John Dwyer 1832

CONVICT

uf4340 child’s shoe heel

Nine year old errand boy John Dwyer faced 7 years in New South Wales for stealing a watch. He sailed on the Norfolk and arrived at Sydney in 1832. He was assigned to the Carters Barracks and described as “three feet eleven and a half inches, complexion ruddy freckled and pock pitted, hair brown, eyes grey”. He was flogged on 4 separate occasions in April 1833 for 4 separate attempts to escape. After five attempts that month, he was placed in the cells on bread and water. In August he was sent to the Phoenix Hulk for transfer to Port Macquarie. He was described as a ‘notorious runaway’. In January 1835, while still on the Hulk, he was flogged for destroying a blue cloth jacket. He died at Port Macquarie during July 1836. He can’t have been more than 13 years old.

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