Abraham Jennison (11 April 1804 – ?) was a

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

transported ''Transported'' is an Australian convict melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln. It is considered a lost film. Plot In England, Jessie Grey is about to marry Leonard Lincoln but the evil Harold Hawk tries to force her to marry him and she w ...

to Western Australia. His significance is mainly that one of his letters home to family in England is extant.

Biography

Nothing is known of Abraham Jennison's early life, but in July 1848 he was 44 years old, married with ten children, and working as a

blacksmith A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

. In that month, he and two companions were convicted of stealing items including a

gun A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...

and a pig, and Jennison was sentenced to seven years' transportation. He arrived in Western Australia on board the ''

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

'' in June 1851, and was immediately issued with a

ticket of leave A ticket of leave was a document of parole issued to convicts who had shown they could now be trusted with some freedoms. Originally the ticket was issued in Britain and later adapted by the United States, Canada, and Ireland. Jurisdictions ...

. He received a conditional pardon in December 1854. Thereafter, he worked for a number of years at ''Tibradden'', John Sydney Davis'

Champion Bay Champion Bay is a coastal feature north of Geraldton, Western Australia, facing the port and city between Point Moore and Bluff Point. Champion Bay was named by Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of , who surveyed the area in April 1840. He named it ...

station. In November 1861, Jennison received letters from his children telling him that his wife Hannah had died, and enquiring about joining him in Australia. Jennison's reply, in which he stated that "A person can do very well if he is a mind to work", was kept by his family for generations, and is extant today. Jennison's family did not emigrate to Australia and this letter is apparently the last letter that he wrote to his children. Nothing is known of Jennison's later life.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jennison, Abraham 1804 births Convicts transported to Western Australia Year of death missing