John Nevin in the Royal Scots at the Canadian Rebellion 1837-38

MOTTO of the ROYAL SCOTS

"Nemo me impune Lacessit". "No-one touches me with impunity" (or "Dinna mess wi' me!")

While research into the life and times of photographer Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923) in Tasmania has uncovered many fascinating aspects of Australian colonial history, the life and times of his father John Nevin (1808-1887) opens up many more vistas on key world events.

John Nevin, father of Tasmanian photographer Thomas J. Nevin, was born in 1808 at Grey Abbey, County Down, a small town east of Belfast on the coast of Ireland. At that period the region was the centre of Irish cotton manufacturing and a growing centre of linen exports to rival Dublin. When John Nevin enlisted as a Private in the First or Royal Regiment of Foot in October 1825 (The Royal Scots) at the tender age of seventeen, his trade was "weaver". His service record shows he was under age at attestation. First service began at the age of 18 years.

John Nevin's full service lasted 14 years and 237 days in the West Indies and Canada. His record shows his service in the West Indies dated from 30th November 1827 to 30th January 1836, and in Canada from 16th June 1836. He was discharged at London, West Canada on 31 May 1841 on medical grounds (rheumatism, liver complaints, disease of the urinary organs), and returned to England eventually as a Chelsea pensioner.





SERVICE RECORD of John NEVIN
for the years 1825-1841 (12 images)
served in First, or Royal Regiment of Foot.
Source: Find My Past for UK Archives

Before leaving England once more to travel as a guard on board the convict ship the Fairlie in 1852, bound for Tasmania, Australia, John Nevin had become a husband and father of four children, and had spent a lonely and unprofitable time on the Californian gold fields, described in his poem "My Cottage in the Wilderness"(1868).

Here are details of his service with the Royal Scots 1st Regiment in Canada. See related posts below for his poetry written about Tasmania.



PRINT
Back view of the church of St. Eustache and dispersion of the insurgents
Lord Charles Beauclerk (1813-1842)
1840, 19th century
Ink and watercolour on paper - Lithography
26.5 x 36.6 cm
Gift of David Ross McCord
M4777.6 © McCord Museum
Estampe. Vue arrière de l'église Saint-Eustache et dispersion des insurgés.
Encre et aquarelle sur papier - Lithographie (26.5 x 36.6 cm).
Bataille de Saint-Eustache, 14 décembre 1837 lors de la rébellion des Patriotes à Saint-Eustache, ville du Québec qui se situe au confluent de la rivière du Chêne et de la rivière des Mille-Îles, dans la MRC de Deux-Montagnes et les Basses-Laurentides à 30 km à l'ouest de Montréal au Canada.
Date 1840

JOHN NEVIN (1808-1887)
John Nevin's obituary, published in The Mercury , 11th October 1887, was written with deep affection and great respect. These details from the obituary of John Nevin's life add to what we already know of his exploits in the Californian gold fields, his arrival in Tasmania with his wife and four children as warden and guard on board the convict ship The Fairlie (1852), his life as a Wesleyan at Kangaroo Valley (Hobart) and his gift for writing poetry. From his obituary we learn that he pioneered journalism in London, Canada West, that he served proudly in the Royal Scots, and that he participated in the key battles of the Canadian Rebellion of 1837-1838 with Colonel G. A Wetherall and Lt D. Lysons ensign. He was in the Royal Scots, 2nd Battalion, 1st or Royal Regiment of Foot which proceeded to London (Ontario) in 1840 where he contributed to the Press:

Reminiscence, signed 'Old Royal':

"In 1840, the 2nd Battalion, 1st or Royal Regiment of Foot, left Montreal, for London, (Ontario), going by canal - sometimes towed by small puffers (steamers),which had to leave the boats on passing cateracts. On these occasions we went ashore and pulled the boats past the cateracts with ropes.. In this way we got as far as Hamilton, whence we had six day's march to London. We had no beds at night, we just picked out the softest place handy and our knapsacks did for pillows. Rations consisted of 1lb biscuit and 3/4lb salt pork, with sixpence a day pay - such were the rations and marching pay in those days in Canada."

From General Sir Daniel Lysons, G C B (then Lieut. D. Lysons), writing in his 'Early Reminiscences', 1897, courtesy of https://www.theroyalscots.co.uk//page/shipwreck.



Cpt Wetherall 1818, Brown University Archives

What remains to be discovered is the date he left Canada, and when he returned to England. He was discharged from service in the Royal Scots at the Chelsea Royal Hospital for Veterans in 1841. His marriage  took place to his first wife and mother of Thomas James, Rebecca Jane, Mary Ann and William John at sometime between 1838 and 1841. His service before embarking on the trip to Tasmania in 1852 which would change the history of his family forever, is unclear, although he wrote in his poem "My Cottage in the Wilderness" published in 1868, that he spent a miserable time on the Californian gold fields.

Why Tasmania? By more than just coincidence, George Arthur, the former Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemen's Land, 1823-1837 (as Tasmania was then known) was fresh from his recall from the penal colony when he was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada. He took office in Toronto 23 March 1838 (until late 1841).



Major-General Sir George Arthur, Bart., KCB
[Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, 1838-41]
Archives of Ontario item reference code 69313

From the very start of his administration, Athur had to deal with the aftermath of the Upper Canada Rebellion. In 1828 Arthur had described his system as 'a natural and unceasing process of classification', i.e. a Benthamite surveillance system . In reality, Arthur's autocratic rule in Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land until 1856) resulted in failure to reform the colony and the system of penal transportation, leading to his recall in 1837. The capture of 92 Patriotes in 1838 under George Arthur's governorship resulted in their transportation to Van Diemen's Land:

After the failure of three separate raids between June and December, the defeated Patriots who survived were rounded up and tried, most of them for armed incursion under the legally dubious Lawless Aggressions Act. Ninety-two were transported to Van Diemen's Land by the Governor of Ontario, who was none other than George Arthur, former governor of the penal island. Ninety per cent were US citizens, while the rest were recent immigrants from Ireland and Scotland or from the Canadian colonies. Fourteen of the prisoners died while in exile, nearly 70 per cent returned to the USA and at least ten decided to stay in Australia. None took part in any further political activity.

Source: Raelene Frances, Review of American Citizens, British Slaves: Yankee Political Prisoners in an Australian Penal Colony 1839-1850, by Cassandra Pybus and Hamish Maxwell-Stewart, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2002

Read this extended article by John C. Carter :
Uncertain Future in an Unknown Place:
North American Political Prisoners in Van Diemen's Land
Tasmanian Historical Research Association April 2010

John Nevin would have become well acquainted as a journalist with Arthur's stories of reform of the convict assignment in Tasmania, if not with Arthur himself while in London Ontario, and aware that captured Patriotes were being transported to Tasmania (VDL); indeed he was one of the Royals who assisted in their capture during the winter campaign of 1838.

OBITUARY: John Nevin (1808-1887)

DEATH OF AN OLD VETERAN.- There passed away very quietly on Sunday, 9th inst., at the good old age of 79, Mr. John Nevin, who for the last 30 years has lived in the secluded shades of Kangaroo Valley, adjoining Lady Franklin's old Museum. He lived a retired life on his pension and in working his plot of garden ground at the Wesleyan Chapel, enjoying the respect of all in the neighbourhood as a consistent Christian. His latter days were spent in quietness among his family, and he leaves a widow (a second wife) and two sons and several grandchildren in Hobart. Only a fortnight ago two friends of his, who were boys in the Royals, and had known him in Canada 50 years ago, paid him a visit, and a pleasant time was spent with him in recounting feats of valour long since almost forgotten. He was then enjoying good health, but last Wednesday, while working in his garden, he felt tired, and rested awhile on the damp ground, which caused a chill. He took to his bed, and, after three days' sickness, quietly joined the majority. In his day he was a wielder of the pen as well as of the sword, and was some 50 years ago a contributor to the infant Press in London, Canada West, when the present city of that name was a struggling town of rough and rude buildings and log huts. As a soldier of the Royal Scots he served under his colonel, Sir G.A. Wetherall, and the present Sir Daniel Lyons [i.e. Lysons] was his ensign; and he did his duty in very stirring times in the Canadian Rebellion of 1837-1838. He was engaged in the storming and capture of St.Charles and St. Eustache and in engagements of St. Dennis, St. Benoit, and many other operations on the Richelieu River and adjacent country of Chambly, and at Terra-Bone [i.e. Terrebonne] he assisted in the capture of a large number of French prisoners during a severe winter campaign, often struggling with his comrades to the waist in snow in following his officers in the work of quelling the rebellion of Papineau. John Nevin's proudest boast was that he had been a soldier of the Royals. (The Mercury, 11 October 1887).

