The other children of Thomas and Hannah all born in Warehorne were Jane (1815); Mary (1816); Anne (1817); James (1824); Sarah (1828) and Charlotte (1832)

The children of Thomas and Abigail christened at Warehorne were James (bap 11 Sep 1773) who later married a Martha Brenchley (his second wife, the name of his first wife is unknown) and was listed as farming 10 acres in the 1851 census; Anne (bap 6 Jul 1777); John (bap 20 Jul 1783) described as a farm labourer in the 1851 census at which time he was lodging with his brother Thomas; Thomas and Mary (bap 16 Jan 1791).

The other children of Thomas Russell and Sarah Horton were Ann (b 1751), Martha (b 1752) and Rebekah (b 1754).

Although the handwritten document is difficult to decipher it seems as if Romney and Clarence may have been places to which he was assigned, and there is clearly a reference to a Chas Reed of Longford on 10th Sep 1849. The record also states that his ticket of leave was revoked on 14th September 1852 due to his being absent from a muster, but restored two weeks later because his absence was accounted for. He was then approved for a conditional pardon on 16th Nov 1852, having served seven and a half years of his sentence.

In fact Caroline was not dead at the time of the marriage of Thomas to Bridget. In the 1851 census, Caroline was living with her parents and siblings in Great Chart. She is recorded as Caroline Bensted and described as married. By the time of the 1861 census however, she had reverted to her original name, Caroline Day, and gave her status as widow, presumably because she had come to the realisation that Thomas had either died or was was not returning. She subsequently married again in 1882 at the age of 64 to Charles Spearpoint, and died six years later. One wonders about the feelings and memories of each other that may have been retained by Thomas and Caroline. We will never know, but it is sad to think that Caroline may have waited in vain for more than ten years in the hope that Thomas would one day return after the completion of his sentence.

According to the 'NSW Museums of History' and 'Companion to Tasmanian History' websites, apparently it was not uncommon in the early years for convicts to marry again in the colony even though they had already been married prior to conviction. Some acted in the belief that their spouse was dead, others either thought they would never see their spouse again or believed incorrectly that transportation annulled marriage.

At the same time families of convicts sometimes accompanied their convict relations or came out later. A convict who had received his ticket-of-leave was entitled to apply to have his wife and family sent out at government expense. It was thought that such a scheme would help to redress the imbalance of gender in the colonies and provide an incentive to good behaviour among the male convicts.

Death certificates of Thomas Sr and Hannah were supplied by Jill Bant another descendant of Thomas and Bridget.

The workhouses system in England evolved in order to provide for those unable to support themselves by offering accommodation and employment. They soon gained a grim reputation as life in a workhouse was intended to be harsh, to deter the able-bodied poor and to ensure that only the truly destitute would apply. Following the 1834 Amendments to the Poor Laws, individual parishes were formed into Poor Law Unions, each of which was to have a union workhouse. More than 500 were built during the next 50 years, two-thirds of them by 1840. Warehorne was one of the parishes served by the Willesborough workhouse. Applicants had to be assessed and approved for admission after which they were segregated according to age and gender. Initially it was hoped that work undertaken by the inmates would produce a profit for their workhouses, or at least allow them to be be self-supporting, but by the 1840's they largely housed only the incapable, elderly and sick.

I have been unable to find a death certificate for Hannah the first born of the family. John married Mary Cunningham in 1902 and died at Warragul in 1938. The couple appear not to have had any children. Further information about Johannah (Hannah) is recorded in footnote [21] below. Thomas married a Harriett Welsh in 1901 and fathered five children. He died at Fitzroy in 1940. Bridget married twice, first to Alf Hooper in 1886 by whom she had a daughter, and later to James Allison in 1899 by whom she had another daughter. Bridget died at Brunswick in 1933. James married Frances Bonnet in 1899 and the couple had at least five children. He died at Werribee in 1951. I have found no record of Patrick ever marrying and he died at Rochester (Vic) in 1935. Catherine married Robert Jarvis in 1894 and had at least 9 children. She died at South Yarra in 1949.

John and Hannah Olson had four children:- Sarah Matilda (Tilly) (later Mrs Headland 1888-1964); Nellie Elizabeth (later Mrs Scanlon, 1889-1961); Charles (b1890) and Annie May (later Mrs Upton, 1893-1977).

John Olson died on July 27th 1932, aged 72 yrs. Hannah died on May 29th, 1946 aged 82 yrs. There is also a memorial on the grave to Charles Olson of the 29th Battalion AIF who died on Sept 6th 1918, aged 28 yrs, and who is buried in the Teheran War Cemetery in Iran.

Charles Olson was a 25yr old blacksmith living with his parents at 26 Donald St Footscray at the time he enlisted on July 17th 1915. He was 5' 8" tall, 10 stone 7 lbs in weight with a chest measurement of 33/36 inches. He had a clear complexion, light blue eyes and brown hair with a scar on his right forearm. His religious denomination was recorded as Roman Catholic.

After some training in Australia he sailed for overseas in Nov 1915. He disembarked from the "Ascanius" at Suez on Dec 7th and joined the 29th Battalian at Tel-el-Kebir in March 1916. He contracted Enteric Fever and was pronounced dangerously ill at the end of March.

It was not until September of that year that he recovered sufficiently to be discharged from hospital. By this time the 29th Battalian had embarked for France and as part of the 5th Division took part in the battle of Fromelles (south of Armentieres) in July 1916. Probably Charles had rejoined his unit by the time it had been ordered south to the Somme in October. The 5th Division entered the front line on the night of Oct 21-22, just north of Gueudecourt, and thereafter shared responsibility for holding this section of the line south of Bapaume with the 2nd Australian Division. The 5th occupied the forward positions until Nov 5th and again from Nov 22nd till Dec 23rd.