Oten Batley (c.1764- ), a seaman, was found guilty (as Oaten Batly) on 10 December 1783 at the Old Bailey, London, of pickpocketing: he stole a watch valued at 40 shillings and chain. Sentenced to 7 years transportation to America, he was among the prisoners who mutinied on the convict transport Mercury in April 1784. Recaptured, he was sent to the Dunkirk hulk in June 1784. He was discharged to the Charlotte in March 1787 and arrived in Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.
In January 1790 Batley was sent to Norfolk Island on the Supply. By 1791 he had cleared 138 rods of a Sydney Town lot. By April 1792 he was earning a living working for settlers. By the year's end he was selling grain to the government. He returned to Port Jackson on the Kitty in March 1793. There are no further records for Batley. It is likely he returned to England.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 27
'Batley, Oten (c. 1764–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/batley-oten-30199/text37479, accessed 6 December 2024.
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Crime: theft (pickpocketing)
Sentence: 7 years