LINKS

• https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/israel/maria/43647
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Chaffey-162
• https://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/emigrant_pdfs/palmer_thomas_1841.pdf
• https://cannonhillchronicles.com/2020/04/03/wrest-point/
• https://htfs.org.au/norfolk_islanders.php
• https://www.tasfamily.net.au/~schafferi/index.php?file=kop25.php
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LVHQ-N9Q
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/157954229/thomas-chaffey
• https://triffitt1.wordpress.com/relocation-lists/
• https://www.australian-english-genealogy.com/edwardgar/pafg02.htm
• https://www.chafetree.com/127famous_chaffees.html
• https://www.tasfhs.org/downloads/Volume30Number4_2010.pdf
• https://www.tasfhs.org/downloads/Volume34Number4_2014.pdf

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Went to Van Diemens Land on “HMS Porpoise” in 1807

• Immigration: "Scarborough" - June 28 1790
  • Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Jul 12 2016, 11:00:09 UTC

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• Immigration: "Suprize" - Aug 7 1790 - Norfolk Island, New South Wales, Australia
  • Reference: MyHeritage Family Trees - SmartCopy: Dec 19 2018, 9:22:57 UTC

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@R-2146020056@ Australia Cemetery Index, 1808-2007 Ancestry.com Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010.Original data - Cemetery transcriptions compiled from various local family history societies. Name of compiler is provided for each record.Original data: Cemetery transcriptions compile 1,1266::0

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@R-2146020056@ London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812 Ancestry.com Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data - Church of England Parish Registers, 1538-1812. London, England: London Metropolitan Archives. Images produced by permission of the City of London Corporation Libraries 1,1624::0

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@R-2146020056@ Public Member Trees Ancestry.com Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.Original data - Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.Original data: Family trees submitted by Ancestry members. This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created.

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Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=4741931&pid=...

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Thomas Chaffey, son of Unknown and Unknown, was born in 1763 in England, died on 5 Oct 1849 in Hobart 48 at age 86, and was buried on 8 Oct 1849 in St David's Cemetery, Hobart.49 General Notes: Thomas was sentenced at the Old Bailey on 28 October 1789 and transported for life. He was originally sentenced to death but this sentence was changed to transportation. His death sentence came about because he refused to be transported and said he would rather die; he was then recommended to be hanged. It was then determined that the former sentence should be carried out. Thomas was sent aboard the Scarborough, arriving at Port Jackson with the second fleet. The ship was 418 tons and sailed from Portsmouth on 19 Jan 1790 with 259 convicts on board, arriving on 28 June 1790, after a voyage of 160 days, with 188 convicts. 73 convicts died during the voyage; the Second Fleet was a hard voyage for the convicts. Refer to Michael Flynn's book, The Second Fleet for a description of this horrific voyage and a biography of Thomas.

He was sent almost immediately to Norfolk Island on the Surprise, arriving on 7 Aug 1790 where he lived with Maria Israel, no record of a marriage has been found for them. This does not, however, mean they were not married as ministers were known to have visited the island and performed marriages of which there are no records. Their children born on Norfolk Island were known as Israel, not Chaffey, however, it was the practice on Norfolk Island for children of convicts to be listed by their mother's name. Historical Information Reference http://trees.ancestry.com/rd?f=document&guid=47472edc-432d-452f-a1b... Thomas was made a constable on Norfolk Island and had 39 acres of land. All this ended when the settlement on Norfolk Island was closed. Land in VDL was offered in exchange for land lost on Norfolk Island. Thomas and his family received one of the most generous allotments in Hobart, the reason for this is unknown.

Thomas was 45 when he arrived in Hobart in 1808, just 4 years after the settlement was established. Thomas, his wife and 6 children are recorded as arriving in Hobart on the 'Porpoise' on 17 Jan 1808, after leaving Norfolk Island on 25 Dec 1807. The journey took 22 days. On leaving the island, the settlers were rostered to take their turn at the watch. Water was rationed but some stock were lost. A fire surrounding the township of Hobart, caused by bushfires brought about by extreme temperature, was observed by those aboard the Porpoise on her arrival. A gun was fired from the boat the following morning for the pilot. By 10 o'clock she was anchored in the bay and all those aboard were ready to attend the 11 o'clock Sunday church service.

He received 62 acres of land and built a house at Queenborough on land which became known as Chaffey's Point. This point was the scene of many hangings until the 1820s and is where Wrest Point Casino stands today. His land included Mount Nelson track and Queenborough Cemetery. His son, Zachariah, was granted 30 acres of land at Queenborough as well.