The contributors to this obituary, most likely the old "boys in the Royals" who visited John Nevin in the weeks befor his death, may have held in hand the lithographs depicting each of the battles by Lord Charles Beauclerk (below) as they penned their tribute.



Photo of John Nevin taken by his son Thomas Nevin ca. 1873
From © KLW NFC Imprint 2005-2010 ARR.
Click on obit for readable version



PRINT
Fort Chambly
Estampe, William Henry Bartlett, vers 1840.
Musée de la civilisation, dépôt du Séminaire de Québec
1993.16203.

HISTORICAL NOTES
Source: The Aftermath of the Rebellions
Brian J. Young, McGill University
View Flash video

"The Rebellions of 1837-1838 were the most dramatic political event in Canadian history. Issues such the control of Canada's future and the rights of French Canadians and working people in Upper Canadian shops and in the countryside sparked debates that ended in violence. Men talked of republicanism and independence before taking up arms and shooting at soldiers and their neighbours. The rebellions were forcibly put down, their leaders were hanged or exiled, and the country was placed under martial law. The rebellions shook not only Upper and Lower Canada, but disturbed British authorities in the mother country who began to worry about revolution in their most important colony.

One obvious response to rebellion, particularly to that of French Canadians in the Montreal area, was oppression and military control. In the short term, the British army and local English-speaking militias built up their defences, while the British flag and military uniform became even more visible in Montreal and in urban barracks throughout the colonies. Sent out to evaluate the Canadian situation, Lord Durham, who concentrated on Lower Canada, described French Canadians as 'stagnant' and 'illiterate,' 'a people with no history.'

But by the mid 1840s, there was a new writing on the wall: Britain made it clear that it would not opt for oppression or denial of parliamentary rights as a long-term solution for Canada. Tired of expenses for colonial soldiers and administrations, and anxious to collaborate with Canada's independent, republican neighbour, the United States, Britain abandoned its trade policy of mercantilism and its heavy involvement in Canadian political and economic life. English-Canadian leaders in Lower Canada had to accept British parliamentary practises, such as responsible government, assume the costs of their own colony, and envisage collaboration with French-Canadian leaders in a changing political system.

The transition was not easy. Federalism, that is, a division of powers between provinces and the central government, was one answer to the political crisis of the post-rebellion period and a solution that would surface as a central feature of the Canadian Confederation."

THE LITHOGRAPHS
Source: Musee McCord Museum
McCord Museum of Canadian History
690 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal, Quebec H3A 1E9

These prints were part of a series showing British military life during the crisis of 1837. Back home in Britain they would be treasured as important records of military life in the colony.

The date of these prints is not always certain, as artists sometimes neglected to sign and date their work. Although dated around 1840, they depict events that took place in 1837. The series of prints done by Lord Charles Beauclerk, pays tribute to enlisted British men and their commanding officer, Sir George Augustus Wetherall.



PRINT
Front view of the church of St. Eustache occupied by the insurgents.
Lord Charles Beauclerk (1813-1842)
1840, 19th century
M4777.5 © McCord Museum

As resistance moved north of Montreal, British forces were again able to organize their superior firepower against the patriotes, who came from the farming and professional community. Holed up in the church of St. Eustache and its convent and presbytery, patriote forces were shelled by British cannon beginning on December 14, 1837.



PRINT
Attack on St. Charles
Lord Charles Beauclerk (1813-1842)
1840, 19th century
M972.81.10 © McCord Museum

Although 800 patriotes had beaten back British troops at St. Denis, British forces, as is evident from this print, had the advantage in terms of firepower. On November 25 at St. Charles, British forces defeated the patriotes, forcing many of their leaders into exile in the United States.



PRINT
Col. Wetherall's bivouack at St. Hilaire de Rouville, 1840
Lord Charles Beauclerk (1813-1842)
1840, 19th century
M4777.2 © McCord Museum

Sir George Augustus Wetherall was a professional soldier in the British army. Born in England, he served in India before coming to Montreal to command the garrison. By 1835, civil unrest was taking hold in Lower Canada. The rebellions, concentrated in the Montreal region, broke out in the fall of 1837. As violence spread beyond Montreal, Wetherall led one part of the British pincer movement which was to attack the patriote stronghold of St. Charles. Wetherall's troops were camped at Mount St. Hilaire on November 23, 1837 when word came of the patriote victory at St. Denis.



PRINT
Passage of the Richelieu by night, 22nd Nov. 1837
Lord Charles Beauclerk (1813-1842)
1840, 19th century
M4777.1 © McCord Museum

British refusal of the patriotes' program of 92 Resolutions (1834), along with an agricultural crisis and increasing hostility between French and English Canadians in Lower Canada, culminated in rebellion in the fall of 1837. Anglophones held mass meetings and armed themselves while the patriotes also formed a military group, the Fils de la Liberté. With warrants for their arrests issued in the autumn of 1837, the patriotes were forced to leave Montreal, pursued onto the south shore of the St. Lawrence River by well-armed British forces. The patriotes won the first battle at St. Denis on November 23 of that year.



A fortified pass. Colonel Wetherall advancing to the capture of St. Charles
Lord Charles Beauclerk (1813-1842)
1840, 19th century
Ink and watercolour on paper - Lithography
26.5 x 36.6 cm
Gift of Mr. David Ross McCord
M4777.3 © McCord Museum



Photograph
Louis-Joseph Papineau, Montreal, QC, 1861
William Notman (1826-1891)
1935-1956, 20th century
I-849.0.3 © McCord Museum

NOTES:
A patriote, Louis-Joseph Papineau was torn between the love of his seigneury, Montebello, and the active life of politics. As leader of the patriotes, Papineau would ensure that his name became synonymous with the nationalist movement in Lower Canada.

RELATED POSTS main weblog

• On board the Fairlie 1852 with the Parkhurst boys
• Nevins on sick list during voyage out on Fairlie 1852
• The Medical Officer's report of the Fairlie passengers 1852
• Mary and John Nevin, Thomas Nevin’s parents
• Kangaroo Valley and the New Town stereos
• John Nevin and Gould's white goshawk
• John Nevin: "My Cottage in the Wilderness" 1868
• Nevin farm burglariously entered 1881
• John Nevin’s Wesleyan Lament for William Genge

The Medical Officer's report of the Fairlie passengers 1852

The Voyage Out
The barque Fairlie, 775 tons, two guns, was a convict transport built in Calcutta. The ship departed Plymouth on March 11, 1852 with 45 crew and arrived at Hobart, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) on July 3, 1852. On board were 292 male convicts and 30 pensioner guards with families. There were 24 women and 47 children also on board. In charge of the convict guard was Ensign Meagher for the 99th Regiment. Surgeon Edwarth Nolloth RN voyaged in the Cabin as did the religious instructor John B. Seaman and his wife.

The ship's cargo included 1 bag of despatches, 2 ropes, 8 leather bags, 1 ship bag and 1 small paper parcel. When the Fairlie sailed into the River Derwent at Hobart, the pilot Mr Hurburgh boarded at 4pm, and reported the weather was fine, winds light, and the ship's draught was 18 feet.

The Port Officer's Form carried the REMARKS:
2 Deaths Convicts - 1 Birth - Female
And this note:

"The Pest Bomangee" was to leave [?] in about 3 weeks after this vessel sailed
"The Sylph". Sailed from Plymouth three days before.

Port Officer's log, Fairlie 3 July 1852
Source: State Library of Tasmania
Series Number MB2/39
Title: REPORTS OF SHIPS' ARRIVALS WITH LISTS OF PASSENGERS

Nevin family members on the Sick Lists
Thomas James Nevin's father, John Nevin snr, born in 1808 at Grey Abbey, County Down, Ireland, with service in the West Indies (1825-1838) and Canada (1839-1842), was one of 30 pensioner guards travelling with the 99th Regiment on board the Fairlie when it left Plymouth. Thomas' mother Mary Ann Nevin nee Dickson was one of 24 women on board, and Thomas himself, together with his three younger siblings, Mary Ann, Rebecca Jane and William John were numbered among the 47 children. Among the convicts were 32 boys from the Parkhurst prison who had embarked at the Isle of Wight.



Reference: ADM 101/27/2
Medical journal of convict ship Fairlie .
Admiralty and predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and predecessors: Medical Journals Convict Ships etc. Date: 1852. Source: The Catalogue of The National Archives [UK]

Folio 2: John Nevin, aged 43, Private of pensioners; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 28 February 1852, discharged 2 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: Mary Nevin, aged 40, Wife of pensioners;

Folio 2: Mary Nevin, aged 40, Wife of pensioners; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 14 March 1852, discharged 25 March 1852 to duty.

