16 children, all finally accounted for

While researching the land petitions and dealings of my convict ancestor, Esther Salamon Spencer Stubbs Bigge, I came across a document (1) at State Archives New South Wales which quoted:

That your petitioner has been a resident in this Colony thirty seven years during which period she has resided in Phillip Street Sydney and maintained herself and a numerous family by her own industry.
That your petitioner has had sixteen children Ten of whom are now alive and also Twenty one Grand-children now living.

1831 letter to Colonial Secretary (1)

This letter was written for Esther by someone unrecorded to the Colonial Secretary of New South Wales in 1833, Lieutenant-General Governor Ralph Darling. She is petitioning for a town allotment to build a house upon. I don't think she was ultimately successful as she died in her Phillip Street house in October 1855 (2).

Death notice for Esther Bigge, 1855 (2)

There have been several publications outlining Esther's children, but these could only account for up to 13 of them.

Children to convict John Fitz
1. Susannah 1797-?
2. Joseph Clark 1799 - 1800

Children to convict Thomas Stubbs
3. Mary Ann (my 4x great-grandmother) 1801 - 1860
4. Thomas 1802 - 1878
5. Sophia 1803 - 1803
6. Cecilia 1805 - 1896
7. Elizabeth 1808 - 1888
8. Annie Esther 1809 - 1837
9. George 1811 - 1838
10. John Emery 1812 - 1836
11. Godfrey 1814 - 1814

Children to husband Joseph Bigge
12. Robert 1816 - ?
13. Louisa Merrite 1817 - 1854

So where did this claim of having 16 children come from?

In the New South Wales register of Births, Deaths and Marriages there are a few entries that don't quite add up. This is pre-1856 so we only have baptismal register entries to work from.

Firstly, the child named Susannah. In the indexes there are two baptism entries per child, but Susannah has four. Looking carefully at the microfilm copy of the register it appears that Esther gave birth to a Susannah on 23 July 1797 and another one on 28 December 1798, 17 months apart.

So we have:
#1 Susannah Fitz, born 23 July 1797, baptised 20 August 1797, father: John Fitz
#2 Susannah Watson, born 28 Dec 1798, baptised 03 March 1799, father: Michael Watson

Baptism of Susannah Fitz on 20 Aug 1797 (3)

Baptism of Susannah Watson on 03 Mar 1799 (4)

Although there is no death record to be found, it looks as though Susannah Fitz died before the birth of Susannah Watson, and Esther has used the same name again to remember her infant daughter. One of these girls went on to marry boatbuilder, Thomas Day, in 1816. This must have been Susannah Watson because this same woman died on 24 April 1832, age 33 years as per her death notice in various Sydney newspapers. My conclusion is that it was more likely to be the child born in 1799, as the other child would have been 34 years old at that time.

Susannah Day death notice - Sydney Herald 1832 (5)

The same woman was in the New South Wales Census (6) in November 1828, age 29, in the household with Thomas Day and their children. Being age 29 on that date corresponds with Susannah Watson's year of birth.

Portion of New South Wales Census 1828 showing the Day family (6)

So with the two Susannahs, we've gone up to 14 children out of 16.

Next comes Elizabeth. It looks like there were two Elizabeths as well as two Susannahs.

One was born on 15 March 1807 and baptised on 03 December 1809, age two years and eight months.

Baptism of Elizabeth Stubbs on 03 Dec 1809 (7)

The other was born one year later on 11 March 1808 and baptised along with six-month-old sister, Ann, on 18 October 1808, age 16 days. This Elizabeth lived to adulthood, marrying John Jones and dying in 1888 at age 80. Her headstone at Rookwood Cemetery shows her date of birth as 11 March 1808. I love it when there are birth dates as well as death dates on headstones. It makes it so much easier for us genealogists to narrow down the right person.

