Thomas

"Mr James (Sen) Thomas - (Convict)"

James Thomas was born in 1792 in Yorkshire, England and died in 1862 at age 70.

Conviction:

James Thomas

Sentenced to Life

James Thomas, one of 179 convicts transported on the Agamemnon, on the 22 April 1820

Known aliases: none Convicted at - York Assizes for a term of life on 25 July 1819 Sentence term: Life Ship name: 'Agamemnon' Departure date: 22nd April, 1820 Place of arrival: New South Wales Source: Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 88, Class and Piece Number HO11/3, Page Number 302 This record is one of the entries in the British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database compiled by State Library of Queensland from British Home Office (HO) records which are available on microfilm as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project. (Ref- http://www.convictrecords.com.au/convicts/thomas/james/78329)

James Thomas at the age of 25 was found guilty on the 17th July, 1819, for a burglary committed at the house of Richard Cryer the elder, situated at Thorner in the county of York between 12 at night and 2 in the morning of Friday 16th July 1819.

Tried at York assizes 24th July 1819 - ID Number 3483, sentenced to death, later must have had this changed to the term - life, as his transport papers indicated. Gaol Delivery convicted 17 February 1820 Term Life and James Thomas was transported aboard the convict ship 'Agamemnon' that sailed from England 3rd May 1820 with 179 convicts on board arriving in Sydney, New South Wales 22nd September 1820 at the age of 26. - (Ref- Information supplied by John Stephenson, Ancestry.com & Marg Denley [mldargyll@bigpond.com]

Later he selected land at Narellan in the Camden district.

On their Application to Marry to Marry 1833 -1837' COD. 12 - was granted on the 8th February 1836. It gives James Thomas's age as 42 and Mary Daly's age as 22. James Thomas married Mary Daly/Daley at Scots Church, Maitland on the 5th March 1836 as per the marriage certificate Number 417 Vol 123. - (Ref- Information supplied by John Stephenson and Marg Denley [mldargyll@bigpond.com]

MARRIAGE

James married Miss Mary Daley (Convict) on March 5, 1836 in Presbyterian Church, Maitland, NSW. Mary was born in about 1814 in Ireland and died in 1886 in Tumut, NSW at age 72.

Conviction for Mary:

Mary Daly aged 19 was tried at Cork City, Co Cork, Ireland in November 1833 and convicted of stealing clothes and sentenced to 7 years she was transported on the convict ship 'Andromeda'. on the 25th May 1834 and arriving Sydney, NSW on the 17th September 1834 in Port Jackson.

7 Children from this marriage were - 5 boys and 2 girls:

Mary Ann Thomas was born in 1836 in NSW3 and died on February 16, 1904 in Tumut, NSW4 at age 68. Mary Ann Thomas married Mr Stephen Elphick.

James (2nd) Thomas was born on October 8, 1843 in Camden, NSW.

John Thomas was born in 1845 in Camden, NSW and died in 1926 in West Wyalong, NSW at age 81.

Abraham Thomas was born in 1848 in NSW

Samuel Thomas was born in 1850 in NSW.

Elizabeth Thomas was born in 1850 in NSW.

George William Thomas was born on March 28, 1852 in "Cherith Oaks", Camden, NSW.

TEXT OF LETTER WRITTEN BY CJM THOMAS TO THE SNOWY MOUNTAINS HYDRO-ELECTRIC AUTHORITY DATED 18 JUNE 1962. (Ref- Material submitted by Trish Cassidy

Dear Sir

In reply to your letter dated 23 May 1962, I wish to advise that it was my father, who was the first man to select a secured tenure of land in Lobs Hole. 2,840 acres was the limit the Crown allowed any one man to select in those days, and my father was the second son of the original James Thomas, who came out from England in 1792 and selected land at Narellan in the Camden district. He married an Irish girl who emigrated to Australia from County Clare, Ireland. He named his farm "The Oaks" and it is a well-known name in that district today.

It was on this selection that they reared a family of 6 sons and 2 daughters, who were destined to play such an important part in the development of Kiandra and Lobs Hole. At the time he lived there, transport was the greatest problem confronting this young family, and bullock team was the only method at their disposal to get food and material into the back blocks of the country.

Therefore, he built up three bullock teams and three drays over the period, and when the Kiandra gold fields broke out, my grandfather and three of his sons took their three bullock teams to Twofold Bay. He bought three loads of everything including food that would be required on the gold fields.

To get there they had to climb over almost impossible country, including the old road of the Tangerwandler Mountain, which was almost perpendicular in places by putting the three teams on to the one dray. They were able to get them to the top of this mountain, one at a time, then over the Brown mountains, which were almost as bad and they eventually arrived at Kiandra. This was carried on until late into the second year.

They arrived in Kiandra in May and got their leading delivered, when it started to snow. Next morning there was about a foot of snow on the ground, the bullocks had disappeared, they had several large bells on, but none could be heard, so they looked around until they came upon their tracks in the snow, and these bullocks made a B-line to the tops of the range overlooking Lobs Hole. They followed their tracks down the mountain and eventually caught up with the bullocks down under the snow lines, feeding peacefully on good pastures. Incredible as this seems to be, no one could ever understand how a dumb animal could take the straight and shortest way to get out of the snow. They left them there and went back to Kiandra, as it was of no use taking them back into the snow.

They then packed their surplus provisions in the local store and carried camping gear and provisions down into Lobs Hole proper. When they arrived on Yarrongabilly River which runs through Lobs Hole, they found rich fertile flats and open ridges, all with good grass on them, so they went back and brought the bullocks down into Lobs Holes. Their father came with them on this occasion, and with his past experience of developing his own property, he showed them how to build a log hut, strip the bark and cover the roof. They stayed there until the snow thawed, then went back to Kiandra and took their drays out.

The following year, they brought three more loads from Twofold Bay. .Kiandra, they camped about a mile from the town. That night grandfather and one of the boys went into the town of Kiandra, or intended to go, and on the way down in the dark, my grandfather walked into a diggers hole about 6ft deep and in the fall he burst a blood vessel and died on the spot.....Further...This story is continued on under his second son John's story....see link above.

To Home page - To Tumut