubt by 1846 other overlanders had done the journey, but it would not have been many, and just eight years later there would have been no roads and no towns, just a few isolated stations.� There may have been defined tracks, but fording of rivers and creeks, feed for bullock teams and stock as well as for themselves would have been a major problem.� As against these both John and Duncan by now would have been resourceful and experienced men.

�� Oral family history in the Olivers is that Sarah Ann was the first white child to cross the Darling River, and this could well be so.� At Wentworth the Rotary club there has erected a monument at the point across the Darling where Bonney and Hawden crossed it and in 1996 Ray handed to a Rotarian there a letter addressed to the President of Rotary (who was absent at the time) stating the claim that Sarah Anne was the first white child to cross the Darling, hoping that at least the letter would be put in the historical museum there but he heard nothing of it and assumed nothing was done, but it should be an interesting claim to Wentworth historians. Oral history also has it that John and Duncan brought sheep with them for Sir Henry Newland, and this also could well have been so, although nothing is known of any connections with Newland who had extensive properties in SA.

�� Sarah Ann was baptised at Windsor on 13th September 1846, so the trek must have been made after that date and before 4th May 1848, the date of the birth of John's and Elizabeth's second child, John Fletcher Smith.� The death certificate of John Smith puts the arrival in Adelaide at 1846, but this can not be so, and the most likely probability is March 1847.

�� The obituary of Elizabeth from the "Jeparit Leader" of December 1926, quoted below in full, gives an account of the journey and subsequent movements of the Smiths.� There are some inaccuracies which research has revealed, and these are explained below as well.

OBITUARY
A Centenarian Passes
Granny Smith

�� Residents of the District, especially those settled in the district a number of years will hear with regret of the demise of Elizabeth Smith which occurred at her residence Broadway Street Jeparit on Thursday last.

�� "Grannie" as she was more familiarly called, was one of Jeparit's oldest residents, if not the last of the first settlers of the District.� Her family was well known throughout the Wimmera and those whom she aided were legion.

�� Each year as her birthday came around there were those who were anxious to wish her the compliments of the day, and it is only recently that she entertained the residents at a birthday party.� She was 105 years old and 11 months of age at the time of her death , and within a week or so of celebrating her 106th birthday.� She was one of those hardy old pioneers, was troubled not at adversity, and was always of a happy and communicative disposition.

�� Born in Glasgow Scotland, she left at the age of 12 years with her parents for Australia on the sailing ship "The Duncan of Liverpool", and the trip to Australia took 6 months.� She landed in Sydney 93 years ago and lived there for 13 years during which time she married.� She left with her husband and parents, brothers and sisters en route for Adelaide, four waggons were requisitioned for the journey, and many hardships were endured on the long trip which lasted several months.� Those days the blacks were troublesome and many were the encounters with� the coloured tribes.� They were forced to camp on the river Murray for some weeks to spell the horses and bullock teams and while in camp made friends with the blacks.

�� Great interest was shown by the blacks in the baby girl of Mrs Smith (now Mrs Oliver of Victor Harbour South Australia) who was the first white child to cross the Darling River (81 years ago).� Arriving at Adelaide they lived at Port Adelaide for ten years, and later went to the Inman Valley where they engaged in farming for 30 years.� After their long stay in this spot they decided to try their luck in Victoria, and with the sons of their family migrated to this district, settling on the Tullyvea Station, later on the farm now owned by Mr E F Smith, and for the past 17 years in Broadway Jeparit.� As Showing the virility of the early settlers, deceased was 52 years of age when her youngest son was born, this fact causing great comment among the medical profession at that time.� Deceased has enjoyed remarkably good health for one so advanced in years, and it is only during the last few months that she has shown signs of failing health.� To all she had a cheery voice, and no one enjoyed conversation more than she did.� There are a large number in this district to whom she acted as nurse in babyhood and necessarily there was a touch of friendship existing among a wide circle.� Her husband pre-deceased her by 28 years.� Of a family of 11, 7 are left to mourn the loss of a fond devoted mother, viz: Mrs J Oliver Victor Harbour SA: Mr George Smith Jeparit: Mrs W Kelly Cowangie: Mrs E Machell Goodwood SA: Mrs G Shiell Jeparit: Miss M Smith Jeparit: and Mr E F Smith Jeparit.

�� The funeral took place on Friday afternoon last and a large crowd followed the remains to their last resting place.� An impressive service was conducted at the graveside, and many floral tributes were indicative of the esteem in which she was held.

�� Messrs Stafford and Sons carried out mortuary arrangments.

Elizabeth's age is given in the report as 105 years and 11 months, and there is no doubt that her family genuinely thought that that was in fact her age, and she herself may have thought so, but her true age was 99 years 11 months and two weeks.� The date of her birth, as transcribed by the Family History Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints from Parish Records of the Free Church of Scotland for East Kilpatrick, Dunbarton (near Glasgow), was 19th December 1826, and she was christened on the 29th.� Her place of birth is shown as Westertown East Kilpatrick, Dunbarton; the birth dates and christenings of her brothers and sisters also are given (except for Marion who was born in Australia).� Her age on the shipping record, "11 on 17th Dec 1837", confirms 1826 as her year of birth, as also is inferred by the marriage date of her parents, 3rd December 1825.� Possibly the six years difference come about because of the difference in times of arrival in Sydney of the "Roslyn Castle" and the "Duncan"; possibly Elizabeth and John wanted to narrow the gap in their ages which was in fact 13 years; or it possibly could have been just some obvious mistake.� Although it is a shame to disprove her age of 105 years, it takes nothing from the fact that she had an eventful, useful, and sometimes hard life that she and others of her era led, and in any case two weeks short of 100 is still a grand old age.

