John Edward COLSTON

1813 - 1885  (72 years)

• Name	John Edward COLSTON
  Birth	1813
  Baptism	12 Sep 1813	St Pancras, Middlesex, England   [1, 2]
  Gender	Male
  Convicted	16 Feb 1832	London, Middlesex, England   [3, 4]
  Sentence	16 Feb 1832  [5]
  	For theft by pocketpicking, Transported for Seven Years.
  Occupation	1833  [6]
  	Public Works, Hobart, Tasmania
  Emigration	11 Jul 1833	London, Middlesex, England   [7]
  Emigration	From 11 Jul 1833 to 14 Nov 1833	ship "Isabella" - male convict transport   [8]
  Immigration	14 Nov 1833	Hobart, Tasmania, Australia   [8]
  Occupation	14 Nov 1841  [9]
  	Plasterer, Melbourne, Victoria
  Occupation	1847  [10]
  	Blacksmith, Melbourne, Victoria
  Occupation	15 Jun 1853  [11]
  	Plasterer, Collingwood, Victoria
  Occupation	15 Jul 1853  [11]
  	Plasterer, Collingwood, Victoria
  Death	28 Oct 1885	Collingwood, Victoria, Australia   [1]
  Burial	30 Oct 1885	Parkville, Victoria, Australia   [12]
  Person ID	I17807	NZ Genealogy Project
  Last Modified	27 Mar 2023

  
  

  Father	John Thomas COLSTON,   b. 1777, London, Middlesex, England d. 04 Jan 1824, St Pancras, Middlesex, England (Age 47 years)
  Mother	Lucinder TURNER [Lucy],   b. Abt 1791, London, Middlesex, England d. 30 Dec 1860, St Marylebone, Middlesex, England (Age 69 years)
  Marriage	06 Jun 1803	Holborn, Middlesex, England   [1]
  Family ID	F5982	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Anastasia FITZPATRICK,   b. 1819, Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, Ireland d. 26 Oct 1892, Brighton, Victoria, Australia (Age 73 years)
  Marriage	28 Sep 1840	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia   [1]
  Children	1. Lucy COLSTON,   b. 08 Sep 1841, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia d. 21 Aug 1913, Daylesford, Victoria, Australia (Age 71 years)   2. Mary Ann COLSTON,   b. 22 Apr 1843, Collingwood, Victoria, Australia d. 23 Feb 1927, Daylesford, Victoria, Australia (Age 83 years)   3. Anastasia COLSTON,   b. 1845, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia d. 1846, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (Age 1 year)   4. John Thomas COLSTON,   b. 10 Jun 1847, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia d. 07 May 1920, Tooborac, Victoria, Australia (Age 72 years) + 5. Anastasia COLSTON,   b. 25 Jul 1849, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia d. 21 Aug 1929, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia (Age 80 years)   6. Louisa COLSTON,   b. 04 Jun 1853, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia d. 15 Mar 1889, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (Age 35 years)   7. Thomas COLSTON,   b. 1855, Hepburn, Victoria, Australia d. 07 May 1920, Tooborac, Victoria, Australia (Age 65 years)   8. William COLSTON,   b. 25 Mar 1858, Hepburn, Victoria, Australia d. 29 Jun 1941, Northcote, Victoria, Australia (Age 83 years)
  Family ID	F5981	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	31 Dec 2024

  
  

• Event Map		Baptism - 12 Sep 1813 - St Pancras, Middlesex, England Convicted - 16 Feb 1832 - London, Middlesex, England Emigration - 11 Jul 1833 - London, Middlesex, England Immigration - 14 Nov 1833 - Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Marriage - 28 Sep 1840 - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Death - 28 Oct 1885 - Collingwood, Victoria, Australia Burial - 30 Oct 1885 - Parkville, Victoria, Australia  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

