Charles Connelly (c.1785-1826) was found guilty on 12 September 1804 at the Old Bailey, London, of stealing clothing and a snuff box from a house. Sentenced to 7 years transportation he arrived at Sydney aboard the Fortune and Alexander in July 1806. He was sent to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) on the Sophia. By 1811 he was a builder, publican and grazier. He married Margaret Connelly on 17 February 1819 and adopted her three children. The couple also had a daughter Ann, born in 1819. Charles had a daughter with his housekeeper Sophia Wood who was born after Connelly's left for England in 1825 with a cargo of wool, sealskins and mimosa bark. He died in London on 3 April 1826.
Connelly wrote a detailed will before departing for England. He left the Briclayers Arms and 700 acres to his daughter Ann, Mary/Maria Watts his stepdaughter was left a weatherboard house on a substantial allotment. His brother Henry, who was transported for forgery in 1820, and his daughter were provided with a house each and Henry's son was given a flock of sheep and Henry's younger daughter 40 acres at Bagdad. His stepson John received a building known as the Invalid Hospital, a cart and six bullocks, and his mistress (the housekeeper) was given a house and support should be pregnant when he died.
information from
'Connelly, Charles (c. 1787–1826)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/connelly-charles-31257/text38645, accessed 1 September 2024.
3 April,
1826
(aged ~ 39)
London,
Middlesex,
England
Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.
Crime: theft (house)
Sentence: 7 years