People Australia

William Alexander was sentenced to seven years transportation for an attack on a servant. He arrived in Sydney in 1788 aboard the Alexander. He was assigned to James Meredith. He began teaching in Rev. Richard Johnson's school with his wife Isabella. In March 1792 he enlisted in the NSW Corps as a corporal. From 1792 he received an additional grant for his teaching from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. In 1794 he received a grant of 75 acres of land at Eastern Farms. In June 1801 he was promoted to sergeant in the NSW Corps. In June 1803 he leased a town lot in Sydney. It is believed that he left with his regiment when it was recalled to England in 1810. In 1812 he and his wife were witnesses at the parliamentary Select Committee on Transportation in England.

* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 307