THOMAS HILTON TENNANT (aka PHILIP DEVINE) -
ALEXANDER
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The descendants
of this man spell his name as in this heading. But his
tombstone reads Phillip Devine, and he is mentioned in
records as Divin and Divine. He also had an alias —
Thomas Hilton Tennant. Some of his children changed the
name to Thomas. This account will refer to him as Philip
Devine.
On 6 March, 1786, he was tried for stealing "one Dowlas
shirt of the value of 2 shillings one Hempen shirt of
the value of 2 shillings one woman's Scarlet cloth Cloak
of the value of 5 shillings one pair of woman's Stayes of
the value of 5 shillings 2 Silver Tea Spoons of the
value of 2 shillings 2 Steel Razors of the value of 6d
and one linen Pillow Case of the value of 4d." He was
found guilty and sentenced to seven years
transportation. His occupation was given as currier and
his age as 25 years. He was transported to Sydney Cove
on Alexander.
After being given 200 lashes for stealing, he was sent
to Norfolk Island on Sirius and became a farmer on a
small allotment at Sydney Town. He lived with Ann Doyle,
a convict who had arrived on Lady Juliana. They had
four children, Sarah 1791, Rebecca 1794, Edward 1796 and
Thomas 1798. He was again punished for using seed corn
for food.
By 1805 the family had broken up. Philip and his son
Edward went to Van Diemen's Land briefly but returned
to NSW and settled on land in the Windsor district. Ann
Doyle left Norfolk Island in 1808 with William Parsons,
taking three children with her. These children married
in Tasmania and remained there to leave behind many
descendants. Rebecca married into the well-known Reiby family.
Edward married Rosetta Pearson and became a farmer in
Richmond. They had seven children and many descendants
of these still live in the district.
Philip Devine died on 9 February 1821 and was buried at
St John's Cemetery at Wilberforce the following day.
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