Baptism of Elizabeth Stubbs on 18 Oct 1808 (8)

Grave of Elizabeth Stubbs Jones at Rookwood (9)

Having two dates of birth recorded makes these Elizabeths obviously two separate girls. Why would she call a second daughter Elizabeth when she already had a living one? Why was the first Elizabeth baptised after the second Elizabeth was baptised? I live in hope of finding the answers to these questions.

We're up to 15 children now.

When Esther arrived on the Indispensible in 1796 she arrived alone. Looking at newspaper accounts of her trial in London in 1794 she claimed to be pregnant, although this was not mentioned at her trial, just in newspaper reports pleading for clemency. Firstly, I was not surprised that she would claim to be pregnant. Who wouldn't, if it would save you from the death penalty?

Extract from the Sun newspaper, London, England, Monday 21 July 1794 (10)

Conditions within Newgate would surely be detrimental to a healthy pregnancy, moreso to a newborn baby. I haven't found a baptism for this child, but I'm sure Esther would not have forgotten the existence of this child as she got on with her life in New South Wales. The child might have been miscarried, stillborn, or born and lived only a short while. Whatever happened, Esther would have surely counted this child in her tally of babies that she had given birth to throughout her life.

16 children. All acknowledged, and none forgotten.

1. the Newgate pregnancy 1794
2. Susannah 1797-?, daughter of John Fitz
3. Susannah 1798-1832, daughter of Michael Watson
4. Joseph Clark 1799-1800, son of John Fitz
5. Mary Ann 1801-1860, daughter of Thomas Stubbs
6. Thomas 1802-1878, son of Thomas Stubbs
7. Sophia 1803-1803, daughter of Thomas Stubbs
8. Cecilia 1805-1896, daughter of Thomas Stubbs
9. Elizabeth 1807-1809, daughter of Thomas Stubbs
10. Elizabeth 1808-1888, daughter of Thomas Stubbs
11. Annie E 1809-1837, daughter of Thomas Stubbs
12. George 1811-1838, son of Thomas Stubbs
13. John Emery 1812-1836, son of Thomas Stubbs
14. Godfrey 1814-1814, son of Thomas Stubbs
15. Robert 1816-?, son of Joseph Bigge
16. Louisa Merrite 1817-1854, daughter of Joseph Bigge


(1) Colonial Secretary’s Letters relating to Land 1826-56, item no 2/7801, reel no 1093, document no INX-14-4989. State Archives New South Wales, accessed 6 Oct 2019. https://records-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/f/1ebnd1l/INDEX951060  
(2) Family Notices (1855, October 29). Empire (Sydney, NSW: 1850 - 1875), Monday 29 October 1855, page 4. Retrieved October 7, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12844415  
(3) Baptisms from New South Wales Births Deaths Marriages index for 1797. Microfilm viewed at State Archives NSW, accessed 25 Sep 2019.
(4) Baptisms from New South Wales Births Deaths Marriages index for 1799. Microfilm viewed at State Archives NSW, accessed 25 Sep 2019.
(5) Family Notices (1832, April 30). The Sydney Herald (NSW: 1831 - 1842), page 4. Retrieved October 7, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60164410    
(6) New South Wales Census 1828, State Archives New South Wales, accessed 07 Oct 2019. https://records-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=ADLIB_RNSW110001515&context=L&vid=61SRA&lang=en_US&search_scope=Everything&adaptor=Local%20Search%20Engine&tab=default_tab&query=any,contains,NRS-1272&sortby=rank&offset=0
(7) Baptisms from New South Wales Births Deaths Marriages index for 1809. Microfilm viewed at State Archives NSW, accessed 25 Sep 2019.
(8) Baptisms from New South Wales Births Deaths Marriages index for 1808. Microfilm viewed at State Archives NSW, accessed 25 Sep 2019.
(9) Grave of Elizabeth Stubbs Jones, Find A Grave, memorial ID 199553957, accessed 11 Oct 2019.
(10) Sun (London, England), Monday July 21, 1794; issue 565. Accessed 11 Oct 2019.

