4.

Robert Harwood KNIGHT, son of William Frank KNIGHT and Hilda Doris HARWOOD, was born on 20 May 1929 in Sydney. He was a Ship's Officer, Factory Manager. He was Methodist . He married Jeanette Elwyn HOLDAWAY on 19 Jul 1957 in Sydney. He died in 2014 in Sydney. Renal failure.

6.

William Frank KNIGHT, son of William George Joseph KNIGHT and Amelia Alice JONES, was born on 2 Apr 1892 in Sydney. He was an Accountant ,Company Secretary. He was Baptised Catholic.¹ He married Hilda Doris HARWOOD on 19 Jan 1924 in Sydney. He died on 24 Feb 1970 in Sydney.¹ Heart attack. William was buried in Crematorium.

Baptised Catholic

Birth address 18 Short St.,Balmain.

Born in 1892, Birth registration 5520 / 329 - copy dated 23/12/85

He was an Altar boy and attended Balmain Christian Bros.school.

In 1917 he was listed at 14 Rowntree St. with the rest of the family.And also in 1922.

At his father's death his address was at Lakemba .

He was awarded Military Medal in World War 1. He was lodged in Belgium at end of hostilities in W.W.1

WW1 history of a William Frank Knight:CPl. 1782 2nd. Battalion Enlisted 21.11.16 RTA 25.9.19

Service Number: 1782

Rank: Lance Corporal

Unit: 2nd Bn

Service: Army

Honour / Award: Military Medal

Date of London Gazette: 20 August 1919, page 10585, position 75

Date of Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 11 December 1919, page 2373, position 3 . Also se^{1,2,3,4,5,6,7}e

10.

William George Joseph KNIGHT,¹² son of William KNIGHT and Sarah Maria AIKEN, was born on 14 Jul 1865 in Macquarie St., Sydney.¹³ 1865/1661. William was a Blacksmith.^{1 12 14 15 16 17 18 19 20} He married Amelia Alice JONES on 5 Oct 1891 in Bethel House, Sydney. W.M. Macky, rites of Scots Church, Marriage certificate 1654 copy 23/7/93. William died on 23 Dec 1931 in Glenore, 14 Rowntree St., Sydney.⁴ 19350/1931 Heart attack, Buried Field of Mars cemetery, Death after 2 months- illness. William was buried on 24 Dec 1931 in Field of Mars cemetery.^{4 21} Buried Field of Mars cemetery,

William (b.1865) was born in Macquarie Street, Sydney, presumably at the old Sydney Hospital. Tragically his father, a Liverpudlian working as a drayman, also named William Knight (b.1827) died the following day. The baby William was named William George Knight and an additional name "Joseph" was first used in his marriage certificate. Perhaps it was a Catholic baptismal name not used for official purposes. He and all his siblings were christened in the Catholic Church, presumably because of their mother's strong Catholic upbringing as an orphan by the "Poor Clare's" in Northern Ireland.

It appears that William lived most of his life in Balmain. As a suburb in the Victorian era Balmain enjoyed the benefits and the drawbacks of rapid urbanisation. "1830’s - Ship Building: From the 1830s until the 1850s Balmain developed as a suburb. By this time regular ferry connections from Balmain to the city had begun operating, and the reliance on steamers, ferries and coastal vessels for both travel and trade resulted in the establishment of shipyards along the harbour foreshores. Shipyards brought workers, who wished to live close to their place of work. As the population increased so did the demand for services - houses, shops, churches, schools, police, a hospital and local government with Balmain Council being formed in 1860. By the 1880s Balmain claimed to be the leading social suburb in Sydney. Numerous clubs were formed including rowing, swimming, bowling and cricket. Institutes such as the Balmain Literary Institute, the Balmain Working Men's Institute and Balmain School of Arts were also established". However, "by the late 1880s it was apparent that the suburb was overcrowded and badly organised. Factories were opened next door to houses and schools, streets had been created in the most inappropriate places and the suburb went into a decline." Industrially "The peninsula changed rapidly during the 1800s and became one of the premier industrial centres of Sydney. Industries clustered around Mort Bay included shipbuilding, a metal foundry, engineering, boilermaking and the Mort's Dock and Engineering Company works which opened in 1855—in 1958 Mort's Dock closed and is the site of Mort Bay Park. Increasing industrialisation at Balmain created a demand for cheap housing. This was satisfied by the dock owners selling small blocks of land to entrepreneurs who then built tiny cottages and rented them to the workers."

A family story is that William built the house "Glenore" at 14 Rowntree Street, which later was described by the family as the Knight family home, in 1888, after purchasing the land from his brother Edward. That interpretation is complicated by a statement that "he bought the house". He was a blacksmith after all, not a builder. However the land was vacant in 1888 according to Birchgrove Subdivision Plans, and presumably available for building. One way or another "Glenore" became William's property, passed to his daughter Elsie and then to his grandson Ken. It was remembered as "very dark inside". Another memory was that "Jack and Don Knight used to play marbles in the lane beside the house." However it seems that William himself did not live there until 1906. Prior to that evidence suggests that he lived at different addresses in Balmain, mainly in Curtis Road, close to where others in the family lived. From 1906 he had moved to "Glenore". The Electoral Rolls of 1906 and 1913 state him as living there; as does the Roll of 1917, with his sons William Frank, Ted, and his daughter Elsie. He was still living there with Amelia when he died in 1931.

He served a blacksmith apprenticeship at Mort's Dock engineering works and was employed there for 30 years, and then 11 years at Cockatoo Dockyards. His brother Edward, son Edward Arthur and grandson William Frank Knight also worked at Mort's Dock during their lifetimes. "The Mort's Dock and Engineering Company trained apprentices and journeymen with the expertise and out put of a technical College. For over 65 years an average of 20 men a year became qualified tradesman through the company. Many of them became famous and two were later State Premiers" according to "An outline of the history of Balmain". According to William McKell, a Dock boilermaker who became State Premier and then Governor-General, boilermaking was "The hardest, the dirtiest,and most dangerous trade of all". Around the shop "you would see many boilermakers with only one eye; you found boilermakers every one of them deaf" and "it was very, very dangerous; very very hard". Mort's did most of the merchant-ship repair work in the harbour, and working hours were very long and often till late at night. Mort's Dock, named after Thomas Mort, was the first Dry dock of it's size, opening in 1855 one year before Cockatoo island. It was the largest shipyard and engineering workshop, and the colony's largest private enterprise. It became the home of the Ship Painters and Dockers union which was established on site in 1872 and which was instrumental in the creation of what was later to become the Australian Labour Party in 1891. The Dock was by far the major employer in Balmain.

William Knight was Secretary of the Sydney Branch of the Australian Society of Engineers, instrumental in the formation of the Mort's Dock Ambulance Corps, (incidentally giving a speech at the presentation of a Bravery gold medal to his brother Edward), secretary of the Mort's Dock employees committee, a Lodge member for 40 years, and a member of the Balmain Cooperative Society Board of Directors for 20 years, with the last 2 as President. He "used to go to Melbourne with work for the Wages Board", according to his son Kenneth Frederick Knight. He was a Justice of the Peace from 1911. And an early Labor Party supporter, according to family.

Cockatoo Island Dockyard was based on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour. Established in 1857 to maintain Royal Navy warships, it later built and repaired military and civilian ships. World War 1 created a lot of work and 50 new ships were built and 150 more had been converted or repaired by the end of the war. By 1919 4085 people were employed at the dockyard. William worked there until about 1921.

He died at home at "Glenore". His estate was sworn at 657 Pounds, left to his wife Amelia with the sole executor being his oldest son William Frank Knight.^{1,3,4,14,19,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32}

11.

Amelia Alice JONES, daughter of Benjamin Gaffee JONES and Anne INGLESON, was born on 24 Jun 1869 in Westbury, Tasmania.³³ She was a Housemaid. She was Anglican. She died on 19 Oct 1947 in Sydney.³⁴ Cerebral haemmorhage, arteriosclerosis, senility. Amelia was buried in Field of Mars cemetery, catholic section.⁴ Buried Field of Mars cemetery, catholic section although an Anglican, Buried with William G.J. Knight a/c to photo from K F Knight, and , Ref. letter 1.

Amelia was born in Westbury, Tasmania in 1869. She gives her own name as Mildred Alice Knight on the marriage certificate to William George Joseph Knight and in the birth certificate of William Frank Knight.