Folio 4: Mary Nevin, aged 5, Child of Guard; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 23 April 1852, discharged 30 April 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Mary Nevin, aged 40, Wife of Guard; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 24 April 1852, discharged 14 May 1852 to duty.

Folio 5: William Nevin, aged 6 months, Child of Guard; sick or hurt, convulsio; put on sick list 2 June 1852, discharged 9 June 1852 to duty.

The Principal Medical Officer, Dr Edward Nollett (also spelt as Nolleth) reported no serious medical incidents had occurred during the voyage. Yet one child was still-born, vaccinations were attempted (unspecified types), and two prisoners were found to be nearly blind on disembarkation.

Four Nevin family members were placed on the sick list during the voyage: John Nevin (father), Mary Anne, aged five, her mother Mary Ann (wife) , and her six month old baby William.

See this entry for the original documentation of the sick lists (National Archives, London) and this entry for more on the shipping records of the Fairlie with John Nevin snr.

House of Commons reports on the "Fairlie"
Source: House of Commons papers, Volume 54 (Google books)

The major concern in these reports were two convicts who were reported to be blind on arrival at Hobart. Because neither convict was named, those investigating had no success in locating them once they left the ship in Hobart, according to one report, thereby absolving Surgeon Superintendent Nolloth from knowingly embarking blind prisoners before departure at Plymouth. 

Numbers embarking and arriving on the Fairlie 1852
Source: Report to the House of Commons: Vol 54
Link: Google Books Parliamentary Papers Great Britain



Religious instructor John B. Seaman
Source: Report to the House of Commons: Vol 54
Link: Google Books Parliamentary Papers Great Britain



TRANSCRIPT

August 11.
THREE years since I visited this establishment, and was much pleased with it, and extensive additions and improvements have rendered it more worthy of admiration.
(Signed) EDWARD NOLLOTH [sic] MD Surgeon Superintendent "Fairlie" Edward Nolloth MD Surgeon Superintendent

Source: Report to the House of Commons: Vol 54
Link: Google Books Parliamentary Papers Great Britain



TRANSCRIPT

SIR
I HAVE the honour to report my inspection of the "Fairlie" male prison ship, surgeon superintendent, Dr Edward Nollett.
The ship left Plymouth on the 11th March with 294 prisoners, under a guard of 30 out- pensioners, with 24 women and 47 children. They were generally healthy, the more prevalent complaints being diarrhoea and pulmonic affections. Two prisoners died, one from disease of the heart the second from pleurisy There were also two births, one still born.
I observed two prisoners who (I am informed) were embarked nearly blind They are fit cases for an invalid depot, and I have directed their removal to the General Hospital, together with four other men who are in delicate health and unfit at present for labour.
Vaccination was attempted but without success.
The berths, decks, and utensils were clean, and in good order.
I have etc The Comptroller General
(Signed) A. SHANKS Deputy Inspector General P. M. O.

Report of August 11, 1853:
Source: Parliamentary Papers By Great Britain Parliament. House of Common papers Vol 54





Source: Parliamentary Papers, Volume 54

RELATED POSTS main weblog

• John Nevin snr Service Record in the First or Royal Regiment 1825-1841
• On board the Fairlie 1852 with the Parkhurst boys
• Nevins on sick list during voyage out on Fairlie 1852
• John Nevin in the Royal Scots at the Canadian Rebellion 1837-38
• The Medical Officer's report of the Fairlie passengers 1852
• Mary and John Nevin, Thomas Nevin’s parent
• Mary Anne Nevin, (b. 1846) sister
• Constable W.J. Nevin at inquest 1882
• The early deaths of Thomas Nevin's sisters Rebecca and Mary Jane
• John Nevin snr and family 1851-1854: shipping documents

Site Map No.1: Thomas J. Nevin: family biographica

Thomas James Nevin (1842-1923)
Professional photographer Thomas James Nevin was known by a number of variations of his name, and several of these are now used in books, articles, theses, and public holdings catalogues. His published names, including advertising, newspaper reports, signature on official documents and business name on studio stamps have appeared as the following:

• Thomas Nevin
• Thomas James Nevin
• Thomas J. Nevin
• Thomas Nevin senior
• Thos Nevin
• T. Nevin
• T. Nevin late A. Bock
• T. J. Nevin
• Nevin & Smith
• Clifford & Nevin.

Mispellings include Neven, Navin, Navan and McNevis.
Photographer Thomas James Nevin is not to be confused with his son by the same name, Thomas James Nevin (1874-1948) who was not a professional photographer.



Family portraits taken by Thomas J. Nevin of himself and three of his wife Elizabeth Rachel Day (top row);
his brother William John aka Jack Nevin, himself, his sister Mary Ann Nevin, and himself again (bottom row).
Copyright ⓒ KLW NFC Imprint & Private Collection 2007

Please note that not all posts in each of these categories are listed below, and some links may be broken.

Family portraits of Thomas Nevin's parents, siblings, wife, in-laws and children

• Lost originals: the Nevin, Genge and Chandler family photographs
• The sweetest young brother: thirteen year old Jack Nevin 1865
• John Nevin at inquest for James Thornton 1889
• Alfred Hope and his landau with Albert Nevin on horseback early 1900s
• Elizabeth Rachel Day's album opener 1860s
• Death of Constable John Nevin in the typhoid epidemic of 1891
• Youngest daughter Minnie Nevin m. James Drew (1884-1974)
• Christmas from our Archives
• Thomas Nevin, Sam Clifford and the Flying Squadron at Hobart, January 1870
• John Nevin snr and family 1851-1854: shipping documents
• John Nevin's poem on the death of James William Chisholm 1863
• John Nevin senior's land grant 1859 at Port Cygnet
• Tom Nevin and father-in-law bandmaster Walter Tennyson Bates
• The desecration of Minnie Carr's grave 1898
• Why shave? Thomas Nevin and the pogonophiles
• ANZAC Centenary 1915-2015
• A supine "selfie" by Thomas J. Nevin 1870
• Our Fifteenth Anniversary 2005-2020
• Thomas J. Nevin at the New Town studio to 1888
• Miss Nevin and Morton Allport
• Constable John Nevin at Trucanini's funeral 1876
• Nevin Street and the Cascades Prison for Males 1870s-1880s
• "Lines on the much lamented death of Rebecca Jane Nevin" by John Nevin 1866
• Prisoner mugshots by Constable John Nevin to 1890
• Two couples, two dogs by A. Bock and T. Nevin
• Tom and May Nevin at the Union Chapel flower show 1892
• Mary Sophia Axup chair of the WPL 1913
• John Nevin snr Service Records in The First or Royal Regiment 1825-1841
• John Nevin snr and the Genge family
• Posing with a stereoscopic viewer
• Thomas Nevin's stereos of sister Mary Ann at New Town rivulet
• Childhood photos of son George and daughter Minnie Nevin
• The Photographer's wife at the studio
• John Nevin in the Royal Scots at the Canadian Rebellion 1837-38
• Husbands and Wives NPG Exhibition 2010
• Gunner Athol Tennyson Nevin and his WW2 medals
• Gunner Albert Morris and Eva Morris nee Nevin 1930s-40s
• Constable W.J. Nevin at inquest 1882
• John Nevin: "My Cottage in the Wilderness" 1868
• The early deaths of Thomas Nevin's sisters and niece Rebecca, Mary and Minnie Carr
• First son and second child, Thomas 'Sonny' Nevin
• Thomas J. Nevin's big tabletop stereograph viewer
• Jack Nevin, the other photographer in Thomas Nevin's family
• Fourth son George Ernest Nevin (1880-1957)
• Thomas Nevin self portraits 1850s-1880
• Younger brother Constable John (Jack) NEVIN (1852-1891)
• Portraits of youngest son Albert E. NEVIN with horse 1914-17
• Thomas Nevin's stereography
• Thomas Nevin's portraits of his wife Elizabeth Rachel
• Third son William John Nevin (1878-1927)
• The Nevin group portrait and wedding photo 1871
• Preview of 2009: a selection from Nevin family collections
• Nevins on sick list during voyage out on the Fairlie 1852
• First- born child May Nevin and her China trade soapstone vase/brush washer
• John Nevin's Wesleyan Lament
• Nevin & Smith tinted vignette of Elizabeth Rachel Day 1868
• Thomas James 'Sonny' Nevin (1874 - 1948)
• Haulage at Newdegate Street North Hobart
• Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day & children
• Mary Sophia Day (m. Axup), Thomas Nevin's sister-in-law
• Jack Nevin at the Hobart Gaol 1860s
• Hector Charles James Horatio AXUP, Thomas Nevin's brother-in-law
• Key dates in Thomas Nevin's life
• Thomas Nevin, self-portrait ca. 1871
• Kangaroo Valley house and school stereographs ca.1868
• Thomas Nevin's Rank 1871
• Mary Ann Nevin, sister of Thomas Nevin
• John Nevin's marriages to Mary Ann Dickson and Martha Genge
• Thomas Nevin self portraits 1850s-1880
• An early carte of Elizabeth Rachel Day
• Thomas and Elizabeth Nevin's Wedding Photographs 1871
• Nevin & Smith studio Elizabeth St. 1867-1868

