Sneak peek

I was privileged this morning to have a play on the new Claim a Convict website.

When Lesley Uebel was ill some generous souls volunteered to take over the Claim a Convict site that Lesley had curated for many years. I was one of the genealogists who was able to make connections with distant cousins via the site, I know that many other genealogists have benefitted over the years from all the work that Lesley put into the project. It is fitting that Lesley's memory will live on in this new site.

The URL for the site that will be launched on Australia Day is http://claimaconvict.hawkesbury.net.au.  At the moment the link only shows a countdown to the launch time. The new Claim a Convict team of Michelle Nichols and Jonathan Auld have given the site a new look that is crisp and clean with a few graphics designed by a local Hawkesbury artist.

I have been playing around on the site this morning, it was easy to register as a user (I had dropped off probably because I hadn't notified the site about a change of email address), claim a few convicts and change the password I was issued with to something a bit easier for me to remember. The site is easy to navigate and all of the links I tested worked. Not being able to help myself I did make a couple of suggestions that Jonathan swiftly implemented.

Richard Aspinall - One of the convicts I have claimed on Claim a Convict

I am not going to steal the thunder of those who are working on this project but I urge you to save some time in the near future to visit the site and claim your convicts. Several of my convicts are not yet listed and Jonathan is working on a mechanism for people to contact the site with details of those convicts who are missing from the list.

Married today, 10th July......

....In 1861 were my maternal great-great grandparents. Richard Aspinall and Mary Homer tied the knot at The Catholic Cathedral of St Michael & St John, Bathurst NSW.

Richard Aspinall, a convict from Wigan in Lancashire, arrived in Sydney from Sheerness on the Bengal Merchant in July 1838.  

Richard and Mary had two daughters.  Mary Jane, born in 1862 at Carrawa, was my great-grandmother, Margaret, her sister,  was born in 1865. After Mary's death Richard reared his two young daughters. It appears that  Richard had a second marriage in 1875 to Anna Maria Fell before he died in Carcoar Hospital in 1883.

 

It seems that Richard did not mend his ways after gaining his freedom.  Richard, as Black Dick, is reputed to have done a bit of bushranging with John Vane.  Mary Jane told a story about hiding under the kitchen table when the police came to round up some bushrangers.