Samuel Perkins, Convict "Pitt" 1792

Samuel Perkins, then aged 18, was sentenced at the Old Bailey on 13th April, 1791 to 7 years transportation after being found guilty of stealing, on 17th March, 1791, a pair of velvet breeches, a pair of stays, a cloth coat, each valued at 5 shillings, a silk cloak, value 6 pence and other goods, the property of John Jervais Wright, a chair-maker at 48 Baldwin's Gardens. Perkins was apparently seen leaving the house with a bundle and he was apprehended by a nearby baker who gave chase. He was transported to Sydney on the "Pitt" a ship of 775 tons which sailed from Yarmouth Roads on 17th July, 1791 carrying 344 male and 58 female convicts. At the time, the Pitt was the largest vessel1 so far employed in the convict service and the first regular East Indiaman to carry prisoners to Australia . Following complaints of overcrowding, the number of prisoners was reduced from 443 to 402 before sailing. The Pitt's passage was protracted as she did not reach Port Jackson until 14th February, 1792, 212 days after sailing. Apart from smallpox and scurvy amongst the prisoners, a malignant fever caused 27 deaths amongst the sea men and military guards. Her crew was so depleted that some of the convicts had to be recruited to help navigate her. When she arrived at Port Jackson, 20 male and 9 female prisoners had died on the passage and 120 men were landed sick, many of whom died in the weeks following. While her death-toll was heavy, statements that at the end of the year only 29 of her prisoners were still alive are believed to be a gross exaggeration.

Samuel Perkins was shown in a list compiled in 1801 of convicts whose time had expired. On 13th March 1801 he enlisted in the 102nd Regiment (N.S.W. Corps) and was assigned to Captain John McArthur's Company. He was stationed at Parramatta . He remained a private in that Company until his death with a pay of one shilling per day. The Company was taken over by Captain John Lavory when John McArthur returned to England in 1805.

Sydney Gazette of 13th July, 1806 On Monday last, Samuel Perkins, a private in the New South Wales Corps, died suddenly in one of the passage boats, a few minutes after quitting the Parramatta Wharf. The deceased had that morning complained of an ailment in the breast and onstepping into the boat threw himself upon one of the thwarts keeping his right hand pressed against the part he complained of. One of the boatmen requested him to go aft; but receiving no answer, looked intently upon the poor man, whose face was covered with a violent perspiration, which alarming the boatman and passengers, they all went to his assistance but found him breathless.

GEDCOM Note

Samuel Perkins was born in 1773 in London, London, , England. He arrived on 13 Apr 1791. He departed England in Jun 1791. He arrived at Sydney Cove 14 Feb 1792, aged 19.
14 February 1792 ?(Age 19)?
Sydney Cove, Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Source: State Library of Queensland. Convict Transportation Registers Database 1787-1867 [database on-line].
Citation details: Source: Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 87, Class and Piece Number HO11/1, Page Number 163 ?(83)?
Text: Samuel Perkins, one of 404 convicts transported on theship Pitt, June 1791.?Details: Sentence details: Convicted at Middlesex Gaol Delivery for a term of 7 years on 13 April 1791.?Vessel: Pitt.?Date of Departure: June 1791.?Place of Arrival: New South Wales.
Source: Bateson, Charles. The convict ships 1787-1868. 2nd ed. Glasgow : Brown, Son & Ferguson Ltd., 1985 ie 1969
Text: Arrived in the colony 14 Feb 1792

He died . He also lived in United Kingdom.
Samuel Perkins (1773-1806)
Eleanor Williams (Marriage 1798)

• William Perkins (1799-1872)
• Samuel Perkins (1801-1882)
• John Perkins (1806-18

Source: National Library of Australia. Trove: one search...a wealth of information. [database on-line].

The Transport " Pitt " was built in 1780 on the Thames in England . A ship of 775 tons, she sailed from Yarmouth Roads on the 17 July 1791, on board were 352 male & 58 female convicts. She arrived in Sydney Port Jackson on the 14 February 1792, a trip of 212 days . 20 males & 9 females died in transit and on arrival 5 males escaped . Her Master was Edward Manning & ship's surgeon was Thomas Jameson . The Pitt did not form part of the third Fleet but was the first ship to arrive direcly after .

