John Luff
It's uncertain when and where John was born, but by 1848 St Ives was the family home for his wife, Mary Ann Baker, and three children. He worked as a beer house keeper and railway labourer.
On 16 October 1848 John appeared at Huntingdon County Sessions, aged 34 years, charged with horse stealing. He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years transportation, as reported in the Cambridge Independent Press 21 October 1848.
John spent two months in Huntingdon gaol before being removed to Millbank prison. Conditions were atrocious. Kept in solitary confinement and enforced silence on rations of bread and water, exercise was limited to five minutes per day. There were regular outbreaks of cholera, malaria, dysentery and scurvy.
After eighteen months in Millbank prison, John was transported aboard the Hashemy with 102 other convicts on 19 July 1850, arriving at Swan River Colony, Western Australia, on 25 October 1850.
Mary and the children had a hard time. In 1851 they were living in Noble's Yard, just off the Sheep Market. The census recorded Mary as a widow. Her occupation was laundress, taking in everyone's dirty linen. The three children, aged from 6 to 2 years, were all classed as "scholar, pauper".
John appears to have been a model transportee, gaining his Ticket of Leave in record time on 26 January 1852. This allowed him certain privileges, such as paid labour and the right to own property.
Most importantly, the holder could bring their family from Britain. That year Mary and their three children embarked on a free passage aboard the Ann MacLean, arriving in November 1852 as reported by the Perth Gazette and Independent Journal 21 November 1852.
On 13 September 1856 John gained his Certificate of Freedom. John and Mary had more children and farmed a small property in Bicton, Fremantle.
On 22 March 1860 family life was shattered when John died as a result of an accident, aged 50 years. He was helping his young neighbour, James Duffield, to dig a well when the sides collapsed. James was trapped up to his waist in the sandy soil and John went to the rescue down the well shaft. As more sand fell in, in a nightmare scenario James' head was covered, then John was trapped up to his waist, then his neck, before finally also being buried. It took ten hours to recover both bodies. The tragedy was reported in the Perth Gazette and Independent Journal 30 March 1860.
By this date John and Mary had eight children. The family were left destitute and a public collection was arranged "for a brave and generous man who nobly sacrificed his own life" as reported in the Perth Gazette and Independent Journal 4 May 1860 and 16 May 1860.
Further tragedy hit the family when Mary died of consumption just a few months later on 10 June 1860, aged 39 years. A final tally of the collections made and the adoptions of some of the children was reported by the Perth Inquirer and Commercial News on 5 December 1860.
On 16 October 1848 John appeared at Huntingdon County Sessions, aged 34 years, charged with horse stealing. He was convicted and sentenced to 15 years transportation, as reported in the Cambridge Independent Press 21 October 1848.
John spent two months in Huntingdon gaol before being removed to Millbank prison. Conditions were atrocious. Kept in solitary confinement and enforced silence on rations of bread and water, exercise was limited to five minutes per day. There were regular outbreaks of cholera, malaria, dysentery and scurvy.
After eighteen months in Millbank prison, John was transported aboard the Hashemy with 102 other convicts on 19 July 1850, arriving at Swan River Colony, Western Australia, on 25 October 1850.
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| Swan River Colony, Western Australia, |
John appears to have been a model transportee, gaining his Ticket of Leave in record time on 26 January 1852. This allowed him certain privileges, such as paid labour and the right to own property.
Most importantly, the holder could bring their family from Britain. That year Mary and their three children embarked on a free passage aboard the Ann MacLean, arriving in November 1852 as reported by the Perth Gazette and Independent Journal 21 November 1852.
On 13 September 1856 John gained his Certificate of Freedom. John and Mary had more children and farmed a small property in Bicton, Fremantle.
On 22 March 1860 family life was shattered when John died as a result of an accident, aged 50 years. He was helping his young neighbour, James Duffield, to dig a well when the sides collapsed. James was trapped up to his waist in the sandy soil and John went to the rescue down the well shaft. As more sand fell in, in a nightmare scenario James' head was covered, then John was trapped up to his waist, then his neck, before finally also being buried. It took ten hours to recover both bodies. The tragedy was reported in the Perth Gazette and Independent Journal 30 March 1860.
By this date John and Mary had eight children. The family were left destitute and a public collection was arranged "for a brave and generous man who nobly sacrificed his own life" as reported in the Perth Gazette and Independent Journal 4 May 1860 and 16 May 1860.
Further tragedy hit the family when Mary died of consumption just a few months later on 10 June 1860, aged 39 years. A final tally of the collections made and the adoptions of some of the children was reported by the Perth Inquirer and Commercial News on 5 December 1860.
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