Sarah Lenton
Born 1812 at St Ives, Sarah was married to Edward and had four children, her maiden name Mace. There was no sign of her husband and children at the time of the 1841 census when she was living in Bury, a servant to John and Sarah Hine.
Of average height, Sarah had a fresh and freckled complexion, dark brown hair, a broad face with hazel eyes and a large mouth. She could read, but not write.
In July 1846 Sarah appeared at Huntingdon County Assizes, charged with stealing clothing from Sarah Bedford at St Ives. With a previous conviction for burglary, Sarah's sentence was transportation to Australia for ten years. Her case was reported by the Bedfordshire Mercury 25 July 1846.
Her move from Huntingdon gaol was reported by the Cambridge Chronicle and Journal 8 August 1846. Sarah spent two months in Millbank prison. On 17 September 1846 she sailed aboard the Elizabeth and Henry from London, one of 171 female convicts. They arrived Hobart, Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) on 4 January 1847. Sarah was described as well behaved on voyage.
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| Millbank Prison |
Initially Sarah was employed on a work gang for six months. In July 1848 she was sentenced to two months imprisonment with hard labour, found out after hours in a field with a servant.
In June 1849 she was employed in the pottery business, Thomas Ball of Macquarie Street, Hobart. Another three months of imprisonment with hard labour followed in October 1849, for not proceeding to the depot according to her pass, and producing a pass with the date altered
Sarah obtained her Ticket of Leave in July 1851 and was pardoned in April 1854. There are no details of what happened to her thereafter.
Sarah was the daughter of John and Elizabeth Mace, brothers William, Thomas, Stephan, James, David, sister Mary. She also had a younger sister Sarah who died before this Sarah was born.
ReplyDeleteSarah seems to appear in the 1841 Census twice, once mentioned above at her place of employment and once in High-street, Needingworth along with Edward and their three eldest children. It is assumed that she relocated between the times the census was filled at both address' or possibly was not present at her residence, only stated as a usual occupant and recorded as present. Both records appear to be the same person.
A convict was not always permitted to return to England once free, their families could not always relocate to Australia, many began second families when there was no chance of either. Five years after arriving in Tasmania, Sarah gave birth to the first of four more children, Samuel (1851), who's father was listed as William Allen. Emma (1854), Eliza (1857) and William Jnr (1859) who's father was listed as William Challis,(convict of the Ship "Candahar"). It is not certain that Allen and Challis were the same man, Samuel and Emma (my second great grandmother) were both said to have had different parents of aboriginal decent, however a DNA connection to the Challis family in England has been found through Emma.
Sarah and William did not marry until 21 Mar 1885 in Deep Bay, Port Cygnet, Tasmania and was likely permitted on compassionate grounds as she died at Deep Bay just 3 months later on 24 Jun 1885 at the age of 72 as Mrs. Sarah Challis. Edward Lenton died the following year in St. Ives, and William Challis at Deep Bay three years later in 1889.
Thank you, Ara, for the additional information about Sarah, particularly of her life in Tasmania. Very interesting and helpful. Regards, John
DeleteNo worries, I am very happy to help. It has bee a long road in finding her so I am very happy to see her mentioned here.
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