B2. Branches Samuel Young and Ann Eades Rebecca Jillett

            Branches  Samuel Young and Ann Eades

Hobart over the Years

 
 

Samuel Young and Ann Eades

In England, Samuel Young was a Porter. He was born in 1769.

You could say for a person who stole calico, he didn't do to badly in his new life in the Colony.  From being tried at the Old Bailey and apprehended by the Police, to sentenced to death, commuted to life transported, then in exchange for enlisting in the 102nd Foot in 1796, being granted lands, to then being the police in 1818 in Hobart.

From the Old Bailey - his sentence

SAMUEL YOUNG was indicted for feloniously stealing, on the 12th of October , four cotton shawls, value 7 s. and six pieces containing thirty-five yards of printed calico, value 7 l. the property of George Anstie and William Baker , privily in their shop .

(The case opened by Mr. Garrow.)

GEORGE ANSTIE sworn.

I am a linen draper in Catherine-street, Strand , my partner's name is William Baker , I have no other; Mr. Welch of New Compton-street, was employed by us as our calenderer; the prisoner was a porter coming to our shop, for six or eight months, he came and opened his wrapper on the counter, and whatever we had for him to take to his master, we used to put into the sheet, or by the sheet, and enter them in a book; there were frequently a great many other goods on the counter within reach; on the 13th of October, I received information from Mr. Welch of a suspicion, and went to Bow-street, there I found several articles, four cotton shawls and about three or four pieces of printed callico for gowns; I did not go the prisoner's lodging.

CHARLES JEALOUS sworn.

I am an officer at Bow-street; on the 12th of October, I went to the house of Cranfield Richmond , No. 20, Monmouth-street, in a one pair of stairs back room, I found the prisoner, and Richmond, and his wife sitting at dinner; I desired to speak to Richmond and called him to the door, I immediately turned my eye back, and saw the prisoner with this piece of chintz, and attempting to throw it out of the window of the one pair of stairs back room, I laid hold of him immediately; I asked Richmond in the presence of the prisoner, if the prisoner had any box, he said yes two, one locked and one not locked; I found in that room a box, and in that box this property belonging to Mr. Anstie, all the pieces were in the box, in that room where they were sitting at dinner, here is one piece of printed callico, which I found in his hand, here are four cotton shawls, here are five more pieces of printed callico, these are the articles I found in this room.

Prisoner. It was not that piece that I had in my hand; I had three handkerchiefs in my hand.

Jealous. This is the piece he had in his hand, I put a paper on it, and have kept it ever since.

JAMES WELCH sworn.

I am a calendar glazer: the prisoner has been in my service a twelve-month, his business was to collect things and carry others; I went with Jealous to Richmond's, we found Richmond, his wife, the prisoner, and a child, sitting round a table to dinner; immediately on seeing us, the family were alarmed; Jealous called Richmond out, we went immediately into the room, the woman begun crying out; Richmond said for God's sake, Mr. Welch, do not hurt me, I will tell you all; the prisoner must hear it; the door was open; we went into the room, the woman began crying, she said there are goods in this box, and in another box; the prisoner was much agitated, and threw a handkerchief out of the back room window; Jealous immediately held his hands, the box was opened, and I saw the things in the indictment found: we took him in a coach to the justice's with the things.

CRANFIELD RICHMOND sworn.

I live at No. 20, Monmouth-street; I knew the prisoner fifteen years, he came to my house a month ago, to board at three shillings a week; he brought goods there, they were callicos, he brought them in a trunk, I went with him to fetch it from Wood-street, Westminster, and brought it to my house; the next morning he broke the trunk open in my presence, it contained things in brown papers, some were open which contained muslins, that was three days before Mr. Jealous came, they were the trunks of the prisoner, they were the things he brought in the trunks three days before, part of them were the same goods.

ANN RICHMOND sworn.

