People Australia

William Connolly (c.1760-1812) was found guilty on 14 August 1786 at Bodmin, Cornwall, of escaping from gaol where he had been sent after being sentenced to 7 years transportation for breaking into a house and stealing three coats and other goods. His death sentence was commuted to 7 years transportation on 28 August 1786. He was sent to the Dunkirk hulk and embarked for New South Wales on the Charlotte in March 1787. Transferred to the Scarborough in April 1877 he arrived in Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.

This William Connolly was probably sent to Norfolk Island in 1791 and is the one who received 100 lashes for selling his shoes to James Mitchell. He had returned to Port Jackson by 1806 and was working as a salt boiler. He died at Sydney Hospital on 22 January 1812; his age was given as 63.

* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 81