People Australia

Joseph Hall (c.1753- ) was found guilty on 9 January 1782 at the Old Bailey, London, of highway robbery. His death sentence was commuted to 14 years transportation to America. He was one of the prisoners who mutinied on the convict transport Swift in August 1783. Recaptured, he was again sentenced to 14 years transportation to America. He then participated in the mutiny on the convict transport Mercury in April 1784. Recaptured again, he was sentenced to life transportation and 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.

Hall was tried, along with Henry Lavell, John Ryan, and Thomas Barrett, for the theft of food from stores on 27 February 1788 at Sydney Cove. Hall and Lavell were sentenced to death but after a petition from fellow convicts they were instead banished to Pinchgut Island and released on the King's birthday, 4 June.  

Hall was sent to Norfolk Island on the Sirius in March 1790. By July 1791 he was maintaining himself on a Sydney Town lot. He received rations until 1795. No further records have been found for Joseph Hall.

* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), pp 155-56 and HMS Sirius 1786-1790 https://hmssirius.com.au/joseph-hall-convict-charlotte-1788/ — accessed 8 August 2020