Convict Ancestors Story for UTAS Diploma in Family History

I'm loving the Diploma offered by the University of Tasmania. Another subject completed, and lots of information learned along the way. This article below was a submission for the final assessment in the Convict Ancestors subject. There were also two breakout articles, which I have left off the story. I might add them later as separate posts.

My 5x great-grandmother, Esther Salamon, was a formidable convict woman, who showed great strength and fortitude throughout her long life. After 482 days in London’s Newgate prison, a voyage of 5 months and 19 days, through at least four marriages and de facto partnerships, she established and ran successful businesses as a dealer, boarding house mistress, and bathing house proprietor in the colony of Sydney, as well as providing for her 16 children [1].

Based on Esther’s age at her trial, later marriage, and date of death it seems that Esther was born sometime before 19 July 1775, presumably in England. The readily available UK census starts in 1841, by which time she is well established in Australia, and it’s not possible to find a missing person gap in a census. Esther was Jewish and the first of several records to confirm this fact is the list of prisoners in Newgate prison. It is unlikely that she was baptised, and I have not been able to locate any sacrament for her in the Church of England or non-Conformist registers, and the birth of Jewish girls was not recorded in their own registers [2]. As a result, I have had more than 20 years of fruitless searching for her parents or English family of origin.

The Old Bailey Sessions House 1790, John Ellis, Corporation of London Libraries and Guildhall Art Library  

https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/The-old-bailey.jsp

Copy of Old Bailey transcription of Esther Spencer’s trial 19 July 1794 http://www.londonlives.org/browse.jsp?id=t17940716-64-defend646&div=t17940716-64#highlight

Sometime before her conviction Esther married a Mr Spencer, as her surname was recorded as Spencer on her Old Bailey trial records [3] and she was described as a married woman in the Newgate prison registers.

No marriage record between Esther and Mr Spencer has been found to date.  Subsequently Esther was convicted of theft on 16 July 1794 at age 19, and tried at The Old Bailey. She was “indicted for stealing, on the 17th of July, two silver salt holders, value 18s. two silver salt spoons, value 2s. two silver pepper castors, value 1£. a silver table spoon, value 14s. the goods of Jacob Ruffy.” The Newgate Prison entry book describes her as being “19, 5’4”, dark hair, dark eyes, dark complexion, London, married woman Jewess” [4].

A variety of records exist detailing Esther’s ordeal in London as a prisoner in Newgate, during the 16 months she waited for decisions to be made about her pardon, and her many months of incarceration before boarding the Indispensable.  These can be found on the London Lives website www.london.lives.org , which also links in with the Old Bailey trials. 

This example is A Continuation of the names of the several Prisoners Confined in Newgate on the 28th Septr  1794. Here she is described as “19. 5/4 dark hair dark Eyes dark Complexion London Jewess Marr'd”.  These descriptors are almost verbatim from the Home Office: Criminal Registers, Middlesex and Home Office: Criminal Registers, England and Wales [5] which was compiled at the end of July 1794 and can be found on www.Ancestry.com. One can assume that the list in this image was drawn up from the Home Office’s July Sessions for Middlesex document. If any of these details were incorrect in the original document, they are likely to remain incorrect on all subsequent documents, as Esther was illiterate. It is unknown whether she would have been a party to the writing of the entries other than verbally responding to questions about her age and marital status, etc. This can make searching for other records more difficult, as we may be looking for a red herring. For example, if Esther wasn’t indeed aged 19 at this time we are unlikely to find a baptism record for her around 1775.

Various sources, such as the New South Wales, Australia, Settler and Convict Lists, 1787-18346 shows us that Esther arrived in Sydney on 30 April 1796 where she had quickly took up with convict John Fitz, with whom she had her first two children, Joseph [7] and Susannah [8]. Joseph, died as an infant [9] and was buried in the Old Sydney Burial Ground where Sydney Town Hall now stands [10]. Fitz then disappears from the records and in 1800 Esther takes up with fellow convict and builder, Englishman Thomas Stubbs. Esther’s son, Joseph, was buried under the name of Stubbs, so the relationship between Esther and Thomas must have begun between Joseph’s baptism on 2 Feb 1800 and his burial in October 1800. They have nine children together, the first being my 4x great-grandmother, Mary Anne (Marian) Spencer Stubbs [11].

