aspinall

Another of my convict ancestors was Richard Aspinall, from Wigan in Lancashire, who arrived in Sydney from Sheerness on the Bengal Merchant in July 1838.  

When he was granted his freedom in 1861 Richard married Mary Homer in Bathurst, New South Wales.  Richard and Mary had two daughters.  Mary Jane, born in 1862 at Carrawa, was my great-grandmother, Margaret, her sister,  was born in 1865.  It appears that  Richard had a second marriage in 1875 to Anna Maria Fell before he died in Carcoar Hospital in 1883.

It seems that Richard did not mend his ways after gaining his freedom.  Richard, as Black Dick, is reputed to have done a bit of bushranging with John Vane.  Mary Jane told a story about hiding under the kitchen table when the police came to round up some bushrangers.

I look forward to sharing information with anyone who has a connection with Richard