Introduction
Nehemiah Rogers was born in 1825, in Bocking, Essex, in England.
At the age of twenty he was sentenced to ten years transportation
for stealing ten pounds. He was sent first to Norfolk Island,
then to Tasmania.
Nehemiah married Catherine Fitzgerald in 1855, and they had four children. Catherine died in an accident, and Nehemiah married Mary Goggins in 1863, and had eleven more children.
Nehemiah and Mary moved around a lot during their marriage, mainly living in the Hamilton area of Tasmania, and eventually settling to farm at Pelham, near Hamilton. Nehemiah died in 1903 and Mary died in 1920.
Home page
Family groups
Nehemiah Rogers and Catherine
Fitzgerald
Nehemiah Rogers and Mary Goggins
Thomas Edward Davis and Ruth Rogers
Photos
Rogers family photos
- Nehemiah Rogers' family
Rogers and Goggins photos - Graves,
photos of Hamilton, Tasmania
Goggins photos - John Goggins,
son of James and Mary Goggins
glenxysl@paraxdise.next.nxz
My correct email address is the above, minus the'x' characters (I am sick of junk mail)Glenys Lawrence, 4 Jun 2005
Nehemiah Rogers
b. 1825 in Bocking, Essex, England (not confirmed).
d. 1903, 27 Jan, Pelham, Tasmania, Australia (Tas. d. cert).
parents: Nehemiah Rogers and Mary, born Warren
Catherine Fitzgerald
b. ?.
d. 1862, 19 May, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia (Tas. d. cert).
m. 1855, Sep 29, Richmond, Tasmania (Tas. m. cert).
Children of Nehemiah and Catherine Rogers
| surname | given names | b. year | b. place | b. country | d. year | d. place | d. country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rogers | William | 1856 | Oatlands | Tasmania | 1872 | Hamilton | Tasmania |
| Rogers | Nehemiah | 1857 | Oatlands | Tasmania | 1890 | Bothwell | Tasmania |
| Rogers | Margaret | 1860 | Glamorgan | Tasmania | 1902 | Hobart | Tasmania |
| Rogers | Timothy | 1860 | Glamorgan | Tasmania | 1862 | Hobart | Tasmania |
William was a stonemason, and
died aged 16 1/2, 'accidentally shot himself'.
Nehemiah was a stonemason, and died
aged 30, 'not being of sound mind did kill himself with a revolver'.
Margaret married Alexander SANDERS
in 1887. Seven children:
Jane May
William Cecil
Alexander Gordon
Herbert (drowned aged 4)
Rachel Gertrude
Morton
Adelaide Clytie
Timothy was a twin with Margaret,
and died aged 15 months of teething an convulsions.
Nehemiah Rogers
b. 1825 in Bocking, Essex, England (not confirmed).
d. 1903, 27 Jan, Pelham, Tasmania, Australia (Tas. d. cert).
Mary Goggins
b. 1843 in County Cork, Ireland (not confirmed).
d. 1920, 15 Nov, Hamilton, Tasmania, Australia (Tas. d. cert).
m. 1863, Feb 10, Green Ponds (now Kempton), Tasmania (Tas. m. cert).
