People Australia

James Tucker (c.1757-1807) was found guilty on 10 September 1788 at the Old Bailey, London, of the theft of a silver teaspoon and a part of a linen shirt. Sentenced to 7 years transportation he remained at Newgate Gaol until late 1789 when he was sent to the Dunkirk hulk. He embarked for New South Wales on the Neptune in November 1789, arriving in the colony in June 1790 as part of the Second Fleet.

Tucker was sent to Norfolk Island in August 1791 where he had two daughters with Elizabeth Cole. In August 1796 he was tried with two other men for his part in the nighttime robbery in which a miller and his wife were robbed and a large quantity of money and goods were stolen. One of the men was hanged; Tucker was pardoned on the condition that became the island's public hangman. Elizabeth left him for Richard Burrows.

James Tucker died on Norfolk Island on 3 December 1807.

* information from Michael Flynn, The Second Fleet: Britain’s Grim Convict Armada of 1790 (1993), p 579