I remember the prisoner coming to board at our house, he brought some things in a trunk, some were wrapped up in papers, and appeared to me to be muslins; Jealous came three days after, he took away the prisoner's boxes. On a Saturday the prisoner brought his box, and on Monday night he broke it open, and it contained a deal of property, and I said, Sam, I would not wish that trunk to be opened. I lent him a box, and a good lock and key. On Tuesday he brought home four handkerchiefs, three of them were South Sea handkerchiefs; he gave me one. On Wednesday Jealous and Welch came in, and called out to my husband, I said I had no goods but what was Samuel Young 's; I fell a crying, and said Sam, what have you done? I said I will shew you his goods. Samuel Young , his ownself, at a quarter past nine on Saturday night, brought those articles which Jealous took away on the Wednesday.

(The things deposed to by the marks made by a person in colouring.)

Mr. Alderman Watson. Do you ever sell any of these goods, and let them go out of your shop with the mark upon them? - Yes, I dare say we do sometimes on the shawls. This is my private mark, I never sold any to the prisoner. This is a printed callico, here are two other pieces of callico which have no marks, but are our sort and pattern, with Mr. Welch's name and mark on them.

EDWARD CLARKE sworn.

I am shopman to the prosecutor, this mark I swear to, and the price and shop mark in my hand writing; we sometimes sell these articles with the mark on them. This piece was in our possession on the 3d of October, I do not believe it ever was disposed of in trade; I have been in the shop ever since, and should have seen it go if it had been sold. These shawls have the private mark of Anstie and Baker, I cannot tell who made it; I know the patterns of these pieces that have Welch's marks; we had such patterns, there are pieces without marks, I know those patterns; the sixth I know not.

Welch. Here is my mark on two of the three pieces, which proves to me to a certainty that at some time I have received this piece from Anstie and Baker: it is made by me in chalk, it is a hasty way to mark hundreds and thousands. A. B. I recollect no other customers whose names begin so, but Anstie and Baker; the other piece has an A. only, which is not so satisfactory.

Court. What is the value of these articles? - The four cotton shawls are worth about 7 s. the chintz, which was found in his hands, is worth 16 s. the other articles are worth 5 l.

GUILTY , Death .

(Aged 22.)

Mr. Garrow informed the Court he should give up the other twelve indictments against this prisoner.

Tried by the first Middlesex Jury before Mr. RECORDER.

Born 1769.    Occupation porter. Colony New South Wales.

6 records. British Transportation Registers. Home Office Criminal Entry Books. Capital Convictions at the Old Bailey. England and Wales Criminal Registers. Judges Reports on Convicts. Old Bailey Proceedings.    Mentioned in judge's report   15th February 1792

Age 23 Additional information 11. Samuel Young October 1791 - all to be transported for life

16th February 1792  Arrived 7th October 1792  Age 23   Aboard the Royal Admiral

In 1796 he was granted lands if he remained serving in the Military in the Colony

In 1800 he was granted a 15 year lease in Parramatta at 15 shillings and 3 pence. In 1819 he was listed with Samuel Gunn and Garth, in the Census Book, as a Constable.

No doubt being in the 102nd Foot of the New South Wales Regiment, he came in contact with Ann Eades, whose father and step father were both in the same unit.   The inevitable occurred, and they were married in April 1800.  In August 1800 their daughter was born.  She was baptised aged three months of age.

Ann Eades and Samuel Young were married in 28th April 1800 in St Phillips Sydney

Daughter Elizabeth was born in August 1800

In 1806 he received issues of beer at Parramatta.

In 1809 he was named as having land 5.5 roods in Town.  In January 1818 he was listed as a person with Land Grants at Parramatta being a Private in the 102 Regt.

By 1798, he had gained the rank of Staff Sergeant in the pay section under Capt. John McArthur, Acting Paymaster. In 1810 he was one of the few who joined the replacement regiment, Macquarie’s 73^rd Regiment as Quartermaster.

William was baptised at the St John's Church Parramatta in 1802

Samuel and Ann's children
1.      Elizabeth Young                                   1800 - 1829
2.      William Young                                     1802 - 1866
3.      Ann Young                                           1804 - 1822
4.      Mary Young                                         1806 - 1859
5.      Charlotte Mary Ann Young                  1809 - 1838
6.      Sarah Young                                        1812 - 1822
7.      Susannah Young                                  1816 - 1823
8.      Lucy Young                                         1817 -  1817
9.      John Young                                          1820 - 1848
10.   Charles Young                                      1823 - 1888

So many of the children failed to live past their teenage years.

Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter (Tas. : 1816 - 1821), Saturday 29 March 1817, page 1

TWENTY POUNDS REWARD.  COURT HOUSE-HOBART TOWN,

MONDAY, 24th MARCH, 1817

'Whereas in the dead of the Night of Saturday last. the 22nd Instant, a most atrocious and malicious attack was made on the Dwelling Houses of SAMUEL YOUNG and CHARLES DONN, two of the Constables for Hobart Town; whereby the Lives of the Families residing therein, were endangered, and the properties much damaged, and there being good Reason for believing that these Outrages were committed by some of the Persons who were engaged in the alarming affray which took place in Argyle Street in the Afternoon of the preceding Day, with intent to Intimidate and Deter the Peace Officers from performing their Duty, His Honour LIEUTENANT Governor has thought proper return me to offer, and I do hereby offer a Reward of TEN POUNDS Stirling, to any Person or Persons who will give such Information as will lead to the apprehension and Conviction of the Offender or Offenders concerned in the attack on the House of Samuel Young ; and a further Reward of TEN POUNDS STERLING, to any Person or Persons who will give like Information respecting the Person or Persons who attacked the House of Charles Donn, on the aforesaid night.

A. W. H. HUMPHREY, Justice of the Peace

Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter (Tas. : 1816 - 1821), Saturday 13 September 1817, page 1

NOTICE. - SAMUEL YOUNG, a Waterman and Constable, having illegally conveyed Spirits without a Permit from the Mermaid cutter to the Shore, His Honour the Lieutenant Governor has thought proper to direct me to make known, that the said Samuel Young is excluded from the Privilege of plying to and from the Shipping in this Port. A. W. H. Humphrey

From the description below, he had a lease at Forbes district which may be Bridgewater.

CAUTION
.

I Hereby caution the public not to purchase on any account my grants of land, situate at Grasstree hill, township of Bridgewater, adjoining the grants of George Guest and Samuel Young. Also an allotment in upper Bathurst street, Hobart town - the above named grants being my sole property.

THOMS. KANE  Pensioner 46th Regt,

THE Public, and particularly Mr. Crombie, and Mr. McKee are hereby cautioned not to trespass on my Farm, in the district of Forbes bounded by the farms of Mr. George Guest and Mr. Samuel Young, and granted to me by Governor Macquarie in the Year 1821, by cutting timber, quarrying stone, depasturing cattle or otherwise, as I am in future resolved to prosecute all offenders. T. KANE, Pensioner of the 46th Regt.

He lived in Murray Street Hobart, where he died 18 January 1837

Catherine Miller

Catherine (Katherine) Miller.  Catherine was born in England and married a member of the Military, Private Joseph Eades.  With Joseph and her three children she arrived in Australia on board the Surprise

After his death she married James Brackenrig, and had more children.

Catherine was the daughter of James Miller and Elizabeth Weston.  In England their names were recorded as Millard, and Catherine was Kitty.

Her father was a carpenter and he married Elizabeth Weston in 1764.  He died in 1790.  Elizabeth Weston was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Weston and was born in 1734.

Kitty Millard was baptised 1765

In 1783 she married Joseph Eades.

Joseph and Catherine were married in 1783 at Aston Juxa in Birmingham England. The children were Ann, William and Mary.  Joseph married Kitty Millard (Catherine Miller) on the 19th May 1783 at St Peter and St Paul Church Aston, in Birmingham.

Joseph was the son of Josiah and Elizabeth Eades and he was baptised at St Martin's Birmingham in 1768.

His mother was Elizabeth Kendal born 1740. He was the only son, with 4 sisters. His parents married at Harborne, Stafford, England 1761

Joseph Eades and Catherine named their children in the traditional English naming pattern, with Ann, Elizabeth, Mary, and Sarah also being the names of his sisters.