She states Launceston as her birthplace in the birth certificate of William Frank Knight. although she was born in Westbury. An Anglican.

Came to Balmain from Tasmania 61 years before death (1886) (age c.17)

Had a job as a housemaid for a Judge in Balmain.

Lived in Rowntree St., Balmain. In 1906, 1913, 1917 and 1922 listed as domestic duties, 14 Rowntree St.

During the Depression scrubbed floors in schools - no dole then

Used to sit on the balcony at Rowntree Street and wave to the tram guards going by, according to Ken Knight.

She had wonderful afternoon teas at Rowntree St. put on with her daughter Elsie. Had "Beautiful china" Her estate was valued at 550 pounds, and was left to daughter Elsie.^1,3,4,34,35

William George Joseph KNIGHT and Amelia Alice JONES had the following children:

12.

William KNIGHT, son of William KNIGHT and Elizabeth LEMMON, was born in 1827 in Liverpool, England. He was baptised on 25 Mar 1827 in St. Nicholas, Liverpool, England.^{45 46} He was a drayman, storeman. He was Protestant. He married Sarah VALLELEY on 20 Jan 1845 in Parish Church, Liverpool.⁴⁷ He married Sarah Maria AIKEN on 26 Dec 1857 in St. Augustine's Catholic Church, Balmain, Sydney. Marriage certificate 1070 / 33 copy 10/11/1980 - information on certificate from Church register 28/6.1916. William died on 15 Jul 1865 in 13 Domain Terrace, off Macquarie St., Sydney.^{48 49} Reg. No. 1865/781. William was buried on 19 Jul 1865 in old Camperdown cemetery behind St. , Stephens Anglican Church.^{50 51 52 53 54 55} Headstone located by RHETT KNIGHT in May 1998 in above cemetery, south-west wall, near end. Viewed again in Dec. 1999. Headstone is 22nd. stone in from corner of s-w wall. Burial of Joseph Munford in same grave. SAG transcriptions has age 36, No.

October 2025 update.

From modern DNA matching (via Rhett Knight's DNA testing), it has eventuated that William Knight, the first male of the line to come to Australia had a hitherto unknown history before his emigration. William was first married to Sarah Vallely (born 1826)in Liverpool in January 1845.

She was the daughter of Irish immigrants to Liverpool, both of whom had criminal records. Some of Sarah's 5 siblings also had criminal records.

William and Sarah had a child Sarah Ellen Knight in November 1845 and a son Edward in 1848. Edward may not have lived for long as he is not noted in any further records. Sarah Ellen continued the Knight/Valleley line through which the DNA matching has occurred.

Sarah and William, along with another person were both arrested and charged with stealing offences in 1850. The newspapers reported them to be part of a family gang which had existed by stealing for many years .They were both sentenced to 10 years transportation. On 27 May 1851 Sarah's parents appealed against her transportation citing a still birth in prison on 5th May whilst in Millbank prison and that her daughter had no mother to care for her. Sarah was transported as a convict from London to Van Diemen's Land in October 1851 on the ship “Anna Maria” which arrived in VDL in January 1852. Sarah worked in the Probation System for various employers. In April 1853 she married an ex-convict, employed as “boot closer”, George Woods and gave birth to another son William Woods in 1854, who lived for only 1 month. Sarah gained a Conditional Pardon in 1856 after several offences and sentences to hard labour, thence her story continued in New Zealand with further marriages and offspring.

For a period in Millbank and Pentonville prisons William's record stated that he had been convicted “6 times summarily and 3 times for vagrancy” and that his character was “ a disorderly person for the last 8 years, works occasionally pilfering when opportunity occurs”. He was listed as a “farm labourer”. William was then in April 1852 incarcerated in Portsmouth prison rather than transported or being held in Portsmouth Hulks He appealed in May 1853 after 28 months in prison to be transported to Van Diemens Land to be with his wife ( who probably unknown to him had just remarried), an appeal which was unsuccessful. In 1854 his sentence was commuted from 10 years to 7. He remained in Portsmouth prison until 29th June 1855 from where he was released to the care of his sister Mrs. Elisabeth Harrison, James Terrace, Rathbone Street, Liverpool.

The earlier speculation about William's move to Australia is now erroneous it seems, and the question yet to be solved is : How did he get from Liverpool in June 1855 to Sydney to marry Sarah Aiken in December 1857?.

2024

William was born in 1827, the son of a Liverpool mariner who lived very close to the Liverpool docks. According to family sources William emigrated in the 1850's becoming the first male of the Knight family in Australia.

There is no verifiable trace of his migration to Australia, including within a list of "ship's deserters", although a William Knight did desert from the ship "King William" in 1852 . As well in 1852 a William Knight, 5 feet 5 inches high with brown hair and grey eyes, about 19 years old, deserted from the ship"HMS Pandora".

There is no mention of William in the NSW Immigration Deposit Journals 1853-1900 and so perhaps he may have come out as a fare-paying passenger (unlike his sister Margaret who was an assisted immigrant), or as ship's crew. It is also quite possible that the record has not survived.

It seems that after coming to Australia William lived close for a while to his sister Margaret, who had arrived in 1842. In 1848 a William Knight is listed at 955 Windmill Street and in 1861-63 at 141 Phillip Street, both close addresses to the Kempsters. Margaret had married William Kempster in 1844. A compilation of early family names from the Sydney Assessment Rolls, indicating relevant addresses, has been made - including William Knight, indicating his quite poor accommodation.

He married Sarah Aiken in 1857 and by 1863 Sands Alphabetical Directory lists William at 13 Domain Terrace, and the same address in 1865.

William's early working life in Sydney seems to have been varied. His occupation was given as "Storekeeper" at his daughter Elizabeth's marriage in 1883. Sands Directory has a "William Knight, Stores, Wynyard Lane, Sydney" in 1861. In 1863 Sands notes him as a storeman living at Domain Terrace. By 1865 he was employed by Messrs. Watkins & Leigh as a drayman, that is a carter using a dray pulled by horses.

He died very suddenly the day after his second son's birth. Details of the enquiry at the Coroners' Office have not survived. The coroners inquest index recorded death by "natural causes". This was echoed in a newspaper report about the inquest indicating death by "natural causes", suffering "from chest affections for some time previously". The Camperdown Cemetery Burial Butts describe his death as from "Disease of the Heart".

He died at his address, 13 Domain Terrace, Sydney city. See the image of 1886 for a map. Domain Terrace was on the original site for the State Library of N.S.W.

The grave headstone was rediscovered by Rhett Knight 23.3.98 at St. Stephen's Camperdown cemetery in Newtown.

Newspaper notices include:

"17.7.1865: Funeral. The friends of Mr. William Kempster are respectfully invited to attend the funeral of his deceased brother-in-law, Mr. William Knight, to move from his late residence, 13 Domain Terrace, this (Monday) afternoon at 3 o'clock."

"Loyal United Brothers Lodge No. 3592, IOOF, M.U. - The officers and brothersof the above lodge, together with visiting officers and brothers, are respectfully invited to attend the funeral of our late brother William Knight to take place this day (Monday) 17th. instant. Brethren to meet at the hall, at 2 p.m.. By order. James McMenemy, N.G. William H Baker, Secretary." The involvement of Manchester Unity lodge may have helped the family, even with providing the headstone for the grave.

Witnesses at the burial were brothers-in-law William Kempster and CuthbertMcLachlan.

As the Sydney Morning Herald put it, reporting the Inquest, "Knight has left 4 children but scantily provided for".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A Joseph Munford was buried in same grave 13 years later. The headstone inscription, below William Knight's reads:

"ALSO TO THE MEMORY OF

Joseph Munford

who departed this life 4th April 1878

Aged 52 years"

No relationship has been established between Joseph Munford and William Knight. They were the same age. As Cornelius Munford (who had his older brother Joseph buried in William's grave in 1878) was also a ship's deserter 2 months earlier than the aforementioned William Knight, possible "ship's deserter", it may not be a coincidence that William and Joseph's only connection was in their burial together.

Details about Munford are:

[NSW Pioneers Index - Deaths:

Jos. Munford

d. 1878

Fa. Adam

Mo. Sarah nee Castles

Sydney

Registration Number 677/1878.]

