Ahlen Family Tree

The Neptune

First Fleet "Charlotte"

Typical convict ship

Daniel Murrells

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Daniel Murrell was one of Australia’s early convicts who were transported to Australia for “Stealing a Fowl!”

Daniel Murrell was born in Fordham Essex England in 1815; his parents were James Murrell (a labourer) and Martha.
Daniel Murrell was convicted on 22nd May 1832 in Chelmsford Essex on two counts:
1. Stealing a Matlock (a tool) and Stealing a Fowl
He received a 7 year sentence for each offence. When convicted Daniel Murrell’s occupation is listed as a Ploughman. Daniel was transported aboard the “York” convict ship which departed England on the 1st of September 1832 and arrived in Tasmania on the 29th December 1832.
When Daniel Murrell arrived in Tasmania he was employed on public works on the “Great Island” and then sent to the Hamilton District to work on a private farm. He received a Ticket of Leave on 1 January 1840. He then obtained a Conditional Pardon on 12th February 1842 and finally was granted a Certificate of Freedom on the 3rd of November 1847.
Daniel departed Tasmania and traveled to Geelong in Victoria and from there moved into the Western District of Victoria.
Daniel Murrell married Mary Higgins in Geelong on 16th February 1858.
He worked as a carrier living in Teasdale and Mary was a servant at Batesford. Mary at 22 years of age was 18 years younger than Daniel.
Neither Daniel nor Mary could write. Daniel and Mary had a son James Murrell who was born in 1858. Sadly Daniel died two years later in 1860.
Little information is known about James Murrell except that he was a butcher and cattle dealer in Shelford and that he married Laura Hawes and that they had a son Harold Henry Murrell who was born in 1892.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Mangles

 

First Fleet leaving England 1787 (painting)

 

First Fleet "Friendship"

 

Robert Staines

Hilda's great uncle

We think he was born in 1818

He was baptized in Sutton Valence 24 Oct 1819
He was transported to New South Wales age 22 in 1840 as a convict on board Eden, for sheep stealing in Sutton Valence graveyard

He had full pardon in 13 Dec 1847

Robert married Louisa Lovell in Sydney in 1844. They had at least 2 children, James and Robert.

He came back to england but when we are not sure when

In 1881 lived in Hollingbourne workhouse and registered as pauper
He died in 1885 in Hollingbourne workhouse Whiteheath and is buried in paupers grave in the same graveyard he stole the sheep all those years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Transportations

Chain gang

David Murrells

Hilda's 2nd Great grandfather

At the age of 36 he was convicted on the 6 Jan 1835 to seven and half years David Murrells was 36 years old when he was convicted of stealing at the

Essex Quarter Session in January 1835. He had no prior convictions and was sentenced to 14 years transportation.

Also Larceny before conviction
He was sent to New South Wales as an Australian convict on the Royal Sovereign 2 which set sale on 25th July 1835 and arrived12thDec1835, on 11th Mar in 1844

He was issued with a ticket of leave for the district of Port Stephens in 1841 and for Murrurundi in 1845. Free Settler or Felon in 1837 in Port Stephens
In 1847 he was convicted of Cattle stealing.
From Convicts of the Royal Sovereign records
David Murrells was 36 years old when he was convicted of stealing at the Essex Quarter Session in January 1835. He had no prior convictions and was sentenced to 14 years transportation. He was issued with a ticket of leave for the district of Port Stephens in 1841 and for Murrurundi in 1845.
In 1847 he was convicted of Cattle stealing.
Following is an account of the trial:

David Mars (Murrells) was indicted for stealing a bullock, the property of Francis Little at Scone on the 8th September 1847Mr. Purefoy appeared on behalf of the prisoner.
It appeared that about two years back a man named Job Hatherall, a stockman in the employment of Captain Dumar esq, sold a bullock to Mr. Francis Little. It was a red bullock inclined to brindle, brand FS off rump JH with D under of off ribs and 68 on off shoulder and an indistinct brand on the off rump apparently DNI. It was a working bullock called Captain. In September last Hatherall met the prisoner on Doughboy Hill having the bullock in his team on the off side. He asked prisoner where he got the bullock and prisoner replied that it was his own. Hatherall then said that it was Mr. Francis Little's property, when prisoner said that he was only bouncing. Hatherall then went to look at the bullocks brand, when prisoner told him that he was only a poor man, and begged him to say nothing about it; that one of his team had died and he was obliged to get another to carry him on the road. Hatherall told him that the bullock was the property of Mr. Francis little of Invermein and unless it was given up there and then other steps would assuredly be taken. Prisoner said he could not get on without the bullock and would not give it up.
Mr. Purefoy urged for the defense that there was no felonious taking in as much as there was no intention on prisoners part to make away with the bullock, but merely to use it to take him on the road for a time, when he afterwards intended to return him. He also questioned the identity of the bullock not being fully proved by the witnesses.
The Chairman, in summing up said that if the jury were convinced that the prisoner had taken the beast off the road merely to have a turn out of him they certainly could not find him guilty of stealing, but the evidence went to rebut such a presumption inasmuch as he had claimed the bullock as his own, when first taxed with stealing it
The jury after a short deliberation returned a verdict of guilt and the prisoner was sentenced to be worked in irons for three years.

