Joan's questions

In her landmark family history from the 1980s, Joan Taylor posed some questions about William Ward's time in Tasmania:

Whether or not he married during his time in Tasmania?

Probably not. He seems never to have been granted a Ticket of Leave and would probably not have been allowed to marry while a serving Convict. There is no record of him seeking permission to marry either.

How he how he learned about small boats?

This remains a mystery. He was assigned to 'Public Works' which would probably have been building public buildings, roads, bridges etc. Gilbert Cimitiere, the Commandant of the Port Dalrymple settlement undertook a lot of building work at Georgetown in an unsuccessful attempt to satisfy the Governor's orders that Georgetown be made the regional headquarters. But Georgetown and Launceston would have been a hive of small boat activity. My brother Steve did some asking around in Georgetown and there was a local historian who had some records of lifeboat crews I think. The bloke was not available when Steve was there, but this may be a possible line of enquiry.

Whether he appears in the list of convicts assigned to anyone from the PILOT?

Not as far as I can find, but then he would not be if he was assigned to Public Works for his whole sentence.

When he was freed?

The clipping from the Hobart Town Gazette and Van Diemen’s Land Advertiser that I mentioned in my last post  says that William was freed in the week before 20 Feb 1824. I assume that he would have been due for release 7 years after his conviction on 4 Dec 1816, which would have been early Dec 1823. The 3 months gaol gang for disobeying Gilbert Cimitiere (the Commandant) in 1821 might explain the extra time he had to serve.

How he came back to Sydney?

I have not discovered any information on this and doubt the records to solve this would exist. It is likely I think that he sailed directly from Northern Tasmania to Port Jackson (Sydney). I do not know if Convicts got paid, or whether William would have had the means to pay a passenger fare, but I note that he had the means to get drunk at least twice, so it is reasonable to assume he had some way of getting money. It is also possible, if not likely, that he could have worked for his passage. I did scan the Shipping Notices in the Hobart paper for the weeks after William's release, and there were regular Ships departing Georgetown and Launceston for Sydney. The brig Ann, captained by Capt. Moon departed Port Dalrympe and the Nerens, Capt Emmit departed from Geogetown. I think both advertised for cargo and passengers. There were also ships departing from Hobart at least once a week.

I have not yet tracked down the Affidavit that Joan quotes where a William Ward had lost his Certificate of Emancipation, but if that is our William, it may put a timeframe around his arrival back in Sydney. Joan says it was in 1824.