People Australia

James Weavers was sentenced to life transportation for burglary. He arrived in Sydney in 1790 aboard the Surprize as part of the Second Fleet. In 1792 he was granted 30 acres of land at the Eastern Farms (Ryde). It seems likely that he was living with Mary Hutchinson by then. By 1800 the couple had 6 acres of wheat under cultivation and 6 acres of maize; they also had 17 sheep, 14 pigs and a goat. By 1802 the whole family, including three children, had moved off government stores and were self sufficient. In 1803 Weavers purchased a 60 acre farm  at North Ryde and received a 100 acre grant of land the next year. It is thought that he was killed by Aborigines. In 1820, his son, Enoch Weavers, submitted a petition for a land grant on the basis that the land grant to his father had been lost. A referee, John Piper, stated ... “This lad, being a native of this place and his father having been killed by the Natives, I beg you to support his petition”.

* information from Michael Flynn, The Second Fleet: Britain's Grim Convict Armada of 1790 (1993), p 599-600