Joseph enlisted as a private in the NSW Corp in 25 June 1789 and embarked on the transport ship "Surprise" on 13 November 1789 with his wife Catherine, and three young children, Ann, Mary and Joseph, arriving in Sydney on 28 June 1790.

In 1794, he had been granted lands. 

Joseph Eades was granted 25 acres at Petersham Hill on 3 December 1794 as confirmed by his mention on a list of all grants and leases of land registered in the Colonial Secretary's office. The land was probably sold soon afterwards (it was offered for sale by Simeon Lord in August 1804). Another daughter born in May 1795 was baptised Viana Brakenrig Eades at Sydney on 25 December 1795.

Two more children were born in the colony, Elizabeth 1792, Viana Brackenrig 1795. Catherine's husband Joseph drowned in Sydney harbour on 21 January 1796. A benefit performance of "The Fair Penitent or Fatal Curiosity" by George Lillis was staged for the widow's benefit in Sydney's recently opened theatre, raising a sum of 12 pounds.

Joseph Eades was buried at Sydney on 24 January 1796 aged 27 years, having drowned in Sydney Harbour the day before. Collins wrote that he had fallen from a rock into the water while cutting rushes for a thatched roof of the hut in which he lived with his wife and five small children. Collins wrote that he was "a quiet man and a good soldier". see "The Second Fleet, Britain's Grim Convict Armada of 1790" by Michael Flynn 1993 p257.

The Brackenrig Family

In February 1796, only four weeks after her husband's death, Catherine married another NSW Corps private, James Brackenrig (b1758 from Lanarkshire Scotland). She signed the marriage certificate with her mark "X" - Her youngest child's middle name indicates that Brackenrig had been a friend of the family.

Catherine bore three children to James Brackenrig, (Charles James in 1797; Sarah in 1801; John in 1804).  Her burial was registered at St John's Parramatta on 25 November 1804, her youngest child John was baptised on the same, perhaps her death had been caused by a difficult childbirth. Although the BDM Indexes for NSW does not list any births in that year, Michael Flynn proposes that Catherine died giving birth to twins, John and Jane Brackenrig.

After the death of her husband Catherine did what most ladies did, she remarried.  This time she married Private James Brackenrig. He served in the Royal North British Dragoons.  Then later the New South Wales Regiment.

James when a member of the RN Brit Dragoons, married Abigail Higham in 1780.

.

The regiment was formed in England in June 1789 as a permanent unit to relieve the New South Wales Marine Corps, who had accompanied the First Fleet to Australia. The regiment began arriving as guards on the Second Fleet in 1790. The regiment, led by Major Francis Grose, consisted of three companies. A fourth company was raised from those Marines wishing to remain in New South Wales under Captain George Johnston, who had been Governor Arthur Phillip's aide-de-camp. 

When Phillip returned to England for respite in December 1792, Grose was left in charge.^[3] Grose immediately abandoned Phillip's plans for governing the colony. A staunch military man, he established military rule and set out to secure the authority of the Corps. He abolished the civilian courts and transferred the magistrates to the authority of Captain Joseph Foveaux. After the poor crops of 1793 he cut the rations of the convicts but not those of the Corps, overturning Phillip's policy of equal rations for all. In a connived attempt to improve agricultural production and make the colony more self-sufficient, Grose turned away from collective farming and made generous land grants to officers of the Corps. They were also provided with government-fed and clothed convicts as farm labour.

