Site contents © Copyright Michael Crouch, 2000. |
Site contents © Copyright Michael Crouch, 2000. |
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The Garrett family
from Bath to New South Wales Samuel Garrett was born in Somerset in 1810. He had at least one sister, Elizabeth, although there may possibly have been others. A record exists showing the marriage of the parents, Samuel Garrett and Elizabeth Skidmore in 1805 at St. James, Bath. While no children appear on the registers thereafter, this is not unusual for the time; Baptist Church members, as this family were, did not usually baptise infants. Samuel's daughter, Elizabeth, was not baptised until April 1, 1866 in the Abercrombie District of New South Wales, Australia. She was aged 61. The record shows that her father was himself a Baptist Minister. The death certificate and newspaper notice for his son declares Samuel Garrett (junior) to be "the only son of the late Reverend Samuel Garrett, Bath, England". Elizabeth married William Davey and together they migrated to New South Wales, Australia as free settlers around 1840-42. Reverend Garrett died when Samuel was a young boy and the child was apprenticed to a stepfather as a shoemaker. Life for Samuel changed forever when he was sixteen. Along with an eighteen year old boy, Robert Rogers, also of Bath, the two were sentenced to death for the robbery on April 25, 1827 of the house of Elizabeth Rawlings. This name is taken from the Jurors document and differs from the Lammas Assizes which states the name Elizabeth Brooks. Two possible explanations exist. One is that Samuel and Robert robbed two different women within a day of each other. Another is that Elizabeth Rawlings married and took on a new surname between the crime taking place and the court trial. It is said that Samuel and Robert "feloniously did enter" stealing "one shawl" worth ten shillings, "three gowns to the value of fifteen shillings each" and other effects to the value of forty shillings. Due to their young ages, the death sentence was commuted to transportation and exile for life. The two boys sailed aboard the Bengal Merchant which left Plymouth on March 25, 1828 and arrived at Hobart Town, Tasmania on August 10, 1828. The ship stopped at Rio de Janeiro along the way and took 138 days to reach Hobart, a slow and hazardous journey. The ship had been built in Calcutta sixteen years earlier in 1812 and its crew included the ships master, Alex Duthie, and the ships surgeon, Jas Skeogh. Upon arrival in Hobart, Samuel Garrett was apprenticed to Samuel Wintle who owned a shoemaking business at which young Samuel had some experience. Samuel Wintle, a married man, was some years older than Samuel Garrett and had a child born only a couple of months after the younger Samuel's arrival. The public, free settlers and often ex-convicts could apply for another convict to work for them. He would receive no pay but would get board, lodging and clothing. He would also be under government restrictions which would include attending church every Sunday and not drinking or gambling in public houses. He was not guarded but if he did anything which was considered untoward or unacceptable then he would be taken before the local magistrate who would decide on what form of punishment to administer. Samuel did not take too well to servitude and made several trips before the magistrates. His first offence was on December 8, 1828 when on Wintle's evidence, he stood accused of neglect of duty and insolence to his master. He got away with nothing more than a strict admonishment. However, one month later on January 12, 1829, he was accused of being absent from his masters house until 12 O'clock and returning home drunk. This time he was not so lucky and sentenced to twelve lashes of the whip. His next escapade was far more serious. He absconded from the service of his master on November 14, 1829, and was not apprehended until March 30, 1830. He was found in the province of New Norfolk, a district widely settled by ex-convicts from Norfolk Island off Tasmania. As such they were probably easier on escaped convicts, hiding them when the authorities came through and using them as labourers the rest of the time. How Samuel looked after himself during that time is unknown but he may well have been hidden by locals in exchange for work. His punishment for this misdemeanour was severe; six months on the treadmill. Time passed by and Samuel was back with Mr. Wintle. This time he went absent without leave for one night and received a sentence of seven days on the treadmill. By now Samuel had been in Tasmania for the best part of three years. Clearly he was not learning any lessons. History repeated itself and in September of 1830 he was found at Benjamin Walford's Public House at 9 O'clock at night - a further fourteen days on the treadmill. Twenty-five lashes later for being absent after hours yet again, Samuel went absent from the church muster and reprimanded. By now it must have seemed as if Samuel was going for some kind of a record. His various convictions were building up and showed no signs of abating. In May of 1832, he was found playing cards during working hours and received a further twenty-four lashes. In late July he was confined to a cell for seven nights for being absent after hours although during the daylight hours he continued to work for Samuel Wintle who must have been an exasperated man by now. AWOL again in September, he was given another twenty-five lashes before running away from service and remaining at large until apprehended once again in New Norfolk. Samuel Garrett was twenty-two years old. He had been given a total of 160 lashes of the whip, 6 months on the chain gang, 21 days on the treadmill and solitary confinement for 7 nights. There is no record of any further punishment. After all of this, Samuel Garrett appeared to start towing the line. In July of 1837 he was given his ticket-of-leave, and on November 4, 1840, his Conditional Pardon. His CP was recommended by four men, two of whom were religious ministers, another a magistrate. He was now thirty years of age. Samuel Garrett was married on March 29, 1839 to Elizabeth Ward who was aged sixteen. The marriage produced three children; Samuel Thomas Garrett born on February 3, 1840 at Green Ponds, now Kempton, Tasmania; Eleanor Elizabeth Garrett born in Avoca on June 9, 1842; and William Ward Garrett born in Fingal on September 13, 1844. Elizabeth Garrett, Samuel's wife, died aged only 23 on January 21, 1847. Samuel Garrett died on January 4, 1876, aged 65 years. An inquest taken in The Royal Exchange, Hobart, said that he had been "found drowned in the waters of the River Derwent". A Coroner, William Tarleton, and seven jurors reported that "how or in what manner" he had ended up in that state there was "not sufficient evidence" to declare. The inquest brought to a close a tragic and difficult life. |
