Thomas Hunt 1806-?

Loom hand.  'Bad character.'

   Family tree (3 generations)    Facts    Gallery    Archive

Facts

Date   Event   Source
5 Mar 1806   Thomas Hunt was born in South Croxton, Leicestershire. He was the third son of Thomas Hunt (24), occupation not known, and Elizabeth Brown.   South Croxton parish register
12 Mar 1806   He was christened privately in South Croxton parish church.   South Croxton parish register
20 Feb 1808   His brother, Samuel, was born, and christened 2 days later.   South Croxton parish register
9 Dec 1810   His next brother, Henry, was born, and christened 6 days later, the last of 5 sons.   South Croxton parish register
3 Jan 1812   When Thomas was 5, his mother died - probably about 30 years old. She was buried at South Croxton 2 days later. (The cause of death is not recorded, but it is around the time the next child would have been due.)   South Croxton parish register + BTs
5 Dec 1813   His paternal grandfather, John Hunt, was buried at South Croxton aged 56.   South Croxton BTs
2 Apr 1815   When he was 9, his father died aged 33. He was buried at South Croxton. The cause of death was not recorded. He left 5 orphan sons, aged between 4 and 11.   South Croxton BTs
(6 Jul 1826   When Thomas was 19, his eldest brother, John, married Susannah Graves at St Margaret's, Leicester.)   IGI
(1824-1827   Thomas Glover, an agricultural labourer, moved his family to South Croxton - see next.)   See Susannah Glover - Facts
12 Aug 1832   At the age of 26, he married Susannah Glover, who was 17, at South Croxton. He left his mark in the wedding register (he couldn't read or write).   South Croxton parish register
20 Feb 1833   His first child, William, was christened at South Croxton, 6 months 8 days after the wedding. (William was the name of one of his older brothers.)   South Croxton parish register
21 Apr 1834   William was buried, aged 1.   IGI
Abt May 1834   His second child, Mary, was born in South Croxton. (Mary was his wife's mother's name.)   See Mary Hunt - Facts
5 Oct 1834   His daughter, Mary, was christened in South Croxton.   South Croxton parish register
24 Apr 1836   His third child, Samuel, was born. (Samuel was the name of one of his younger brothers.)   South Croxton parish register
2 Jul 1838   At the age of 32, he was found guilty of stealing five elm boards from one Thomas Ward and sentenced to 6 weeks hard labour at Leicester(shire) House of Correction. ('Elm is a timber of most singular use, especially where it may lie continually dry or wet, in extremes; therefore proper for water-works, mills, the ladles and soles of the wheel, pipes pumps, aquæ-ducts, pales, ship-planks beneath the water-line, &c.' [Houghton, in Cox & Dannehl, 2007]   Midsummer Quarter Sessions
14 Jul 1838   While he was still in prison, his fourth and last known child, Maria, was born in South Croxton. His occupation was recorded as loom hand.   Birth certificate
26 Jul 1838   His daughter, Maria, was christened at South Croxton parish church. His occupation was recorded as framework knitter.   South Croxton parish register
Aug 1838   He was released from detention.   Assumed from sentence
26 Jan 1840   He was arrested for stealing a sheep from Alan Bent, a farmer in his 50s who lived in Queniborough, 3 miles from South Croxton [1841 census].   Quarter Sessions
8 Feb 1840   His arrest was reported in the local press.   Leicestershire Mercury
11 Mar 1840   At the adjourned quarter sessions, he was sentenced to transportation for 15 years. Offence: 'Sheep stealing; before [i.e. previously] convicted of felony'.   Criminal Register, Leicestershire HO 26/61
Mar-Apr 1840   He was conveyed to the hulk "Justitia" at Woolwich. There, he was recorded as an agricultural labourer not able to read and write and earned the Gaoler's Report: 'Bad character'.   Register of Hulks HO 9/13
(16 May 1840   The "Eden", 522 tons, was chartered for the transportation of 270 male convicts from England to Australia.)   Eden letters PC 1/2715
30 Jun 1840   After about 3 months on the hulk, his Behaviour During the Quarter had been 'Good', and the Surgeon's Report was 'Healthy'. Remarks: 'NSW 30 June 1840'.   Quarterly list of Convicts HO 8/64
June 1840   'The guard was embarked, at Deptford, on the 27th June 1840. The ship proceeded to Woolwich, and on the 30th, received 150 convicts from the two hulks lying at that place. The Eden arrived at Sheerness on the 1st July, and on the 3rd, the embarkation of convicts was completed, by a draught of 120, from the hulk at Chatham; making a total of 270 prisoners.'   Eden Surgeon's Report ADM 101/22/3
30 Jun 1840   An 'Account of Ordnance Reserve Stop'd from the undermentioned prisoners Embarked for New South Wales per Eden' shows '5836 Thomas Hunt 4s 5d'.   Eden letters PC 1/2715
10 Jul-18 Nov 1840   The "Eden" sailed from Sheerness for New South Wales. The Ship's Master was Henry J Naylor and the Surgeon George E Forman. The ship arrived at Sydney after 131 days at sea, bearing 269 convicts (1 died on the journey).   C Bateson, The Convict Ships 1787-1868
18 Nov 1840   'Three convicts having been sent to Hospital since the ship's arrival at Sydney, and one having died at sea, there remained 266 of the 270 originally received aboard; these were disembarked on the 26th November 1840, in an apparent sound state of health, and were pronounced by the authorities to be more than usually hale in appearance.'   Eden Surgeon's Report ADM 101/22/3
18 Nov 1840   On arrival in New South Wales, Thomas Hunt's physical appearance was noted as follows: '5ft 2¾; ruddy complexion, grey eyes, light brown hair; carroty whiskers and eyebrows partially meeting.'   Convict list
11 Nov 1846   After 6 years, he was granted a ticket of leave passport 'on recommendation of Scone Bench'.
'A convict, transported for 14 [or 15] years, obtains, at the end of six years, as a matter of course, unless his conduct has been very bad, a ticket of leave, which enables him, according to certain regulations, to work on his own account... Ticket-of-leave men find no difficulty in obtaining work.'		   State records, NSW, item 4/4264;