According to the international Genealogy Index Joseph was christened on 15/11/1826 at St. Mary Whitechapel, Stepney, London to Adam and Sarah. His mother Sarah Munford was a fishmonger, and she and her 8 children, including Joseph and Cornelius were located at Whitechapel on the 1841 UK census.

Joseph was unmarried and came to NSW in about 1848. He resided in Castlereagh St., with his younger brother Cornelius.

Newspaper notices of the death and burial in 1878 include:

"Munford, April 4th., at his residence, 241 Castlereagh St., Joseph Munford, aged 52 years."

Funeral Notices:

"The friends of Mr. Cornelius Munford are invited to attend the funeral of his deceased brother, Joseph. To move from his residence, No. 241 Castlereagh St. on Saturday the 6th. instant at 2.30 to Camperdown cemetery. Thomas, undertaker, 141 York St."

The Burial Butt for his burial indicates that his calling was "Gentleman", that he died of "cerebral disease", and that he was to be buried in the same grave as 13185, (William Knight).

It has also been discovered that William's wife Sarah's grand nephew William Gordon, age 3, was buried in or near the same burial plot in 1870. There is no reference to this on the headstone. It seems that multiple burials in the same grave were not uncommon. According to Society of Australian Genealogists "after 1867, the creation of new grave plots was prohibited and burials were only permitted by license from the Chief Secretary." And "From 1867 to 1900 there were a further 2,183 burials at Camperdown Cemetery into already existing plots and family graves." The Burial Butts for William George Gordon indicates that he had died of bronchitis and was to be buried next to William Knight's grave, that his father was a drayman, and that his address at death was 243 Castlereagh St., next door perhaps to where Joseph Munford lived 8 years later^{45,48,53,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82}.

Sarah VALLELEY, daughter of Michael VALLELEY (1797-1861) and Bridget MCGIVEN (1801-1853), was born on 7 Aug 1826 in Liverpool, Lancashire. She married George WOOD on 11 Apr 1853 in Hobart, Tasmania.^{83 84} She died in 1893 in New Zealand.

Sarah and William, along with another person were both arrested and charged with stealing offences in 1850. The newspapers reported them to be part of a family gang which had existed by stealing for many years .They were both sentenced to 10 years transportation. In 27 May 1851Sarah's parents appealed against her transportation citing a still birth in prison on 5th May whilst in Millbank prison. Sarah was transported as a convict from London to Van Diemen's Land in October 1851 on the ship “Anna Maria” which arrived in Van Diemen's Land in January 1852. She worked in the Probation system for various employers. In April 1853 she married a convict, now “boot closer” in St. David's Cathedral, George Woods. George was listed as "Married" in his arrival documents. He received his Conditional Pardon in September 1853. Sarah gave birth to another son, William Woods in 1854 who lived for only 1 month. In 1856 Sarah gained a Conditional Pardon after several offences and sentences to hard labour, thence her story continued in New Zealand.

Sarah VALLELEY and William KNIGHT had the following children:

13.

Sarah Maria AIKEN, daughter of Thomas AIKENS and Julia DORAN, was born in 1831 in Newry, Co. Down, Ireland.^{87 88} She was baptised on 16 Sep 1831 in Newry, Down, Armagh, Ireland.⁸⁸ Her baptism appears to have been sponsored by a Mary Doran, most likely her maternal aunt. Sarah was a Needlewoman.^{89 90 91} She was Catholic.⁸⁷ She died on 8 Jun 1916 in 96 Curtis Rd., Balmain North.⁸⁷ 1916/6175 Cardiac disease (aortic) Ref. letter 1 , Ref Letter 3, Buried with her daughter Elizabeth OBrien at Gore Hill cemetery. Sarah was buried on 9 Jun 1916 in Gore Hill cemetery, Roman Catholic section.⁸⁷ 1916/6175 Ref. letter 1 , Ref Letter 3, Buried with her daughter Elizabeth OBrien at Gore Hill cemetery, catholic section.

Sarah Maria Aiken (Aiken often spelled differently) was baptised in September 1831 according to “Ireland Roman Catholic baptisms” and so her birth year is likely to be 1831. A birthdate of 1834 is indicated on her death certificate, which was informed by son Edward, and from her headstone. Her age given on her emigration document in 1853 says she was 19, so there remains some question over her exact date of birth.

Her baptism was at Newry, Armagh, county Down., with parents Thomas Aiken and Julia Doran. We have no knowledge of her parents’ demise. However, she was raised with her sister Margaret (Bessy) as an orphan, in Ireland by the "Poor Clare's", an order of Roman Catholic Nuns, at Newry.

The Order moved to Newry from Dublin in 1830 : “by invitation, the Order moved north to Newry. The Minutes of the Newry Mendicity Association in the late 1830s note that care of orphans was given over to the good Sisters. It had been Dr Kelly, Bishop of Dromore who had written to the Poor Clares in their Harold’s Cross, Dublin headquarters, requesting help to deal with the widespread poverty, misery, and lack of educational facilities of his people. Prior to this, it had been exclusively a contemplative order. To the great benefit of many generations of Northern Catholics, the Sisters agreed to take academic training and pass on their skills and knowledge to their young charges”, reported the Newry Journal. “Within a year four hundred children were attending school, and by 1835 this number, augmented by many orphans, had risen to five hundred. Soon a workshop was added to teach older girls the skills of lace-making and embroidery, by which they might earn their living. By 1836 the Bishop was in a position to laud the Sisters on the examination successes of their young pupils”. According to ‘Newry Memoirs’ “An Inspector of the National Education Board reported on an examination of 500 pupils in 1852: “All the classes must be highly commended on their proficiency in reading, writing, arithmetic and geography. Their answering evinced a readiness and proficiency quite astonishing in persons so young.” Sisters of St. Clare.com states that “The history of the Poor Clares in Newry is one that placed a strong focus on the education of women, enabling them to take their role with confidence in society and the Church. In addition to the basic reason for their being, ie prayer and contemplation, the Sisters assumed the following Ministries: Teaching: Primary, Secondary, Grammar and Commercial Schools. Ministry to the Poor- they established a breakfast and dinner kitchen.” Given this strong educational focus and no doubt stern treatment (the Sisters in modern times promising reparations for past abuses, reported by the ‘Independent.ie’), Sarah seems to have developed into a person with resilience and determination.

Sarah emigrated (age stated as 19) with her sister ‘Bessy’ on the Ship "Bolton", which arrived in Sydney 23/6/1853 from Plymouth, England, via the Cape of Good Hope. They emigrated as orphans, and one pound each was paid towards their passages. They were listed on the ship’s manifest with other single young women, assisted immigrants.

The ‘Empire’ newspaper in Sydney reported about the arrival of the ‘Bolton’ ; “The extreme cleanliness of the various compartments of the vessel in occupation of the emigrants, as well as the healthy appearance of the latter, reflects the greatest credit on the surgeon superintendent, Dr. Roberts; and the many samples of needle-work displayed in the cabin show that their time has been fully employed.”

The assisted scheme for the women on the "Bolton" followed, the model of the earlier Earl Grey scheme. Four thousand two hundred famine orphans had arrived in Australia under the Earl Gray scheme between 1848 and 1850. “Behind the scheme to relieve Ireland of its crowded workhouses and ship needy orphans to the colonies was the politically progressive Earl, Henry George Grey, Secretary of State for the Colonies (1846–1852). His vision was twofold: youthful lives spared of misery and the ex-convict colonies enriched with hardy, humble, fertile females. The selection process was simple. The girls had to be young, single, obedient, healthy and free of smallpox."

Earl Grey had originally hoped that orphans would be drawn from pauper institutions operating throughout Britain, although for unknown reasons only adolescent, unmarried girls from Ireland were despatched. Transport and processing costs were shared between the English government and Irish Poor Law Unions. Just as important was support from the colonies to ensure secure and comfortable housing and efficient hiring facilities, once the girls were brought ashore.

Initially the scheme looked promising. Reporting to London in 1848, immigration agent Frances Merewether was optimistic that, ‘provided the Emigrants were of useful description … three ship loads, or about 700 Statute Adults … might be despatched to the Sydney District each month’. With minor alterations and expense, the spacious old prisoner barracks with its high-walled compound and outbuildings could offer ‘ample and most comfortable accommodation’ for the Irish orphans.