At Kangaroo Valley, Hobart, Tasmania 1854-1887

• "HOPE": John Nevin's poem on slavery 1863 and the U.S. Proclamation of Emancipation
• Thomas Nevin's stereographs from the Pedder collection
• Gold seekers Thomas Nevin, John Thorpe and Duncan Chisholm 1869
• The house called "Tolosa" on the Hull estate
• Captain Edward Goldsmith and the gold mania of the 1850s
• Nevin's coal mine stereograph for Messrs Sims and Stops
• Tombstones copied, Terms: - Cheap!
• The concertina player 1860s
• Thomas Nevin, informant for surveyor John Hurst 1868
• A few drinks on Christmas Eve 1885 at New Town
• Miss Nevin and Morton Allport
• Nevin Street and the Cascades Prison for Males 1870s-1880s
• John Watt Beattie and the Nevin family legacy
• John Nevin snr and the Genge family
• Thomas Nevin's stereos of sister Mary Ann at New Town rivulet
• Preview: The Liam Peters Collection
• John Nevin in the Royal Scots at the Canadian Rebellion 1837-38
• The Excelsior Coal Mine at New Town 1874
• The Nevin farm burglariously entered 1881
• John Nevin: "My Cottage in the Wilderness" 1868
• John Nevin and Gould's white goshawk
• The early deaths of Thomas Nevin's sisters and niece Rebecca, Mary and Minnie Carr
• Oral history: Nevin family at Kangaroo Valley
• Site Map No.1: Thomas J. Nevin: family biographica
• John Nevin's Wesleyan Lament
• Mary Sophia Day (m. Axup), Thomas Nevin's sister-in-law
• Key dates in Thomas Nevin's life
• Kangaroo Valley house and school stereographs ca.1868
• At Lady Franklin's Museum, Kangaroo Valley 1868
• Mary Ann Nevin, sister of Thomas Nevin
• Thomas and Elizabeth Nevin's Wedding Photographs 1871
• The New Town Studio Stereographs
  

Captain Edward Goldsmith, uncle of Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day

• Captain Edward Goldsmith's vote of support for James Alexander Thomson 1853
• Mrs Elizabeth Goldsmith and the saltmarsh known as Lady's Tippett, 1870
• Captain Edward Goldsmith: imports to Tasmania, exports to everywhere, 1840s-1860s
• Tragedy at Dickens' honeymoon cottage, Goldsmith's Plantation, Chalk, Kent (UK)
• Captains, emigrants and convicts: the summer of 1842-1843 in Hobart, VDL
• Captain Edward Goldsmith and friends 1849
• Captain Goldsmith’s “private friend” Edward MacDowell 1840s
• Captain Edward Goldsmith's "unwieldy steamer", the twin ferry "Kangaroo"
• James McEvoy's fine fabrics ex Captain Goldsmith's "Parrock Hall" Sydney 1845
• Joseph Somes, Captain Edward Goldsmith and the "Angelina" 1844-46
• Captain Edward Goldsmith, AWOL seaman Geeves, and HMS Havannah
• Captain Edward Goldsmith and wife Elizabeth's land deals in VDL
• Bleak Expectations: Captain Goldsmith's will in Chancery 1871-1922
• 1854: a year onshore at Hobart Tasmania for Captain Edward Goldsmith
• Captain Edward Goldsmith and the conundrums of the Amateur Ethiopian Serenaders 1851
• Captain Edward Goldsmith puts household goods to auction 1885
• The Will of Richard Goldsmith snr 1839
• Treasures passed down from Captain Edward Goldsmith and Captain James Day
• Serious money: Captain Edward Goldsmith and shipowner Robert Brooks
• Captain Edward Goldsmith, James Lucas and Peter Fraser: 500 acre leases 1853
• Captain Edward Goldsmith and gold mania 1850s
• Captain Edward Goldsmith, Captain John Clinch and the Tasmanian Steamship Navigation Company
• Captain Edward Goldsmith and Charles Dickens' Well Pump
• Captain Goldsmith, three bloodstock fillies, and a larboard collision
• Captain Edward Goldsmith at Secheron Bay 1839
• Captain Edward Goldsmith: death at sea of Antarctic circumnavigator Captain John Biscoe 1843
• Captain Edward Goldsmith, the diarist Annie Baxter, and a death at sea 1848
• Captain Edward Goldsmith's cargo ex London Docks per Rattler 1850
• Captain & Mrs Elizabeth Goldsmith: Rattler's maiden voyage 1846
• Captain Goldsmith, the Parrock Hall, & playwright David Burn 1844-45
• Captain Edward Goldsmith's grave at Chalk Church Kent
• Captain Edward Goldsmith: Falkland Islands 1839
• A Christmas story: Captain Goldsmith, Charles Dickens and the Higham mail box
• Captain Edward Goldsmith and the patent slip 1855
• Captain Edward Goldsmith and the diving apparatus 1855
• Captain Goldsmith dines with the Franklins at Govt house
• Captain Goldsmith's humorous remark at Wm Bunster's dinner 1841
• Captain Goldsmith in Davey Street Hobart 1854
• Captain Edward goldsmith's land at Lake St Clair
• Captain Edward Goldsmith at the Royal Botanic Society Gardens
• Charles Dickens and Captain Goldsmith at Gadshill 1857
• Captain Edward Goldsmith at the New Market banquet 1854
• Departure of Captain Goldsmith and the 99th Regiment 1855
• Paris Expo 1855: Captain Goldsmith's blue gum plank
• The Governor's Levee 1855: Captain Goldsmith and son
• Captain Edward Goldsmith and the Waterloo 1832
• Cousins Edward Goldsmith and Elizabeth Day baptised at St Mary's Rotherhithe
• Captain Edward Goldsmith and the wreck of the James 1830
• Mr Lipscombe, Captain Goldsmith and the Mammoth Strawberry
• Captain Edward Goldsmith, the patent slip, and the McGregor family
• Testimonial to Captain Edward Goldsmith 1849
• The Master Mariner in-laws: Captains Goldsmith, Day and Axup
• Captain Henry James Day of the 99th Regiment

Descendants and in-laws

Axup, Day and Genge families

• First Mate James DAY on the "Panama" to California 1850-1852
• Captain Hector Axup and the French lady of Green Island 1888
• Captain Hector Axup at the farewell to SS Salamis, Sydney 1900
• Departure of Captain Goldsmith and the 99th Regiment 1855
• The Governor's Levee 1855: Captain Goldsmith and son
• Captain Henry James Day of the 99th Regiment
• Mary Sophia Axup chair of the WPL 1913
• Hector Axup's donation to The Boys' Home for a ship 1887
• Mary Sophia Axup nee Day, sister-in-law
• Martha Nevin nee Genge, Mary & William Genge, step parents
• Disambiguation: James Day 52 yrs old and transported to VDL 1836
• Captain Day's wedding gift: Treaty of Paris medallion 1856

Thomas and Elizabeth Nevin’s children: Davis, Bates and Drew families

• Alfred Hope and his landau with Albert Nevin early 1900s
• Youngest daughter Minnie Nevin m. James Drew (1884-1974)
• Tom Nevin and father-in-law bandmaster Walter Tennyson Bates
• Childhood photos of son George and daughter Minnie Nevin
• Elizabeth Rachel Nevin and children 1872-1888
• Whooping cough 1886: Nevin working as assistant bailiff
• May Nevin’s China trade soapstone vase
• First son Thomas 'Sonny' Nevin in Salvation Army uniform
• Sonny Nevin’s American journey with the Bates family
• Third son William John Nevin (1878-1927)
• Fourth son George Ernest Nevin (1880-1957)
• Haulage at Newdegate Street
• Portraits of youngest son Albert Nevin with horse 1914-17

Thomas & Elizabeth Nevin’s grandchildren
Grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren: only a few posts are included here out of respect for the living or recently deceased descendants and their families of Thomas and Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day.

