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Richard Widdicombe (c. 1764–?)

Richard Widdicombe (c.1764- ) and Henry Humphreys were found guilty on 20 March 1786 at Exeter, Devon, of stealing a wooden winch valued at 2 shillings and other goods valued at £4 4 shillings. Sentenced to 7 years transportation, the men were sent to the Dunkirk hulk and were discharged to the Charlotte in March 1787. They arrived at Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.

Widdicombe and Humphreys were sent to Norfolk Island on the Golden Grove in October 1788. By July 1791 Widdicombe was maintaining himself on a Sydney Town lot and shared a nine-month-old sow with Humphreys and James Nowland. He sold grain to stores in 1792. 

Widdicombe left the Norfolk Island in March 1793 on the Chesterfield bound for Sydney. In May the ship called again at Norfolk Island before sailing for India. No later colonial records have been found for Widdicombe.

* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), pp 381-82

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Citation details

'Widdicombe, Richard (c. 1764–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/widdicombe-richard-31330/text38725, accessed 13 October 2024.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Weddicomb, Richard
  • Widdecombe, Richard
  • Widdicomb, Richard
Birth

c. 1764
Devon, England

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Passenger Ship
Occupation
Key Events
Key Places
Convict Record

Crime: theft
Sentence: 7 years
Court: Devon
Trial Date: 20 March 1786
(1786)

Post-transportation

Left the colony: Yes