James Davis (c. 1759–?)
James Davis (c.1759- ) was found guilty on 8 December 1784 at the Old Bailey, London, of the theft of clothing and cloth from a house. Sentenced to 7 years transportation, he was sent to the Ceres hulk and embarked for New South Wales on the Scarborough in February 1787, arriving in the colony in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.
Davis married Martha Burkitt (as Patience Burkitt) on 13 February 1788 at Port Jackson. The couple were sent to Norfolk Island on the Golden Grove in October. Davis received 24 lashes on 25 March 1789 for throwing away fish issued to him 'in a contemptuous manner'. In July 1791 he was subsisting three people (his wife and Mary Fowler) on a one acre Sydney Town lot.
James Davis left Norfolk Island, without his wife, on the Atlantic for Port Jackson in September 1792. No further records have been found for him.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 98
Related Entries in NCB Sites
- Davis, Martha (wife)
Citation details
'Davis, James (c. 1759–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/davis-james-30471/text37781, accessed 15 September 2024.
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