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"a young woman of exceeding good character, and reputable connections"
Sarah Dibbs 1772 - 1839
Notes
Early in the history of the colony of New South Wales, single men, particular soldiers took the opportunity for an introduction with newly arrived single women. Benjamin Carver and his fiancée Sarah Dibbs planned to marry immediately on arrival and so avoid the companion marketplace on disembarking.
Charles Leifchild has informed us that Benjamin was in debt and may have resorted to robbery under arms “in order to find money for his young wife and children“. So was Sarah already with child and had left them in care before departure.
Sarah appears to have boarded at St. Helens, Lancashire, which was the trading station for the East India Company and the place from which the military men embarked. On the passenger list, Sarah was listed at one time as a soldiers wife and another time as a soldiers widow 1 . This could suggest her husband died on the voyage, yet no record of such an event has been discovered.
Sarah either traveled alone or in service, and to travel alone would be unusual for a single woman in 1792, unless an arrangement was made by others. We have it on good authority, as outlined below, that Sarah was "a young woman of exceeding good character, and reputable connections", so somehow, someone, agreed to take Sarah abroad the Royal Admiral. It may have been Sarah or Ben's connections and possibly Benjamin's brother John Carver, a military officer, or some of his petitioners which included traders and merchants with contacts to the British East India Company's and their contracted shipping fleet.
On Wednesday, 10th October 1792, three days after the Royal Admiral's arrival and "by special direction of his excellency", a marriage was performed at St Phillip's Church of England, Sydney between Benjamin Carver and Sarah Dibbs with William Izzey (aka.Ezzy) as witness.
Sarah Carver appears in the register of population of Richmond in 1820, shown as CF (came free), arrived via the Royal Admiral mastered by Capt. Bond; wife of Benj Carver with one boy and one girl child.
Sarah Carver died in 1839 aged 67, and BDM records indicated her birth about 1772. (NSW BDM: 1839868 157/1839 also 986/1839 V1839986 23A CARVER, SARAH AGE 67).
Research
Some of the research leads I followed were first to search for a marriage for Sarah and a soldier by the surname Dibb(s) who died prior to 1792. The other line of inquiry is for a woman of the name Sarah Dibb or Dibbs, Dibble or Dabbs. If there was a plan behind Sarah being on-board, it stands to reason that Sarah was in a relationship with Benjamin Carver, prior to his conviction and that in a romantic twist to their story, Sarah chose to accompany him to New South Wales, rather than live in England without him.
According to C.J.Smee's work, "Forth Fleet Families of Australia"2, Sarah was born about 1759 in England and may have been the widow of John Dibbs (1755-1790) a soldier in Governor McQuarie's former 71st infantry Regiment (Frasers Highlanders) which fought in America and disbanded in 1783 in Perth, Scotland, reformed in 1786 and was despatched to India and saw action in Pondicherry, Madras Presidency, India (1793).
Greg McCarry researched Sarah Carver to a greater depth than the rest and published a paper in 2012, titled "The Carver-Farrell Line"3 in which he states: - "Many people seem to have researched Sarah without success to find out how she came to be on the "Royal Admiral".
Two items discovered in the National Archives, Kew, by Ms Nancy Booth have solved the mystery..... The first is a letter dated 29 February 1792 from Sir Richard Hill MP for Shropshire (Hawkestone), to Henry Dundas (Whitehall), the Home Secretary" 4 The petition relayed by Hill was as follows: (see attached)
"...begs to have the honour of presenting one more petition to [Dundas] from poor young Carver, a convict now on board the Lion for botany bay [sic]"...
"that he [Benjamin Carver] may be bound with a new chain more strong and purposeful than that he now wears upon his arrival at the place of destination. In short Carver wants to be married to a young woman of exceeding good character, and reputable connections, to whom he has been sometime engaged, and the girl's attachment to him is so unalienable [sic] that she is willing to go in another ship if she can have the prospect of joining hands with Carver at the end of the voyage."
The above appears to resolve the problem of how Sarah came to be onboard, however still the question remains - Who is Sarah Dibbs?
Further consideration of the representation by Sir Richard Hill 5 may guide us, for he was a Methodist and a supporter of dissident religious practice, which appears to be the practice of Benjamin's father and brother, so may also relate to Sarah's religious upbringing. Sir Richards petition to the Home secretary appears to have been a common practice of the day.
There is the reference above to John Dibbs (1755-1790).
Also records show one John Dibbs of College Kirk parish in Crail on the 10th Jan 1783, married Elizabeth Simpson, daughter of David Simpson, miller of New North parish.
Another John Dibbs was recorded as a bankrupt in British newspapers of 1785 -1787.
One Sarah Dibbs married Michael Ham on 6 Dec 1776, Shoreditch St Leonard (London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921).
Source:
1 - Passenger Lists for the Royal Admiral
2 - Smee, C. J. (Craig James) work, "Forth Fleet Families of Australia" 1992, Star printers, Sydney (English), Book edition 924.394 / SME: - Fourth fleet families of Australia containing genealogical details of two hundred & five fourth fleeters, their children & grandchildren / compiled & edited by C.J. Smee. His unsubstantiated version suggests Benjamin Carver son of Benjamin and Ann nee Meadows. He also claims a second relationship with Sarah Woods and a child Sarah born 12 May 1806, Sydney.
3 - Greg McCarry "The Carver-Farrell Line" 2012 - Only available via the Research section of Penrith Lirary (NSW)
4 - National Archives, Kew, - Home Office: Domestic Correspondence, George III. HO 42. Letters and papers - HO 42/20/34, folios 59A-59B - This is a Public Record, available online for download and comprising a Memorandum from Sir Richard Hill [MP for Shropshire] petitioning the Home Secretary Henry Dundas. It is noted that The Home Secretary would assign convicts to specific ships as is referenced for the ship 'Pitt" of the third fleet - On 23 June, (1791) an anonymous letter regarding convicts on Pitt was received by government officers, to be referred to by Henry Dundas, who the same day wrote to Treasury on convicts to be put aboard her.
5 - Sir Richard hill a tory politician, M. P. for the County of Shropshire, also a prominent religious revivalist a writer of religious tracts, a patron of Methodists and tolerant of Dissenters. Refer Wiki and Google Books - The Life of Sir Richard Hill, Bart., By Edwin Sidney, published 1839.
- Persons considered in research some of whom are found in British newspapers
- London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921
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