Report of the Select Committee on Transportation, 1838
7 Dec 1847   He was granted another ticket of leave passport, again 'on recommendation of Scone Bench'.   State records, NSW, item 4/4267
22 Apr 1851   His ticket of leave was cancelled due to 'absence from district'. The relevant document has writing which looks like 'Ticket of leave torn up in ...' 'Letter 51/959 refers'. This letter does not appear to have survived.   State records, NSW, item 4/4267
23 May 1851   He appeared in a list of men from Scone 'illegally at large since March 1851:
    Thomas Francis, Earl Grey 2, age 35, Bath, carver and gilder
    Thomas Hunt, Eden, age 44, Leicestershire, farm labourer
    William Sandwell, Eden, age 33, Kent, farm labourer
    Robert Robinson, Minerva 5, age 51, Selby, upholsterer
    Neil Moran, Henry, age 49, London, labourer.'
It has been observed that February 1851 is the date of the discovery of gold in Ophir, publicity about which, shortly afterwards, initiated the Australian gold rush. It seems very possible that these absconders from Scone were among the hundreds who went to the gold fields in 1851 to try their luck. However, the remaining 'facts' of Thomas Hunt's life are uncorroborated and it should be borne in mind that Thomas Hunt is a common name.		   New South Wales Government Gazette
10 Sep 1852   The record of gold moved under escort from Ballarat to Geelong 9 Sep 1852 includes 'Thomas Hunt and party: 81 oz'   Geelong Advertiser
28 Jan 1853   'Thomas Hunt and Charles Peck were charged with a breach of the peace by exchanging blows with one another in the street. The prisoners were drunk at the time and pleaded guilty to the charge.' (Fined 10s.)   Goulburn Herald
25 Jul 1855   A Thomas Hunt was found guilty of drunken and disorderly conduct at Sydney Magistrates Court on 25 July 1855. (Fined 20s or 48 hours imprisonment.)   Sydney Morning Herald
Nov 1855   Thomas Hunt may have died in Sydney, Australia. 'An inquest was held [on 24 November 1855] at the Wellington Inn, George Street South, touching the death of a man named Thomas Hunt, aged about 50 years. It appeared that he was very much addicted to intemperance. A verdict was given of "Died from apoplexy".'   Sydney Morning Herald
31 Dec 1858   A Thomas Hunt was charged with being drunk and disorderly in Maitland. 'He had been found helplessly drunk in the street, and much cut and bruised.' (Fined 20s or 48 hours.)   The Maitland Mercury, 6 Jan 1859
Jun 1860   Thomas Hunt may have died at Inglewood, near Bendigo, Victoria - another location populated by gold prospectors. An inquest held in Avoca recorded a finding of accidental death in the case of 'Thomas Hunt, a native of England and about 60 years of age' who died while felling trees with two mates. 'Between three and four o'clock in the afternoon, one of the trees they were working upon fell, and came in contact with another. The falling tree was thence thrown backward, and fell upon the deceased, killing him instantaneously.'

[No other suitable Thomas Hunt deaths have so far been located in Australia or England. The Thomas Hunt who died in Scone in 1868 was a surgeon born in Middlesex. The Thomas Hunt who stayed in the Liverpool, NSW, Asylum for the destitute in 1879 and died there in 1887 was a cook who arrived in Australia in 1831. The Thomas Hunt who died aged 45 (b. 1806) in Melbourne after a fall from a hayloft was identified in the Melbourne Argus as the son of John Hunt, spirit merchant of Oxfordshire.]

   Bendigo Advertiser








Death certificate


Melbourne deaths index