Some snippets of information about the brief time John Worthington (Fortune, 1806) spent in the colony of New South Wales 1806-1814.

Attempted Escape

On Tuesday last a Bench of Magistrates was convened; before whom were brought Isaac Peyton, John McDonald, and several others, who stood charged by Benjamin Peat with contriving a plot to seize and take away a Hawkesbury boat the joint property of McDonald (one of the prisoners) and himself. In consequence of the witness having prudently given information to a King's boat of their design, which he considered manifest from the appearance of the mail boat in pursuit of him when going out, the pursuers were in turn pursued, and cheated a precipitate retreat; - which was by no means a proof of the equity of their intentions. A Frenchman who was recognized by the witness in the boat was shortly after apprehended, and he 'with the true French nonchalance' brought a Dutchman into the same predicament, and several Englishmen followed among whom was Peyton, whose wife being likewise implicated in the charge of intended escape, was also apprehended. In the course of the search about the small bays, creeks, and inlets, a considerable stock of provisions was found, which the two foreigners declared to have been purposely deposited there for their use of the voyage to some of the Asiatic settlements. The whole of this as well as a quantity of wearing apparel and other property, was claimed by Peyton ; who urged that his motive for removing it rather was a wish he had entertained of taking up his residence in that part of the country, where secluded from the eve of inquiry, he had designed to open a small distillery; - but a mariner's compass, quadrant, and Epitome, rather militated against the candour or the acknowledgement. Other persons, who had before eluded suspicion were now implicated by their companions, Dutch, French, and English, and all the parties committed for further examination.
(Sydney Gazette, 28 June 1807, p.1)

Isaac Peyton, Hugh McDonald, William Welch, and Susannah Harris were indicted for seducing from their duty the several prisoners hereafter mentioned, by contriving their escape from this colony in a vessel named the Argument whereof Hugh McDonald was a part owner; and Dennis Maloy, John Wetherington [Worthington], George Boyden, Jas. Darbyshire, and James Hargraves were likewise indicted for attempting their escape from this their lawful place of confinement, by consenting to the plan of the above, and assisting to carry them into execution.
Three persons who had likewise engaged in the plot being accepted as evidences for the Crown; viz. Brian Overhand, Francois Francisco, a Frenchman, John Simmons, a Dutchman, they gave evidence accordingly, which added to that of Peat was conclusive and incontrovertible. The principals rested their defence on a positive denial of the facts; but the accessories declared the charge to be just, and by an acknowledgement of their design in this last stage of the trial, threw themselves on the mercy of the Court; which cleared, and re-opening all but Susannah Harris were found guilty, and sentenced McDonald, Peyton, and Welch to pay a fine of £50 to the King, to be imprisoned 12 months; and to remain in gaol until the fine be paid :—The others to receive 300 lashes each.

The testimony of this case is documented at the Macquarie University website. Of the cohorts, John Worthington, Bryan Overand, James Hargraves and James Darbyshire all had travelled to Australia aboard the Fortune. All four admitted they intended to leave the colony, and received 300 lashes.

Who among the convicts was most likely to try to escape? There were occasional cases where the escapees were people who had been in the colony for some years, and who even had families and property. But escapees were most often from among the latest arrivals, those for whom the colony was strangest and most disorienting, and the urge to return strongest. In the earliest years they seemed to fear most of all the idea of unrelenting labour and slave-like existence, whether or not they actually experienced such conditions.
(Grace Karskens, '''This spirit of emigration'': the nature and meanings of escape in early New South Wales', Journal of Australian Colonial History, Vol. 7, 2005, p. 8)

In this case, they certainly were a mixed bunch. Karskens refers to Peyton and Harris as from the former group, having a large house, children and Peyton’s established stonemason business, and she says financial difficulties may have influenced his decision to leave. But Worthington and his Fortune shipmates, having arrived in August the previous year and having served only eight months of their sentences, were relatively unencumbered.

