WRIGHT James

Name	James WRIGHT
Country Of Origin	England
Born	1787
Died	unknown
Birth/Baptism	Born approx. 1787, Congleton, Cheshire, England
Parents	unknown
Apprenticeship	unknown
Skills	Clockmaker, Watchmaker
Work Locations	No record found working in his trade in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania)
Marriage/Spouse	Widower, four children in England
Trial	16 April 1827, Chester Spring Assizes, Cheshire
Sentence	Death sentence commuted to transportation for life for house burglary and stealing soap and sugar
Arrival	30 November 1827 on the convict ship, Asia (2)
Police Number	785
Convict Assignment
Ticket of Leave	22 August 1836
Conditional Pardon	3 February 1841
Other	Chester Chronicle, Friday 20 April 1827: ‘James Wright, 39, charged with burglariously entering the house of William Heath, of Congleton, and stealing a quantity of sugar and soap. – Transported for Life.’ James: “When I went to gaol my hair was dark brown, in nine months it became white.” Other skills: Silver weaver, ploughman, farm labourer. March 1831: Knowingly received a stolen silver watch; charge dismissed. Other indictments on his conduct record included absence from muster and church, drunkenness and misconduct, and punishments, stints on the treadwheel and in the stocks.
Death	unknown
References
TAHO: CON31/1/45, CON23/1/3, CON14/1/50. Web: Ancestry: England & Wales Criminal Registers 1827; Founders & Survivors convict database. Chester Chronicle 20 April 1827 [British Newspaper Archive); Hobart Town Courier 2 September 1836.