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John Worthington.
Two John Worthingtons. It is a common belief that John Worthington returned to England after the expiration of his sentence and that, after a further conviction in England, was transported to Australia again in 1820. The second John Worthington (also listed in the musters as a government carpenter, and this may be where confusion has arisen) died in Sydney aged 47 in 1825 (he was six years younger than the first John Worthington). There appears to be no hard evidence confirming that the two John Worthingtons were the same man, and the scenario is unlikely for several reasons. Convicts were not permitted to return to England, and especially not if they had accumulated a further conviction within the colony (as Worthington did in 1810). If a convict did receive the required special permission to leave the country, that permission had to be published. Moreover, John Worthington could not have afforded the return journey. The second John Worthington was convicted of highway robbery with a sentence of death by hanging which was commuted to life transportation. If this had indeed been the same man convicted of a second serious offence, his death sentence would not have been commuted - he would certainly have been sent to the gallows. The 1816-17 muster entry saying that the first John Worthington had 'left the colony' probably refers to him leaving the colony of New South Wales - not necessarily leaving the country - and this information may have been provided by the abandoned Catherine Malone. The Children. Between 1808 and 1813 four children were born in the colony and given Worthington's surname. Their mother was a convict named Catherine Malone(y). James, Thomas, William and John were variously listed in the official records as Warrington, Worrington and Warrenton by their illiterate mother. James resumed the Worthington spelling around 1839. Thomas had resumed the name Worthington by 1832. William and John retained Warrington. Catherine Malone(y). It is clear from the records that John Worthington was involved with a fellow convict named Catherine Malone, or Katherine Moloney, and that she was the mother of his children. There are two possibilities - one Catherine Malone who arrived in Australia aboard the Sugar Cane in 1793, and one Katherine Moloney who claimed to have arrived aboard the Alexander in 1806. I will deal with the two separately below. Sugar Cane Catherine. The story of Sugar Cane Catherine Malone is well documented in the book A Nimble Fingered Tribe: the Convicts of the Sugar Cane, Ireland to Botany Bay, 1793 by Barbara Hall (2002). Sugar Cane Catherine is most commonly thought to have been the mother of the Worthington children. She appears to have been the only woman in the colony bearing that name prior to the alleged arrival of Alexander Catherine in 1806. Her name often appears in the records as Catharine, and though she appears to have been illiterate, that may have been the correct spelling of her name. The following timeline gives some indication of her life in the colony.
Alexander C(K)atherine. The Alexander was a ship that travelled with the Fortune - the very ship that carried John Worthington to Australia in 1806. According to Convict Ship Alexander 1806 by Graham Thom, Both ships left Spithead, England on 28 January 1806 as part of a fleet of seven ships under the command of Captain William Bligh who was proceeding to Sydney to take up his appointment as Governor of the Colony of New South Wales. Of the convicts transported on both ships, all the females were carried aboard the Alexander. According to Thom's detailed research, when the ship arrived at Port Jackson it held 48 female convicts, 15 male convicts, eight wives of convicts and nine children. None of the female convicts listed in a letter to the Transport Board dated 23 January 1806 were named Catherine Malone (or any spelling variations). But there was a Catherine or Katherine Moloney within the colony who claimed to have been aboard the Alexander in 1806. She made this claim on at least three occasions over 12 years. At this stage the discrepancy between this claim and the list mentioned above cannot be explained. If she had been in the colony since 1806, I cannot explain why she does not seem to appear in any musters or other documents 1806-1815, unless she appeared under another name.
Other Records not Referring to the Sugar Cane or the Alexander. We can't be certain of which Catherine is being referred to in the following entries:
For the time being there is obviously more investigating to do. Regardless of which Catherine was the mother of John Worthington's children, the arrival of the second Catherine in Australia is a mystery and I have no idea why she would claim to have been aboard the Alexander if she had not. She may have been tried, convicted and transported under another name for whatever reason. Another explaination might be, as Thom says of the Admiralty records, that .. the information revealed is likely to be accurate only on the date it was recorded. In other words, the number of convicts transported can change right up to the date of sailing. Whether she was aboard the Alexander or not, she claimed to have been in the colony since 1806 which means she cannot at this stage be discounted as a legitimate suspect as the mother of the Worthington children. Moreover, while there is no specific record linking Sugar Cane Catherine to Worthington or to his children, there is at least one muster entry which ties a Catherine Malone to both the Alexander and to John Worthington. If Alexander Catherine was the one involved with John Worthington, it is possible that they had met each other before or during the journey of the Alexander and Fortune. If you have any corrections or additions you would like to tell me about, or if you have further information about either Catherine Malone(y), please don't hesitate to contact me.
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