Surprise Release

Three years later John Worthington and James Hargreaves found themselves on the receiving end of an act of kindness by the incoming Governor Macquarie:

GOVERNMENT and GENERAL ORDERS.
Government House, Sydney,
Friday, 5th January, 1810.
HIS EXCELLENCY the Governor, as an Act of Grace and Favour on the Occasion of his taking Charge of the Government of this Territory, has thought proper to direct that the undermentioned Persons now confined in the Gaol of Sydney shall be released and set at Liberty this Afternoon: namely, James Hargrave, John Worthington, William Henry, James Hardwicke, Thomas Jones, James Stoneham, John Draper, Ralph Summers, James Smith, Thomas Hayes, George Dunstan, Garret Armstrong, John Anson, Lawrence Parory, and Hadji (a black man). The Governor trusts this Act of Clemency will have the desired effect on the minds of those men now released from Confinement, and that it will stimulate them to be more orderly, and better Members of Society for the future. By Command of His Excellency,
I. T. CAMPBELL, Sec.
(Sydney Gazette, 7 Jan 1810, p.2)

Macquarie was the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales and he would hold the post for 11 years. He took the reins after the chaos and tension of the previous Governor Bligh regime. There were controversial aspects to Macquarie’s leadership (as there were for all the previous governors), but as far as convict relations were concerned, he was a liberal.

In a developing society harbouring a divide between free settlers and convicts, Macquarie used the carrot rather than the stick – treating emancipated convicts relatively well, entrusting them with positions of authority, and providing plenty of work through infrastructure building. That Macquarie had landed at Sydney Cove on 31 December 1809 and had the above noticed published so quickly could be seen as a small olive branch to set the tone for a new chapter of administrator-convict relations.

Trouble Again

For all of Macquarie’s good intentions, John Worthington wound up before the judiciary again less than six months later, accompanied by two further shipmates from the Fortune, Isaac Hogg and Samuel West. While not a significant case in its own right, it’s significant to tracing John Worthington’s history in the colony, as there are so few records of him . Three chickens had been stolen on Saturday, 16 June 1810 from John Palmer at Woolloomooloo, and these were found having been killed and put in the yard at Worthington’s residence. In the courtroom, the three deceased chickens were presented for identification as those belonging to Palmer. Testimony was provided by William Yarls, a servant of Palmer (who had reared the fowls and discovered they were missing), John Redmond (who searched Worthington’s residence and found the fowls), Enoch Kinsela (publican and Fortune convict), John Robinson (butcher, neighbour of Kinsela, Palmer employee and Fortune convict).

Place Note: Woolloomooloo Farm, Sydney

After the First Fleet’s arrival in Sydney, the area was initially called Garden Cove or Garden Island Cove after the nearby small wooded Garden Island, off the shore. The first land grant was given to John Palmer in 1793 to allow him to run cattle for the fledgeling colony. In the 1840s the farm land was subdivided into what is now Woolloomooloo, Darlinghurst and parts of Surry Hills. Wikipedia Swampy land that was regularly flooded did not make it especially attractive to early settlers. But it was fertile, and after the colony’s commissary-general, John Palmer, was granted land here in 1793, he built a house and made a good fist of farming. The native melaleucas and casuarinas were replaced with fruit trees and he even experimented with growing tobacco. The success of his endeavours resulted in the valley becoming known as The Farm. Dictionary of Sydney

West (also a Fotune shipmate) had been an employee of Palmer and was seen in Palmer’s yard on the night of the crime, but he denied involvement. Hogg had been an employee of neighbour Enoch Kinsela, who had allowed him to stay there, and in the time Hogg had been there other birds had gone missing from Palmer’s. Blood and feathers had been found in the pocket of the jacket Hogg was wearing and he confessed.   Worthington denied involvement, saying that he merely gave accommodation to his shipmate on the evening of the robbery. The court found Worthington and Hogg guilty, sentencing them both to twelve months’ hard labour. West was directed to sleep at the gaol until further orders.

The Lumber Yard

Worthington is shown in the muster of 1811 as a carpenter in the government lumber yard. The lumber yard was not far away from Palmer’s farm, Sydney Gaol and the Male Orphan Institution where his children would later reside.

Worthington’s time in the colony preceded the construction of Hyde Barracks, and prisoners lived in individual (presumably very basic) places of residence.

The Last Official Record : Settling a Debt

Thomas Rose of Sydney, dealer ... Plaintiff

and

John Worthington of Sydney ... Defendant

Writ for sixteen pounds sterling on a promissory note dated 5th January 1814 drawn by defendant payable to bearer on a day now past.

Upon the defendant's voluntary confession and consent, the court gives judgement for the plaintiff.

Damages £12.0.0 Costs £3.15.4. Execution to pursuant to the confession.

Thomas Rose was a baker operating in Chapel Row (later renamed Castlereagh Street) and he later dealt in imported goods. An advertisement in the Sydney Gazette in 1815 shows him offering imported linen, clothing, footwear, copper tea kettles, tools, haberdashery items.