William Dove
| Town/City | Brisbane |
|---|---|
| First name | William |
| Last name | Dove |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Date of Birth | 1804 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1830 |
| Submitted by | Jennifer Helyar |
Story
In 1829, a silk-weaver of Bethnal Green, William Dove was convicted, at the Old Bailey, of poaching fowls. After spending 12 months in the hulks, he was transported via “Manlius” to Hobart, Tasmania, leaving behind a wife and child. Though able to read and write, he had no skills other than weaving. On arrival he was put to work, eventually ending up on the Risdon Assignment gang, building roads.
Hobart, as described by a Lieutenant Breton in 1833 was a town of about a square mile, planned on a grid, of cottage-style houses with wide footpaths, and numerous public houses, against a backdrop of the impressive bulk of Mt Wellington. The cemetery was in the process of being moved to make way for the building of a wharf.
During William’s term of imprisonment, the notorious Port Arthur Penal Settlement was established, the “Black Line” attempted to trap and capture the remaining aboriginees on the island: over the next few years, those caught were rounded up and removed to Flinders Island. The coach service started to a daily run to New Norfolk and weekly to Launceston from 1834. The following year, Batman and company set out for Port Philip, leading to the establishment of Melbourne. In 1836 Charles Darwin visited aboard the “Beagle” and the opportunity to check town clocks using Beagle’s chronometers discovered that the accepted position of Hobart was off by 27 miles – which could have caused fatal consequences for shipping around the island (Bent’s News, March 5, 1836).
In 1937 William received a Free Certificate (conditional parole) and applied to marry an Elizabeth Lomas. He was refused, but in 1839, William Dove, 30, bachelor, freeman and a butcher by trade, applied for permission to marry Mary Ryan, 28, a lass from Galway, convicted of sharing goods stolen from her housemate’s customer. Also convicted at the Old Bailey, she had been transported in 1833 and was still serving her sentence. The application was approved on 2/3/1839. However, they had in fact been married at Trinity Church, Hobart on 11/2/1839. Their daughter, Maria Theresa, was born two weeks later on 25/2/1839 – her father being described as a butcher at the time.
Maria Theresa married Thomas Fletcher and together they followed the gold. She had two brothers, one of whom, Samuel, published two poems celebrating Queen Victoria’s jubilee in 1897. He was the owner of Tattersall’s Hotel in Murray St.