In the General Muster of 1809, Thomas Chaffey, settler, had 68 acres with 3 acres of wheat and 2 of barley. He owned 17 sheep and 2 swine. However the family, Thomas, Maria and 6 children, were still receiving rations. By 1839, Thomas was 76 years old and gave his farm to his son Will, George having died that year and Zachariah lived at Clarence Plains.

In the 1848 Census, Thomas was head of the household at Queenborough. The dwelling was finished, made of wood and had four people residing there, only one of whom was Free. (Not sure why this was ticked as both Thomas and Maria were free). They were all living there a year ago. The census shows a married male 60 plus (Thomas) who arrived free and is a farmer. A married female (Maria) also arrived free and is shown as having no occupation. A single male, age between 21 and 45, is a farm servant bonded in private service and a single female of the same age is a domestic servant, also bonded in private service. They are all listed as Church of England.

Thomas died at his son William's Hotel, the "Traveller's Rest" on 8 October 1849, aged 86 years. He was buried in St David's cemetery, which surrounded St David's church in Hobart. The area is now a park, with few headstones remaining. The headstone read: Elizabeth Colley/who died April 4th, 1809/aged 19 years/also/Annie Miles/who died Sept 12th 1833/aged 23 years/also/Lydia Russell who died Sept 12th, 1833/aged 39 years/also/George Chaffey/who died May 15th 1839/aged 33 years/The above were children of Thomas and Maria Chaffey/also Thomas Chaffey/who died Oct 22, 1849/aged 86 years/also/Maria Chaffey/who died Oct 19, 1849/aged 88 years. St David's burial registers records Thomas as being buried on the 8th October.

Thomas Chaffey was also spelt Chafey, Chaffy and Cheffy.

In some records, another child , Susannah, was said to be born on Norfolk Island . There is no

further record of her anywhere.

Information from NSW Convict Index: Thomas Chafey, Old Bailey, MIddlesex, 28/10/1789/Life. Information from Middlesex embarkation, Schaeffer: Thomas Chaffey, land cleared 25¼, uncleared 9¾, 1 wife, 6 chn, 2 class, 2nd embarkation, 25/12/1807, HMS Porpoise for the Derwent. 50, 51,

52, 53, 54

Thomas married Maria Israel in 1791 in Norfolk Island. Maria was born in 1772 in England, died on 19 Oct 1849 in Hobart55 at age 77, and was buried in 1849 in St David's Cemetery, Hobart.

CiiAFFEY.-On the 5th November, at his late residence. Sandy Bay, William Chaffey, jonngest son of Thomas and Marla Chaffey, in the 05th year of his age, after a long and painful illness, which he bore with Christian fortitude, leaving nine children to lament hia loss. '

1802 Aug 31 Elizabeth Bradshaw sold sixty acres of land at Norfolk Island to, in trust for his son Zachariah (Fiche 3267; 9/2731 p.81)

n.d. In index to land grants in Van Diemen's Land (Fiche 3262; 4/438 pp.16, 19)

1814 Oct 20 Re assignment of land in Van Diemen's Land (Fiche 3261; 4/433 pp.96-7)

1819-22 On list of persons owing quit rents in Van Diemen's Land; for land in the District of Queenboro' (Fiche 3270; X19 p.5)

Website ("Famous Chaffey's" )Reference for following information. http://chafetree.com/127famous_chaffees.html