James Brackenrig was born in Hamilton Lanark Scotland, and arrived on the Supply in 1791.  The record of the Muster held at the Archives in UK shows he enlisted on 22nd March 1791

ADM 36/10981

In 1810, he was listed on the Chelsea Records as serving in Capt Brabyn's Compy Of Ns Ws Royal Veterans, when he was discharged.  James Brackenrig was then no doubt involved in the Rum Rebellion.
In 1839, aged 71, he was entitled to a pension

Year	1827-39
Regiment	New South Wales Corps
Regiment / service number as transcribed	New So Wales Vetn Co

He served almost 50 years in the Military

He was a member of the 102nd Foot Brigade in NSW

James died 11/3/1844 at Freemans Reach (drowned) and was buried 14/3/1844 at St Matthews Church Cemetery

James Brackenrig was a Freemason - Foundation Senior Deacon at The Australian Social Lodge No. 260

The Foundation Master was Mathew Bacon, the Senior Warden was James Stuart [Stewart], Junior Warden, Joseph Allan, Senior Deacon was James Brackenrig, Thomas Boulton [Bolton] the Banner Bearer and Samuel Clayton, Master of Ceremonies.  The members changed their allegiance to the Grand Lodge of NSW becoming The Australian Social Mother Lodge No.0 on the 24th August, 1878.  On the formation of the United Grand Lodge of NSW it became No.1.  Soon after its centenary in 1920, it became The Lodge of Antiquity No.1.[1]

Of his wife Abigail, there are scant records.

John Brabyn, (1759–1835)   Commander of the NSW Corps

This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 1, (MUP), 1966

John Brabyn (1759?-1835), military officer and settler, entered the army in 1778 and seems to have become a recruiting sergeant before he was appointed an ensign in the New South Wales Corps on 6 May 1795. He sailed with his Spanish wife Mary (d.1796), son and daughter from Ireland next year in command of the military guard in the Marquis Cornwallis. On the voyage he dealt severely with an attempt by Irish convicts, aided by their guards, to take the ship. After he arrived at Port Jackson he was posted to Norfolk Island, where he was granted a lease of nineteen acres (7.7 ha) in October 1796 and performed useful service as a trader, though not in rum. He was promoted lieutenant on 15 August 1800 and soon afterwards returned to Sydney.

In September 1801 he was one of the four officers who examined John Macarthur's pistols before his duel with William Paterson; they discovered defects which were thought to justify Macarthur's extraordinary action in loading them himself when the duel took place. Despite Brabyn's part in this affair, next month he was granted 200 acres (81 ha) by Governor Philip Gidley King. On 14 October 1802 he married Sarah Denison née Howard, the widow of a free settler. Next year he was stationed at Parramatta, where he bought more land, and in March 1804 he won praise from King for helping to quell the Irish convict rising.

After his return to Sydney, Brabyn played an important part in events leading to the deposition of Governor William Bligh in January 1808, for he was a member of the court whose actions at the trial of John Macarthur precipitated the governor's 'arrest' by the military. By continuing to side with Macarthur after the 'rebellion', he incurred the wrath of Major George Johnston, but in November 1808 when an officer was needed at Port Dalrymple, Brabyn, whose promotion to captain had been gazetted in February, was sent to take charge there. Although Paterson thought his discipline too severe, Brabyn carefully obeyed his instructions, pressed on with government buildings, and proved to be one of the best of a poor lot of commandants at Port Dalrymple. He was replaced by Major Gordon in January 1810 and returned to England with the 102nd Regiment.

In January 1812 he returned to Sydney in the Guildford with William Lawson and Archibald Bell, to join the newly formed New South Wales Veteran Company. In March 1816 he expressed the wish to become a settler and Lachlan Macquarie granted Mrs Brabyn 500 acres (202 ha) at Evan.

Brabyn himself went to England. The War Office would not allow him to sell his commission, but as a perquisite the commander-in-chief promised to recommend him for a grant. He returned in the Larkins in command of the guard, with permission to receive the usual indulgences as a settler.
In 1819 he took up a grant of 1200 acres (485 ha) at Prospect and became an industrious farmer.

Not until 1824 was he allowed to retire from the Veterans, but then did so on full pay. He had been appointed to the bench at Windsor in January 1818 and in 1824 reported favourably on the working of trial by jury in courts of sessions. He was one of the founders and keen supporters of the Hawkesbury Benevolent Society, a trustee of the Windsor Charitable Institution, vice-president of the Windsor Bible Association and on the committee of the Agricultural Society. He resigned from the magistracy in 1829 and died at his home, York Lodge, in Windsor on 1 August 1835.