Children of Nehemiah and Mary Rogers
| surname | given names | b. year | b. place | b. country | d. year | d. place | d. country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rogers | Maria | 1864 | Kempton | Tasmania | . | . | . |
| Rogers | Miriam | 1865 | Hamilton | Tasmania | . | . | . |
| Rogers | Martha | 1867 | Hamilton | Tasmania | . | . | . |
| Rogers | Ruth | 1870 | Hamilton | Tasmania | 1934 | Stratford | New Zealand |
| Rogers | Mark | 1872 | Hamilton | Tasmania | 1965 | Hobart | Tasmania |
| Rogers | Rebecca | 1874 | Hamilton | Tasmania | . | . | . |
| Rogers | Mary Zipporah | 1878 | Hamilton | Tasmania | 1957 | Launceston | Tasmania |
| Rogers | Sarah | 1881 | Hamilton | Tasmania | . | Launceston | Tasmania |
| Rogers | Emily | 1884 | Hamilton | Tasmania | 1948 | Tasmania | |
| Rogers | Thorold | 1887 | Hamilton | Tasmania | |||
| Rogers | Hilda | 1892 | Hamilton | Tasmania | 1989 | Hobart | Tasmania |
Maria married SIMMONDS, lived
in Melbourne. Children included:
Jack
Ella (twin)
Elsie (twin)
Dora
Miriam (Minnie) married Underhill
Wallace (Wattie) PEARSALL in 1883. Eleven children:
Florence Miriam Margaret, m. John Alfred Carpenter
Clifford Campbell, m. Myrtle Grace Garland
Underhill Amos, m. Lucy M. Clarke, 5 children
William Louis, m. Maud Emily Parrot, 8 children
Walter Bruce, m. Sarah Laurie
Arthur Harold, m. Eva Doris Hills
Phyllis
Ella Eva
Cecil John
Gladys Jean
Douglas Nehmiah
Martha married Frederick LOCKWOOD
in 1897. Four children:
Charles Frederick
Iris Mabel
Vera Emily, m.1 Tabb, 2 children; m.2. David Thomas Portway, 1
child.
Linda Mary
Ruth married Thomas Edward DAVIS in
1891. Ten children.
Mark married Hannah BLACKWELL in
1896. Seven children:
Vera
Elsie Amelia
George
Francis Harold (Frank)
Jack
Roy
Lenna
Rebecca (Beck) married Nelson WRIGLEY
in 1893. Six children:
Millie
Amy Isabella
Mary
Sheila
Nelson
Keith
Mary married Herbert FISHER in 1904.
Six children:
Herbert Edwin, m. Rose Pollard, 4 children
Edna Myra May, m. Edgar Matthew Whitelaw, 8 children
Keith Leonard, m. Edna Bang, 1 child
Nellie Maud, m. Robert Ikin, 2 children
Gwen Peace, m. Frank Pollard, 3 children
Patricia Joy, m. Geoff Smith, 1 child
Sarah didn't marry.
Emily married William John (Bill)
REYNOLDS in 1902, thirteen children:
Eveline Mary Anne
Elsie Ann
Hilda
Emily
Madge
David
Llewellyn
Percy
Colin
John William
Irene
Kenneth William
Geoffrey Nehemiah
Thorold married Martha Maud KELLEHER
in 1914, 7 children:
Max
Irene 'Sis'
Molly
Gwen
Thorold 'Boy"
Nancy
Betty
Hilda married Leonard James Hubert
LANGRIDGE. 14 children:
Leonard, m. Beryl White, 5 children
Sylvia, m. Alan Ransley, no children
Sybil, twin with Sylvia, died at birth
William, m.Dulcie Walker, 4 children
Beryl, m. Luke Urban Tracey, 8 children
Reginald, m. Freda Witzerman, 4 children
Basil, m. Marjorie Hake, 4 children
Morris, m. Dawn Cross, 5 children
Jean, m. Keith McLoughlin, 2 children
Laurel, d. of diphtheria
Val, m. Leon Hallam, 4 children
Keith, m. Bonnie Denne
Geoff, m. Beverley Butterworth, 4 children
Brian, m. Eileen Hanlon, 3 children
Thomas Edward Davis
b. 1867, Jan 16, Hamilton, Tasmania, to parents Samuel Davis and Margaret Miller.
d. 1951, 6 Jan, Hobart, Tasmania.
Ruth Rogers
b. 1870, 13 Apr, Hamilton, Tasmania, to parents Nehemiah Rogers and Mary Goggins.
d. 1934, 24 Apr, Stratford, Taranaki, New Zealand.
m. 1891, Oct 28, Broadmarsh, Tasmania
Thomas DAVIS was born 16 January 1867, in Hamilton, Tasmania1
. His parents were Samuel DAVIS and Margaret, née MILLER.
