People Australia

William Boggis (c.1766- ), a fisherman, and William Hubbard were found guilty on 19 February 1783 at the Surrey Quarter Sessions of the theft of a sheet valued at three shillings. They were sentenced to be publicly whipped but were later tried for a more serious felony. Boggis's death sentence was commuted to 7 years transportation. He was sent to the Censor hulk in April 1785, where he remained until he embarked for New South Wales on the Scarborough in 1787, arriving in Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.

On 2 August 1788 Boggis and William Jones were sentenced to 50 lashes for gambling for a knife. On 13 September he was sentenced to 100 lashes for attempting to rape Lydia Munro; this sentence was 'forgiven' after he convinced the court that Munro was considered to be a prostitute by other convicts. On 14 July 1789 he was sentenced to 200 lashes for entering a hut and stealing a shirt. He was sent to Norfolk island on the Sirius in March 1790. 

By March 1791 Boggis was supporting two people on a Sydney Town lot with 120 rods cleared. He was settled on 10 acres at Ball's Bay by November. In October 1793 he had 6 of his 10 acres cultivated. On 25 May 1794 he rented 5 acres to another settler. At mid June 1794 he was listed as married to Elizabeth Smith. He was still living at Norfolk Island in 1796 but does not appear in later victualling records.

Boggis was living in Sydney by 1801. He has not been traced in later records. As a fisherman he would have had many opportunities to leave the colony.

* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 40