• Preview of new research 2023
• ANZAC 1915-2015
• Gunner Albert Morris 1942
• Gunner Athol Tennyson Nevin and his WW2 medals
• Preview of Eva Morris' Collection 2009

Summary: The Generations
Below is a brief summary of three generational levels of the immediate families of photographer Thomas J. Nevin and his wife Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day. Only a few articles are available of living or recently deceased descendants.

GENERATION ONE:

• Nevin, John and wife Mary Ann Nevin nee Dickson
• Nevin, John and second wife Martha Salter nee Genge
• Day, Captain James and wife Rachael Day nee Pocock
• Goldsmith, Captain Edward and wife Elizabeth Goldsmith nee Day

Mary Ann Nevin nee Dickson (1810-1875) and John Nevin snr (1808-1887) had four children, all born near Belfast, Ireland between 1842 and 1852, prior to arrival as free settlers at Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) on the convict transport Fairlie in July 1852. Mary Ann Dickson was born at the Borders, UK and moved with her brother, rose grower Alexander Dickson to Newtonards, Ireland where she met and married John Nevin in 1841. John Nevin snr was a former soldier of the Royal Scots First Regiment, a journalist, poet, teacher, Wesleyan and gardener. They were settled at Kangaroo Valley (known as Lenah Valley since 1922) near Hobart, Tasmania by 1854. John Nevin married a second time in 1879 to widow Martha Salter nee Genge after the death of his first wife Mary Ann Nevin in 1875.



Thomas J. Nevin's portraits of his parents ca. 1872
Copyright ⓒ KLW NFC Imprint & Private Collection 2007

Parents of Thomas J. Nevin
Mother: Mary Anne Nevin nee Dickson (1810-1875)
Father: John Nevin snr ca (1808-1887)

GENERATION ONE extended: John Nevin's second marriage: Genge and Chandler families
Mary Ann Nevin nee Dickson (1810-1875), first wife of John Nevin snr (1808-1887) died in 1875. He married his second wife, widow Martha Genge (1833-1925) (formerly Salter), in 1879. There were no children born to Martha Genge and John Nevin, although they acted as step-grandparents to Minnie Carr (1878-1898) daughter of John Nevin's daughter Mary Ann Carr nee Nevin (1844-1878) who died in Victoria within weeks of giving birth.

Mary Chandler nee Genge (1835-1923), sister of Martha Nevin nee Genge was the second wife of shoe maker William Chandler. Of the three children born in this marriage, the youngest, James Chandler (1877-1945), who would become a professional photographer, was Thomas J. Nevin's successor to the vocation of photography within the extended family network.

GENERATION TWO

• Nevin, Thomas James and wife Elizabeth Rachel Day
• Axup, Hector and wife Mary Sophia Day, sister of Elizabeth Rachel Day
• Goldsmith, Edward jnr, son of Captain Edward and Elizabeth Goldsmith nee Day (sister of Captain James Day)

NEVIN-DICKSON children
Children of Mary Ann Nevin nee Dickson and John Nevin snr:

1. Thomas James (Thos) Nevin (1842-1923) m. Elizabeth Rachel Day (1847-1914)
2. Mary Ann Nevin (1844-1878) married John Carr in 1877
3. Rebecca Jane Nevin (1847-1865)
4. William John (Jack) Nevin (1852-1891)



Left: Thomas J. Nevin with stereoscopic viewer and white gloves mid-1860s.
Right: Portrait by Thomas Nevin of his brother Jack (Constable William John) Nevin ca 1880
Copyright ⓒ KLW NFC Imprint & Private Collection 2007

DAY-POCOCK children
Children of Rachel Day nee Pocock (ca. 1812-1857) and Captain James Day (1806-1882). Rachel Day nee Pocock died of “consumption” at Hobart in 1857, and Captain James Day died in 1882 at the home of his younger daughter Mary Sophia Axup, Battery Point, Hobart. Photographer Thomas James Nevin married Elizabeth Rachel Day on 11th July, 1871 at Kangaroo Valley, Hobart.

1.Elizabeth Rachel (Lizza) Day (1847-1914) m. Thomas J. Nevin (1842-1923)
2. Mary Sophia Day (1853-1942) m. Hector Charles James Horatio Axup (1843-1927)



Elizabeth Rachel Day, married Thomas J. Nevin in 1871
Taken by Thomas Nevin at Nevin & Smith (late Bock's) ca. 1868 at 140, Elizabeth Street Hobart Town.
Full-length portrait, carte-de-visite. Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint. Watermarked.

GOLDSMITH -DAY children
Children of Elizabeth Goldsmith nee Day (1802-1875), sister of Captain James Day, and Captain Edward Goldsmith (1804-1869). These were the Goldsmith cousins of the Day sisters, Elizabeth Rachel Day and Mary Sophia Day. Richard died in Hobart, 24 yrs old, in 1854 and Edward jnr died in Rochester (UK) in 1883.

1. Richard Sydney Goldsmith (1830-1854)
2. Edward Goldsmith jnr (1836-1883) m. Sarah Jane Rivers (1835-1926)



Grave of Captain Edward Goldsmith and family
Large ledger with rocks and horizontal cross
St Mary the Virgin Church, Chalk Kent UK
Photo copyright © Carole Turner March 2016

GENERATION THREE:

• Nevin, Thomas J. and wife Elizabeth Rachel Day
• Axup, Captain Hector and wife Mary Sophia Day

AXUP-DAY children
Mary Sophia Axup nee Day (1853-1942) and Hector Charles James Horatio Axup (1843-1927) had five children between 1878 and 1891.



Studio portrait of Ella Axup (Patience Ella Mary Axup, 1889 -1913)
Taken at the VANDYCK Studios, Launceston, Tasmania ca. 1911.
Postcard format. Verso inscribed: "Cousin Ella Axup"
Copyright © KLW NFC Group Private Collections 2020

Children of Mary Sophia Axup nee Day and Hector C. Axup
NB: These dates may not be totally accurate.

1. Rachel Frances Eva Axup (1878-1978) m. P. Baldwin
2. Sidney James Vernon Axup (1882-1975) m. Emily Tyson
3. Edward Harold Leslie Axup (1885-1964) m. ?
4. Patience Ella Mary Axup (1889-1913)
5. Olive Lilian Ethel Axup (1891- ? ) m. Charles Wilshire (10 March 1920)

This notice of Olive Lilian Ethel's marriage appeared in the Examiner, Launceston, Tasmania, on  Wednesday 10 March 1920, page 6:

WEDDING BELLS, WILSHIRE--AXUP A quiet (Lenten) Anzac wedding was celebrated in St. John' Church yesterday morning. Those united in holy matrimony were Sergeant Charles Wilshire (late A.I. F.), of Wiltshire, England, son of the late Mrs. Wilshire, former private secretary to Mr. W. Long (Colonial Secretary), also great-grand son of the Duke of Wellington's aide-decamp at Waterloo; and Ethel, youngest. daughter of Captain H. C. Axup, of Launceston. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. F. C. Crotty. Miss Fiora Good was the only bridesmaid, and the bride was given away by her father. The happy couple travelled to Melbourne by the Loongana in the afternoon for their honeymoon. They will subsequently return to King Island, where the bridegroom intends to pursue agricultural interests.

NEVIN-DAY children
Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day (1847-1914) and Thomas James Nevin (1842-1923) had seven children, six surviving to adulthood. Three sons – Sydney, William and George – were born at the Hobart Town Hall during their father’s residency as Office and Hall Keeper. Sydney died four months after birth.

Children of Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day and Thomas J. Nevin:



George Ernest Nevin ca. 1901 in best suit Full length portrait with wicker whatnot.
Family photograph taken at home by his father Thomas Nevin snr
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collection 2020 ARR.

1. Mary Florence Elizabeth (May) Nevin (1872-1955)
2. Thomas James (Sonny) Nevin (1874-1948) m. Gertrude Tennyson Bates (1883-1958)
3. Sydney John Nevin (1876-1877)
4. William John Nevin (1878-1927)
5. George Ernest Nevin (1880-1957)
6. Mary Ann (Minnie) Nevin (1884-1974) m. James Henry Alfred Drew (1878-1963)
7. Albert Edward Nevin (1888-1955) m. Emily Maud Davis (1891-1971)



Above: an old webshot taken from the Archives Office of Tasmania website in 2005 of births to photographer Thomas J. Nevin and his wife Elizabeth Rachel Day.