Chaffey: (c.1762-1849) Born in England. Thomas may have been in the pack tread industry. Chaffey was arrested in East London in 1788 in connection with the assault of Samuel Bevan near the King's Highway "putting him in fear and taking from his person, and against his will, three guineas, one half guinea, and twelve shillings in monies, and counterfeit sixpence value one farthing, and sixteen copper half pence". Bevan identified him as the one who had first stopped him in the robbery. Chaffey was probably under suspicion because he had been tried and acquitted for a similar crime the previous month. It was common in those days that people convicted for stealing goods worth as low as five shillings could be sentenced to death. Chaffey was tried in 1788 and sentenced to be hung. Offered a pardon a year later, on the condition he be sent to Australia, Thomas was one of seven others who cause a sensation by answering no´´ - likely preferring death to exile. In 1789 he agreed to be exiled and sailed from Plymouth to Australia on the Scarborough with the Second Fleet arriving at Botany Bay in 1790, with 73 of the 169 convicts perishing. Maria Israel (c.1772-1849) was arrested in London and indicted for the theft of two pieces of cloth valued at three pounds in 1789, and though she claimed she had bought the linen, she was found guilty of stealing and sentenced to seven years. Two weeks after her conviction, she embarked to Australia on the Lady Juliana ("The Floating Brothel"). Thomas and Maria were among 194 convicts sent to Norfolk Island on the Surprise in 1790. Together they built their home and established a farm on the island. Chaffey received a conditional pardon in 1796. By 1802 he was listed as an overseer. In 1805 Thomas was mustered as a constable and by 1807 he held 35 acres of land. His family was uprooted and sent to Van Diemens Land (Tasmania), sailing aboard the Porpoise in 1807. He settled at Sandy Bay south of Hobart on 260 acres which included a peninsula, that became known as Chaffey's Point. William Bligh 1754-1817Chaffey's Point now known as Wrest PointLand grant to Thomas Chaffey, Hobart, AustraliaIn 1805, William Bligh (1754-1817) the famous Lieutenant of the HMS Bounty (1789), was sent to New South Wales as Governor. In 1808, the Rum Rebellion, where regiment officers had a monopoly on rum sales and its use as a currency, contributed to a revolt. Led by John Macarthur, a pioneer and wool merchant from New South Wales, British soldiers mutinied and Bligh was forcibly deposed and imprisoned by Major George Johnston of the 102nd Foot. In 1809 Bligh was ordered to return to England but instead he sailed his ship, the Porpoise, to Tasmania where he hoped to wait out his eventual re-instatement. He anchored off the beach close to the Chaffey's land along the River Derwent. Following disagreements with the Hobart's Governor Collins, Bligh blockaded ships to the Hobart colony. He and his crew lived aboard the ship for nearly a year. During this time it was likely that the Chaffey family were privy to the comings and goings of Bligh and his visitors. Chaffey's Point (42.9018ºS 147.3374ºE) became the site of public executions and the sight of the gibbets (gallows) would likely have been in full view of the Chaffey family. Chaffey's Point was also a site to process whale carcasses and boiling down blubber. Chaffey was appointed a constable for the district of Queenborough in 1813. Thomas Chaffey died in Hobart in 1849 age 86. Maria died 17 days later age 88. His son, William opened two inns on the land in 1839, one being called the Traveller's Rest Hotel´´. He sold the land in 1845. Around 1928, Chaffey's Point was renamed to Wrest Point. In 1973, the Point became site of Australia's first casino. The "Traveller's Rest" building on Sandy Bay Road remains part of the casino offices.

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Public Member Trees Ancestry.com Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006.Original data - Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.Original data: Family trees submitted by Ancestry members.

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GEDCOM Source

OneWorldTree Ancestry.com The Generations Network, Inc.

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Database online. Record for Thomas Chaffey

GEDCOM Source

OneWorldTree Ancestry.com The Generations Network, Inc.

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Database online. Record for Thomas Chaffey

GEDCOM Source

Tasmania, Australia, Deeds of Land Grants, 1804-1935 Ancestry.com Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1,61008::0

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1,61008::2140

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Thomas was born about 1763. Thomas Chaffey was arrested on 12th November 1788 in East London, as being one of a group of eight men who had robbed another, namely Samuel Bevan, of approx 4 guineas. Court documents of his trial at the Old Bailey are readily available. Thomas was found guilty and sentenced to death. The following year, September 1789, Thomas was offered transportation to N.S.W which he initially refused, preferring to die rather than come to Australia. Eventually Thomas accepted transportation and was placed on the Scarborough on 19th November 1789, saiing with the 2nd Fleet on 19th January 1790. In history, this traumatic journey has been known as the death fleet, and those surviving arrived in Port Jackson on 28th June 1790. Maria Israel, Thomas' future wife, was to arrive 3 days later on the Lady Juliana. Thomas and Maria were both placed aboard the vessel Surprise and sent to Norfolk Island in August 1890. Their children were to be the first generation of Australian Chaffeys born on Norfolk Island. Thomas received a Pardon from Governor Hunter on 23-3-1796. Maria's sentence expired in 1796. In 1802 Thomas purchased a parcel of land on Norfolk Island, built a home and established a farm. At this time he was listed as an overseer and in 1805 was listed as a Constable. Eight children were born to Thomas and Maria on this island. In December 1807, the ship the Porpoise was to take Thomas and his family to Hobart Town, Van Demiens Land. He was granted 260 acres of land, now known as Sandy Bay. He built his home on the point where Wrest Point Casino now stands. For over 40 years the point was known as Chaffeys Point. The Trevellors Rest Inn was built by son William, and is where Thomas died on 8-11-1849..
Sources • Family records • Norfolk Island Archives • St Davids Cemetery Hobart • Hobart Tasmania Archives • Old Bailey, London, trial records • Thomas Chaffey Digital Panopticon  

