Between 1804 and 1853 the British Government transported around 76,000 convicts to the colony of Van Diemen’s Land (now called Tasmania). One of those was Matthew Fagg, a farm labourer and hop grower from Barham in Kent. Matthew was born in the village of Barham in 1822 and christened in the local parish church of St John on 14 April …
John Dennis (1805-?) – imprisoned for sheep stealing
John DENNIS (b1805) – According to the 1851 Census John was in Maidstone Prison after stealing a sheep earlier that year from Thomas Hammond’s farm in Brabourne. From there he was sent to Wakefield House of Correction and then on to Dartmoor Prison. He was finally released in 1854 for good behaviour and sent back to Stowting where sadly his …
Jane GREENLAND’s voyage to Australia (and back!) – 1890
Jane Greenland was born in Dover in 1868, the eldest child of Jacob and Mary Ann Greenland. By the age of 15, she was an orphan. By the age of twenty-two, Jane was on board a ship bound for Australia…