In 1845 his widow complained to Governor Sir George Gipps that her pension of £50 had been stopped in order to satisfy a claim for six cows lent by the government to her husband in 1811; in a generous moment the Colonial Office ordered that her pension be fully paid. One of Brabyn's daughters married the son of Samuel Marsden; another, by a former marriage, married Peter Mills at Launceston.

The land grants and first settlers of Burwood

The earliest recorded settler in Burwood was Sarah Nelson, a free settler who arranged her own passage to Sydney in 1791 after her husband, Isaac Nelson, was convicted and sentenced to seven years penal servitude. Sarah's tiny farm was situated on the spot now called Malvern Hill. It must have been a lonely place in those days because there was no Liverpool Road and the only access to Sydney was a bush track leading out onto Parramatta Road, a little to the east of Cheltenham Road.
Sarah's fate is not recorded, but the 1828 muster shows that Isaac had remarried and had his own farm at Lower Minto.
Another report
Sarah Nelson's earliest neighbour was James Brackenrig, a private soldier in the New South Wales Corps. In 1794, he received a grant in an area then called York Place. His land was bounded by Parramatta Road and the present day streets of Queen, Lang and Acton. Brackenrig did not occupy his farm for long. He had moved to Parramatta by 1806 and his land was eventually absorbed into Joseph Underwood's huge estate of Ashfield Park.

The first settlers followed soon after the establishment of Parramatta Road. Sarah Nelson, the free settler wife of convict Isaac Nelson, was granted 15 acres (6 hectares) in the vicinity of Malvern and Dickinson avenues in 1794. By 1806 she and Isaac had cleared 11 acres (4 hectares) and the farm supported two of their four children. In 1809 Isaac was granted 100 acres (40 hectares) of land on Prospect Creek (now Fairfield) and the family moved, Sarah probably dying there in 1817.

Small grants of 25 and 30 acres (10 and 12 hectares) were also made to James Brackenrigg, Denis Connor and James Eades along Parramatta Road. Lieutenant John Townson and Augustus Alt were each granted 100 acres (40 hectares) in 1793 and 1794 respectively, to the east of Eades's land grant

There is alternative research available which indicates that Joseph Eades may have been a prisoner. 

That is highly unlikely, but there were more than one Joseph Eades in Australia.  In fact one was hung in 1807.   The sources are recorded in a book, "The Second Fleet, Britain's Grim Convict Armada of 1790" by Michael Flynn 1993

To explain. in the same book there is a note that Collins thought that Joseph Eades may have been the man of the same name sentenced at the Old Bailey to 3 years hard labour on the hulks and discharged from the Thames hulk "Justitia" on 12 June 1787, some details contributed by C.Mavin & N.Latta whose research identified the Eades family baptisms in England.

A letter from Julie Lockman contains the following from another Eades researcher.

"Joseph Eades was convicted in England at the Middlesex Sessions for burglary in the dwelling house of John Smith, and stealing a gelding valued at 23 guineas. For this he received the death sentence, commuted to 14 years deportation to America. The crime was committed 23 January 1786. Because of the War of Independence in America, he served some time, three odd years in limbo on the prison hulk 'Justinia' and was discharged to join the NSW Corps...enlisted by Captain Hill".

From details of the Old Bailey Sessions themselves, it seems Joseph's crimes of stealing occurred on the night of 10 July 1782, and a 'gracious pardon' from death by His Majesty on 11 September 1782 was 'on the annexed condition' of 'being transported to America for fourteen years from the time of their respective respites.'

In some cases as indeed may have occurred for Joseph, an original sentence is withdrawn because the prisoner agreed to serve, or a defendant who has been sentenced to death was pardoned on condition of service. After spending three years aboard a hulk, joining such service in the guise of the Police Corps headed for Australia might well have been an opportune moment for Joseph to lead his family away from England to a different life in a foreign land.

Joseph may have previously married Elizabeth Smith on 27 December 1778 in Aston Juxta Birmingham. Warwickshire England. This marriage has not been proven however and no children can be found in the IGI for this couple.

