Well, I’m currently in the very, very early planning days of Family History Holiday to the UK. I was born in England as were my dad and brother. Mum wanted to return to Australia so we came when I was quite young. I’ve always wanted to go back and look around. Discover my roots so to…
Today I am going to compare two highly popular genealogy websites – Find My Past vs Ancestry. These sites allow users to conduct genealogical searches and access historical records in relation to their ancestry. They require people to join, and whilst you can build your family tree and search for free in order to access the full records, you require a paid subscription. I…
As the ship made its way out of the River Thames, Isabella reflected on how they had got to this point. She would never have voluntarily made this trip, however since the day George was transported she knew this is what they had to do. They had hoped he would be jailed in Scotland but…
The convict ship “Stag” departed England, bound for Fremantle, on the 27 January 1855. George Brand was one of 85 convicts onboard. George was 33 years old and did not consider himself a handsome man. He had scraggly brown hair that was lightly balding, a sallow complexion with grey eyes and whilst quite tall at…
Over the past week, I have released the story of George Brand: A Convict Success Story. If you missed this series, you can read about him at the following links. For those of you who have already read them, I really hope you enjoyed hearing about George and the Australia convict system that he became…
Freedom or Something Like It On 3 April 1856 George received his Ticket of Leave, after only 11 months in the Swan Settlement, and he went to work for Charles Crowther in the Greenough area.,,,, The below register shows the money that came to George on his release to start the next stage of his…
A Western Australian Convict On 2 February 1855 George departed for Western Australia with 224 other convicts onboard the “Stag”, which sailed from London with Surgeon Superintendent Caldwell on board.,,, They arrived in Fremantle on 23 May 1855, the fourteenth convict ship to arrive on its shores. ,, The Swan River Settlement in Western Australia…
George Brand in Prison The first records of imprisonment that can be found are of George being sent from Edinburgh Prison, Scotland to Millbank Prison, Middlesex, England on the 13 September 1852., Millbank Prison was opened in 1816 as the national penitentiary but the design was so poor that even the guards would get lost., …
George Brand and His Crimes In 1851 George again found himself before the courts for theft. A total of seven charges were put to him of numerous thefts from goods trains and trucks. At the time of these charges his occupation was listed as a potato dealer so it would seem that he used his…
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…