The Biographical Database of Australia at www.bda-online.org.au holds a wealth of records pertaining to the convict indents, musters and early church records. From these I have created a timeline of Esther’s particulars in relation to her convict status.

From these records it seems that Esther appears to have been classed as “Free By Servitude” by August 1806, as indicated in the NSW General Muster. This ties in with information from the State Records of New South Wales website on Pardons: “Convicts with life sentences generally received pardons. In the formative years of the colony the Governor possessed the discretion to grant free pardons and conditional pardons as rewards for good behaviour, for special skills or for undertaking special responsibilities. Governor Macquarie introduced new regulations setting minimum periods to be served for both pardons and tickets of leave.” [12] No record of a Ticket of Leave or Conditional Pardon have ever been found for Esther, so it is assumed that her pardon was one of these indulgences by Governor Macquarie.

These records only touch on the great amount of information that exists regarding Esther’s life before and after her conviction. She died at age 80, after many years of child-bearing and business owning. In 1855 she was buried in the Jewish section of the Devonshire Street Cemetery, which was disturbed in 1901 for the construction of Central Railway Station. Exhumations were relocated to Bunnerong Cemetery in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, although none of Esther’s remains were found at the time.

References:

[1] "Browse - Central Criminal Court". 2016.Oldbaileyonline.Org. Accessed June 10 2016. http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t17940716-64-defend646&div=t17940716-64#highlight

[2] "Birth | Jewish Virtual Library". 2016.Jewishvirtuallibrary.Org. Accessed June 10 2016. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0003_0_03015.html

[3] "Browse - London Lives". 1794.Londonlives.Org. Accessed June 11 2016. http://www.londonlives.org/browse.jsp?id=t17940716-64-defend646&div=t17940716-64#highlight . 

[4] Source Citation Class: HO 26; Piece: 4; Page: 15 Source Information Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. Original data: Home Office: Criminal Registers, Middlesex and Home Office: Criminal Registers, England and Wales; Records created or inherited by the Home Office, Ministry of Home Security, and related bodies, Series HO 26 and HO 27; The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England.

 [5] Source Citation Class: HO 26; Piece: 3; Page: 86 Source Information Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2009. This collection was indexed by Ancestry World Archives Project contributors. Original data: Home Office: Criminal Registers, Middlesex and Home Office: Criminal Registers, England and Wales; Records created or inherited by the Home Office, Ministry of Home Security, and related bodies, Series HO 26 and HO 27; The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England. 

[6] Source Citation Class: HO 10; Piece: 2 Source Information Ancestry.com. New South Wales, Australia, Settler and Convict Lists, 1787-1834 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Original data: Home Office: Settlers and Convicts, New South Wales and Tasmania; (The National Archives Microfilm Publication HO10, Pieces 1-4, 6-18, 28-30); The National Archives of the UK (TNA), Kew, Surrey, England.

[7] NSW Birth Certificate, 1797/468, Fitz, Joseph C

[8] NSW Birth Certificate, 1799/615, Fitz, Susannah S

[9] NSW Death Certificate, 1800/1008, Stubbs, Joseph

[10] "Old Sydney Burial Ground - City Of Sydney". 2016. www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au . Accessed June 11 2016. http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/sydneys-history/people-and-places/old-sydney-burial-ground . 

[11] “"Convict Records — State Records NSW". 2016. www.records.nsw.gov.au . Accessed June 11 2016. http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/research-topics/convicts/convicts#pardons-conditional-and-absolute.

My favourite convict, Esther (Salamon) Spencer

I have 5 convict ancestors, and following is my account of my favourite, Esther Spencer (nee Salamon), who was a most remarkable woman. I hope someone out there knows more about her story and can fill in some blanks for me!