GENERATION FOUR
Grandchildren, great grandchildren, great great grandchildren: only a few posts are included here out of respect for the living or recently deceased descendants and their families of Thomas and Elizabeth Rachel Nevin nee Day.

Thomas & Elizabeth Nevin’s grandchildren

• ANZAC 1915-2015
• Gunner Albert Morris 1942
• Gunner Athol Tennyson Nevin and his WW2 medals
• Preview of Eva Morris' Collection 2009
• Lost and found: one day in 1866 and the scientific racism which followed
• Returned soldiers 1945: from the Nevin and Moran family albums

Navigation

• Site Map No. 1: Biographica - Nevin Family
• Site Map No. 2: Thomas J. Nevin - Professional Work
• See also Key Chronology 1842-1923
• The complete blog posts archive by label

Copyright ⓒ KLW NFC Imprint 2003-2024 ARR

Nevins on sick list during voyage out on the Fairlie 1852

FAIRLIE 1852 Sick Lists
JOHN NEVIN  Military Service



Photographs of John Nevin (1808-1887)
On the left, taken in 1873 and on the right, taken in 1879.
Copyright © KLW NFC Imprint Private Collections 2003

John Nevin snr was born at Grey Abbey, County Down near Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1808. He served in the Imperial Army from 1825 to 1841. In 1837-1838 he fought the French with the Royal Scots 1st Foot Regiment at the Canadian Rebellions. When discharged in 1841, he married and settled into a life of teaching and journalism. His first son Thomas James Nevin was born in 1842.  A decade later he embarked on the voyage to Australia with his wife Mary Ann Nevin nee Dickson and four children, all under 12 yrs of age, aboard the convict transport, the Fairlie, arriving in Tasmania in July 1852.



Source: BBC Radio Ulster

The historic village of Greyabbey takes its name from one of the best-preserved Cistercian abbeys in Ireland. This abbey was founded in 1193 by Affreca, the wife of John De Courcy. Dissolved in 1541 by Henry VIII, it was burnt by the O’Neills in a desperate effort to stave-off an English attempt by Sir Thomas Smith to colonise the Ards. During the Ulster Plantation, the Grey Abbey was granted to the Scottish adventurer, Hugh Montgomery, sixth laird of Braidstaine in Scotland. The Montgomery family home was at Rosemount. Read more at the Grey Abbey House website ...

John Nevin; Military Service

NEVIN John 1808 Grey Abbey, Down WO97 Chelsea
Reference: WO 97/233/82
Description: JOHN NEVIN
Born GREY ABBEY, Down
Served in 1st Foot Regiment
Discharged aged 32Date: 1825-1841

Held by: The National Archives, Kew
Legal status: Public Record

See the full 12 pages of John Nevin's military service here.

Departure 1852
The convict transport the Fairlie sailed from Plymouth on March 11, 1852 with a total of 292 male adult prisoners and 32 Parkhurst boys and arrived in Hobart on July 3, 1852. The contract was signed on 18th February 1852 to transport 294 convicts.

All named convicts documentation is held at the National Archives, Kew, UK :

Treasury Solicitor: General Series Papers TS 18/494 Transportation of 294 named male convicts from Great Britain (Plymouth) to Van Diemen's Land by the convict ship Fairlie: contract dated 18th February 1852 . Transportation of 294 named male convicts from Great Britain (Plymouth) to Van Diemen's Land Date: 1852.

Source: The Catalogue of The National Archives.





Source: State Library of Tasmania
Series Number MB2/39
Title:REPORTS OF SHIPS' ARRIVALS WITH LISTS OF PASSENGERS
Start Date 24 Mar 1828
End Date 31 Dec 1970

Guard and pensioners with families numbered 24 women and 47 children, under the supervision of Supt. Meagher for the 99th Regiment. Several crew were accompanied by family members. On board was the entire family of young Thomas James Nevin, then aged 10 yrs. His father, John Nevin, pensioner guard (1808-87) and former soldier in the Royal Scots 1st Regiment, with service in Canada during the 1837 Rebellions, worked the family's passage. He was accompanied by his wife Mary Nevin (1810-75) and their four children:

Thomas James Nevin: (1842-1923) died at age 80
Mary Ann Nevin: (1844-1878) died at age 34
Rebecca Jane Nevin (1847-1865) died at age 18
William John Nevin (1852-1891) died at age 39

The Fairlie prepared for departure from the UK from the Isle of Wight on March 2, 1852, embarking convicts and juvenile exiles from the Parkhurst Prison. While conditions on board must have been rudimentary for women and children accompanying a crew member, for a mother and baby it must have been a floating hell.



Mary Ann Nevin nee Dickson, photo by Thomas J. Nevin of his mother before her death in 1875
Copyright © KLW NFC Private Collection ARR

The medical officer for the voyage which began on March 2-11, 1852 recorded that prior to departure, on February 28th, both John Nevin and his wife Mary suffered diarrhoea, and were discharged from the list on the day of departure. Mary (Anne) Nevin, aged 5 yrs, was put on the sick list on the 23rd April. Her mother Mary Nevin (aged 40 [sic]), joined her daughter on the sick list a day later, on the 24th April. Both were listed in the "QUALITY" column with their status: child of guard and wife of guard.



Mary Nevin, aged 5, child of guard; Mary Nevin, aged 40, wife of guard.



William Nevin, aged 6 months, child of guard

Reference: ADM 101/27/2
Medical journal of convict ship Fairlie .
Admiralty and predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and predecessors: Medical Journals Convict Ships etc. Date: 1852. Source: The Catalogue of The National Archives [UK]

On the 2nd June, the babe in arms, William Nevin, aged 6 months, was also put on the sick list, "QUALITY" also listed as child of guard. As the sick lists indicate, they were named in the company of other wives and children of guards, and of convicts of all ages.



Mary Anne Nevin, photographed by her brother Thomas J. Nevin, 1870s, was the 5 year-old member of the Nevin family on the Fairlie sick list.  From © KLW NFC Private Collections ARR. Watermarked

Folio 2: John Nevin, aged 43, Private of pensioners; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 28 February 1852, discharged 2 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: Mary Nevin, aged 40, Wife of pensioners;

Folio 2: Mary Nevin, aged 40, Wife of pensioners; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 14 March 1852, discharged 25 March 1852 to duty.

Folio 4: Mary Nevin, aged 5, Child of Guard; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 23 April 1852, discharged 30 April 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Mary Nevin, aged 40, Wife of Guard; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 24 April 1852, discharged 14 May 1852 to duty.

Folio 5: William Nevin, aged 6 months, Child of Guard; sick or hurt, convulsio; put on sick list 2 June 1852, discharged 9 June 1852 to duty.

Absent from the sick lists were Thomas, and his sister Rebecca Jane. Whatever ailments they endured on the voyage apparently left few permanent effects on Thomas and his father: Thomas James Nevin (photographer) lived to the age of 81 yrs (d. 1923). His father John also lived to the age of 80, and remarried at the age of 71 to a 46 year old widow, Martha Salter nee Genge, soon after the death of his wife and mother of his children, Mary (1810-1875), who lived just 65 years. However, the two sisters did not survive to the 20th century: Rebecca died in 1865, aged 18 years at Kangaroo Valley; Mary Anne died in Victoria, aged 34 yrs shortly after her marriage in 1877, and younger brother Jack (William John) died in 1891, aged 39 yrs. Jack joined the H.M. Prison administration at the Hobart Gaol while still in his teens,and remained there until his untimely death, assisting his brother Thomas there as the official photographer supplying convicts' identification cartes for the Municipal Police Office and Prisons Department. Jack was variously enrolled as an elector with the name (Constable) John Nevin and William John Nevin, not to be confused with Thomas Nevin's son, William John Nevin, born in 1878, who died in 1927 in a horse and cart accident.

Although just a ten year old boy in 1852, Thomas Nevin saw first hand the conditions of convict transportation. Many of the males in these sick lists who were Parkhurst boys or young adults in 1852 would become habitual criminals with offences to their name well into their fifties. Familiarity at this young age with these offenders gave Thomas Nevin a distinct advantage when he was commissioned in the 1870s - while stiil a commercial photographer - to provide the Tasmanian police and prison authorities with prisoner ID photographs.

