Elias Marriott
At the time of compiling this account of Ellis or Elias Marriott (hereon written as Elias) and his Tasmanian descendants, information has been traced as far as 1797 in Eye, County of Suffolk, England. Working back through the records to a brother and sister. Elias 1st, married Mary Nunn 19/12/1797 and Elizabeth married William Hines 05/08/1797, both at Eye, Suffolk It is this Elias Marriott whose descendants settled in Tasmania's Derwent Valley. There will be information added regarding what is known of the descendants of Elizabeth. It was common to give Christian names to children the same as other relatives, and this gives rise to some confusion and takes a lot of research and logical surmising to put the pieces of information together. Elias and Mary had a daughter named Lucy who gave birth to Elias 2nd -Marriott who was baptised 11/01/1818 in Eye, Suffolk. Lucy married James Hines (1st cousin) 22/08/1820 in Eye, Suffolk. Hence the convict records that state "Marriott alias Hines". He reverted to his mother's maiden name.
Living standards in Britain at this time were difficult for all but the gentry and wealthy. It appears that Lucy and James were born into the category of hard working, struggling lower middle class. This is surmised from their adherence to baptismal and marriage rights on record and their being able to sign legal documents denotes that they had some formal education.
ELIAS MARRIOTT, alias Hines (son of Lucy), was tried in the Suffolk Courts on the 20th October, 1837, for house breaking. He was sentenced to Van Dieman's Land Penal colony for 14 years hard labour. He arrived in Hobart Town aboard the "Augusta Jessie" in 1838 to serve his sentence. On arrival his trade was listed as being a carpenter. From December 1838 until June 1842 he served his sentence in Hobart Town working on the Custom House Gang. In reading his conduct report, one could imagine that he was strong-willed and rebellious. During his time in Hobart Town he was charged with additional punishment for being absent without leave, drunk, misconduct, absconding, being disorderly, and for being in possession of a half-crown. For these misdemeanours he received solitary confinement, bread and water, hard labour in chains, 36 lashes, 14 days on the tread wheel, and additional time added to his original sentence. All of this resulted in him being removed and taken to the Port Arthur Penitentiary. After six months at Port Arthur, he had two more counts of misconduct and his sentence was extended for another three months. His rebellious behaviour had mellowed slightly as he was rewarded by being transferred back to Hobart Town to work on the Public Works Gang. Twelve months later he absconded and had his existing sentence extended by 18 months and was returned to Port Arthur on probation. Ten years later and nearing the end of his sentence he was transferred from Port Arthur to serve 3 months in the Royal Engineers Yard before qualifying for a Probation Pass and early in 1847, he was granted a Ticket-of-Leave…He wasted no time in applying to marry Mary Laird (nee McKay),convict, born 1815, Edinburgh, Scotland. It is not difficult to suppose that the many times of being absent without leave and absconding, that Mary was some part of these escapades. On 05/04/1847 Elias 2nd, and Mary were married at Bethesda, St Georges District, Hobart. Elias's employment was still listed as carpenter.
ELIAS AND MARY (McKAY) MARRIOTT(ex-convicts)
It is on record that Mary gave birth to a son in 1848. It is an assumption that this child was named James. Oral comment has been sourced that there were recollections of James being a "sickly child'. There are two possibilities, he may have died as a young child, in which case there are no records or secondly a theory where the dates match - The death of a James Marriott in 1907, aged 59 years. He was listed as working as a labourer at a charitable institution in New Town. This is high possibility but there is no other evidence. Robert was born 26/01/1851 at Barrack Street, Hobart. And it was about this time that Elias and Mary headed for the goldfields in Victoria. Lucy was born in 1852-53 (?) and Mary died, most probably in childbirth. Elias returned home with his young family Robert and Lucy. From1853-1862 he owned land at Sandy Bay.
It is also on record that Elias, in 1860, aged 42 years listed as a carpenter and a joiner, married Martha Gray Farmer at Francis Street, Hobart according to the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). Elias's children by his first marriage would now have been James -12 (no records), Robert-10, Lucy-8 There is no evidence of any children from this second marriage. They resided at Glenora - Bushy Park where they had a shop.It is believed now to be a renovated home just west of the swimming pool.