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TRANSPORTED
FOR LIFE
Many
years ago I decided to research my mother’s family. My mother’s maiden
name was CONSTANTINE. This was an unusual name in the Denaby &
Conisbrough area.
My
mother’s name was Johannah; my grandfather was a George Constantine who
from the 1881 census was born at Denaby in 1880 with a father called John.
It appeared from the census that John came from Ashton under Lyne in
Lancashire, aged 34. He had moved to Denaby in the 1870’s to work at the
Denaby Main Colliery. He married an Elizabeth Ward from Mexbrough.
The
1851 census for Ashton under Lyne showed that John was living with his
grandparents at Brook Street, then aged 4, his grandfather’s name was
also a George Constantine aged 45, a cotton spinner, born Stockport and
his wife Sarah aged 47 and some of their siblings.
There
was no sign of John’s father, at this point I decided to send for the
birth certificate of John, this told me his fathers name was Joseph, a
spinner, the same occupation as his father.
More
research revealed that Joseph had married in 1845 to an Elizabeth or Eliza
Needham.
George,
Joseph’s father was married in 1825 to a Sarah Aldred. I checked the IGI
for George’s birth and this is when I came to an abrupt halt, no mention
of George. I then decided to leave any further research until later.
In
early September 2003 ‘out of the blue’, I received an e-mail from a
Christopher Constantine in Australia, which said and I quote:
“My
name is Christopher John Constantine a descendent of Joseph Constantine of
Ashton under Lyne. Joseph was the son of George Constantine (born
Stockport c 1806 and Sarah Aldred (born Tyldesley c 1804) married 25th
December 1825 at Leigh in Lancashire. I believe George’s siblings were
Jane (c 1833), Ann (c 1838) and Alice (c 1847), later Joseph was found to
be born in 1828.
In
1848 Joseph Constantine & Joseph Radcliff were leading a “Chartist
Rally” in Ashton under Lyne at which a constable Bright was shot and
killed. As a leader my Joseph was held to be responsible, and was sent to
Liverpool, appeared at the Assize Court and was sentenced to be
transported to Australia. From his convict record he was 21 years of age,
married with 2 children.
He
arrived in Hobart Town, Tasmania on the 29th of November 1849
aboard the last ship to bring convicts to Sydney. It was called the
‘Adelaide’ but known as the ‘Chartist’ ship in Tasmania. There was
a Ticket of leave waiting for him, so he was virtually free but unable to
leave the colony. After three & half years he applied to bring his
family out as emigrants – this was the usual thing. He was refused
permission on the 25th of October 1852 and three days later was
caught trying to escape aboard the ‘Flying Squirrel’ a
 schooner
of 87tons. He was sentenced
to hard labour in the stone quarries of the infamous Port Arthur.
Eventually
the English Parliament began to pass all he had been fighting for and he
was granted a full and free pardon, however they did not repatriate him.
The
Adelaide Ship that transported convicts to Australia
Some
16 years later we find him working as a
stone mason in Winchelsea, Victoria where he married Henrietta Jennings
and brought up a second family.”
Elizabeth/Eliza
his first wife we shall never know what became of her, but John,
Joseph’s son was my great
grandfather who made his way to Yorkshire from Ashton under Lyne to work
in the coal mines.
Since
receiving all this “new” information, this has now “fired” me up
to try and find George [Joseph’s father] and his ancestors.
Copyright
©
John Lindley 2006 |
