Remembering Ancestors today: The arrival of convict vessel ‘Neptune’ as part of the 2nd Fleet to Botany Bay in 1790.
My 4th great-grandfather Thomas Priest Sr arrived as a convict on this vessel on 28 June 1790. The ‘Neptune’ was a terrible ship to travel on, its master, David Traill, being described as “avaricious and unscrupulous”. Of 511 convicts on board 158 died on route!! The Fleet arrived at Port Jackson in June 1790, a voyage of 160 days.
Embarked: 424 men; 78 women. Deaths 147 men; 11 women
His Crime: Stealing 3 Sheep. Thomas was sentenced to DEATH commuted to 14 years’ transportation on 8 August 1787 at Stafford, England, arriving at Port Jackson on the transport ship ‘Neptune’. The arrival of the Second Fleet was a relief to the struggling settlement, as it had been over two years since the First Fleet’s arrival. However, the conditions on these ships were notoriously harsh, leading to a high mortality rate among the convicts during the voyage and upon arrival.
Thomas Priest served 10 years of his 14 years sentence on mainland New South Wales until he obtained his ticket-of-leave in 1801.
He travelled to Norfolk Island in 1802 with his defacto wife Catherine (Ann) Rochford and was described on the Norfolk Island Muster in 1802 as a free man. He was described in 1805 as overseer of blacksmiths and in 1807 held 27 acres of land of which 13 were cleared. While on Norfolk Island four children were born to the couple; Thomas 1801; William 1803; James 1805 and George 1806.
Thomas Priest died on 19 Jul 1851, having endured more than most men during a long life. From fighting for England in the American Revolutionary War, his conviction and transportation under the worst conditions then known, his incarceration in Sydney to finally some peace on Norfolk Island and in Tasmania.
Taking time to remember ancestors and their journeys.
Written by Ann Williams-Fitzgerald 2025