Consider that Middlesex is London, and Birmingham is half a continent away, the likelihood of this being the same person, is debatable, especially without fact.

The children were baptised in Deritend and Bordesley, which is in Birmingham, Warwickshire The church of St John the Baptist was built on Deritend High Street at Chapel House Street. In 1735 it was rebuilt in neo-classical style.

A famous son of Deritend who worshipped at St John's was John Rogers. The son of a local lorimer, born c1500, he attended the Guild School, the Old Crown and went on to Cambridge University. Here he became a priest working with William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale translating the Bible into English. For his protestant views he was burnt at the stake at Smithfield on 4 February 1555, the first protestant martyr under Queen Mary.

 Joseph Eades – 3 July 1807 – Hanged at Sydney for robbing a cart of alcohol and clothing items.  Robert Jillett was lucky to be sent to Norfolk Island, as 1807 was the time of the Rum Rebellion.

 By 1825 there was yet another convict by the name Joseph Eades in Sydney

Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Monday 17 September 1928, page 9

OLD WHALING DAYS

Wreck of the Offley Diver's Investigation'  Captain's Reminiscences

Interesting reminiscences of the brave old days when Hobart was the centre of an important branch of the whaling industry were evoked by discoveries made by an expedition which visited Recherche recently to make an investigation of the sunken remains of the old whaling barque Offley, which passed out of existence some 53 years ago. All that now remains of the old ship is portion of the keel and ballast. Among the articles salvaged from the old wreck was an old leaden basin, originally used by the whalers to wash in, and a quantity of copper fittings.

The expedition returned to Hobart on Thursday, and consisted of four members, namely:-Diver J. W. Hodson, Captain James Gillham, and Messrs. ,T. Fielding and R. Gillham. Diving operations were conducted from the ketch Janet. Diver Hodson was instrumental in blowing up the wreck of another old whaling ship, the Derwent Hunter, concerning which an article was published In this paper a few months ago. When the old coal hulk, Annie Bow, owned by the Union S.S/ Co., sank while alongside one of the Hobart wharves some years ago, he was also employed in her removal, he has descended as deep as any white man in Australia, namely 112'ft, in the River Derwent in 1920.

HISTORY OF THE OFFLEY
.

The Offley, barque, came to Tasmania In the late forties or early fifties, and was engaged in whaling in the Pacific for many years. Subsequently she was bought by the late Dr. W. L. Crowther, whose grandson now practises in Hobart, and is an enthusiastic student of matters connected with Tasmania's early whaling industry. In 1019 he submitted a paper on the subject to the Royal Society of Tasmania. When the Offley was owned by his grandfather she was under Captain J. W. Robinson, and was sent to Kerguelen Island to take sea elephant oil. The schooner Elizabeth Jane was sent after her as tender, but meeting heavy weather en route and springing a leak, was forced to put in at Mauritius.

While there she was condemned, and another schooner, the Flying Squirrel was sent from Hobart in her place. The crew of this vessel, however, mutinied, and she returned to Hobart. Meanwhile the Offley, having been delayed some months, Joined company with an American schooner, the Mary Powell, and landed her shore party at Kurd's Island. A considerable quantity of oil was collected, but just when things were going well, a sudden storm arose, and the vessel, which had 400 tuns of oil on board, was driven ashore, the crew only being saved by a miracle. The Offley, with 100 tuns of oil, returned to Hobart, the venture proving a disastrous one for Dr. Crowther, who lost heavily on it. One of the Offley'a crew lost both of his hands through frostbite during the expedition, and he was afterwards employed, by Dr. Crowther as watchman.