In Australia, decades of convict transportation had left the colonies with a serious shortage of women. Teenage girls were vital for raising families while female servants and workers were needed in aspiring colonial households. However, without supportive networks or family, the girls remained vulnerable and powerless to control their fate. Mostly uneducated, unworldly and unused to domestic service, the orphans relied on protective officials to negotiate their place in the labour market. And costing less to hire than more experienced servants they generally found work quickly.” (Sydney Living Museums)

“For all the prejudice, the colonists needed labour and they needed women, so work was found for the girls as domestic servants and as wives. There was probably not much difference between servitude and marriage in many cases but marriage offered at least a chance to 'get on' and so many of them married young. In a colony with too few women they contributed much as the mothers of this nation.” (Shirley Fitzgerald, City of Sydney historian)

The journey to Australia usually took months, and “Before they left Ireland each orphan girl was given a regulation kit of clothing, linen and utensils stored in a lockable box. The girls shared bunks in third-class quarters and mustered in small mess groups. Each shipment was overseen by a surgeon-superintendent and a matron, who guarded against contact with sailors and fellow passengers. After several months at sea, the immigrant ships were towed into Sydney Cove, unloading their passengers on the dock like so many human parcels. The orphan girls, strangers in a strange place, along with the motley assortment of unaccompanied women and mothers with children, were carted on drays or walked up Macquarie Street to the Immigration Depot at Hyde Park Barracks” as described by ‘Irish Orphan Girls at Hyde Park Barracks’.

"No relations in colony, could both read and write", was the description of both sisters as per the ship Bolton’s manifest. Sarah’s occupation was given as "needlewoman". On arrival in Sydney they were quartered at the Hyde Park Barracks at top end of Macquarie Street. Sarah's name is engraved on the obelisk to Irish famine orphans at the Barracks. The obelisk was opened in 2002. It aims to acknowledge & commemorate the large numbers of often young, single women who arrived in Australia & resided at the Barracks during its time as 'Immigrant Women's Depot & Asylum', 1848-1886.

“To manage the orphan arrivals in Sydney, an immigrant depot was set up at Hyde Park Barracks. In its newly plastered and painted rooms were added rows of heavy iron beds, replacing the old convict hammock frames and tattered hammocks. In some areas, ceiling boards were fitted, eliminating drafts and creating comfortable sleeping wards. Downstairs offices were remodelled and furnished for immigration business. While the orphan scheme itself was short-lived - swept aside by popular protest - other programs of sponsored emigration, along with the discovery of gold, continued to lure hopeful travellers, reunite families and boost the colonial workforce for decades to come” observed ‘Irish Orphan Girls at Hyde Park Barracks’.

“It was from there that they were hired out and there was an agreement or indenture for up to three years, between one and three years, for them to go and work for someone within the colony”, noted Dr. Perry McIntyre – (“Irish immigrants from Australian records”)

The orphan girls were lodged at the Barracks. Scrutinised by immigration clerks, health officers and clergy, they shared sleeping quarters in the newly-appointed wards upstairs, before signing indentures for work in the ground floor hiring room. Elsewhere in the building, separate areas were appointed for regular shiploads of immigrant women. Immigration officials saw the Barracks as shelter for 'unaccompanied' females, along with the wives and children of convicts, 'sent out to their husbands or parents'.”

“From the first arrivals in 1848, and for years afterwards, the orphan girls confronted heated local hostility. In the background, moves towards colonial self-government had already kindled fears of a mobbish Irish majority, and Earl Grey’s support for the revival of convict transportation had won him few friends in the colony. Initial antipathy towards the orphans centred on their youth, incompetence, lowly workhouse origins and, most of all, their Irishness.”

The advertisement inserted by the Immigration Office in the Sydney Morning herald of 29 June 1853 for the hiring of single female immigrants from the “Bolton” at Hyde Park Barracks does not mention ‘Needle-workers” among the callings. The great majority are general house servants.

We have no information as to how Sarah lived from 1853 until her marriage to William Knight in 1857 (Her sister Bessy married in 1854). A List of returned letters returned to the Sydney GPO from the country in September 1856 has one for a Sarah Aikens in Hexham, NSW, near Newcastle. If it is our Sarah, then she would have had a work agreement to work at Hexham, perhaps as a housemaid for a certain period of time. She married William Knight in Balmain in 1857, and by 1865 4 children had been born.

After the death of her husband in 1865, she kept her family by making children’s clothing for Farmer & Co., as recounted by family reminiscences. Farmer & Co. were a drapery business established in 1839 which became a retail empire and social institution. Her sister-in-law Margaret Knight had married William Kempster in Sydney in December 1844. This couple probably took an interest in Sarah and her children after William's death in 1865. William Kempster had been a witness at the burial of Sarah's husband William. As well it has also been discovered that Sarah's grand-nephew William Gordon, age 3, was buried in or near the same burial plot in 1870 as her husband William. So the 2 sides of the family were probably close for some time.

Two years after husband William’s death we find Sarah trading as a grocer, at Adolphus St., Balmain, as per the Sands Alphabetical Directory of 1867. The Sands Directories then have her as a grocer at 92 Curtis St., in 1869, 1871, 1873, 1889 and 1901. She was obviously living next door to her daughter Elizabeth and son-in-law, Matthew O’Brien, who were listed at 90 Curtis Rd.in 1892. In 1890 her daughter Sarah, aged 20, was also still living with her. The 1901 census has her at 92 Curtis Rd, with 2 female occupants. She seems to have been living at that address up to and including 1905, when her son Edward, a blacksmith, was also at that address. In 1906 (aged 75), she was listed at No. 92, ‘domestic duties’ with son Edward. They lived there together until her death in 1916, according to Directories, censuses and Electoral Rolls. Curtis road and Short street seem to have been the areas where the family members lived, very near to one another. Sarah’s son William moved from 49 Curtis road in 1905 to “Glenore” in Rowntree street, still in close proximity to his mother.

Sarah died in 1916 at 98 Curtis Road, and her funeral moved from there to the Catholic section of Gore Hill Cemetery at St. Leonards on the north shore of Sydney Harbour. She was to be buried with her daughter Elizabeth O’Brien who had died in 1910. The Sydney Harbour Bridge had not yet been built, and so her hearse would have travelled on the Milsons Point horse ferry, a steam operated paddle punt, which was a vehicular ferry crossing to Blues Point, near to where the Sydney Harbour Bridge now stands.

A Family story says that there was a 'Robbie' Aiken, whether in Ireland or Australia is unsure but no evidence has been found. Her grand-daughter Elsie May Knight reported that Sarah said that she was a poor relative of the 'Guinness Stout' family, a story which might explain why her father was listed as a “brewer” on her death certificate (informant her son Edward).

Sarah died intestate and 235 pounds was declared as the value of her estate^{1,3,24,25,26,36,45,53,56,89,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110}.

William KNIGHT and Sarah Maria AIKEN had the following children:

14.

Benjamin Gaffee JONES,¹¹⁵ son of unknown father of BG JONES and unknown mother of BG JONES, was born on 18 Feb 1829 in Bethnal Green, London.¹¹⁶ according to prison discharge 1865. Benjamin was a Clerk, tanner, cordial manufacturer, fellmonger, shopkeeper.¹¹⁷ He was educated at -can read and write-. He was C of E. He married Anne INGLESON on 30 Apr 1859 in Parish Church, Deloraine, Tasmania. Source: Tasmanian Pioneer Index, and Marriage registration from 37/17 , ÊNo. 694, Widow, Gaffer - clerk. Benjamin died on 30 Jul 1876 in Westbury.¹¹⁸ Cirrhosis, M, Death registration N0.774, Buried by Charles Reynolds, undertaker, Westbury, Profession on death regn. - shopkeeper, Burial at Westbury Anglican Cemetery on 4/8/1876 a/c to Gwen Scott, historian, Hagley. Benjamin was buried in Westbury Anglican Cemetery.^{119 118} Buried by Charles Reynolds, undertaker, Westbury, Profession on death regn. - shopkeeper, Burial at Westbury Anglican Cemetery on 4/8/1876, age 46 years.