He was the sixth child in a family of eight, with one sister and
six brothers.
Thomas and Ruth Davis farmed at Pelham, near Hamilton in Tasmania, on a farm they called 'Nowhere Else'. Tom inherited his father's neighbouring farm, 'Inglefield', in 1908 after his mother's death, and the family moved there to live. In about 1923, the family moved to a leased farm, 'Willowbrook', 15 1/2 miles away at Black Brush, between Broadmarsh and Brighton.
Ruth became seriously ill with cancer, but she recovered sufficiently
to travel to New Zealand, where she died in 1934. After Ruth's
death Tom went to live in Hobart, and he died there in 1951 aged
83.
Children of Tom and Ruth Davis
| surname | given names | b. year | b. place | b. country | d. year | d. place | d. country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davis | Evelyn Marian | 1892 | Hamilton | Tasmania | 1956 | Otahuhu | New Zealand |
| Davis | Doris Frances | 1894 | Pelham | Tasmania | 1966 | New Plymouth | New Zealand |
| Davis | Gladys Irene | 1896 | Pelham | Tasmania | 1984 | . | . |
| Davis | Margaret Helen | 1898 | Pelham | Tasmania | 1933? | . | . |
| Davis | Kathleen Ruth | 1900 | Pelham | Tasmania | 1987 | Taumarunui | New Zealand |
| Davis | Charles Edward | 1902 | Pelham | Tasmania | . | . | . |
| Davis | Archibald Thomas | 1905 | Pelham | Tasmania | 1986 | New Plymouth | New Zealand |
| Davis | Jessie Effie | 1907 | Pelham | Tasmania | 1998 | Hobart | Tasmania |
| Davis | Thomas William | 1909 | . | Tasmania | 1972 | ||
| Davis | Allen Nehemiah | 1911 | Pelham | Tasmania | 1944 | Pacific |
Evelyn married James McKee CALWAY in 1919, and they had five
children. They lived in Fiji and New Zealand.
Doris married Charles Edward LAWRENCE in 1918, and they had five
children. They farmed in Taranaki, New Zealand. Doris also had
a daugther, adopted at birth.
Gladys married Arthur Henry DAY in 1920. Three children.
Margaret married Leslie TURNBULL. Three children.
Kath married Frederick Hans MATSEN in 1924, and I think they had
five children. They lived in New Zealand.
Charlie married Amy HAWES. One child.
Arch married 1. Stella LAWRENCE (sister to Doris' husband) in
1929. One child. Stella died from tetanus after a sidecar accident.
Arch married 2. Ethel Mildred WELLINGTON in 1946, and 3. Gweneth
JENKINS in 1966. Arch lived in New Zealand.
Jessie married Fred JORDAN about 1928. Five children. Fred died
about ten years after their marriage.
Tom married Corona Lucy BUGBY. Two children.
Allen married Sylvia Mary JAY. Four sons. Allen died while serving
in World War II.
Nehemiah Rogers was brought up in the town of Bocking in Essex, England. He was born on 3 December 1825 (not confirmed) to Nehemiah and Mary Rogers, and he had one brother, William. It is likely William was older than Nehemiah, as he isn't listed at Bradford St, Bocking with the family in the 1841 census.
In July 1845 Nehemiah was tried with Joseph Rogers at the Chelmsford Assizes for burglary. They were accused of breaking and entering the house of Joseph Bloomfield at 10 pm and stealing a box worth five shillings, a cash box worth two shillings, a tea caddy worth one shilling, four gold sovereigns (four pounds), seven gold half sovereigns (three pound ten shillings), four silver crowns (one pound), eight silver half crowns (one pound), twenty silver shillings (one pound) one hundred and twenty copper pennies (ten shillings) and one hundred and twenty half pennies (five shillings). The two young men were convicted of stealing £10 from Joseph Bloomfield and sentenced to 10 years transportation to Tasmania (Van Diemen's Land), including two years detention on Norfolk Island. Nehemiah was twenty, Joseph twenty-one, and both men were labourers.
