People Australia

James Shirley was sentenced, on 9 September 1789 at the Old Bailey, London, to seven years transportation. He arrived in Sydney in 1791 aboard the Salamander and was sent on to Norfolk Island, arriving there on 16 September. He married Mary Winspear (who was already married to John Young) on 7 November 1791. The couple departed the island for Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) by the ship Estramina on 15 May 1808. Shirley was listed in the 1809 Muster as a settler at Clarence Plains, with 56 acres of land. He was still living in Clarence Plains in 1818 and was present at a meeting supporting the establishment of a criminal court at Hobart.