BJNL's GENEALOGY

I was recently asked by  Leah 'The DNA Geek' Larkin , to write a guest post for her Blog .  In that post (25 March 2022) I talked a little about the 1990's  'War Babes Settlement'  and shared the personal story of a war babe's search for her GI father. I used her story as an example of how DNA testing, DNA-related tools and documentary evidence can come together to successfully identify an unknown parent. My post also highlights for 'war babes' where they can find help and support. You can read my Guest Blog here

On 12 October 1842, at the age of 20 years, Elizabeth Allen was found Guilty of Housebreaking at the Warwickshire, Birmingham Borough Quarter Sessions. She was sentenced to 10 years and transportation. Elizabeth had, on 6 October 1842, broken into the house of Michael Kelly in Great Hampton Street, Birmingham and stolen a shawl and other articles [1] In deciding on this sentence of 10 years, Elizabeth’s previous offence of Larceny was taken into account.  Six months earlier, on 22 April 1842 [2] , Elizabeth had stolen a brooch and some earrings from Ann Rock and a shawl belonging to Ann Luckman. She had been convicted of this offence, in Birmingham, on 20 May 1842 and had been sentenced to three months hard labour. Both events were reported in the local newspapers [3] . Extract from: the Birmingham Journal, 14 May 1842, p.7, column 1 via FindMyPast [Website] Extract from: Aris's Birmingham Gazette, 24 October 1842, p.3 via FindMyPast [Website] So it was that, on 24 December 1842,

George White was just 18 year's old when, on 10 April 1835, the ship he was travelling on hit a rock and started to take on water. Along with the other convicts on board, George was confined to the hold when the accident occurred. What led him to this point was a wagon ride and a parcel of buttons. The ship, the George III , had left Woolwich in England about 4 months earlier on 14 December 1834 [1] [2] ; a prison ship with the task of transporting convicts to the Australian penal colony at Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania) [3] . The ship was under the command of William Hall Moxey and, upon leaving England, was carrying 308 people: 220 male convicts; guards and their families; and the ship’s crew [4] . George White, Convict 75246 George was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England on 26 August 1816 and baptised in the parish of St Martin, Birmingham on 14 November 1821 at the age of 5; the son of Ann [Wallis] and George White, a Jeweller of Bromsgrove Street in Birmingham [5][6]