Two weeks after their conviction Nehemiah and Joseph were moved from Springfield Gaol to Millbank Prison, on the shores of the River Thames in London. They spent a month there before embarking for Norfolk Island on the Mayda, a new ship built that year at Sunderland, a Durham port. The Mayda sailed from Woolwich on the Thames on 29 August 1845 with 199 male convicts aboard, and arrived at Norfolk Island 132 days later, on 8 January 1846. Although Sunderland-built vessels were usually fast and seaworthy, this was one of the slower convict voyages to Norfolk.
Convict records give detailed physical descriptions of the convicts. Nehemiah was described as having a fair complexion, oval head, auburn hair, no whiskers, long face, high forehead, brown eyebrows, hazel eyes, sharp aquiline nose, small mouth and a small chin, with tattoos on his left arm, and a scar on his right eyebrow. He could read and write imperfectly, and was single. He was a labourer, five foot four and a half inches tall, and this was his first conviction. His religion was Church of England and his native place was Bocking, Essex.
Nehemiah and Joseph remained on Norfolk Island for just under eighteen months, and were transferred to Tasmania on 19 May 1847 on the Pestonjee Bomanjee, which coincidentally was the same ship which later transported Nehemiah's future father-in-law to Tasmania.
Nehemiah's convict record listed his offences while a convict,
which included the following:
Feb 3rd 1847, while still on Norfolk Island: neglect of duty -
10 days solitary confinement.
Jan 9 1849, while at Cascades (now Koonya, on the Tasman Peninsula,
near Port Arthur): misconduct in altering government clothing;
? Hobart: larceny under £5
June 19 1850, Hobart: drunk and making use of indecent language
in a public street - 7 days solitary;
Nov 3 1851, Hobart: misconduct in being out after hours - 5 days
solitary;
Dec 17 1853: drunk and using obscene language - 10 days solitary;
Feb 13 1854 Hobart: misconduct in being in a public house at night
- 3 months hard labour.
Nehemiah married Catherine Fitzgerald on 29 Sep 1855, at Richmond, Tasmania. Catherine was also a transported convict, from Ireland. She was described on her marriage certificate as a spinster and a house servant, and Nehemiah was a mason, aged 29. Nehemiah and Catherine had four children, William, Nehemiah, born eleven months later, and twins Timothy and Margaret, born three years after Nehemiah. Timothy died in January 1862, aged fifteen months, and Catherine died five months later in Hobart from burns caused by accidentally falling into the fire in her hut. The three children were aged five, four and one, and Catherine and Nehemiah had been married six and a half years.
Nehemiah's second marriage to Mary Goggins was on 10 Feb 1863, at Green Ponds (now Kempton), Tasmania. Nehemiah was now thirty-six, a bricklayer, and Mary was a spinster aged twenty-one. They were married in the house of the Rev William Waterfield, according to the rites of the Congregational Church. Jessie Jordan said the Catholic priest had refused to marry them, because Nehemiah was a Protestant.
Mary bore eleven children - the first, Maria, was born in 1864, and the last, Hilda, was born twenty-eight years later, in 1892, when Nehemiah was 66 and Mary was 49. Nine of the children were girls, and two were boys.
On the 27th October 1872 Nehemiah's eldest son William from his first marriage accidentally shot himself in the yard of his grandfather, James Goggins. William was aged sixteen, a stonemason like his father. His brother Nehemiah, also a stonemason, shot himself in 1890. The only child from Nehemiah's first marriage to marry was Margaret Rogers, who married Alexander Sanders, a licensed victualler, in Hobart in 1887. She had seven children, and died in 1902 when the youngest was aged four.
