John Mansfield (c.1796- ) was found guilty on 6 March 1786 at Chelmsford, Essex, of stealing a sow and seven pigs. Sentenced to 7 years transportation, he was sent to the Ceres hulk on 2 June 1786 and was discharged to the Alexander in January 1787. He arrived at Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.
Mansfield was sent to Norfolk Island on the Supply in February 1789. By July 1791 he was subsisting himself on a Sydney Town lot with 60 rods cleared and 100 rods of timber felled. In 1794 he was doing labouring jobs for settlers (Edward Risby hired him for a year). He was still at Norfolk Island in 1796. No later colonial records have been found for John Mansfield.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 234
'Mansfield, John (c. 1769–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/mansfield-john-31445/text38898, accessed 9 December 2024.
c. 1769
Crime: theft (livestock)
Sentence:
Commuted To: 7 years
Court: Essex
Trial Date: 6 March 1786
(1786)