Benjamin Gaffee Jones (sometimes called Gaffee Jones, with an alias of Bergamus Gaffee, usually known as “Gaffer”) was born on 18 February 1829 according to a Book of Common Prayer held by Ken F Knight, his grandson. Other birth years from 1825 to 1827 are possible alternatives from various documents, however 1829 seems to be the most likely. He described his ‘native place’ as Bethnal Green, London, known as Spitalfields in the 1851 Census. It is part of the “East End” of London, home of the “cockney” and is now part of the borough of Tower Hamlets. There was a vast expansion of London between 1820 and 1830 and Bethnal Green grew rapidly into an overcrowded complex of slums, small factories and rag-trade sweatshops. Having been an area of large houses and gardens as late as the 18th century, by about 1860 Bethnal Green was mainly full of old tumbledown buildings with many families living in each house. By the end of the century, Bethnal Green was one of the poorest slums in London. "Jack the Ripper" operated at the western end of Bethnal Green and in neighbouring Whitechapel. Historically the silk-weaving trade spread eastwards from Spitalfields throughout the 18th century. This attracted many French Protestant Huguenot and Irish weavers to the district. Large estates of small two-storey cottages were developed in the west of the area to house them. The Gaffee surname was a Huguenot name in Spitalfields according to "The Huguenots of Spitalfield."

We know little of Gaffer’s early life, apart from him having 2 sisters, Ann and Sarah, that he could read and write, and that his religion was Church of England.

He first came to public attention in September 1848. As related in “The Times” newspaper 4.9.1848 :

“On Saturday Gaffee Jones was bought up for final Examination upon the charge of having broken into and plundered the premises of Messrs. Kennard and Co., of Upper Thames street. It was discovered on the 29th July that the premises of Messrs. Kennard and Co. were entered on the night before, and that one of the desks in which were a 20£ Bank of England note, and a check upon Glyn’s Bank for £7, and about £14 in gold and silver and halfpence, was plundered of the whole of the property. It was evident that the thief must have been acquainted with the premises; and as the prisoner, who had been once employed there, was seen loitering about the neighbourhood on the evening of the robbery, suspicion was at once attached to him; and that suspicion was increased by his sudden and continued absence. It was subsequently found that he put up at an infamous house at Mile End, where he was, as might be expected, betrayed by his female companion. He had placed a £20 note in the hands of a publican in the neighbourhood, and drawn from it, from time to time, to within £1 of the whole amount; and a person who knew him heard him express his intention to call at Glyn’s bank for cash for a £7 check which he had in his possession. The publican had, it appeared, paid away the £20 note to his brewer, who produced it before Alderman Gibbs, and a clerk in the house of Messrs. Kennard and Co. identified the note as that which had been stolen out of the desk in their counting-house. The prisoner said, he had nothing to say, and was committed for trial.”

Bell’s New Weekly Messenger of 3 September 1848 put it more colourfully :

“Gaffee Jones, alias Bergamus Gaffee, was charged at the Mansion-House with having entered the premises of Messrs, Kinnaird and Co., iron merchants, in Upper Thames street, and stolen a Bank Of England note for £20, a check for £7 and gold and silver to the amount of £25 or £26. The prisoner had been, some time before, in the employment of the prosecutors. – Romaine (K232), in consequence of information which he had received, apprehended the prisoner in an infamous house at Mile-End, in a state of complete nudity. The witness learned in that den quite enough to convince him that the prisoner was the thief who robbed Messrs. Kinnaird- A publican stated that the prisoner called upon him on the 8th or 9th of August, and asked him for change of a £20 note. Witness, from time to time, gave the prisoner money as he wished to draw it, and all he had at present to receive was £1. Witness paid off the £20 note to his brewer, and said he could of course get the particulars. The prisoner gave him a gold ring at the same time with the £20, to be taken care of by the witness. – The prisoner was remanded.”

Upper Thames street is located between Blackfriars’ Bridge and London Bridge in the City of London, near St. Paul’s Cathedral.

On 18 September 1848 Gaffer pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey Court, London to “feloniously breaking and entering the dwelling-house of Robert William Kinnaird and others, and stealing one £20 bank-note, and 20 sovereigns, and other moneys, their property”. His sentencing was postponed to a later Sessions, in October, when he was sentenced to 7 years transportation.

“The sentence of transportation was usually carried out in three parts. Prisoners started their sentence in the local gaol, followed by a period in a convict gaol or on the prison hulks before finally being transported. After sentencing it was normal for prisoners under sentence of transportation to spend the first part of their sentence in the prison where they had awaited trial, usually in solitary confinement. They stayed there until the secretary of state ordered their removal to a convict facility. Prisoners arrived at the convict facility with their 'caption papers' (Which stated the offence, the date of conviction and length of sentence). In the early 19th century, most prisoners awaiting transportation were sent to the “hulks” in London before being assigned to a convict ship and leaving England,” according to ‘Victorian Crime and Punishment’.

Gaffer was in Newgate prison from 18th September 1848 until transferred to Millbank prison on the 12th February 1849, prior to his transfer to the prison Hulks.

“Convicts sentenced to transportation were sent instead to hulks, old or unseaworthy ships, generally ex-naval vessels, moored in rivers and harbours close enough to land for the inmates to be taken ashore to work. Although originally introduced as a temporary measure the hulks quickly became a cost-efficient, essential and integral part of the British prison system. Once tried and sentenced convicts were sent to a receiving hulk for four to six days, where they were washed, inspected and issued with clothing, blankets, mess mugs and plates. They were then sent to a convict hulk, assigned to a mess and allocated to a work gang”. (Sydney Living Museums)

From the 18th century conditions for convicts were very poor: “Prisoners kept in the hulks were set to hard labour in dockyards or on the banks of rivers. Those on the Thames were put to work improving the navigability of the river by removing gravel and soil from its shores. This work was backbreaking, exhausting and very public; convict chain gangs provided a moral spectacle and example for all who saw them. The rations provided by the contractors were inadequate, in that they did not provide the convicts with the energy or nutrition required to perform such arduous work. This was done on purpose – the parliamentary act authorising the use of hulks stipulated that convicts were to be fed little other than bread, "any coarse or inferior food", water and small beer. Convicts frequently went hungry and often became malnourished. This was exacerbated by the fact that there were no charitable food handouts available to convicts on the hulks, as there were in conventional gaols. In fact, visiting was extremely limited for fear that tools used to escape could be smuggled aboard. This regime was so punishing that, after a short time, men became demoralized, weak and susceptible to disease. The poor sanitation and cramped conditions meant that infection could spread particularly quickly. From the first introduction of the hulks, diseases such as cholera, dysentery and typhus were rife. The convict mortality rate was exceptionally high – about a third perished in the first few years. In response, the diet was improved and better medical care was provided.” “With the opening of Pentonville Prison and increased use of Millbank Prison from 1843, fewer convicts were sentenced to the hulks, which were increasingly only used for old and infirm prisoners and those in poor health. After 1852, only two hulks survived, and the Hulks Act was finally allowed to expire in 1857”, according to Digital Panopticon. Anna McKay in “The History of British Prison Hulks, 1776-1864” summarises; “When men grew destitute and faced the workhouse, life as a convict was measured out against the negatives of offending. After all, prisoners were provided with three meals a day. They mastered trades and learnt to read and write. When released, they were even given a little money. Nevertheless, government officials made every attempt to make life on board as punitive as possible. After a series of scandals, the prison hulk system wound down and was officially disbanded in 1857”.

Gaffer was transferred on 15th August 1849 to the prison hulk 'Justitia' at Woolwich on the Thames. He was transferred once more on 31st December 1849 to the hulk 'Warrior', and after another two years was relocated back to Millbank prison on 31st December 1851. His behaviour as listed in the quarterly returns ,on the hulks, was described as “very good” on the 'Justitia', and varying from “very good” to “indifferent” to “bad”on the 'Warrior'.

After 2 years and 10 months incarceration he was at last conveyed to the barque 'Lady Montague' for transportation to Van Diemen’s Land. This was one of the last ships to transport convicts to VDL and was a subject of great displeasure to the Anti-Transportation League.