Murrells Convicted and transported

Name	Convicted Date	Voyage Date	Vessel	Place of Conviction
Daniel Murrells	22 May 1832	11 Aug 1832	York	Essex
Ambrose Murrells	3 Dec 1827	29 Apr 1828	Woodford	Suffolk
Alfred Murrell(s)	22 Oct 1833	9 Apr 1834	Surrey	Essex
David Murrells	6 Jan 1835	25 Jul 1835	Royal Sovereign	Essex
William Murrells	21 Mar 1836	1 Aug 1836	Henry Porcher	Sussex
James Murrells	22 Jun 1837	4 Oct 1837	Neptune	Essex
Charles Murrells	3 Mar 1846	9 May 1846	John Calvin	Essex
Thomas Murrells	27 Jul 1809	Aug 1811	Guildford	Suffolk
Solomaan Marles		Sep 1791	Active	Old Bailey
Thos Murlagh		May 1803	Rolla	Mullingar
William Levett
[William Murrell]	31 Jul 1830	3 Mar 1831		Exmouth Kent, England
Thomas Mitchel
[Thomas Murrell]	13 Mar 1843	26 Aug 1843		Maitland Kent, England
John Murrell
[James Murrell]	12 Mar 1845	7 Jun 1845		Marion Suffolk, England
John Murrell	8 Mar 1813	Aug 1813	General Hewett	Essex England
Thomas Murrell	31 Jul 1830	3 Mar 1831		Exmouth Kent, England
Alfred Murrell	22 Oct 1833	9 Apr 1834		Surrey Essex, England
Dam Murrell	4 Sep 1834	24 Apr 1835		Mangles Middlesex, England
Daniel Murrell	15 Jan 1828	27 Jun 1828	Marquess of Hastings	Essex, England
Daniel Murrell	17 Jul 1820	Oct 1820	Prince of Orange	Essex, England
James Murrell	23 Jul 1832	2 May 1833	Captain Cook	Essex, England
John Murrell	16 Oct 1838	21 Nov 1839		Mangles Middlesex, England
S Murrell	1 Aug 1835	26 Oct 1835	Recovery	Norfolk, England
Samuel Murrell	30 Nov 1833	13 Apr 1835	Marquis of Huntley	Essex, England
William Murrell	26 Oct 1826	25 Jul 1827	Asia	Middlesex, England
William Murrell	6 Dec 1797	Jun 1801	Nile

Willsher Convicted and transported

Name	Convicted Date	Voyage Date	Vessel	Place of Conviction
John Willsher	15 May 1848	27 Jun 1850	Nile	Old Bailey, London, England
John Willsher	28 Nov 1848	9 Mar 1852	Fairlie	Essex, England
John Willsher	26 Jul 1830	21 Mar 1831	Camden	Essex, England

 

Staines Convicted and transported

Name	Convicted Date	Voyage Date	Vessel	Place of Conviction
Charles Staines	15 Mar 1832	13 Jun 1832	Planter	Suffolk, England
Daniel Staines	15 Oct 1833	9 Apr 1834
Elizabeth Staines	15 Oct 1849	5 Apr 1850	Barreto Junior	Sussex, England
George Staines	15 Jan 1819	Sep 1819	Dromedary Cambridge
James Staines	27 Oct 1819	17 May 1823	Albion	London, England
James Staines	18 Oct 1836	6 Jun 1837	Charles Kerr
James Staines	26 Mar 1836	1 Aug 1836	Henry Porcher
John Staines	18 Oct 1832	8 Dec 1832	Mangles
John Staines	19 Jul 1819	Jul 1820	Caledonia
John Staines	5 Mar 1845	27 Aug 1845	Mayda	Essex, England
Joseph Staines	6 Dec 1830	31 May 1831	William Glen Anderson	Essex, England
Mary Ann Staines	29 Nov 1832	4 May 1833	Buffalo	Middlesex, England
Robert Staines	15 Oct 1839	8 Jul 1840	Eden	Kent, England
Samuel Staines	9 Mar 1829	7 Oct 1829	Katherine Stewart Forbes	Essex, England
Simon Staines	20 Mar 1850	30 Dec 1853	Sea Park	Cambridgeshire, England
Thomas Staines	9 Mar 1822	19 Jun 1822	Caledonia	Buckinghamshire, England
William Staines	14 Oct 1834	18 Jun 1835	Aurora	Essex, England

Conditions on Board

Convicts were housed below decks on the prison deck and often further confined behind bars. In many cases they were restrained in chains and were only allowed on deck for fresh air and exercise. Conditions were cramped and they slept on hammocks. Very little information seems to be available about the layout of the convict ships, but a few books do contain artists' impressions and reproductions of images held in library collections.

Although the convicts of the first fleet arrived in relatively good condition, the same cannot be said for those that followed during the rest of the century. Cruel masters, harsh discipline and scurvy, dysentery and typhoid resulted in a huge loss of life.

After the English authorities began to review the system in 1801 the ships were despatched twice a year, at the end of May and the beginning of September, to avoid the dangerous winters of the southern hemisphere. Surgeons employed by the early contractors had to obey to the master of the ship and on later voyages were replaced by independent Surgeon Superintendents whose sole responsibility was for the well being of the convicts. As time went on, successful procedures were developed and the surgeons were supplied with explicit instructions as to how life on board was to be organised. By then the charterers were also paid a bonus to land the prisoners safe and sound at the end of the voyage.

By the time the exiles were being transported in the 1840s and onwards, a more enlightened routine was in place which even included the presence on board of a Religious Instructor to educate the convicts and attend to their spiritual needs.