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Henry Hayes (bef. 1766 - 1813)

Henry Hayes
Born before in London, Englandmap
Brother of and
Husband of — married 24 Jul 1791 in Saint James, Garlickhithe, City of London, Englandmap
[children unknown]
Died after age 47 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australiamap
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Profile last modified | Created 3 Jun 2018
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Biography

After the landing of the Collins' expedition at Port Phillip, Henry Hayes was one of those "free settlers who traveled onto Sydney on board the Calcutta, the reason being that he knew that his convict wife Maria was there and wished to join her. Upon his arrival in Sydney, he soon learned that, although his wife was still there, his daughter had moved to the Risdon settlement and she was pregnant, and that the commandant of this settlement, Lieutenant John Bowen, was in Sydney endeavouring to get permission for her mother to join her in Van Diemens Land. Reunited at last, both Henry and his wife Maria received permission from Governor King to travel on with Lieutenant Bowen to the Derwent to join their daughter. They all arrived with Bowen in Hobart, where Henry met his daughter again after a separation of many years. The infant, a girl called Henrietta, was born soon after on March 29 and Maria stayed with her until the entire settlement was closed down. Martha and her baby then moved to a cottage which Bowen had erected for her across the river near the shore of the Prince of Wales Bay. There is no formal record of what happened to her convict mother Maria, but it is reasonable to assume that on arrival she was "assigned to her (free) husband Henry as a servant, making it legally possible for her to join her husband again and, for all practical purposes, live once again as a free woman. Their 100-acre allotment (nowadays roughly the area between Pedder St and the New Town High School, Hobart) ran alongside another 100 acres farmed by his brother Henry (roughly a strip of land nowadays covering the village of New Town up to New Town Creek). The hut which Henry erected soon after was located on or close to the site of the present New Town High School in New Town. Within the general scheme of things, the story of these people would not have had any significance for the settlement of Hobart Town, but it does throw an interesting sidelight on the flexibility of the authorities of the times that where genuine efforts were made to establish (or, as was the case here, to re-establish family ties), the exact status of the persons involved was often looked upon as a secondary matter to be ignored where appropriate. In fact, such efforts (including marriages) were encouraged by the authorities because they were perceived as having a stabilising influence on the fabric of this new, raw, and, initially very fragmented society.


From http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/php/Bowen.htm

After delaying for five months Bowen finally handed over his commission to Collins and left VDL on 9 August 1804, and with him went the majority of his small contingent of soldiers, convicts and settlers. Collins was glad to see the back of these troops because of their 'unsoldier like service', and they were also of a 'mutinous design". He was equally happy to be rid of the 'daring, flagitious and desperate' prisoners', because he found most of them 'quite atrocious'. Not least Collins did not want the 'trouble that might attend bringing the convicts and troops to discipline'. By his departure Bowen ended this constitutional clash and left VDL never to return, leaving Martha his pregnant mistress behind. Her children went on to play various roles in VDL history, whilst we have seen that Bowen did make some attempts to return. Bowen also left behind a mare for which he claimed 100 from Governor King, who was unable to pay this amount although to placate Bowen gave him four cows instead! When Bowen left Sydney on 31 January 1805 Governor King also paid 100pounds for his passage home.

To stress this point further, it was found that when Henry Hayes wanted to travel on to Sydney, he did so under the name of his brother Thomas, who had official permission to do so. To cover the journey of his wife from Sydney to the Derwent, Maria Hayes, officially a convict, travelled under the name of Elizabeth Hayes, Thomas Hayes' free spouse "The Mercury" Tuesday 30 March 2004, page 16 Meanwhile, Knopwood noted in his diary that yesterday at Risdon Cove Bowen's "young friend was confined to her bed in the comforting presence of her mother Maria. And thus, it was that Martha Hayes' daughter Henrietta became the first child of European descent to be born on Tasmanian soil. Notwithstanding the rogue environment in which she was conceived, born and brought up in, Henrietta became a very nice girl who unfortunately died at an early age (1823). Rough as they were, her grandparents Henry and Mary Hayes were very proud of this grandchild and even named their small farmstead in New Town after her. "Henrietta Farm was located on the site of the present New Town High School. (The name Henrietta would appear to have come from the Bowen family.) From http://www.tasmanianaboriginal.com.au/liapootah/bowen- reconciliation.htm

The story of Martha Hayes is no doubt the best recorded of those from Bowen's settlement, who remained after his departure, for yes, some did remain. As a teenager, young Martha had taken the eye of Lieutenant John Bowen on the voyage out to Port Jackson, on the transport HMS Glatton. Martha was with her mother Mary Hayes, who had been convicted of a crime, and transported on the Glatton. Her father eventually gaining permission to join the family, sailing on the Ocean, as a 'free settler'. Although there are few personal details for those in Bowen's party, it would seem that Martha came down to Risdon Cove with Lt. Bowen, in September, 1803, and was eventually joined by her parents on the return of Bowen to the settlement, March, 1804. There are many entries for the family of Henry and Mary Hayes over the years, in the diary of the Reverend Robert Knopwood, including the three daughters of Martha Hayes. Two to the young Lieutenant Bowen, and a third to Andrew Whitehead, whom Martha married in 1811, one of the Calcutta convicts, who arrived in Hobart Town in February, 1804. John Bowen made certain Martha and the two girls were well provided for, on a well established farm on the western side of the river, not far from the present Zinc Works, before leaving the settlement in August, 1804. There are many descendants from the two surviving daughters, and no doubt their family story will be told in detail before the Bicentenary of Risdon Cove To find the names of convicts who have been assigned to settlers is very difficult, to find the name of a female convict, almost impossible. One could imagine that Martha Hayes would have had the services of both a male and a female 'servant', after the departure of Lt. Bowen. As Bowen prepared for his departure from Risdon Cove, there are two names on the Victualling list for transfer to the party of Lt. Governor Collins, for April, 1804 but were not victualled by Collins till the 22 May, 1804. They were Mary Lawler and John Jackson. Were these the 'servants' of Martha Hayes? We may never know, as few if any papers remain for early Hobart Town.

Sources

  • Henry Hayes MMVP-GFF

death: 12 May 1813, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia christening: 16 March 1766, St Sepulchre, Holborn, London, England burial: May 1813, St David Anglican Church marriage: 06 NOV 1791, Saint James Garlickhithe,London,London,England

father: Thomas Hayes M3KQ-MKH

mother: Barbary (SIC Barbara) M3KQ-MK2

spouse: Mary Maria Danight MMVP-GFT





Name: Mary Mariah Denight

Record Type: Banns (Bann)

Marriage Banns Date: 24 Jul 1791

Marriage Banns Place: Saint James, Garlickhithe, City of London, England

Spouse: Henry Hayes


Name: H Hayes [Hy Hayes]

Death Age: 51

Birth Date: abt 1762

Death Date: 12 May 1813

Cemetery: Hobart St Davids Anglican

Cemetery Location: Hobart, Tasmania







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It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Henry by comparing test results with other carriers of his ancestors' Y-chromosome or mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known yDNA or mtDNA test-takers in his direct paternal or maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Henry:

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