 

Esther was born sometime between July and October 1775, presumably in England. Sadly the UK census doesn’t start until 1841, by which time she is in Australia, and it’s impossible to find a missing person gap in a census. I have no details of her baptism because she was Jewish, and the birth of Jewish girls wasn’t usually recorded. Consequently I have had 20+ years of fruitless searching for her parents.

Sometime before she turned 19 she married a Mr Spencer (the marriage record can’t be found, either), and then was convicted of theft on 16 July 1794 at age 19, and tried at The Old Bailey. She was “indicted for stealing, on the 17th of July, two silver salt holders, value 18s. two silver salt spoons, value 2s. two silver pepper castors, value 1l. a silver table spoon, value 14s. the goods of Jacob Ruffy.” The Newgate Prison entry book describes her as being “19, 5’4”, dark hair, dark eyes, dark complexion, London, married woman Jewess”. Originally she was sentenced to death, but this was commuted to transportation to Sydney for life. In her appeal against the death sentence she said she was pregnant (as you would!) but this may have been a fabrication. She spent a couple of years in Newgate before sailing.

Esther arrived in Sydney on the Indispensable in 1796 where she had quickly took up with fellow convict John Fitz, with whom she had her first two children. She had her first child, Susannah, baptised twice, a year apart, and with a different father listed each time! Her second child, Joseph, died as an infant and was buried in the cemetery where Sydney Town Hall now stands. Fitz then disappears from the records and in 1800 Esther takes up with fellow convict and builder, Englishman Thomas Stubbs. They have nine children together, the first being my 4x great-grandmother, Mary Anne (Marian) Grace Spencer Stubbs. Their second son, Thomas, was a well renowned auctioneer, composer and musician.

Governor Hunter gave Esther land in Phillip Street in 1797, not long after her arrival, where she ran a boarding house. She and Thomas were also known as “dealers” which involved selling goods from arriving ships.

Esther and Thomas Sr were never married, presumably because Esther was still considered married to Mr Spencer, even though they were to never see each other again. Esther and Thomas had a colourful life in the centre of Sydney, being involved in a few court cases, one where Thomas allegedly threatened to strike a man with a tree branch who was stealing quinces from their tree.

Thomas died at the young age of 41, and within a year Esther started a relationship with Joseph Bigge, who had been the coachman for Elizabeth Macquarie. He arrived as a free man in 1809 on the Dromedary. They had two children together, and “Joe the Coachman” as he was known also apprenticed one of Esther and the late Thomas’ sons to him at the livery stables. Sadly Joe died at age 65 in 1833 of horrific burns after falling into his bedroom fireplace at their house above the stables in Phillip Street, Sydney, where the old Police Station building is, down near Circular Quay. According to newspaper reports he had been insane for some time prior to this.

Esther sold off the livery business after his death and used the proceeds to establish the first bathing house in Sydney for ladies and children, at the site of the Andrew “Boy” Charlton Pool at Woolloomooloo Bay. She charged “1 pound per quarter for a lady and three children – for a single lady ditto 10s, and a single baths 6d.” The site was a natural rock shelf into the Harbour where Aboriginal people have been bathing for centuries. As well as providing a bathing service there was also a religious need being met by these baths, as it is Jewish custom for the bride to bathe in sea water on the day of her wedding or the day before, as a form of purification before the ceremony. So Esther was helping keep alive her Jewish traditions in a predominately Christian Sydney. All of her children were baptised in the Anglican Church, presumably as there was no other option available to Esther at that time.

 

Esther was never granted a Pardon, or Ticket of Leave, and died at age 80 in 1855 and was buried in the Jewish section of the Devonshire Street Cemetery. In 1901 the cemetery site was needed for Central Railway Station, and Esther’s remains were re-interred at the Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park, known then as Bunnerong. Unfortunately there is no headstone to mark her grave.

 

She had a very long and colourful life and I’m proud to be descended from such a strong and resilient woman.

Hopefully there are some researchers out there who see a gap in their Salamon family tree and realise now who fits in the spot!