Transportation from Britain had emerged as a form of criminal punishment as an alternative to execution in the 1600’s. “Convicts were sent to Australia to work. Their sentences stipulated they would work from sunrise to sunset, Monday to Saturday. This was their punishment but the colonial administration also viewed it as an opportunity for redemption, as Governor Phillip believed that ‘honest sweat’ was the convict’s best chance of improvement. Convicts lived under very strict rules and any breaking of those regulations could result in punishment such as whippings, the wearing of leg-irons or solitary confinement. Serious crimes could result in sentences to hard-labour prisons such as Port Arthur or Norfolk Island,” according to the National Museum of Australia . The Companion to Tasmanian History states that “Between 1803 and 1853 approximately 75,000 convicts served time in Van Diemen's Land. Of these 67,000 were shipped from British and Irish ports and the remainder were either locally convicted, or transported from other British colonies.” ....As a result the number of serving convicts in Van Diemen's Land rose from just over 400 in 1816, to a peak of over 30,000 in 1847. Thereafter numbers declined rapidly, especially following the cessation of transportation in 1852. By 1862 only just over a thousand serving convicts remained.” The afore-mentioned Anti-Transportation League was vocal in gradually stopping Transportation. “Similar anti-transportation demonstrations were held in Sydney, Launceston and Hobart. An embryonic Australian trade union movement increased its opposition to transportation. Even under the probation system, the difference in wages paid to passholder convicts employed in the private sector and free labour was sufficient to impact on working-class standards of living, and the emancipist population of ex-convicts were prominent among those seeking to protect their interests as freed workers,” according to Hamish Maxwell-Stewart. Transportation to Van Diemen’s Land officially ceased in 1853.

The voyage of the ‘Lady Montague’ to Hobart began on August 9th from Plymouth, and ended on 9th December 1852. Aboard the ship were 280 male convicts, a dozen or so passengers, other women and children, Officers and soldiers of British Regiments, and 40 crew. 9 deaths were documented. On arrival in Hobart Gaffer was deemed to be, along with most of the convicts, “fit for service” by the Ship’s Surgeon, Samuel Donnelly.

The procedure from then was “on arrival in the Derwent convicts were brought before a board headed by the Superintendent of the Prison Barracks, so that information about previous work experience could be elicited. Each convict was then stripped to the waist and any distinguishing features were put on file. Once disembarked, male convicts were marched to the Prison Barracks and females to the Cascade Female Factory. There they were kept for a short period while it was determined where they would be deployed.” (Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies.) The system “was underpinned by elaborate record keeping. Each convict was described in detail on disembarkation in Australia. Thereafter, a summary of every encounter with a colonial court was entered under the convict’s name in a centralised system of punishment registers. Information about the awarding of indulgences and certificates of freedom was advertised in the colonial press, together with descriptions of runaways.” wrote Maxwell-Stewart.

Gaffer Jones was described in the arrival records as: Complexion- florid, head-medium, hair-light brown, visage-oval, forehead-high, eyebrows-dark brown, eyes-blue, nose-medium, mouth-medium, chin-medium, remarks-B [probably broken] left arm. Trade-labourer, height-5’6”. He received a police number on arrival-6541. His statement of offence, as stated by him, indicates a burglary of £88 from Mr. Kinnaird, which is an increase over the amount stated at his trial.

His work assignments began with 4 months at the Prison Barracks, Hobart, now known as the Hobart Convict Penitentiary, a National Trust property. Next he was transferred to the Police Constabulary in Launceston, (built in 1827, closing in 1917, becoming the site of Launceston High School, Tasmania’s first State High School). This alternated with working at the Hospital in Launceston for 16 months. The hospital was established in approximately 1820 as H.M. Colonial Hospital as a convict hospital and in 1854, at the end of Gaffer’s time there, “it was transferred from Imperial to Colonial control as the Cornwall Hospital and Infirmary”, according the Companion to Tasmanian History. This was under the second major change to the Colonial system of convict management. As related in the article “Convict Labour Contracts”, the new system was called Probation and it lasted from 1840 until 1857. It was very much crafted in accordance with new penal thought. It graded convicts by their crimes and structured reform by requiring progression through stages, before ultimately earning freedom. “Stage two saw convicts leave the gang and become Probationary Passholders, entitled to work for payment, which offered a significant incentive.” Like the first system of convict management and punishment, ‘Assignment’, most convicts would end up working for private employers, but unlike on ‘Assignment’, convicts would be paid a wage. This was not a market wage (something considerably below – these were coerced workers) but a notable incentive, all the same, and usually a relief from hard labour on a gang.” Gaffer became a Pass-holder on 11 April 1853.

For his final 12 months he is recorded as working for Charles Headlam, Launceston. Charles Headlam was a pastoralist who had a property “Eggleston” at Campbell Town and who became the colony’s largest landholder. He became a Magistrate in 1847, and later District Coroner. In 1852 he “wrote a letter to the Colonial Secretary advocating the continuation of transportation as he was having trouble in finding enough men to help him run his property”, says the Campbell Town history reference. In what capacity Gaffer was employed in any of these assignments is unsure, however given his forgery ability it was possible that for some time clerical duties were undertaken. His behaviour during this time was not angelic. On 23rd. November 1853, whilst working for an employer “B.G.” at Perth, he was given 2 months hard labour at the House of corrections for being drunk, and for neglect of duty. He received another 3 months hard labour for being drunk and disorderly at Prison Barracks on 19th August 1854.

He received his Certificate of Freedom at Launceston on 5th November 1855. He was a free man.

We do not hear of Gaffer again until April 1859 when he married Ann Ingleson in Deloraine. In the marriage certificate he is described as a clerk. Ann was a widow of farmer Joseph Thwaite, with whom she had a child, Mary Jane Thwaite, in 1858. The child was brought up as Mary Jane Jones. Ann had emigrated from London to Hobart, under the Auspices of the Female Emigration Society, with her sister Catherine in 1851.

In June 1860 Sarah Ann Jones was born to Annie, as she was known, and Gaffer. Sarah’s birth certificate describes him as a “writing clerk”, of Westbury, where he was to live, with one exception, for the rest of his life. The family had a house in Mary Street, Westbury, on one acre of land.

In September 1862 his second daughter, Amy Lavinia was born. However in July 1862 he had been jailed awaiting trial on a charge of ‘forging and uttering’. The victim was his employer James Dean, of Deloraine. In October of that year a Jury of the Supreme Court in Launceston could not agree on a verdict. He was bailed to appear at the next Criminal Sittings Sessions. Another Jury on 1st January 1863, however, found him guilty and the Launceston Examiner newspaper reported on the Session thus:

Benjamin Jones, uttering a forged cheque on Mr. James Dean, of Westbury. When asked if he had anything to say, prisoner said he was thankful for the time and patience bestowed on his trial, but he was totally innocent of the charge. How was he to know the cheque was a forgery when Mr. Harrup, the cashier at the bank where Mr. Dean kept his account took it for a genuine one? Prisoner alluded to the fact that at the former sittings of the Court the jury appointed to try him could not agree, and he argued from this that there was considerable doubt in the case. He had already been six months in prison, and had a wife and three children dependent upon him for support. He hoped His Honor would take these circumstances into consideration and pass as lenient a sentence as possible. His Honor said he had before him prisoner's character as furnished by the sheriff, and he certainly regretted to see him placed in the position in which he now stood. Prisoner was above the ordinary run of men. He was capable of assisting in the management of an extensive business, and of keeping his employer's accounts, and it was a matter of surprise looking at his character that he should have allowed himself to be tempted away from the path of rectitude. Prisoner came to the colony in 1848 for breaking and entering a house. He had his first taste of freedom hi 1853, when he got his ticket of leave, and he ultimately became perfectly free in 1855. With the exception of some cases of trivial neglect of duty nothing had been recorded against him but two cases of drunkenness, and he (his Honor) felt regret that prisoner had given way to a vice but for which lie would not have stood where lie now did. He (His Honor) was rather sorry than otherwise that prisoner had made an allegation of his innocence. True it was that the forgery was an excellent imitation and defied the scrutiny even of the officers of the bank at which Mr. Dean kept his account. But there were two persons who could not have been deceived- Mr. Dean and prisoner himself. Prisoner kept the books of the establishment, had almost daily acquaintance with Mr. Deans's handwriting, and if the cheque was the forgery of another person (for his Honor could not, after the verdict of the jury say that prisoner was the forger), and it came into prisoner's hands, he must have been able to detect it, and if he did not, it proved that the prisoner must have had a guilty knowledge. His Honor was sorry for prisoner's wife and children, but his feelings of pity must not deter him from doing his duty. The crime of forgery was so rife in this colony, and there were so many facilities for its practice on publicans, who in many instances were ignorant persons, storekeepers, and others, that something must be done to give it a check. Under all the circumstances he (his Honor) was disposed to pass a lenient sentence. The sentence of the Court was that prisoner be imprisoned and kept to hard labor in her Majesty's Gaol at Launceston, for the term of three years.

