Vize Convicts

William VYSE (ca1771-unk)
William VYSE born abt 1770-1771 of location unknown was sentenced at Westminster on 11 September 1828 for stolen goods. He had two prior convictions and was sentenced to transportation for life. He arrived in Sydney Cove on the "Waterloo" on 9 July 1829 and was assigned to work for Berry and Wollstonecraft. This was a rural enterprise established in New South Wales in 1819. The main focus of the business was on a land grant of 10,000 acres (40 km²), growing to 40,000 acres (162 km²) in the Shoalhaven River area, where native cedar was felled for export, and other crops such as tobacco were grown both for sale in the colony of New South Wales and for export (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berry_and_Wollstonecraft). He is described as 5 ' 6" in height, ruddy complexion, brown hair and blue eyes. His occupation is leghorn maker (a type of straw hat) and his religion Protestant. No further records for William have been identified.

William VYSE (ca1811-1857)
William VYSE born about 1811-1813 in Wiltshire was sentenced at the Berkshire Assizes on 11 Jul 1833 for house breaking. William had no additional convictions, however received the sentence of transportation for life. After embarking from England on the "Hive" 13 January 1834, he arrived in New South Wales on 11 June 1834 and was assigned to work for the Australian Agricultural Company. Founded in 1824 through an Act of the British Parliament, with the right to select 1,000,000 acres (4,047 km2) in New South Wales for agricultural development, it is one of Australia's oldest still-operating companies.

Among the principal members of this company were the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General of England, 28 Members of Parliament, including Mr. Brougham, and Mr. Joseph Hume, the Governor, Deputy Governor and eight of the directors of the Bank of England; the Chairman and Deputy-Chairman and five directors of the British East India Company, besides many other eminent bankers and merchants of England. The area selected under the founding charter extended from Port Stephens, embracing the Karuah River valley, to the Gloucester flats, and to the Manning River, including most of the northern shore of Port Stephens, extending to 464,640 acres (1,880 km2). The company had commenced its operations in order to improve flocks of Merino sheep in New South Wales for export to Great Britain. After permission to expand to inland areas, the company decided on two new areas in 1833. These were the Warrah Estate of 249,600 acres (1,010 km2), west of Murrurundi, and Goonoo Goonoo estate of 313,298 acres (1,268 km2), along with the left bank of the Peel River to the south of present-day Tamworth, New South Wales (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Agricultural_Company).

William's convict record includes a series of Tickets of Leave granted to permit him to travel in different areas of the state. These were granted in 1842, 1843, 1845, 1849 and 1850. In 1842 he was working in the Port Stephens operations of the Australian Agricultural Company but by 1843 had moved to Peel River. In 1845 he had changed employer, now working for Mssrs Martyn & Coombs between the Liverpool Plains and Morpeth.

William is described as a farm servant/shepherd. He was 5' 5 1/2" in height with brown hair and brown eyes. He had some identifying marks and scars on his arms. He is probably the William VYSE who died at Rocky River near Armidale on 5 October 1857 - crushed when run over by a wagon wheel.

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