Thanks.

Bob Barnes

I have found a deed dated 1780 in which Charles Motherby conveys Negroes to his son William Ambrose who he had by Ann Ambrose, and if Ambrose will provide sufficient meat, clothing, washing and lodging for the rest of Motherby’s life, Ambreose can have any goods and chattels that are in Ambrose’s house when Mothebry dies.

NEXT QUESTION: In Charles Motherby’s will, does he really name James Ambrose ad his heir and executor–or did the abstractor misread WIlliam as James? I will be checking that out.

I think it is very possible that Charles Motherby was not the father of William Ambrose, but he was tried in 1722, not born in 1722, so it still may work out.

I have bo data on his birth date.

I am gradually putting together a book on colonial Maryland servants, convicts and native born apprentices and what happened to them after they served their time.

Good point. I went back to my sources, and one says that William was born “c1725″ (the “circa” must have escaped my attention when I originally wrote the post). So either William was born later than 1725 or Charles Motherby was not the father, as some people have claimed.

I will make the changes in the original post. Thank you for bringing the discrepancy to my attention.

Anthony Vaver

In looking for stories about transported convicts, I try to find connections. Both Mary Slider and Ann Ambrose appear in the same book, and it just so happens that they came over on the same ship and had similar experiences after they arrived. Once I made these connections, there was suddenly a story to tell. The fact that the two were women was really incidental in terms of selecting them, although it certainly plays into their stories.

I am in the final stages of publishing a full-blown book on the story of convict transportation to America, which has a lot more stories about transported convicts. It should be out sometime this spring if all goes well.

Thank you for visiting my website.

Best,
Anthony Vaver

I’m quite impressed with both the quality of your research and your writing. You mention Mary Slider in your work, under the heading of “Women Transported on the Loyal Margaret”

Might you have any additional data on Mary, or perhaps could you advise me on search strategies that lead me to learning more about her and her family?

It would also be interesting to learn how you decided to focus on the two women you did from aboard the “Loyal Margaret.”

You have my appreciation and…

my thanks,
George

FARRIS
CPT, IN
USA (R)

I’m not surprised that Rudd was transported for horse theft. Even though
England held a lot of executions, repeat offenders were really the target.
If this offense was Rudd’s first, transportation would have been an obvious
choice at this time.

I have two guesses as to how your ancestor came over. In Coldham’s “The
King’s Passengers to Maryland and Virginia,” the only convict ship to leave
the London port around the time of your ancestor’s arrest was the “Forward”
in November 1728. William Loney was the captain, and it landed in
Rappahannock, VA. Your ancestor, however, is not listed, so while it makes
sense that Rudd could have been transferred relatively easily to London for
transport, I would expect his name to appear on the list. The only reason
why his name would not appear is that the Treasury did not pay for his
transport, so they simply did not record his name. But this seems unlikely.

More likely, he was transported by a regular merchant ship. The smaller
counties, since they were not part of the central government’s subsidy to
the main convict contractor, made their own deals with independent
merchants. I’m guessing that a merchant who had extra room on his ship took
Rudd and any other convicts sentenced to transportation in Norfolk. There
probably weren’t many. He might even have spent quite a spell in jail
waiting for a ship that could take him over.

I wish I could offer you more specific information. I love hearing about
convicts who “made it” in America, because the odds were so much against
them. I’m working hard right now on putting a book together that gives a
more complete and comprehensive picture of convict transportation than I do
on my website. I hope to have it out by this spring.

Thanks again for visiting my website, and good luck with your search. Let me
know if you find any more definitive information.

Best,
Anthony Vaver