SIMPSON Family

My 3x great grandfather Walter Simpson was born in Battersea, London, ENG in July 1801 to Walter Simpson and his wife Sarah. He was apprenticed as a boat builder as a teenager and in 1818 along with a chap named William Burne stole 6 loaves of bread in a basket from a man named James Unwin. For their efforts, both men received 7 year transportation sentences to Van Diemen's Land.

Walter spent a short time in the hulks in England before being transported on the ship Surrey with 159 other poor unfortunate souls. He arrived in Van Dieman's Land in 1819. During the first 12 months of his time, he received several punishments, then in 1821 he was among the first to be sent to Sarah Island where he remained until he got his freedom certificate in 1825.

He then returned to Hobart where we believe he worked as a carpenter among other things. For the next three years he behaved himself to some degree, but in 1828 he was again in trouble with the law for supposedly harbouring an escaped female prisoner. In 1829 he stole some waistcoats belonging to the Solomon brothers and was tried at the Oatlands court and sentenced to 3 months hard labour - during which time he was shackled to another man and made to build the new Oatlands Courthouse.

In 1830 he stole a bundle of laths from a Hobart gent and was tried and convicted and sentenced to another 7 years - most of this was served at hard labour in and around Hobart, but after an incident recorded as "misconduct on Sunday afternoon" in 1832 he was sent to Pt Arthur.

In October 1834 he applied to marry a woman named Mary Ann Johnson but permission was refused. In 1836 he received his second certificate of freedom and in the muster of 1837 he is recorded living in New Town with his "wife" Mary Ann and a daughter named Mary Ann.

Children were born to Walter & Mary Ann between 1837 and 1841 and in 1843 there is a marriage record for Walter Simpson & Mary Ann Scammell. One more child was born in Hobart before the family moved to South Australia where several more children were born.

When Walter arrived in SA he had plenty of money - where a 14 year convict without much paid work between came by enough to purchase all the land he owned in SA is a mystery.

Walter's children were:-
Mary Ann born 1837 married Joseph Barclay Berry
Sarah Jane born 1839 married James Berry
Walter born 1841 died 1848
Rebecca born 1844 married Johann Gottfried Thiele
Susanna born 1847
Un=named son still born in 1850
William born 1851 died 1903
Fanny born 1854 married 1) Charles Abercromie Dignum Sigmont 2) Henry Hove Splaine
Emily born 1857 married Charles William Brown
Ellen born 1859 married Richard Luke Peters
Alice born 1860 died 1860
Walter born 1861 married 1) Margaret Amelia Byrne 2) Agnes Bonney