George Brand: A Convict Success Story – Part 1

Introducing George Brand

Australia was built on the backbone of convicts and the stories of these men and women are as vast and varied as the lives they left behind.  Whilst some of these people failed to ever get out of the system, many others went on to establish a successful life in Australia.  One such convict is George Brand – George and his family epitomise a convict success story.

George was born about 1820 in Culross, Perthshire, Scotland marrying Isabella Duncan on 10 January 1840 in Denny, Stirlingshire, Scotland.^1,2,3,,⁴  By the 1851 Census, George, an agricultural labourer, Isabella and their four children, David, Isabella, Andrew, and George were living in Larbert Village, Larbert, Stirlingshire, Scotland.¹  Larbert is a small village on the main road between Stirling and Falkirk and in this era was experiencing economic growth with an increase in industry.⁵ The prosperity of the town increased as the Scottish Railway Company built the Perth to Glasgow railway which  went through the Larbert township.⁵ George was one of the many to benefit from the building of the railway as he took up employment as a porter.⁶

The Scottish Railway Company opened the Glasgow to Perth line on 22 May 1848 giving many people opportunities for employment.⁶ George was employed to work on the railways and in fact, his first conviction in 1849, has him charged with theft whilst employed as a porter with the Scottish Railway Company.⁷  He was aged 29, at this his first offence, so it would seem that in working for the railways he was tempted to use his position to acquire the property of others.³  On the 6th August 1849 George plead guilty to stealing two puncheons containing whiskey or other spirits and was sentenced to four calendar months in Stirling Prison.⁷  It would appear that this experience of the Scottish court system did little to dissuade him from his new pastime of acquiring other people’s property.

George Brand: A Convict Success Story – Part 2

George Brand: A Convict Success Story – Part 3

George Brand: A Convict Success Story – Part 4

George Brand: A Convict Success Story – Part 5

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Bibliography

Image Credit: A Convict Ploughing Team. Public Domain, https://ergo.slv.vic.gov.au/image/convict-ploughing-team. Accessed 15 June 2016.

Image Credit: Stirling in the 18th Century. Public Domain, https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Stirling. Accessed 15 June 2016.

1. Findmypast.com.au. 1851 England, Wales, and Scotland Census Transcription. https://search.findmypast.com.au/record?id=gbc%2f1851%2f0019848792. Accessed 11 May 2016.

2. Erickson, Rica and O’Mara, Gillian. ‘The Bicentennial Dictionary of Western Australians. V. 9. Convicts in Western Australia, 1850-1887.’ Nedlands, W.A.: University of Western Australia, 1987-(1997). (Revision of Dictionary of Western Australians Vol. 2 Bond 1850-1868. Alphabetical listing of convicts and short biography of each).

3. Erickson, Rica. ‘The Brand on his Coat: Biographies of some Western Australian Convicts.’ Nedlands: University of Western Australia Press, 1983.

4. Findmypast.com.au. Denny, Stirlingshire, Scotland Marriages 1561-1910. https://search.findmypast.com.au/record?id=r_694535074. Accessed 1 June 2016.

5. En.wikipedia.org. ‘Larbert’. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larbert. Accessed 10 June 2016.

6. Railscot.co.uk. ‘Scottish Central Railway’. https://www.railscot.co.uk/Scottish_Central_Railway/index.php. Accessed 10 June 2016.

7. Nrsscotland.gov.uk. National Records of Scotland. Source Information: Country Code: GB, Repository code: 234, Reference: AD14/52/373. https://catalogue.nrscotland.gov.uk/nrsonlinecatalogue/details.aspx?reference=AD14%2f52%2f373&st=1&tc=y&tl=n&tn=n&tp=n&k=George+Brand&ko=a&r. Accessed 15 May 2016.