Family: Freeman family
Summary
James Freeman, born 1801, at Eltham, Kent, was a coachman for Mr Howe and drove a '4-in-hand' carriage. In 1825 he was convicted of stealing a black mare worth £10, and was sentenced to be hanged. This was commuted to transportation for life to Van Diemen's Land, where he arrived aboard the Bengal Merchantin 1828.
Details
He was assigned to Mary, wife of John Lakeland the Principal Superintendent of Convicts. In 1831 he was permitted to withdraw £;5 10s from his account in the Convicts' Savings Bank and by 1832 was a javelin man to the sheriff (court attendant who carried a spear). In 1833 he married Mary Ann Bowyer/Boyer, a free settler who arrived aboard the female immigrant ship Princess Royalin 1832. James received his conditional pardon in 1835 and his free pardon in 1839.
James worked as a gardener and a carrier at different times, and the family lived mainly in West Hobart. Between 1834 and1858 their ten children were born, seven of whom lived to adulthood. In late 1849 all family members except their son James William changed their surname to 'Prince', presumably to conceal James' convict past and to enable the family to blend into the emerging free society. James William, a carrier, who married Mary Henderson, was the only family member to remain in Tasmania, as his siblings left the islan for Victoria, Western Australia and New Zealand.
Leonie Mickleborough