"On Monday last Samuel Perkins, a private in the New South Wales Corps, died suddenly in one of the passage boats, in a few minutes after quitting the Parramatta wharf. The deceased had that morning complained of an ailment in the breast, and on stepping into the boat threw himself upon one of the thwarts keeping his right hand closely pressed against the part he complained of. One of the boatmen requested him to go aft but receiving no answer, looked intently upon the poor man , whose face was covered with a violent perspiration, which, alarming the boatmen and passengers they all went to his assistance, but found him breathless."

The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803-1842), Sunday 13 July 1806, page 2, 3
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SAMUEL PERKINS I AND ELEANOR WILLIAMS
Trial and Sentence
The founders of the Perkins family in Australia were Samuel Perkins and Eleanor Williams both of whom came to the colony of New South Wales as guests of her Majesty Queen Victoria in the 1790's.

Samuel Perkins, then aged 18, was sentenced at the Old Bailey on 13th April, 1791 to seven years transportation after being found guilty of stealing, on 17th March, 1791, a pair of velvet breeches, a pair of stays, a cloth coat, each valued at 5 shillings, a silk cloak, value 6 pence and other goods, the property of John Jervais Wright, a chair-maker at 48 Baldwin's Gardens. Samuel was apparently seen leaving the house with a bundle and he was apprehended by a nearby baker who gave chase.

Eleanor Williams, aged 29, was sentenced at Middlesex on 1st July, 1795 to seven years transportation having been found guilty of stealing a quantity of clothing and bedding from Michael Sullivan of Newtoner's Lane, Drury-Lane on 23rd May, 1795. She was charged with a John Williams of Schofield with whom she cohabited in the adjoining house. Her part in the affair appears, from the evidence presented in Court, to be doubtful but nevertheless she was convicted.

Transportation
Samuel Perkins was transported to Sydney on the "Pitt" a ship of 775 tons which sailed from Yarmouth Roads on 17th July, 1791 carrying 344 male and 35 female convicts. At the time, the "Pitt" was the largest vessel so far employed in the convict service and the first regular East Indiaman to carry prisoners to Australia. Following complaints of over-crowding, the number of prisoners was reduced from 443 to 402 before sailing.

The "Pitt's" passage was protracted as she did not reach Port Jackson until 14th February, 1792, 212 days after sailing. Apart from smallpox and scurvy amongst the prisoners, a malignant fever caused 27 deaths amongst the seamen and military guards. The desperation of some of the prisoners to escape can be seen from the following details taken from a return of convicts who had deserted or died in attempts to run from the ship, prepared by Richard Nairne, agent on board the ship and sworn before the Judge Advocate David Collins on 5th March, 1792: John Allen was drowned on swimming ashore from the Hospital Island at Rio de Janeiro; James Ryner was given leave to go on shore at Rio by Captain Manning and was killed on shore; 7 further convicts deserted at Rio de Janeiro, William Allen was drowned in attempting to swim ashore at the Cape of Good Hope; John Ely a Quartermaster, when it was his watch on deck, stole the whale boat and took a female convict Ann Collin with him at the Cape of Good Hope; three others deserted in the "Duke of Clarence's" whale boat which stopped along-side in a hard squall at the Cape of Good Hope.

The "Pitt's" crew was so depleted that some of the convicts had to be recruited to help navigate her. When she arrived at Port Jackson, 20 male and 9 female prisoners had died on the passage and 120 men were landed sick, many of whom died in the weeks following. While her death-toll was heavy, statements that at the end of the year only 29 of her prisoners were still alive are believed to be a gross exaggeration.

Eleanor Williams was transported on the "Britannia III" a ship of 301 tons launched at Bridport in 1783 as a whaler belonging to the fleet of Samuel Enderby & Co. It made an uneventful voyage arriving on 18th July, 1798. There were 96 female convicts on board, some of whom on landing were sent to Parramatta. Mutch's register of Indents quotes that "the cattle that were brought in the Hunter and were sold by auction at this time were not greater objects of contest than were these females, the number of women in the settlement bearing no proportion to the men." She had been listed to come on the "Indispensible" which arrived on 30th April, 1796 but for some reason she did not come on that ship.

The Family Begins
No details are known of the marriage of Samuel Perkins and Eleanor Williams. However, they had at least three sons. The date of birth of the first two children is not shown in any existing records but it can be adduced from other evidence that the first son, William was born in 1799 and the second son Samuel was born in 1801.

