Court Marshall 1837 Lookup - Henry Mead NSW

[tangles61]

G'day All,

Been occassionally dabbling in this Family History caper for over 15yrs (when my 1st son was born) but I am really still only a novice. Just started taking it seriously a month or so back, but unfortunately I keep hitting the same brick wall I came across that first day all those years ago.

I am searching for any details of my Convict Ancestor, Henry Mead. From a Transcript of his Pardon (photocopy of a typed document obtained from a distant family member, I'd love an image of the original), Australian Convict records & New South Wales BDM I can supply the following which I believe is accurate. But I would love to tie down his birthplace at least, as Somerset is pretty general.

Henry Mead
Born: Somersetshire, 1811.
Occupation: Labourer & Soldier.
Place of Trial: Lower Canada, Court Martial
Crime: Desertion.
Date of Conviction: 20 Sept 1837.
Term: Life.
Arrival in NSW, Australia: 24 July 1838.
Vessel: Portsea
Pardoned:1852
Death: Gosford, NSW. 2 Mar 1892

Details such as Trial Transcripts, Records of Imprisonment, Court Martial Transcripts, TOL, Pardon, British Army Muster Books, etc. would be of great interest to me. But unfortunately I don't know his regiment so it's proving to be difficult.

I stumbled across a bg-forums thread, titled 'Court Marshall 1837 Lookup', about a convict named 'John Alderton' who was convicted & transported in similar circumstances, & that has given me new hope & a few clues. Thanks to Sue, Geoffers, chrisGloss & all others involved. I have now mail ordered a cdrom of 'The Deserter List' by the Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society, so I hope that can help.

As well as bg, I am also currently a member of the ‘Ancestry.com & Rootsweb.com’ network with World Heritage access so I can search all records made available to them.

Can anyone out there give me any more details on Henry?

Thanks in anticipation of your reply.

Tony Mead

[suemalings]

As you are a member of Ancestry have you seen all the family trees containing your Henry Mead. I think there are around 7 different families.

[alimak]

i was looking in family search and came across henry mead born 1811 in Imber wiltshire , which i think is in somerset, also henry mead marrage 1811 Abbey or st peter and st paul bath somerset, to harriet eliza Warren, both could be the same person?? also i found my gggrandfather to be a convict in 1820 and sent to australia

[tangles61]

Thanks Guys, I've already looked at Ancestry Family Tree leads - unfortunately no joy there. I also discoved the Imber birth years ago, Its actually in Wiltshire but close to another dodgy lead I have in Somerset A possibility but I've never been able to link it to anything concrete.

I really need to know his regiment.

[spison]

Hi Tangles61,

You could try the War Office records that have been copied for Australia under the AJCP. There's sure to be a copy in WA somewhere but the reels may be borrowed from the NLA on interlibrary loan if it's too difficult to access. I know there's an index (in books) that would show you what reel/s to find the musters and pay lists were but there must be an online list too. You'd get the same records and probably more (hope that makes sense) by searching TNA (UK).

If he died in Gosford in 1892 is he the man who married Helen Goldie in 1891 or made the earlier marriage to Susan Sturgess in 1876 because the marriage certificates may give you more info - they may not too.

Only you will know if the following articles refer to your Henry Mead but they are in chronological order.

https://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del...sortBy=dateAsc

Good hunting

Jane

[tangles61]

Hi Tangles61,

You could try the War Office records that have been copied for Australia under the AJCP. There's sure to be a copy in WA somewhere but the reels may be borrowed from the NLA on interlibrary loan if it's too difficult to access. I know there's an index (in books) that would show you what reel/s to find the musters and pay lists were but there must be an online list too. You'd get the same records and probably more (hope that makes sense) by searching TNA (UK).

If he died in Gosford in 1892 is he the man who married Helen Goldie in 1891 or made the earlier marriage to Susan Sturgess in 1876 because the marriage certificates may give you more info - they may not too.

Only you will know if the following articles refer to your Henry Mead but they are in chronological order.

https://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del...sortBy=dateAsc

Good hunting

Jane

G'day Jane,

Thanks for that info. I'm making slow progress, thanks largely to info from other relatives who were at Kew in person some years ago. The brick wall has a few cracks it seems, but none of us have been able to break through it yet. I will see what addittional info I can get from the AJCP.

I now know Henry was a soldier in the '32nd Regiment at Foot, Regmtl # 1241', and shortly will have a transcript of his trial proceedings, in Montreal (from WO/71/299).

But still no place of birth. so I am asking TNA @ Kew to look into Deserter Registers WO 25/2917 & WO 25/2945 for me. Fingers crossed! I'll let you know if I have success. Does anyone out there know where I could find his enlistment details? Not in any of the musters/pay books I've seen.

BTW those newspaper links did not concern my Henry. However Henry's son, Henry, did marry Helen Goldie. I'm told that that branch of the Mead line still has his original pardon. They live in Victoria somewhere I think but I dont have any means of contact. Maybe someone out there will see this post! I'd love an image if its available.

Cheers
Tony

[EStrikwerda]

Hi Tony, I just found this post which I realise is many years ago, but I wondered if you ever found out more information for Henry. I do know he was in what seems to be a long term relationship with Mary (born Yardley)(sometimes known as Purvey, daughter of Sarah (Rowe) Purvey. Previous to her relationship to Henry, she was married to Edward Craft, then followed a liaison with Isaac Abraham Jacobs. There is no official record of a marriage of Henry to Mary, but they had 5 children, Sarah Meed, Harriet (Mead) Taylor, Mary Mead, Henry Mead and Edward Mead and both Mary(1895) and Henry(1892) died in Gosford New South Wales, Australia. Henry was buried at the St John's Anglican Cemetery, Lisarow, New South Wales, Australia in an unmarked grave. I have just begun researching Henry and am trying to find out more about his Trial Transcripts, Records of Imprisonment, Court Martial Transcripts, TOL, Pardon, Convict Musters, as you were back in 2009, and came across this post. What little I know is through research on Mary but hopefully will find out more. From your post alone I have now discovered his Place of Birth, (I knew his approximate date and his Transportation dates from www.convictrecords.com.au) Occupation, Crime and Date of Conviction. My Profile on Henry: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Mead-237 Thanks so much. Eileen

[christanel]

Welcome to the British-Genealogy forums Eileen
Unfortunately Tony is no longer a member of Brit-Gen as signified by the word guest under his avatar. This means that he will not get notification of your post unless he still visits Brit-Gen as a guest and picks up on it.
You could start a new thread of your own about Henry in the Australia forum, giving all the information you have. A new thread will gain more attention I think. You could include a link to this thread if you wanted.
Christina