By 29th January Gaffer is listed at Prisoner Barracks but by September he was stationed at Port Arthur.

Port Arthur is now a UNESCO World Heritage listed convict site. It is an exceptional example of the 19th-century European strategy of using the forced labour of convicts to establish global empires. Port Arthur demonstrates to a high degree the adaptation of the 19th century British penal system to Australian conditions, proclaims its website.

The Port Arthur penal settlement began in the 1830’s on Tasmania’s Tasman Peninsula, a site surrounded by water, secured from escape by soldiers, man-traps, and half-starved dogs across its isthmus. It was a large, self-sufficient and isolated industrial complex where convicts produced timber, bricks, small boats and ships as well as many other products, with the aim of becoming self-sufficient. Gangs of convicts were worked as slave-labour, ploughing, hauling logs and dragging carts. “As a place of secondary punishment Port Arthur meant hard work and pain, physical or psychological. Therefore, its reputation is infamous, states “Becoming Tasmania”. From 1833 until 1853, it was the destination for the hardest of convicted British criminals, those who were secondary offenders having reoffended after their arrival in Australia.

From the 1840s at the site successive penal philosophies were trialled, including systems of isolation, classification, separation of boys and men, and psychological terror. Those changes were reflected in the 1848 cessation of flogging and the construction of the Separate Prison in 1850.

“The prison was completed in 1853, but then extended in 1855. The layout of the prison was fairly symmetrical. It was a cross shape with exercise yards at each corner. The prisoner wings were each connected to the surveillance core of the prison, as well as the chapel in the centre hall. From this surveillance hub, each wing could be clearly seen, although individual cells could not….. The Separate Prison System also signalled a shift from physical punishment to psychological punishment. The hard corporal punishment, such as whippings, used in other penal stations was thought to only serve to harden criminals, and did nothing to turn them from their immoral ways. For example, food was used to reward well-behaved prisoners and as punishment for troublemakers. As a reward, a prisoner could receive larger amounts of food or even luxury items such as tea, sugar, and tobacco. As punishment, the prisoners would receive the bare minimum of bread and water. Under this system of punishment, the "Silent System" was implemented in the building. Here, prisoners were hooded and made to stay silent; this was supposed to allow time for the prisoner to reflect upon the actions which had brought him there….. In many ways, Port Arthur was the model for many of the penal reform movement, despite shipping, housing, and slave-labour use of convicts being as harsh, or worse, than others stations around the nation…..Despite its reputation as a pioneering institution for the new, enlightened view of imprisonment, Port Arthur was still in reality as harsh and brutal as other penal settlements. Some critics might even suggest that its use of psychological punishment, compounded with no hope of escape, made it one of the worst.” summarised Wikipedia.

As the 1860’s moved into the 1870’s the numbers of convicts dwindled, the convicts became aged or infirm and the institution ground to a standstill. The construction of the Paupers' Barracks and the Asylum in the 1860s reflected an ageing convict population. In 1863, according to ‘Becoming Tasmania” the population of the establishment was 888 of whom only 100 were convicts or ‘lifers’, amongst paupers, invalids and lunatics.

Gaffer’s record shows that he was kept at Port Arthur for some months as a ‘writer’- this probably means clerical work. Whilst there in June 1864 he was given 3 months hard labour for misconduct. According to the Hobart Town Gazette he was finally removed to Prisoner Barracks and discharged on the week ending 9th August 1865, which was about 10 years from his first release from custody. He was a free man again.

On his return to Westbury he would have found that he had another child to support. In April 1865 Annie had a son, named John William Laws, to a free man, Benjamin Laws. The boy was raised as John William Jones. The family continued to live at Mary Street in Westbury until 1874.

In 1866 Gaffer’s job description on the birth certificate of his next child was “cordial manufacturer”. The girl’s name was Lucinia Frances Jones. By 1867 he had been granted a Tanner’s License, a trade which he might have learned from his former employer James Dean, tanner at Deloraine. He was to be described in documents as a tanner until 1872. He may have been working at Smith’s Tannery which fronted Quamby Brook in Westbury but which ceased trading around 1869.

1869 saw the birth of Amelia Alice, who was to marry into the Knight family in Sydney 22 years later.

In 1870 Mabel was born, Arthur in 1872 and Frank in 1874. In that year Gaffer was described at Frank’s birth as a storekeeper, and his property as a house and shop on William Street, Westbury. When the shop was eventually sold following his death in 1876, it was described at auction as a General Store, containing drapery, grocery, ironmongery, crockery, glassware and produce. It was an agent for a local newspaper "The Weekly Examiner"'.

On 30th of July 1876 Gaffer passed away, aged 46, from cirrhosis of the liver, most probably due to chronic alcoholism. His funeral left from his house on 3rd of August for burial. Members of his Lodge, Good Templars, were invited and that membership would probably have contributed to the funeral costs. The Burial Register of St. Andrew’s Church indicates his burial in the Anglican cemetery. No headstone can be found to indicate the location of the grave.

Gaffer’s passing would leave 9 children, aged from two to eighteen, in Annie’s care. She is listed as living in the house and shop in William Street until at least 1879, and then in a cottage in Westbury Rd in 1885. She moved to Sydney sometime in the 1880’s, certainly after her daughter Lucinia’s marriage in Annie’s house in April 1884. She lived in Balmain with her son John William Jones. All but 2 of Gaffer’s natural children eventually moved to Sydney.

The “Convict Trail” in Campbell Town, Tasmania, was opened in 2004. The scheme involved laying thousands of clay bricks embossed with the names and details of convicts who came to Australia. Relatives of the convicts were invited to purchase a brick, to have it inscribed and laid on the trail. A “Deed of Title” for the brick and land was also to be issued. Gaffer’s brick states:

Benjamin Gaffee Jones

Age: 22

Lady Montague 1852

Housebreaking 7 years

Stole £88

The brick can be seen in Campbell Town^{34,116,117,118,120,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128,129,130,131,132,133,134,135,136,137,138,139,140,141,142,143,144,145,146,147,148,149,150,151,152}.

15.

Anne INGLESON, daughter of Henry INGLESON and unknown INGLESON, was born on 7 May 1834 in Yorkshire.^{116 137} She emigrated from The Downs, England on 2 Jul 1851.^{153 154} She was a servant. She was Anglican. She died on 11 Dec 1893 in 31 Lawson St. Balmain.^{137 155} General Tuberculosis 5 months. Anne was buried on 13 Dec 1893 in Rookwood Cemetery C of E. Area:zone B Section:RRR Grave No. 920.^{137 138} Informant JW Jones. Grave now indiscernible-RK Nov 2017. Anne had a relationship with Joseph THWAITE. She had a relationship with Benjamin LAWS.

Ann's name was given as Eliza Ann in her son John William's death certificate. And also in son Arthur's. Eliza A Jones is stated on the cemetery records.

The birthdate stated is as given by Ken F Knight, but her Death cert indicates 1833.

She arrived on the ship AUSTRALASIA 3/10/1851, age 22, as Ann Ingleton, trade - servant, along with her (likely) sister Catherine. She had emigrated from London to Hobart, under the Auspices of the Female Emigration Society.

After arrival in Hobart on 9/10/1851 she was employed by Mrs. Parr, Kelso Terrace, Hobart, term 3 months, as Ann Ingledon. (See multimedia window)

Mrs Parr - • arrived 12/9/1847, on ship VICTORIA (cabin) from

Falmouth, Ref. Free arrivals, MB 2/39.9 p.314, or

_ • E. Parr arr. BROUGHAM (steerage), 15/2/1858, Ref. Free arrivals, LSO 92/3 F.27

Ann was likely married to Joseph Thwaite, a farmer in Westbury before he died in 1858.

She was married to "Gaffer" in 1859, with 6 children to him. She had a son to 'Benjamin Laws' whilst Gaffer was in prison.

After their marriage her residences were as Gaffer's . After his death in 1876, she continued in the house and shop, William St., Westbury, until (Ref. Vals. 1885) she moved to a cottage in Westbury Rd.