The Complete Sick List: Fairlie 1852
Convicts, crew and crew members' families were listed during the voyage from Plymouth to Hobart, departing March 2-11, arriving July 3, 1852:

Reference:ADM 101/27/2
Description:
Medical journal of the Fairlie, convict ship, for 8 February to 12 July 1852 by Edward Nolloth, Surgeon Superintendent, during which time the said ship was employed in a passage from England to Hobart Town, Van Diemen's Land. (Described at item level).
Date: 1852
Held by: The National Archives, Kew

• Reference:ADM 101/27/2/1
• Description:
  Folios 1-7: Copy of daily sick list, (names and details follow):
  Folio 2: Henry South, aged 24, Convict; sick or hurt, phthisis pulmonalis; put on sick list 28 February 1852, discharged 6 April 1852 to duty. Folio 2: John Nevin, aged 43, Private of pensioners; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 28 February 1852, discharged 2 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: Mary Nevin, aged 40, Wife of pensioners; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 28 February 1852, discharged 2 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: Johanna Ryan, aged 24, Wife of pensioners; sick or hurt, sea sickness; put on sick list 14 March 1852, discharged 25 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: Mary Nevin, aged 40, Wife of pensioners; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 14 March 1852, discharged 25 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: George Nutt, aged 17, Convict; sick or hurt, obstipatio; put on sick list 15 March 1852, discharged 18 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: John Jones, aged 27, Convict; sick or hurt, sea sickness; put on sick list 16 March 1852, discharged 23 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: James King, aged 27, Convict; sick or hurt, sea sickness; put on sick list 16 March 1852, discharged 23 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: Henry Parker, aged 22, Convict; sick or hurt, sea sickness; put on sick list 16 March 1852, discharged 23 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: Benjamin Cutler, aged 29, Convict; sick or hurt, sea sickness; put on sick list 17 March 1852, discharged 23 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: John Stevens, aged 25, Convict; sick or hurt, sea sickness; put on sick list 19 March 1852, discharged 29 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: Michael Hogan, aged 30, Convict; sick or hurt, sea sickness; put on sick list 19 March 1852, discharged 24 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: William Dakin, aged 38, Convict; sick or hurt, febricular; put on sick list 20 March 1852, discharged 24 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: John Westerman, aged 21, Convict; sick or hurt, dyspepsia; put on sick list 20 March 1852, discharged 24 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: George Jones, aged 31, Convict; sick or hurt, sea sickness; put on sick list 20 March 1852, discharged 28 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: John Farmer, aged 25, Convict; sick or hurt, phlegmon; put on sick list 20 March 1852, discharged 23 March 1852 to duty. Folio 2: Stephen Wright, aged 34, Convict; sick or hurt, sea sickness; put on sick list 21 March 1852, discharged 30 March 1852 to duty.
  Folio 3: Richard Evans, aged 43, Convict; sick or hurt, bronchitis; put on sick list 21 March 1852, discharged 5 April 1852 to duty. Folio 3: Samuel Dunford, aged 24, Convict; sick or hurt, cephalalgia; put on sick list 21 March 1852, discharged 25 March 1852 to duty. Folio 3: Thomas Thompson, aged 33, Convict; sick or hurt, sea sickness; put on sick list 21 March 1852, discharged 28 March 1852 to duty. Folio 3: William Hall, aged 25, Convict; sick or hurt, fibricula; put on sick list 24 March 1852, discharged 31 March 1852 to duty. Folio 3: William Bycott, aged 25, Convict; sick or hurt, dibilitas; put on sick list 28 March 1852, discharged 11 April 1852 to duty. Folio 3: James Molloy, aged 39, Corporal of Guard; sick or hurt, chronic hepatitis; put on sick list 3 April 1852, discharged 20 April 1852 to duty. Folio 3: Neil [McCreaig?], aged 30, Convict; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 7 April 1852, discharged 18 April 1852 to duty. Folio 3: John Bramhall, aged 46, Convict; sick or hurt, pericarditis; put on sick list 12 April 1852, died 3 May 1852 at 12.30  pm. Folio 3: John Carpenter, aged 29, Convict; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 12 April 1852, discharged 18 April 1852 to duty. Folio 3: Jobson Bingley, aged 26, Convict; sick or hurt, fibricula; put on sick list 13 April 1852, discharged 24 April 1852 to duty. Folio 3: James Grimes, aged 24, Convict; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 15 April 1852, discharged 26 April 1852 to duty. Folio 3: Mary Penny, aged 39, Wife of Guard; sick or hurt, dysenteria; put on sick list 16 April 1852, discharged 2 May 1852 to duty. Folio 3: Charles Maynard, aged 54, Convict; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 16 April 1852, discharged 24 April 1852 to duty. Folio 3: Joseph Lee, aged 25, Convict; sick or hurt, fibricula; put on sick list 17 April 1852, discharged 26 April 1852 to duty. Folio 3: James Beverage, aged 23, Convict; sick or hurt, sunochus; put on sick list 21 April 1852, discharged 9 May 1852 to duty. Folio 3: Richard Evans, aged 43, Convict; sick or hurt, bronchitis; put on sick list 22 April 1852, discharged 28 June 1852 to duty. Folio 3: Peter Smith, aged 1 year 6 months, Child of Guard; sick or hurt, convulsio; put on sick list 22 April 1852, discharged 30 April 1852 to duty.
  Folio 4: Benjamin Franklin, aged 36, Convict; sick or hurt, ophthalmia; put on sick list 23 April 1852, sent 5 July 1852 to Hospital. Folio 4: Mary Nevin, aged 5, Child of Guard; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 23 April 1852, discharged 30 April 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Mary Nevin, aged 40, Wife of Guard; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 24 April 1852, discharged 14 May 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Robert Campbell, aged 33, Convict; sick or hurt, pneumonia; put on sick list 25 April 1852, sent 5 July 1852 to Hospital. Folio 4: James Simpson, aged 19, Convict; sick or hurt, fibricula; put on sick list 25 April 1852, discharged 6 May 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Charles Witchell, aged 30, Convict; sick or hurt, chronic diarrhoea; put on sick list 28 April 1852, discharged 8 May 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Robert Ryan, aged 45, Convict; sick or hurt, chronic diarrhoea; put on sick list 28 April 1852, discharged 12 May 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Edward Jones, aged 24, Convict; sick or hurt, ophthalmia; put on sick list 1 May 1852, sent 5 July 1852 to Hospital. Folio 4: Samuel Sheepwash, aged 16, Convict; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 3 May 1852, discharged 11 May 1852 to duty. Folio 4: William Brown, aged 38, Convict; sick or hurt, bronchitis; put on sick list 7 May 1852, discharged 20 May 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Thomas Ryan, aged 45, Pensioner Guard; sick or hurt, pleuritis; put on sick list 8 May 1852, discharged 19 May 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Peter Fitzpatrick, aged 45, Pensioner  Guard; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 8 May 1852, discharged 20 May 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Patrick Forley, aged 45, Pensioner Guard; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 8 May 1852, discharged 18 May 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Angus McKechnie, aged 36, Pensioner Guard; sick or hurt, rheumatismus; put on sick list 8 May 1852, discharged 28 May 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Bridget Philbin, aged 30, Wife of Guard; sick or hurt, parturitio; put on sick list 8 May 1852, discharged 23 May 1852 to duty.
• Date: 1852
• Held by: The National Archives, Kew

