David Brown [Convict "Pitt" 1792]

David BROWN, a 17 year old ex soldier of the 74th Regiment of Foot was born in Scotland around 1772. He and his friend John Gibson were convicted on 24 Apr 1788 of housebreaking at Glasgow. He was sentenced to 7 years commuted to transportation for 'life'. At the time of sentence, he was 16.

The ship 'Pitt' with David aboard, sailed from Yarmouth on 17 Jul 1791. There were 344 males and 58 females on board. During the voyage which lasted 212 days, 29 prisoners died, including 15 infected with smallpox, and 27 of the crew died of fever. Because of the number of deaths amongst the crew, the prisoners had to be co-opted to assist in sailing the ship.

He arrived in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 14th February 1792 on the "Pitt" transport ship. He was convicted in Glasgow in 1788 of house breaking and sentenced to transportation for life with 7 years of service. He received his first land grant of 30 acres At Wilberforce in 1798 and an Absolute Pardon 1799 for his work as a constable. David became a farmer in 1809 and in this pursuit he became quite successful and helped meet the colony's desperate need to feed the growing population of Sydney Town. David's landholdings grew to beyond 1000 acres by the time of his death in 1826.

In 1800 he married Eleanor FLEMING and they had 11 children and adopted Eleanor's sister Margaret's daughter, a baby named Margaret after her Mother.

A notice appeared in the Sydney Gazette in 1824, courtesy of David Brown, stating that Eleanor had left home 'without provocation' and that he will not be held responsible for any debts that she may incur. Eleanor was at the age of 44, and 6 months pregnant with her 11th child. Eleanor must have been a strong woman of great pioneering character, as she did not remarry and worked the family farm. The 1828 Census shows Eleanor as being a Widow Farmer. Her landholdings are listed as being 1,280 acres, and she had 3 horses and 120 cattle.

David died in 1826, without having left a will. His eldest son inherited all of his possessions, according to the British law of the time. He gave his mother a generous portion of land for her own.

According to some sources, David Brown was the first to buried at the St John's cemetery in Wilberforce.

Sources: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Brown-26957 https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Fleming-2625 http://www.cursley.org.uk/id150.html https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/person/tree/172555039/perso...