�� She actually landed in Sydney 88 years before her death, spent 8 years in the Penrith/Windsor area, 41 years in SA at Adelaide and the Inman Valley, and 39 years in Victoria on Tullyvea and in Jeparit.

�� Elizabeth's youngest son, Edward Fletcher Smith, was born on 25th March 1874, so that she was in her 47th year at the time, and not 52, but here again it was genuinely thought that she was 52.

�� John died on the 7^th September 1897 and� Elizabeth on 2^nd December 1926; both are buried in the same grave at Jeparit Cemetery, with a magnificent headstone, erected by their son George, who never married, and who died on 16th December 1938, and is also buried in the same grave.

�� Three photographs of Elizabeth have been found, including one taken in 1911/12 showing herself, daughter Amelia, grandson James Kelly, and great grandson William Kelly; in another she is sitting at a cane table on which is an elaborate cake standing on a glass cake stand.� This was probably her alleged 100th birthday; in a third she is sitting outside what appears to be the farm house.� There is also a poor one of her in a newspaper cutting.� In the three photos she is dressed in long black dresses and wearing black bonnets;� in the newspaper cutting her headgear appears to be a white mob cap and from a photo which must have been taken much earlier.

�� The ruin of the original homestead of the Smiths is still standing on Tullyvea. John and Elizabeth had eleven children, and at the time of writing 163 of their descendants (exclusive of the descendants of Sarah Ann) have been recorded.� There are many more not found yet or recorded here.�� This research is only concerned with the descendants of Sarah Ann, but every effort was made to trace all her nephews and nieces as first cousins of Charles Ashton Oliver, and therefore second cousins of his children, the Olivers of Broken Hill.

�� Of Sarah Ann's brothers and sisters, the second Smith child was James Fletcher Smith, born 4th May 1848 in Adelaide; on 16th April 1878 he married Alison A J Simounds, and they had six children.� Two of the sons remained bachelors and the four others married.� None of his grandchildren were found, but it is thought that descendants of his may still be living in the Victor Harbour area.� James died in 1910 at Port Elliot.

�� The third child, Duncan Smith, must certainly have been born in Adelaide, probably 1852, but it is thought that his birth was not recorded, as an application for his birth certificate was returned "no result".� Duncan married Lucy Kent Tucker in 1875 and they farmed at Hoyleton.� They had 13 children, and he must have been very conscious of Smith being such a common name as he gave ten of them three christian names.� Marriages of seven of his children were traced and two of his descendants corresponded with in this research. �He died on 7th September 1900, in the same year as his youngest child Jewel was born, and at time of writing still alive in Sydney in a home;� she was known to have had a photo of John Smith but enquiries from a near relative of hers failed to bring it to light.� Eighty-two of Duncan's descendants have been� recorded at time of writing..

�� Nothing has been found of the fourth child John Smith, and it is thought that his birth was not registered either. He had died by the time of his father�s death in 1897.

�� The fifth child, George Smith, never married; he was born in 1856 at the Inman Valley, and it was apparently he who arranged the removal of the family to Tullyvea in 1883.� He died in Jeparit on 16th December 1928, and it was he who erected the headstone on his parents grave and is also buried with them.

�� The sixth Child, Amelia Margaret Smith, was born on 14th August 1859 and married William James Kelly in Adelaide on 15th April 1880. They had three children and 13 grandchildren and a fellow researcher and great grand daughter of Amelia recorded about 162 descendants of those grandchildren. She died on 23rd October 1943 and is buried in Mitcham cemetery SA.

�� Amelia must have remained close to her sister Sarah Ann, as she is known to have visited her in Victor Harbour, and in a codicil to Sarah Ann's will she directed that "Amelia Margaret Kelly and my son William have the right to occupy my house and land for one year etc".� One of Sarah Ann's grandchildren who stayed with her on many occasions observed that Amelia "talked a lot" A very good photo of she and her husband William, taken in say, their sixties has survived.

�� The seventh child Mary Elizabeth Smith, born 19th April 1862, married George Machell on 2nd October 1884.� They had five children with a total of 26 descendants recorded, of whom the husband of a great grand daughter is a current correspondent at the time of writing. Mary Elizabeth died in Adelaide in 1946 and is buried in the North Road Cemetery at Nailsworth

�� The eighth child, Henry Fletcher Smith, was born on 16th November 1864, but nothing further is known of him other than that he had died before 1897, the year in which his father died. On his father's death certificate he is listed, by his brother Edward, the informant, as "dead".

�� The ninth child, Ellen Jane Smith, born 28th June 1866, married George P Shiell and through the courtesy of a correspondent, a photo of her was obtained and also one of she and her husband.� From them she appears to have been a very self assured lady, in the one taken with her husband complete with feather boa and elaborate hat, whilst he appears to be a shy looking man!!!! They had three children, and nine descendant have been recorded but apart from that nothing more is known of Ellen Jane, other than that according to a daughter in law of her brother Edward "she was a lovely lady". She was the informant on her mothers death certificate and was "present at death".� A line to be followed here is that Andrew Oliver married a Margaret Shiell and it is quite possible that George was a relative of hers through the connection of the Smiths, Olivers and Shiells being residents of Victor Harbour� before the Smiths left for Tullyvea

�� The tenth child was Marion Louise who never married, but was a well known personality in Jeparit, and ran a boarding house there for many years.

�� The youngest child, Edward Fletcher Smith, born 25th March 1874, at the Inman Valley married Ethel Sturtzel, and had four children. His son Edward George, had three children, of whom one son, Keith George Smith was farming the property at the time of a visit to Tullyvea and Edward George's widow Florrie was still living there.

�� A very nice studio portrait of him was obtained through the courtesy of one of his grand daughters who became a correspondent. She and another grand daughter had recorded 86 descendants of Edward Fletcher.