The surviving photo of her was taken in Balmain (Balmain photographers address on rear). It appears that she moved to Sydney during the 1880's. At her death she was living with her son John William Jones who was the informant on her death certificate.

Although her Death Certificate indicates her burial at Rookwood cemetery, there is no record on SAG Rookwood Cemetery Transcriptions. The Cemeteries Trust does however have details, and although her gravesite is numbered, it has not been found.^{116,138,153,154,156,157}

Benjamin Gaffee JONES and Anne INGLESON had the following children:

Joseph THWAITE was born in 1819. He died on 10 Nov 1858 in Westbury. Consumption, M, Ref. RGD 35/27, TPI.

Farmer, in daughter-s birth reg.

Vals. 1858 has him owning house and land at Mary St., Westbury, under 1 acre, annual rate £22, may be the house that Ann owned after his death, and subsequently lived in by Gaffer.¹³³

Joseph THWAITE and Anne INGLESON had the following children:

Benjamin LAWS was born in 1799. He died on 1 Oct 1890 in Westbury. RGD. 35/1890/1484.

Yeoman

CSO 87 has a Benjamin Laws as Public Messenger Pt. Dalrymple 1822

Census 1837-1857 has him at Westbury 1848

Westbury - house and land, cottage, under 1 acre, William St. Empty from 1886 McPhail-s Directory has Benjamin Laws in Westbury in 1867.

1861 Valuation Roll has him at house and ground, Dexter St. Also 1862,1867,1868. Not on 1871 Roll, but F.B. Maning Tas. Directory has him at Dexter St. in 1881. Information from Westbury Historical Society has the address as 167 Dexter St.

RGD 35/59 has as death Cert. No. 203 1404 Benjamin Lawes male, 90 years, Laborer, pneumonia, notifier George Boyes/Boyer?, step-son, Westbury.

Hobart Town Gazette indicates a Benjamin Laws living at Dexter St. in 1870 and 188^{120,135,168,169}0

Benjamin LAWS and Anne INGLESON had the following children:

16.

William KNIGHT,^{86 171} son of Daniel KNIGHT and Margaret WILLIAMS, was born on 20 Sep 1789 in St. Nicholas, Liverpool, England. He was baptised on 24 Nov 1789 in St. Nicholas. He was a Mariner. He married Elizabeth LEMMON on 1 Apr 1820 in St. Peter's Church, Church St., Liverpool, England.^{172 173} by Banns.

There existed a number of people by the name of William Knight in Liverpool between 1800 and the late 1800's and it has been difficult to reliably identify William and his family, particularly in the early 1800's. However some facts exist. Crosbie St., Liverpool was given as the residence and William's occupation was given as mariner in all of the children's baptisms, over 10 years, 1820-1830. neither he nor his wife could write, evidenced by their signing the marriage document with a cross. And William was alive in 1842 as daughter Margaret's immigration documents indicate. Other information is less reliable.

We do know that, living in housing in Wapping by the Liverpool docks was very basic, unsanitary and rough. A later description is "In 1803, the whole district as far as Parliament Street, and beyond, was covered with streets, and to a great extent with houses. The bane of Liverpool, the erection of narrow unwholesome court-houses was here suffered to a most pernicious extent. Various changes have taken place and much of the property has been removed for commercial purposes and public improvements, but the original vice still clings to the locality, rendering almost abortive the adoption of effectual sanitary measures". Crosbie Street maps show Roperies (rope works) adjacent to street in 1801. "Crosbie Street is the site of the ropery of Messrs. Crosbies and Siddalls." By the 1833 maps Crosbie Street, in the Wapping area of Liverpool docks, had been converted to a goods train station. "The construction of the Wapping railway tunnel commenced in 1827 and encompassed Crosbie Street as an end terminal of the famous Liverpool to Manchester Railway Line. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway began in Liverpool at Wapping, very near to the Queen's Dock. A part of it extended to Crosbie Street and ended at the junction of Liverpool Road and Water Street in Manchester at the terminus (passenger station at the end of the line). The original goods station was built at Wapping Station opposite the Kings Dock in Liverpool and was connected to the main line of the Liverpool to Manchester Railway." William's son William was born in 1827 and George in 1830, residence Crosbie Street, adjacent to this construction, presumably. "The Railway Station, now extending from Wapping to Park Railway Lane along Crosbie Street, was established after the tunnel was st constructed in 1831. From its modest commencement it has gradually enlarged its borders to its present gigantic dimensions. "(1875). Crosbie street had disappeared under Wapping Goods station, but reappears as Kings Dock Street in the present day.

Another major event which may have affected this family was Cholera. "Asiatic cholera reached Britain for the first time in late 1831, with the main epidemic occurring during 1832. The disease caused profuse diarrhea, severe dehydration, collapse, and often death. There was widespread public fear, and the political and medical response to this new disease was variable and inadequate."A cholera epidemic was evident again in 1849 and crosbie Street was heavily infected.Living in court housing was very unsanitary and Crocbie Street in 1849 had 24 courts in a short street. An article "The court and cellar dwelling: The 18th century origin of the Liverpool slum" focuses on Crosbie Street, where the Knight children were born. "The courts on this street are fairly typical of those added in the areas of working-class accretion during the 1780s. Crosbie Street has been selected for this reason and because of its reputation for a degree of squalor and immorality which singled it out for mention on several occasions during the public health agitation of the 1840s. " Sanitary provision was minimal even eighty years after construction (Table II), there being on average one privy to six houses (Figure 10). The privies listed in 1863 were earth middens and not water closets, there being few street sewers until the 1850s. Furthermore, the front houses were without yards and the inhabitants of these houses had to use the privies and ashpits of courts. As the council did not take on the responsibility of court cleansing until 1846, the state of these areas which served between 60 and 100 people can be appreciated only by reading the eye- (and nose-!) witness accounts of the middle-class visitors. Cleansing even by the inhabitants was made almost impossible by the lack of paving, the ground consisting of earth or cinders."

And regarding population density "At the microlevel these densities can be translated into yards per person and in 1841 Fir Court, containing 118 inhabitants, had 1,1/3 square yards per person and Oak Court 1,1/4 square yards per person."

The 1841 census does not indicate that the family were living together anywhere in Liverpool, although various names of family members are scattered amongst other families. No verifiable information, however.

Liverpool census in 1851 has a William Knight,lodger at Frederick St., Court 25. He is a mariner, a widower, born Liverpool,age 60 or possibly 40. Living with 2 mariners wives and their 2 children. If it is our William Knight, then his wife has died or something else between 1830 and 1851, and William was born around 1791.^{65,174,175,176,177,178,179,180},

26.

Isaac LEMON¹⁸² was born in 1750.⁸⁶ Age 69 given on burial transcript. Isaac died in 1819 in Liverpool.¹⁸⁸ He was buried on 13 Jan 1819 in Liverpool, St. Thomas.^{86 188} He married Elizabeth REYNOLDS.

Isaac Lemon is the first and only Jewish ancestor in the Knight family that we know of.

Isaac was born in 1750, calculated from his burial transcript. He was part of the Jewish community in Liverpool according to the "Records of the Jews in Liverpool", 1899. This document identifies from Gore's Directory 1790 Isaac Lemon, broker, 11 Bridge street as Jewish. The "Records" say about the Jewish community "We find that in 1780 they assembled for worship in a small house in Turton Court, near the present Custom House, and probably were for the most part persons engaged in vending new and second-hand wares to the seafaring population." It postulates that around 1800 there may have been about 100 Jews in Liverpool. This is reinforced by "Settlers arrived in the mid 18th century and there is a record of an early synagogue in Stanley Street in 1753. Jews soon established a niche supplying chandlery and general provisions to the local seafaring quarter, while sending out hawkers into the local communities with cheaper goods."

According to Gores Directory of Liverpool Isaac Lemon was a broker living at 47 Crosbie Street.

In the 1801 census the family lived in Crosbie St. front of house, 1 family, 5 male and 3 females. The Knight family were also living in Crosbie Street.

According to daughter Elizabeth's baptism record and son Martin's christening document, Isaac was a broker. Abode at that time was Crosbie St. His address at his death was still at Crosbie Street.

He died in 1819 and was not buried in a Jewish cemetery but in St. Thomas, Church of England^{86,181,189,190,191}.