Biography Thomas Chaffey Detail provided by Pam Ellis [Ref: 790t0002] Second Fleet Convict per Scarborough Thomas Chaffey was born in England around 1762. He was arrested in East London on 12 November 1788 in connection with the felonious assault of one Samuel Bevan in a field near the King's Highway on the 5th November 1788 'putting him in fear and taking from his person, and against his will, three guineas, one half guinea, and twelve shillings in monies, and counterfeit sixpence value one farthing, and sixteen copper half pence". The crime took place on a winter’s evening and Bevan said, “the moon was up, I could see entirely over the fields”. He said he was beaten with sticks and had his hat pulled down over his face. He did not report the crime, but did tell a doctor, who was treating him for his injuries. A clergyman’s servant reported the crime after overhearing this conversation, including the description of the attackers.

Bevan was unable to identify a number of suspects who were brought to him. A week later, local constables, rounding up suspects for an identity parade, detained Thomas Thrush, John Merryman and Samuel Sherrington at Moody's Alehouse, The Sign of The George Inn, in George Yard, Spitalfields, where Chaffey lived; all four were regular drinkers there. Bevan could not positively identify them, but there was sufficient possibility and the three were arrested.

Thomas Chaffey was brought before Bevan some fourteen days or so after the date of the crime. Bevan identified him as the one who had first stopped him. He was probably under suspicion because he had been tried and acquitted for a similar crime the previous month.

Samuel Sherrington agreed to give evidence in return for immunity from prosecution, and he implicated Chaffey, Thrush and Merryman. He said he had known Chaffey for many years and had worked with him. He had met the other two in Chaffey’s room.

Chaffey, Thrush and Merryman were tried at the 10 December 1788 Middlesex Court (Old Bailey) Sessions. Merryman was acquitted and Chaffey and Thrush were found guilty and sentenced to death, although their identification was far from certain. Thomas Chaffey was 21 years old.

After nine months under a temporary respite from hanging Chaffey was called to the bar of the Old Bailey for the September 1789 sessions and offered a pardon on condition of transportation for life. Along with seven other capital convicts he caused something of a sensation by answering simply “no” when offered the pardon. Five of the recalcitrant convicts relented after counselling from the Newgate chaplain, Mr Villette, but Thomas Chaffey, William Davis and Edward Crowder persisted in their refusals.

On 21 September the Home Secretary wrote to the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex: “I am commanded to signify to you the King's Pleasure that you do cause the sentence of Death passed upon Thomas Chaffey now a prisoner in Newgate to be carried into immediate execution.” On the same day the Recorder of London wrote asking for a delay because of doubts over the appropriateness of executing a prisoner at his own wish. A further respite was granted and Chaffey was again called to the bar of the Old Bailey at the October sessions and offered a pardon. This time he accepted and was formally reprieved to transportation for life on 28 October 1789. He was sent directly from Newgate to the Scarborough transport on 10 November 1789 and sailed from Plymouth to Australia with the Second Fleet on 19 January 1790.

Soon after his arrival at Botany Bay, Chaffey was among 194 convicts sent to Norfolk Island aboard the Surprize arriving on 7 August 1790, along with his future partner, Maria Israel (b.c1771, tried Old Bailey per Lady Juliana). They lived together from at least January 1791 and in July they were recorded with 130 rods of land cleared. By 1792 they were partly self-supporting.

Chaffey received a conditional pardon on 23 March 1796

By 1802 he was listed as an overseer. Thomas and Maria built their home and established a farm there. In 1805 he was mustered as a constable. By 1807 he held 35 acres and with his wife and children, Elizabeth (b.1791); Maria (b.21 Jan 1793); Lydia (b.21 March 1795); Zachariah (b.1798); Ann (b.7 Jan 1799); Hannah (b.15 March 1803) and George (b.11 March 1805). There is no record of their marriage.

Authorities in London and Sydney decided to abandon the Island, the convicts were transferred to other sites and the time expired free settlers were sent to Van Diemens Land for resettlement.