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• Notes

  BIOGRAPHY. John Edward Colston was born in London, England in 1813, the son of John and Lucy Colston. His father died when John was 10 years old. John trained as a painter and plasterer but did not finish his training according to convict records. John was sent to prison three times in London, each for three months, twice for vagrancy. He was also acquitted of picking pockets. When John was 19 years old, John and another boy followed some gentlemen who were shopping in London. While a gentleman was distracted looking in a shop window, John took a handkerchief from the gentleman?s pocket. Two policemen had been watching the boys for two hours and immediately arrested both boys. John and the other boy were charged with stealing one handkerchief worth one shilling. They were judged guilty, the sentence being sent to Australia for seven years imprisonment. The boys were jailed in London for seven months until a ship was ready to transport them to Australia. In 1833 the sailing ship Isabella transported 300 male convicts, including John, from London to Hobart in Tasmania. The voyage took four months. John was assigned to Public Works, at Constitution Hill in 1834, then in 1836 at New Norfolk. After John completed his seven year sentence in Tasmania, he moved to Melbourne in Victoria. John was at the docks in Melbourne when the ship Alfred arrived in January 1840. The family story was that John's future wife (Anastasia Fitzpatrick) was still on board the ship at the docks in the company of her travelling companion, pointed John out from amongst the crowd of people and said "There is the man I am going to marry". Anastasia met John when she disembarked and John married Anastasia in September 1840 in Melbourne. Anastasia was born at Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1819. John and Anastasia had eight children, but one daughter died in childhood. They initially lived in Melbourne, where the first six children were born, with John working as a plasterer and blacksmith. Their last two children, Thomas and William, were born at Hepburn, Victoria. About 1860 John and Anastasia moved to Heathcote South in Victoria and John had a blacksmith shop nearby at Tooborac. The blacksmith shop was subsequently sold to a son. John, Anastasia and three of their children moved back to Collingwood, Melbourne. John died in 1885 at Collingwood. Anastasia died in Brighton, Melbourne in 1892. They were both buried at the Melbourne General Cemetery in Parkville, Melbourne. Source: Family Story by Julie Simpson on ancestry.com [12]

  
  

• Sources

  [S1334] kunajas, Ancestry.com - Public Member Tree - McFarlane Family Tree 1, (Ancestry.com). [S1338] Pallot's Baptism Index, 1780-1837, (Ancestry.com). [S1340] UK, Prison Hulk Registers and Letter Books, 1802-1849, (Ancestry.com). Name John Colstone, Age 20, Estimated Birth Year abt 1812, Date Received 7 Mar 1832, Ship Retribution, Place Moored Woolwich, Date Convicted 16 Feb 1832, Place Convicted London, Sentence 7 years, How disposed of NSW 14 Jun 1833. [S1360] The Old Bailey Proceedings Online, 1674-1913, (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, March 2018). JOHN COLSTON and GEORGE WILLIAMS. Theft: pocketpicking. 16th February 1832. Reference Number t18320216-156. Verdict Guilty; Guilty. Sentence Transportation. 562. JOHN COLSTON and GEORGE WILLIAMS were indicted for stealing, on the 1st of February , 1 handkerchief, value 1s., the goods of a certain man unknown, from his person . THOMAS FARRANT . I am a Police-officer. I saw the prisoners together on the 1st of February, in Cockspur-street; they went down the Hay-market, through the Strand, and down Fleet-street , following several gentlemen; I saw Colston lift up a gentleman's pocket - we then followed them down Cheapside ; and got beyond Bow-church - they went up to a gentleman and lady; Colston took the handkerchief from the gentleman's pocket; Williams was close by his side - they seemed to be acting together - they had been together from half-past eleven o'clock till half past one; we took the prisoners, and Hobbs took them to the Mausion-house - I asked the gentleman to appear at the Mansion-house, which he declined, and did not state his name; I am sure that Williams was engaged in the same object - Colston put the handkerchief in his right-hand trousers pocket, and turned round, and Williams went up close to him; they were touching each other when we took them. THOMAS HOBBS . I was with Farrant - I saw the prisoners watching several gentlemen, and when they got into the Strand I saw Colston take a handkerchief a little way out of a gentleman's pocket, who was looking into a shop; we followed them to Cheapside, and there Colston took this handkerchief from a gentleman's pocket - I crossed and collared him, and he threw it into a door, behind him; Williams was close to him, and so he was in the Strand - we had been watching them nearly two hours. Colston. I am innocent. Williams. This is the first time I have been in a Court. COLSTON - GUILTY . Aged 20. WILLIAMS - GUILTY . Aged 20. Transported for Seven Years . [S1360] The Old Bailey Proceedings Online, 1674-1913, (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, March 2018). [S2135] NSW and Tas, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849, (ancestry.com). [S1341] Convict Records, (British Convict transportation register made available by the State Library of Queensland, https://convictrecords.com.au). Name: John Colstone, Convicted at: London Gaol Delivery, Sentence term: 7 years, Ship: Isabella, Departure date: 11th July, 1833, Arrival date: 14th November, 1833, Place of arrival : Van Diemen's Land [S1341] Convict Records, (British Convict transportation register made available by the State Library of Queensland, https://convictrecords.com.au). [S1558] Baptism Register. Baptism in the State of Victoria. Child: Lucy, born 8 September 1841, baptism 14 November 1841, baptised at St James, Melbourne. Parents: Father John Edward COLSTON, mother Anastasia, Abode Melbourne, occupation of father Plasterer. [S2136] Port Phillip, Australia, Directory, 1847, (ancestry.com). [S1339] Victoria, Australia, St. Peter's Eastern Hill, Baptisms, 1848-1915, (Ancestry.com). [S1405] Julie Simpson, Ancestry.com - Public Member Tree - Kinchin & Simpson, (Ancestry.com).