Jame's Rowe Midas 2

James Rowe Jr (also referred to as James Rowe The Younger) was tried i​n Cornwell for Larceny / Housebreaking and sentenced to 7 years transportation to Australia. His record indicates he was a shoemaker from Penzance, who could read and write, was unmarried and a protestant. He is described as being 5'3" of sallow complexion with brown hair and hazel eyes. 

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James arrived in Australia on 15 February 1827 onboard the Midas (2). The ship sailed from Plymouth on 16 October 1826 with 148 male convicts. Only 3 convicts died during the voyage indicating that conditions were relatively healthy. 

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James Roe (Rowe) Mary 2

On DATE, 27-year-old James Roe (Rowe) was brought before Nottinghamshire Assizes on a charge of "Highway Robbery". Presided over by professional judges rather than the JPs / magistrates of the lower "sessions" courts, the Court of Assizes heard the more serious crimes. "Highway Robbery", which included violent street muggings, was considered as grave a crime as murder, rape or forgery and was punishable by death. James was tried alongside his accomplice, Thomas Best of Birmingham. The pair were accused of mugging a man in the street and taking his pocket watch. Perhaps expecting their next journey to be a short trip to Gallows Hill the men must have been surprised when their sentences - in fact, all death sentences that day - were commuted to transportation for life to the colony of Australia. 

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James, and his accomplice Thomas, arrived in Port Jackson on the Mary on DATE 1822.  In total the Mary made 6 trips to Australia. As the 1822 trip was the Mary's second journey the ship is often recorded as Mary (2). 

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Ellen Collins (Rowe / Richardson) 

According to the convict muster records, 22-year-old Ellen or Eleanor Carroll was an Irish house servant found guilty of stealing. Tried in County Cork, Ireland she was sent to Australia on the Lady Rowena.

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In January 1826, the newly built Lady Rowena sailed from Cork on it's maiden journey as a convict transport arriving in Port Jackson on 17 May 1826 after 118 days at sea. Being a new ship and under the command of surgeon Espie, life aboard ship wasn't as unpleasant as some convict vessels.  Derry-born Robert Espie, the Royal Naval Surgeon assigned to the Lady Rowena, was a stickler for rules, even going as far as punishing disruptive female convicts by locking them in the coal hold or shaving their heads. However, he also listened to their grievances and investigated complaints - in one case admonishing Stewards for stealing the women's food. Hygiene was also a high priority so Espie ensured the women kept their living quarters clean. Espie took pride in maintaining the health of his charges and, as a result, the half dozen convict ships he served on recorded very few deaths. The Lady Rowena was one of 3 ships where Espie lost no passengers at all. 

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Lady Rowena was the only convict ship arriving in 1926 that carried female convicts and in total had 100 on board. We know some details of those women. 16 year old Susan Nesbitt was the youngest convict onboard. The oldest was 80-year-old Catherine Finn who's son was already in the penal colony. Around half the women onboard were single, the rest married or widowed. Several of the women were married to men already transported to Australia as convicts. While some women brought their children (likely infants) with them many more left theirs behind, probably never to see them again. After the muster onboard the ship each woman would either have been assigned as a servant or sent to the Female Factory at Parramatta. Whether Ellen was assigned or sent to work in the Female Factory at Parramatta hasn't been researched index female factory 1826-1848  find muster records or  assignments on the 1828 census. 

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Marriage 

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On 8 August 1828, James and Ellen received permission to marry. Though both were on 'bond', they were still considered convicts so needed permission from the Governor to wed. 6 months later, on 12 February 1829, the couple's first son, James William, was born. A second son, John followed in 1831 and a ?? daughter Mary was born DATE. 

The couple lived in Parramatta for some time where James was noted as being a 'school teacher' coachman? 

The marriage didn't last. Ellen received her full pardon (date) and moved to Patrick Plains / Singleton where, in 1838, she married William Richardson (convict "Layton" Nov 1829, aged 27, sentenced 14 years at Warrick Quarter Sessions). There are no records of the couple having children, however, her son John, who was 7 years old at the time of the second marriage may have used the name Richardson as "John Richardson" was witness to James Rowe's marriage to Bridget. It's also noted that while there are no matching death records for "John Rowe", there is a BDM death record for a "John Richardson" in Camden in 1876 noting his mother's name as Ellen and leaving his father's name blank. John Richardson married Mary Gallagher in Patrick Plains in 1872.

James Snr remained in Sydney assigned to Lt Lockyer - the man who led an expedition to Brisbane. We don't know if James accompanied him on this trip continued or whether he stayed behind on the property. We do know he continued working for Lockyer until his death in 1850 (i think) at Lockyer's Goulburn property. On 9 June 1849, James received a conditional pardon restoring all citizen rights except the right to return to Britain. 

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