We can get some idea of where Nehemiah lived and what he did from the information on birth, marriage, and death certificates. He worked as a stonemason, bricklayer, builder, plasterer, and farmer. He was described as a stonemason from 1855 to 1860, living in Oatlands in Jun 1856 and May 1857, and in Glamorgan in Sep 1860; in Jan 1862 he was a bricklayer in Hobart; in May 1862 he was a mason; in February 1863 he was a bricklayer. From 1864 to 1892 he was living in the Hamilton district, working as a stonemason a bricklayer until 1867. In 1874 and 1878 he described himself as a builder, in 1881 a mason, in 1884 a plasterer, and in 1887 a stonemason. In October 1891 and Apr 1892 he was a farmer.
At some stage, Nehemiah bought two blocks of land at Pelham, totalling 68 acres. Other nearby farms were owned by S. Davis (Tom Davis married Nehemiah's daughter Ruth), M. Pearsall (Wallace Pearsall married Miriam), N. Wrigley (Rebecca married Nelson Wrigley), and W.J. Blackwell (Mark married Hannah Blackwell).
Nehemiah died 27 January 1903 at Pelham, Tasmania, aged seventy-eight . His death certificate says the causes of death were Brights Disease(inflammation of the kidneys), Dropsy, and Syncope. His occupation was given as 'mason', but on Mary's death certificate in 1920 he was described as a farmer. His youngest child was aged 10 when he died.
Nehemiah Rogers' description:
From Nehemiah's convict records:
Complexion Fair
Head Oval
Hair Aub
Whiskers None
Visage Long
Forehead High
Eyebrows Brown
Eyes Hazel
Nose Sharp Acq
Mouth Small
Chin ditto (i.e. small)
Remarks When. M.A For England A Dart Heart Lock inside left
arm, below elbow - R outside wrist - Heart/ Dart back left Hand
scar over right eyebrow
Transcript of Nehemiah's trial record:
Essex
Puts himself. Jury say Guilty - To be Transported beyond the seas
for the term of Ten Years.
The Jurors for our Lady the Queen upon their Oath present, That
Nehemiah Rogers late of the Parish of Bocking in the County of
Essex Laborer and
Puts himself Like verdict and Judgement
Joseph Rogers late of the same place Laborer
on the Eighteenth Day of March in the eighth Year of the Reign
of our Sovereign Lady Victoria by the Grace of God, of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen Defender of the Faith,
about the hour of ten in the night of the same Day, with Force
and Arms, at the Parish aforesaid, in the County aforesaid, the
Dwelling-house of Joseph Bloomfield there situate, Feloniously
and Burglariously did break and enter with intent the Goods --
Chattels and Monies in the same Dwelling-house then and there
being, Feloniously and Burglariously to Steal, take, and carry
away, and then and there, with Force and Arms, One Box of the
value of Five shillings One Cash box of the value of two shillings
One Tea Caddy of the value of one shilling Four pieces of the
current Gold Coin of this realm called Sovereigns Seven pieces
of the current Gold Coin of this realm called Half Sovereigns
Four pieces of the current Silver Coin of this realm called Crowns
Eight pieces of the current Silver Coin of this realm called Half
Crowns Twenty pieces of the current Silver Coin of this realm
called shillings One hundred and twenty pieces of the current
Copper Coin of this realm called pence and One hundred and twenty
pieces of the current Copper Coin of this realm called halfpence
of the Goods -------- Chattels and Monies of the said Joseph Bloomfield
in the same Dwelling-house then and there being found, feloniously
and burglariously did steal, take and carry away, against the
Peace of our said Lady the Queen her Crown and Dignity.
Sources
I am very grateful for all the help I have received, and will
always welcome any additions or corrections to my information.Please
email me for any specific references.
I have had a lot of help from Jessie Jordan, Ivan Davis, Zelda Corner, Steve Pearsall, Gillian Don, Carole Tracey, Beryl Tracey, Tammy Woolley, Joan Loudon. I have also found information in the Tasmanian pre 1900 birth, marriage and death certificates, from the 'Tamiot' cemetery transciptions, and from the Archives Office of Tasmania.