Benjamin Matthews ²⁰³

  Research Notes:

Brian Kelly notes:
Benjamin was tried and convicted at Warwickshire Assizes on 31 March 1821 for uttering a forged Bank of England note and sentenced to 14 years transportation. He left Portsmouth, England as a convict on 3 September 1821 and arrived in Sydney, NSW on 23 January 1822 on the ship Mary II.

Benjamin had a Ticket of Leave Number 30/774 issued at Sutton Forest and gained his Certificate of Freedom Number 36/0227, which was dated 11 April 1836. Benjamin made an application to marry Mary Ann Clark (born in Colony) on 25 May 1832.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Newspaper Story. ²⁰³ BENJAMIN MATTHEWS NEWSPAPER TRANSCRIPTS

Birmingham Chronicle 12 April 1821:

WARWICK ASSIZES. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4. CROWN BAR

John Davies Scott, for uttering a forged £5 Bank of England note ; Isaac Cotterill, John Messenger, Edward Bates, Hannah Singleton, Thomas Bird, Thos. Watts, William Lawley, and Benjamin Matthews, all for similar offences ; ……

Northampton Mercury 14 April 1821:

WARWICKSHIRE LENT ASSIZES. \endash ……

The following prisoners were likewise found guilty, but not sentenced :\endash John Davies Scott, for uttering a forged £5 Bank of England note ; Isaac Cotterill, John Messenger, Edward Bates, Hannah Singleton, Thomas Bird, Thomas Watts, Wm. Lawley, and Benjamin Matthews, all for similar offences ;

Benjamin married Mary Ann Clarke, daughter of Daniel Clarke and Hannah Stanley, on 11 Jun 1832 in All Saints, Sutton Forest, NSW Australia.²⁰³ (Mary Ann Clarke was born on 7 Jan 1815 in Windsor, NSW Australia, died on 5 May 1904 in Taralga, near Goulburn, NSW Australia and was buried on 7 May 1904 in Stonequarry Cemetery at Taralga, near Goulburn, NSW Australia ²⁰³.). The cause of her death was senile decay.