Henry Marsden (Convict)

  General Notes:

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Henry Marsden appeared at the Palatinate of Lancaster Assizes at
Liverpool on 1st September 1819, charged with being in possession of a forged bank note. The court records state that: -

Henry Marsden late of Ash ton-under-Lyne in the County of Lancaster Labourer heretofore to wit on the Twenty-sixth day of July in the Fifty-ninth year [1818] of ... Geo Third with Force and arms at Ashton-under-Lyne in the county of Lancaster feloniously, knowingly and wittingly and without lawful excuse had in his possession and custody a certain forged and counterfeited Bank Note, the tenor of which said forged and counterfeited Bank Note is as followeth that is to say
One Pound No. 25731 Bank of England 1819
To be transported to some Parts beyond the seas for the term of 14 years.

Henry arrived in Port Jackson on board the convict transport "Coromandel" on 4th April 1820. He was described in the indents as a Cotton Weaver from Lancashire, age thirty nine, five foot seven and a half inches tall, fair ruddy complexion, with light brown hair and blue eyes.

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Henry left behind him in England, his wife Sarah and a number of children. He had married Sarah Brimley at Leyland on 23rd August 1802, and they're first born child William, was baptised at Eccleston by Chorley in 1803. William was followed by Margaret in 1805; John in 1806; Ann in 1812; and Jane in 1814; the last two being baptised not at Eccleston By Chorley as were the others, but at Euxton. William, Margaret and Ann all came to the Colony of New South Wales with their mother on the "Morley" in 1820, but John and Jane's fate is unknown. John was certainly dead by 1823 when another child was given the same name, and Jane may also have died in infancy.

Some seven weeks after Henry was convicted in Lancashire, Sarah was apprehended as Sarah Bromley, some three hundred and fifty kilometres away at Southampton in the south of England. She, in company with her three children, had apparently travelled almost the whole length of England, carrying with them, the rest of the forged Bank Notes. She appeared at the Southampton Lent Assizes before Sir. George Wood, and Sir. James Burroughs and was indicted together with John Downs, Catherine Burns and Ann Walsh with: - -

On the Twenty-sixth day of October in the Sixtieth year aforesaid [1819] at the Parish aforesaid. had in certain Lodgings of them the said Ann Welsh and Sarah Bromley... in certain Apartments... [Attached several dozen samples of forged one Pound notes] . . . so disposing of and putting away the said last mentioned false forged and counterfeited Note and there... Promissory Note for the payment of money... with intent to defraud on Jane Moses... with intent to defraud the Governor and Company of the Bank of England... on the Twenty third day of the Fifty-ninth feloniously did offer to one James Spike... with the intent to defraud Charles Robbins... etc.

All were found guilty and sentenced to fourteen years Transportation, and so Sarah and her partners in crime Ann Walsh and Catherine Burns, all arrived in Port Jackson on the convict transport "Morley", on 30th September 1820.

The Marsden's resumed married life in the Colony, Henry appears in the 1822 Muster as holding a Ticket of Leave and residing on a leased farm at Lower Portland Head, he had ten acres all cleared, and five acres sewn in wheat. He also had two-head of cattle and thirty pigs.

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Two more children were born to Henry and Sarah, George in about 1821 and John in about 1823. Their eldest son William returned to England seemingly prior to 1828, and died a wealthy man at Lisson Street Marylebone, County of Middlesex, in 1878.

Henry died on 14th March 1842, the entry appears in the St. Johns Wilberforce Register, his abode was given as Hunter's Reach, his ship of arrival the "Coromandel", and his age fifty-two years. The latter is probably a mistake made by the Rector, as this age is not consistent with other records. It would seem probable that after Henry died, Sarah moved to Windsor with her younger children and may have been assisting her son-in-law James Gosper to run his hotel in Bridge Street. After her daughter Margaret died in 1841, it is almost certain that Sarah reared Margaret's orphaned children.

Sarah died at Windsor on 5th August 1859, and is buried at St. Matthews Windsor.

Sources the research of Megan Martin and Peter Keith Morris.

  Noted events in his life were:

• Convict: Convicted for possession of counterfeit bank notes.

• Arrived on the Ship: On board the "Coromandel", 4 Apr 1820, Port Jackson, Sydney, NSW Australia.

• Physical Description: Five foot seven and a half inches tall, fair ruddy.

• connection.

• Death Certificate Number: The Entry Appears In The St Johns Wilberforce Register NSW Australia.

• alt death, 14 Mar 1832. ⁸⁷⁰

Henry married Sarah Brimley (Convict) on 23 Aug 1802 in Leyland, Lancashire England. (Sarah Brimley (Convict) was born in 1782,⁸⁷⁰ died on 5 Aug 1859 in Windsor, NSW Australia and was buried in St Matthews C of E, Windsor, Sydney, NSW Australia.)