In a memorial of 28th June, 1820, William gave his age as 21 and in a letter in 1830 he gave his age as 31. The only inconsistency to this is that when he married in 1823 his age was given as 20. In Samuel's case, his wife gave information for his death certificate in 1882 that he was 81 years of age and that his parents were Samuel Perkins, soldier and Eleanor (sic) Williams. In a memorial dated 28th June, 1820 to Governor Macquarie requesting a grant of land, Samuel stated that he was a native of the Colony 19 years of age. In the Wilberforce Muster of 1822 Samuel is shown as a labourer aged 20 and William, aged 23, is also listed.

Samuel I and Eleanor Williams had a third son, John, born on 30th January, 1806 at Parramatta. John died at the MacDonald River on 8th July, 1845. He did not marry. There may have been a fourth son, Thomas, as the death of Thomas Perkins aged 15 months, on 25th February, 1805 is recorded in the St. John's Parramatta Register.

Samuel's Life and Death as a Soldier
Samuel Perkins I was shown in a list compiled in 1801 of convicts whose time had expired. On 13th March 1801 he enlisted in the 102nd Regiment (N.S.W. Corps) and was assigned to Captain John McArthur's Company. He was stationed at Parramatta. He remained a private in that Company until his death with a pay of one shilling per day. The Company was taken over by Captain John Lavory when John McArthur returned to England in 1805. He died at Parramatta on 7th July, 1806, apparently from a heart attack. His death was reported in the Sydney Gazette of 13th July, 1806 as follows: -

"On Monday last, Samuel Perkins, a private in the New South Wales Corps, died suddenly in one of the passage boats, a few minutes after quitting the Parramatta Wharf. The deceased had that morning complained of an ailment in the breast and on stepping into the boat threw himself upon one of the thwarts keeping his right hand pressed against the part he complained of. One of the boatmen requested him to go aft; but receiving no answer, looked intently upon the poor man, whose face was covered with a violent perspiration, which alarming the boatman and passengers, they all went to his assistance but found him breathless."

Eleanor Williams Marries
In the 1806 Muster, Eleanor Williams was shown as free by servitude, living at Parramatta. In 1809 she received an absolute pardon for good conduct. On 13th August, 1810, she married James Turner at St. Matthews, Windsor. Turner came out as a convict on the "Perseus" in 1802. In 1814 they were both shown as "off stores" with James being described as a landholder at Windsor. Eleanor is believed to have died in January 1828 and to have been buried in Sydney.
____________________

Samuel Perkins
B: 1773. Westminster, London, England
D: 7 July 1806. Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia

Transportation
Samuel Perkins was transported to Sydney on the 'Pitt' a ship of 775 tons which sailed from Yarmouth Roads on 17th July 1791 carrying 334 male convicts and 35 female convicts. At the time, the 'Pitt' was the largest vessel so far employed in the convict service and the first regular East Indiaman to carry prisoners to Australia. Following complaints of overcrowding, the number of prisoners was reduced from 443 to 402 before sailing.
The 'Pitt' passage was protracted as she did not reach Port Jackson until 14th February 1792, 212 days after sailing. Apart from small pox and scurvy amongst the prisoners, a malignant fever caused 27 deaths amongst the seaman and military guards. The desperation of some of the prisoners to escape can be seen from the following details taken from a return of convicts who had deserted or died in attempts to run from the ship, prepared by Richard Nairne, agent on board the ship and sworn before the Judge Advocate David Collins on 5th March 1792: John Allen was drowned on swimming ashore from the Hospital Island Rio de Janeiro; James Ryner was given leave to go ashore at Rio by Captain Manning and was killed on shore; 7 further convicts deserted at Rio de Janeiro, William Allen was drowned in attempt to swim ashore at the Cape of Good Hope; John Ely a Quartermaster, when it was his watch on deck, stole the Whale boat and took a female convict Ann Collin with him at the Cape of Good Hope; three other deserted in 'Duke of Clarence's' whale boat which stopped along-side in a hard squall at the Cape of Good Hope.
The 'Pitt' crew was so depleted that some of the convicts had be recruited to help navigate her. When she arrived at Port Jackson, 20 males and 9 female prisoners had died on the passage and 120 men were landed sick, many who died in the weeks following. While her death toll was heavy, statements that at the end of year only 29 of her prisoners were still alive are believed to be a gross exaggeration.