• Reference:ADM 101/27/2/2
• Description:
  Folios 1-7: Copy of daily sick list, (names and details follow) - continued:
  Folio 4: Joseph J Clafton, aged 24, Convict; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 14 May 1852, discharged 22 May 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Thomas Isherwood, aged 34, Convict; sick or hurt, phlegmon; put on sick list 20 May 1852, discharged 3 June 1852 to duty. Folio 4: Joseph Warner, aged 37, Convict; sick or hurt, pleuritis; put on sick list 17 May 1852, died 23 May 1852 at 11.30 pm. Folio 4: John McCue, aged 23, Convict; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 17 May 1852, discharged 31 May 1852 to duty.
  Folio 5: James Ridley, aged 53, Convict; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 22 May 1852, discharged 2 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: James Easterby, aged 37, Convict; sick or hurt, enteritis; put on sick list 23 May 1852, discharged 10 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: Henry Ridewood, aged 45, Convict; sick or hurt, bronchitis; put on sick list 24 May 1852, discharged 29 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: William Martin, aged 21, Convict; sick or hurt, fibricula; put on sick list 25 May 1852, discharged 3 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: William Campion, aged 29, Convict; sick or hurt, diarrhoea;  put on sick list 27 May 1852, discharged 6 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: George Brown, aged 23, Convict; sick or hurt, fibricula; put on sick list 27 May 1852, discharged 1 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: James Beverage, aged 23, Convict; sick or hurt, dyspepsia; put on sick list 28 May 1852, discharged 13 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: Daniel Bly, aged 39, Convict; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 28 May 1852, discharged 6 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: Samuel Sheepwash, aged 17, Convict; sick or hurt, fibricula; put on sick list 30 May 1852, discharged 5 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: William Brown, aged 18, Convict; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 30 May 1852, discharged 12 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: William Robertson, aged 19, Convict; sick or hurt, otitis; put on sick list 1 June 1852, discharged 10 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: Hugh Collins, aged 16, Convict; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 1 June 1852, discharged 12 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: John Carter, aged 16, Convict; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 2 June 1852, discharged 10 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: John Harrison, aged 19, Convict; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 2 June 1852, discharged 10 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: William Nevin, aged 6 months, Child of Guard; sick or hurt, convulsio; put on sick list 2 June 1852, discharged 9 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: Mary Molloy, aged 1 year 6 months, Child of Guard; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 2 June 1852, discharged 9 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: William Mooney, aged 9, Child of Guard; sick or hurt, ophthalmia; put on sick list 3 June 1852, discharged 20 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: Jennet McKechnie, aged 36, Wife of Guard; sick or hurt, pleuritis; put on sick list 3 June 1852, discharged 21 June 1852 to duty. Folio 5: John Salmon, aged 22, Convict; sick or hurt, ophthalmia; put on sick list 5 June 1852, discharged 16 June 1852 to duty.
  Folio 6: Daniel Bly, aged 39, Convict; sick or hurt, ophthalmia; put on sick list 5 June 1852, discharged 20 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: William Dakin, aged 38, Convict; sick or hurt, dyspepsia; put on sick list 5 June 1852, discharged 19 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: William Green, aged 28, Convict; sick or hurt, pleuritis; put on sick list 6 June 1852, discharged 24 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6:  James Pettitt, aged 28, Convict; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 6 June 1852, discharged 16 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: John Farmer, aged 25, Convict; sick or hurt, cynanche tonsillaris; put on sick list 9 June 1852, discharged 28 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: James King, aged 29, Convict; sick or hurt, cynanche tonsillaris; put on sick list 9 June 1852, discharged 18 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: James Jones, aged 42, Convict; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 9 June 1852, discharged 20 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: James Dunford, aged 22, Convict; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 9 June 1852, discharged 25 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: George Brandy, aged 37, Convict; sick or hurt, phlegmon; put on sick list 9 June 1852, discharged 29 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: William Williamson, aged 33, Convict; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 9 June 1852, discharged 18 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: John Edwards, aged 19, Convict; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 9 June 1852, discharged 17 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: John Jones, aged 25, Convict; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 9 June 1852, discharged 26 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: Johanna Ryan, aged 24, Wife of Guard; sick or hurt, parturitio; put on sick list 9 June 1852, discharged 23 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: William Johnson, aged 27, Convict; sick or hurt, phlegmon; put on sick list 15 June 1852, discharged 24 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: Richard Walker, aged 20, Convict; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 16 June 1852, discharged 30 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: John Salmon, aged 22, Convict; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 19 June 1852, discharged 1 July 1852 to duty. Folio 6: Anne Kennedy, aged 40, Wife of Guard; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 19 June 1852, discharged 30 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: Mary Torley, aged 38, Wife of Guard; sick or hurt, diarrhoea; put on sick list 20 June 1852, discharged 28 June 1852 to duty. Folio 6: George Jones, aged 21, Convict; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 25 June 1852, discharged 3 July 1852 to duty. Folio 6: Daniel Bly, aged 39, Convict; sick or hurt, scorbutus; put on sick list 6 July 1852, sent 7  July 1852 to Hospital.
  Folio 7: Henry Holden, aged 24, Convict; sick or hurt, burn; put on sick list 1 July 1852, sent 5 July 1852 to Hospital. Folio 7: James Beverage, aged 23, Convict; sick or hurt, catarrhus; put on sick list 2 July 1852, sent 5 July 1852 to Hospital. Folio 7: William Brown, aged 18, Convict; sick or hurt, burn; put on sick list 2 July 1852, sent 5 July 1852 to Hospital. Signed: Edward Nolloth, Surgeon Superintendent. Folio 8: Blank.
• Date: 1852
• Held by: The National Archives, Kew

• Reference:ADM 101/27/2/3
• Description:
  Folios 9-11: case no 1, Henry South, aged 24, Convict; taken ill on passage from Thames to Portsmouth; sick or hurt, phthisis pulmonalis, of very delicate appearance and had several severe pulmonary attacks, complained of great pain in the chest, particularly on the left side increased on taking a deep breath; put on sick list 28 February 1852, discharged 6 June 1852 to duty.
  Folios 11-12: case no 2, Richard Evans, aged 43, Convict; taken ill at Sea; sick or hurt, bronchitis, violent attack of cough with copious expectoration of fluid and soreness of chest; put on sick list 21 March 1852, discharged 5 April 1852 from the sick list.
  Folios 12-14: case no 3, James Molloy, aged 39, Corporal of the Guard; taken ill at Sea; sick or hurt, chronic hepatitis, of a very gross habit of body, had been much in hot climates and laboured under hepatitis, had also at various time on the sick list with palpitation of the heart. He had a bloated, unhealthy appearance & there was oedema of the eyelids; put on sick list 3 April 1852, discharged 20 April 1852 to duty.
  Folios 14-17: case no 4, John Bramhall, aged 46, Convict; taken ill at Sea; sick or hurt, chronic pericarditis, was of an exceedingly nervous temperament, first complained of being unwell but was not placed on the sick list until 12 April. He was subject to quartidian ague at several periods of his life, had a regular paroxysm of intermittent fever; put on sick list 11 March 1852, died 3 May 1852 at 12.30 pm.
  Folios 17-19: case no 5, Ellen Penny, aged 39, Wife of Guard; taken ill at Sea; sick or hurt, dysenteria, very thin and debilitated – had several previous attacks of dysentery several years since, and was also subjected to most violent paroxysm of cough; put on sick list 16 April 1852, recovered 2 May 1852 and was put on her own rations.
  Folios 19-21: case no 6, Robert Campbell, aged 33, Convict; taken ill at Sea; sick or hurt, pneumonia, was ill for some days – he slept close to the main hatchway and weather was intensely hot for several nights and he slept without his flannel waistcoat. According to the Surgeon at first he appeared to has symptoms of ordinary catarrh, no pain of chest or hurried respiration; put on sick list 25 April 1852, sent 5 July 1852 to Colonial Hospital at Hobart Town.
  Folios 21-22: case no 7, Edward Jones, aged 24, Convict; taken ill at Sea; sick or hurt, ophthalmia, of a sickly appearance & 15 months since lost the sight of his right eye, 6 weeks from the first attacked of the disease, now complained of more or less pain of the left eye; put on sick list 1 May 1852, sent 5 July 1852 to Colonial Hospital at Hobart Town.
• Date: 1852
• Held by: The National Archives, Kew

Arrival 1852
Excerpts from correspondence:









Sourced at Google Books:
THE SESSIONAL PAPERS PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS,
OR PRESENTED BY ROYAL COMMAND, IN THE Session 1852-3, (16 & 17 VICTORIAE,) 
ARRANGED IN VOLUMES. ARCHIVES OFFICE of TASMANIA

Convicts Record Books
The Archives Office of Tasmania has digitised the complete record of convicts travelling on the Fairlie 1852.





Cover and page 2
COMPTROLLER-GENERAL OF CONVICTS RECORD BOOK, 
FAIRLIE 1852 Ref: Item: CON33-1-107

One of the convicts listed above, Danie Bly, a shepherd, was hospitalised on July 7th soon after arriving in Hobart, and died at the hospital on October 12th, 1852, aged just 39 years old. He was convicted of stealing 8 sheep skins (7 years) , housebreaking (6 months) and assault (3 months), and had already served more than three years at Stirling Castle. He was tried in 1847, and transported for 14 years.



Page 29 of the Fairlie 1852 convict record for Daniel Bly, Archives Office of Tasmania

Prisoners photographed by T. J. Nevin
This prisoner George Nutt aka White, was transported as a Parkhurst boy per Fairlie in 1852. In 1874 he was photographed by Thomas J. Nevin at the Hobart Gaol. He was one of hundreds of prisoners photographed by Thomas Nevin between 1872 and 1884 for the colonial government.





Registration Number: QVM: 1985:P :0070 at the QVMAG and AOT: PH30/1/3222
George Nutt alias White convict transported per Fairlie 1852
Photo taken at Port Arthur by Thomas Nevin 1874

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