Henry PONCHARD was born in Bristol, England, some time around 1817 to John PONCHARD and Mary Ann JONES. These are his parents as stated on his death certificate.
The first reference that I have so far been able to find about Henry is in 1833 when he was confined to the Gloucester Gaol on the 22nd of May to await trial on a charge of theft. The details of the charge on which he was held were as follows :
"Charged on the oath of William Parsons Haythorne of the parish of Stapleton, gentleman on suspicion of having on the night of the 7th day of May instant feloniously broken open a pigeon house at the parish aforesaid and stolen therefrom thirty fancy pigeons value £5 his property."
He was tried on this charge at the Trinity Sessions Court on the 2nd of July, 1833, and was found guilty. The sentence handed down was for one year in the penitentiary. There is a general description of Henry that accompanies this record giving details as follows:
AGE 15
PARISH: Ratcliff, Bristol.
BEHAVIOUR: Indifferent
DESCRIPTION: Light brown hair; grey eyes; large features; a mark on his forehead; large thick nose; a scar on his lower lip; several pock marks on right arm; several scars on right hand; three small scars on right knee; a large scar on right foot; scar left shoulder; several scars on his back and rump; four moles on his back; a mole on right hip.
Not read nor write
OCCUPATION: Brickmaker
HEIGHT: 5ft 5in.He next appeared in the Bristol Quarter Sessions Court on the 5th of January, 1835, on a charge of Larceny. It seems that he was involved in the theft of a parcel from a stagecoach in Redcliffe Street, Bristol, in the company of Edward TULK and William HEDGES. All three men were convicted of these offences and were sentenced to 7 years transportation each. Henry was only 18 years old at the time and was employed as a Brickmakers Labourer.
After his conviction, Henry was transferred to the Prison Hulk "Justitia", which was at anchor at Woolwich. He was first listed in the "Sworn list of Convicts" for the March Quarter of 1835 and remained on the "Justitia" until he is listed as being transferred for transportation, on the 27th of August, 1835, to New South Wales in the list for the September Quarter, 1835. William Hedges is listed in the June Quarter, 1835, as having died whilst a prisoner on the "Justitia".
Henry was allocated to be transported aboard the Convict Transport "John Barry (3)" which departed Torbay, England, on the 21st of September, 1835, and arrived in the Colony on the 17th of January, 1836. His name appears on the shipping embarkation list and the listing of "The Principal Superintendent of Convicts : Printed Indents 1836" as Henry POUCHARD. There is a description that accompanies these listings that is remarkably consistent with the previous one noted at the Gloucester Goal. It states as follows :
HEIGHT 5ft 5¾in
COMPLEXION Ruddy
HAIR Light
EYES Grey
PARTICULAR MARKS
OR SCARS Left eye weak, nose thick, two scars top of forehead, small mole inside lower right arm, scar left wrist.Once in the colony of New South Wales, it appears that Henry was assigned to the employ of James McArthur (Jr.), the son of Hannibal McArthur. Permission was sought, and given, in 1840 for James McArthur to bring four convict servants with him to the new colony of Port Phillip. Henry Ponchard was listed by name as one of these.
In early 1840, James McArthur accompanied Count Strzelecki on his exploration of Gippsland on which he scaled and named Mt. Kosciusko. All of the narratives of this trip tell of there being convict servants with McArthur and Strzelecki but none of them refer to the convicts by name. It is possible that Henry Ponchard was one of those convicts.
Henry is named in the "List of Service Assignments", held on microfilm by the Public Record Office of Victoria, as being assigned to J. McArthur, Esq. He is also listed in the "Nominal Ticket of Leave Holders in the district of Port Phillip - 1843" (also from the same microfilm) although his name is mis-spelled as Henry PANCHETT although this is amended later, in a different hand, to read POUCHARD. This is definitely the correct person as the ship on which he was transported is noted (as in most references to convict records). In this case it was the "John Barry" (3) and a search of the shipping lists of that ship reveal that there was no-one called Panchett on board.
Henry Ponchard applied for his Certificate of Freedom at the expiration of his 7 year sentence and it was granted and issued to him on the 4th of May, 1842. He would have had to carry this document with him and produce it on demand to prove that he had completed his sentence and was no longer an attached convict, but a free man.
