Edward (the first) (convict) Humphreys

  General Notes:

source: edward to dylan 1. ged where it is noted:

Arrived on the First Fleet at Sydney Cove on the 26 Jan 1788 on the Scarborough

Edward was probably the Edward Humphries who was baptised at St.Pauls, Deptford, Kent on 6th January 1766, the son of William and Elizabeth Humphries. On 8th December 1784 at The Old Bailey, he was convicted of:
-Feloniously stealing, on 8th of November last, one cloth great coat, value 30s, one pair of leather boots, value 1Os, the property of Henry Martin Bird Esq.
The prisoner was stopped by Nathan Nathans, with great the great coat and boots; and Sarah Biggs deposed, on the 8th of November she let the prisoner into her master's house, as a dustman, but did not miss the things till they were brought back.
Edward stated in his defence that a gentleman asked me to carry them, he had a sack on his head. He called three witnesses who gave him a good character, but never the less he was found guilty, and was unfortunate in that the judiciary decided to make an example of him.
Court to Prisoner. This is a second instance that has occurred this Sessions, of dustmen robbing houses; it is an offence particularly dangerous, because the credulity of servants is imposed upon by those that come under that pretence, they come into the house under a trust; I think it therefore necessary, for example, to pronounce sentence upon you before you quit the bar, in the hearing of those who have heard the trial4 and that sentence shall be as severe as the law admits in such a case; which is, that you be Transported for seven years.
Edward was received on the Censor hulk on 23rd May 1785 and embarked on the First Fleet vessel Scarborough on 27th February 1787. At Port Jackson on 14th February 1791 at St.Philips, he married Mary Williams. The identity of this Mary Williams is uncertain; it had been previously thought that she was the person of that name who arrived on the Neptune in 1790, but other records in London are said to indicate that that this woman died in prison in England and, although she is listed on the Neptune indents, never actually arrived at Port Jackson. The most logical

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"The Pragmatic Pioneers"

solution is that our Mary Williams is the daughter of the Mary Williams who arrived on the First Fleet vessel Lady Penrhyn. This woman is thought to have married William Whiting in 1790, and to have died as Mary Whiting in 1801. It was relatively common for children to accompany a parent on a convict vessel, and such passengers do not normally appear on the indents. The First Fleet Mary Williams was a mature woman who could well have had a teenage daughter and the Mark of the Mary Williams who married Whiting, an the Mary Williams who was the witness at the. Humphreys/Williams marriage, are remarkably similar.
Little is known of this family's activities at Port Jackson except that, in 1788, Edward had a pumpkin stolen from him by William Parr. Their first child William was born in 1791, and he was followed by Edward in 1793; Elizabeth in 1795; another Edward in 1798 the first having died in 1796 then reputedly Mary in about 1800/01; and finally Susannah. In 1803.
Edward Humphreys died at Sydney on 4th November 1804, and his wife Mary on 24th December 1805, leaving the children orphans. Their daughter Susannah married Nathaniel Payten at Parramatta in 1822, and according to Payten family records she, Susannah, was brought up by a Mrs. Gosper Although nothing has yet been found that would support this statement, and the baptism of her supposed sister Mary has not been found, both Gosper and Payten family record suggest that there is some sort of relationship between the two families. Mary, who was to marry Thomas Gosper in 1819, is recorded as Miss Payten in one Gosper document and as no evidence to the contrary has been found, it is relatively certain that our Mary Humphreys is indeed the daughter of Edward Humphreys and a Mary Williams.

Sources.
The research of Megan Martin, LaurelRiddler.
"The Founders of Australia" Moilie Gillen

Edward married Mary (the second) Williams, daughter of William Whiting and Mary (the first) Williams, in 1790. (Mary (the second) Williams was born circa 1775 and died on 24 Dec 1805 in NSW Australia.)