In 1807, after spending more than 18 years on Norfolk Island, the family was uprooted and exiled again to Van Diemens Land, sailing aboard the Porpoise in December 1807. Thomas was 45 years old. Their eldest daughter, Elizabeth, left Norfolk Island aboard the City of Edinburgh in September 1808 with, John Colley (tried Old Bailey 27 Feb 1788, per Surprize). They were married in Hobart on 24 October 1808 where she died five months later.

On settling at Sandy Bay, Hobart, Thomas and his family were allocated combined grants of 260 acres, the largest allocation of land in Sandy Bay. The grants included Wrest Point, then known as Chaffey's Point, and extended from the headland jutting into the River Derwent (Wrest Point) up into the steep slopes of Mount Nelson. The original family home was built on the present site of the Wrest Point Casino.

The only approach to Sandy Bay then was by boat at Chaffey's Point, and it was here they built a crude stringy bark cottage with peppermint gum shingles out on the Point and then set about clearing and farming their heavily timbered virgin land.

On 8th November 1808 another son, William, was born in Hobart. He was christened in 1816.

In March 1809 the Porpoise anchored off the beach close to the Chaffey's land carrying the illegally deposed Governor of New South Wales, William Bligh. Bligh interfered with incoming vessels by making them stop under threat of being fired upon, and pay their respects to him. He and his crew lived aboard the ship for nearly a year. During this time it would be reasonable to assume that the Chaffey family were privy to all the comings and goings of the ship's complement, visitors, etc. The ease of landing on Chaffey's Point makes it also quite probable that, in fact, the ship's boats would have been constant visitors. Edward Lord, who, with John Ingle, supplied the Porpoise during this time, against official sanctions, were known to have had dealings with the Chaffey family.

Chaffey's Point became the site of public executions following the outcry from new settlers arriving at the Hunter's Island dock area in Hobart to be greeted by the sight of corpses hanging on the gibbets nearby. The resiting of these gibbets would have placed them in full view of the Chaffey family. Later a try works was situated out on Chaffey's Point with the stench from the rotting whale carcasses and the boiling down of the blubber so bad that the settlers vociferously complained.

In 1809 he was recorded holding 68 acres there (3 sown in wheat, 2 in barley) with 17 sheep and two pigs. He was appointed a constable for the district of Queenborough in 1813, By 1819 they were fully self-supporting and Chaffey had increased his landholding to 112 acres (13 sown in wheat, 3 in potatoes and a half-acre in beans). They employed one convict worker and owned 14 cattle, 100 sheep, with 30 bushels of grain in store. Chaffey and his wife had achieved a modest, but apparently solid level of prosperity after again starting from scratch in 1808.

Thomas’s eldest son, Zachariah, was mentioned in "The Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter” dated Saturday 28th November 1818. A party of five young men, including Zachariah, had gone to Oyster Bay “to procure swan feathers and kangaroo, seal and swan skins”. On their return home they put into Grindstone Bay (31 miles distant from Oyster Bay), “where from contrary winds they were detained three days”. During their stay there, they went a second time to Big Swan Port, for the purpose of increasing their number of seal skins, leaving behind John Kemp in care of the live swans, 4 kangaroo dogs, 3 muskets, some ammunition, sealing knives and the various skins etc. they had procured. After having obtained more seal skins, they returned the same day to Grindstone Bay, where they found the bodies of John Kemp and one of the dogs lying at the water’s edge, with the greater part of the goods left with him missing. At the approach of the boat two of their dogs ran out of hiding and swam out to the boat. Hostile natives appeared on the beach, and with great difficulty they managed to hoist the body of their companion into the boat and row out of range of their spears.

In 1823 Thomas' youngest son, William, was the licensee of "The Generous Whale" public house in Hobart. In 1839 Thomas made over six acres of his land to William and in the same year William built the “Traveller's Rest Hotel”, Sandy Bay Road. This building remains as part of the offices of the Wrest Point Casino. William made Chaffey’s Point available for the staging of regattas, which continued for many years.

Thomas Chaffey died on 5 October 1849 at Hobart, age given as 86. His wife died only 17 days later. The Chaffey family are buried in St David’s Cemetery, Hobart.

Acknowledgements Talbot, Terence A, “A Brief History of the Chaffey’s Point Chaffeys”, ISBN 0 646 26729 9.

Copyright © 2003 Pam Ellis & Thomas Chaffey