Captain James Scannon, who still lives in Hobart, is one of the "old school" of seafarers, and has had many Interesting experiences during his life-time. He was at one time captain of the schooner Zephyr, which was engaged in whaling operations from Hobart for some years. His next ship was the brig Aladdin, also in the whaling industry. He shipped as mate on the Offley for one voyage, which was very successful, and subsequently was given command of the barque, when she was owned by the late Mr. George Salier, who at that time had a drapery business at the corner of Elizabeth and Liverpool Streets. The vessel was dogged by bad luck, however, and shortly after leaving Hobart on a whaling voyage the chronometer broke down, and Captain Scannon put into Recherche to get a new one. While anchored there a strong easterly gale sprang up, the anchor chain parted, and the vessel went ashore, and was abandoned. Subsequently Mr. Graves, of Southport, bought the hull, and after Stripping It of all Its valuables burnt it. This happened in the year 1875.

A HARD LIFE.

Captain Scannon can tell of the great hardships endured by the men" Who went in search of whales in those days Sometimes they had to work for 14 hours on end, and got so tired at times that they were half-asleep at their work. If they made a good catch it was, often necessary to get the whales, fens-, ed and the blubber rendered down before the weather changed, and it meant working all night and part of the next day. It did not matter whether you, were freezing almost to death, dog-tired, and famished with hunger, you had to stick it out to the bitter end. Then when you were able to turn to what an inviting prospect! Hard bunks, scanty covering, and the food-well, a piece of salt pork and a mug of hot grog was indeed, a luxury banquet.

After a man had been whaling a few years he became so inured to hardship that it made him callous and impervious to suffering. Human lives were reckoned of little account. Scarcely a voyage went by without some member of the crew being seriously injured, and it was quite a frequent occurrence for a man to be swept overboard in a gale. Mr. Scannon has himself been in a ship's boat when it was smashed to atoms by a sperm whale. There is still a headstone In St. David's Park taken from the grave of one Charles Rowell, a seaman off the Flying Childers, who was killed during a similar Incident.

Anyone sufficiently interested in a detailed history of the whaling industry in Tasmania would be well repaid for a visit to the Royal Society's rooms at the Tasmanian Museum, where a copy of Dr, W. L. Crowther's paper may be examined, with the secretary's permission. The paper is included in the bound issue of "Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania, 1917-1910." It gives a fairly complete description of the history of the whaling industry in this State from the early nineteenth century to the nineties, when it faded into obscurity. The last attempt to re-vive the trade was in 1893, when the barque Helen was fitted out for an expedition to the Campbell Islands in search of the black whale, but the venture was, financially a failure,

Many of the old whaling captains left the sea, seeing the possibilities of the then comparatively new colony, and be-came successful in various other activities. One of these was Captain C. A. Chapman, who died some ten years ago In Hobart. He came originally from New London, Connecticut, U.S.A., and shipped in a whaling ship from New Bedford, which was then the principal whaling port In the world, and was the setting out point for whaling expeditions covering the numerous grounds in the Pacific Ocean. He afterwards captained the whaling ship Menka, which was condemned in Tasmania. Coming to Hobart, he shipped as first mate on the Runnymede, under Captain Charles Balley. He was subsequently captain of other whaling ships belonging to Hobart Town, but a few years later for-sook the sea to go prospecting. In this activity he soon met with success, and was the discoverer of the famous Anchor tip mine, which he sold to a mining company for a large sum. He then retired, and lived at Sandy Bay till his death in 1918.

WHAT NOW REMAINS.

Diver Hodson, describing what now remains of the old Offley on the sea floor in Recherche, stated that all that was visible above the slime and weed was about 40ft, of the keel, on which rests a quantity of rotten pig-iron and stones that originally was the ship's ballast. Besides the old leaden basin, he recovered about six hundredweight of copper bolts which showed little trace of having been at the bottom the sea for over fifty years. He intends to return to the locality about Christmas-time, and will endeavour to locate the wreck of the brig Catherine Shearer, which was lost somewhere below Port Esperance nearly century ago, with a number of convicts aboard, This ship was supposed to have had bout £3,000 worth of pennies on board, and Mr. Hodson may be handsomely rewarded if he is successful in the venture. Mr. Louis Abrahams, who was a well-known merchant in Hobart in the early days, lost heavily as a result of this wreck, as he had had about £5,000 worth of goods sent out by her Coins bearing Mr Abraham's name are still In the possession of his son, who now resides at Lindisfarne.

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