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Oooohhhh, silly me, of course I know it stands for bachelor, I shouldn't go on here 1st thing in the morning, brain not working - was thinking S was for single!

Joy

I have been told that a Edward Dicker was charged with embezzlement in 1851, he was sentenced to 6 calendar months imprisonment.

Have checked old bailey online, but cannot find any details of the above.

Does anyone know where I might be able to look to see if this information might be correct, there was no address or age given.

Thanks again, Joy

I have found the same as you mention above:

Edward Dicker
Date of Trial: 13 Oct 1851
Trial Year: 1851
Location of Trial: Oxfordshire, England
Sentence: Imprisonment
Crime: See Image
Date of Execution or Release: See Image

OXFORD JOURNAL - Saturday 11 October 1851

Commitments to the County Gaol for the Sessions:

- Edward Dicker for embezzling 12s from his master.

Having a criminal record would be a good reason to change your name !!

Good point Barry! Obviously convicts were sent to Oz, but if someone was emigrating of their own accord would having a criminal record go against them, might that be when he changed his name?

You say he was married in February 1857. Edward was using the Dicker surname at the time of his marriage.

He's a sergeant which means he must've been in the army for some time. 77th regiment was at Crimea, 1854-1855. If you google this - LC-USZC4-9160 - you will find a photo of men of the 77th at Crimea.

77th Regiment service in Australia, 1857 - 1858. They came from Ireland (Richmond Barracks were in Dublin) and then went to India to quell the sepoy mutiny. He is Edward Dicker on the webpage "Australia's Red Coat Settlers".

His marriage and his service in Australia are after 1851. So I doubt he changed his name because of his prison sentence.

Ozi

Update: More snippets - "In June 1857 the regiment embarked at Kingstown on board the freight ships 'Orwell' and 'Palmerston' .... "The 77th Regiment arrived in Sydney in mid 1857 to replace the 11th Regiment that had been in the colony for 11 years. In November 1857 the regiment had already received orders to reinforce India where the Indian Mutiny was in progress. "

"The regt remained in Sydney until April 1858 ....." arriving at "..Calcutta on 11 June ..."

Thanks again everyone, for you thoughts & ideas on why Edward/George might have changed his name.

Note - that Alfred Joseph was born 17 Dec 1857, but was not registered until 6 Apr 1858, which was about the time that the Regt. was leaving N.S.W.

I'll throw another idea into the mix, could it possible that he went A.W.O.L. so he could stay in Australia, changing his name soon after, as mentioned at the beginning of this thread, his second child was born under the name of Watson.

Joy

I think you may be on the money about going AWOL, Joy.

If you haven't already got it - possible for Charlotte's baptism:

Charflotte Watkins baptised 23 January 1803 Stratfield Saye Hampshire

Parents Joseph Watkins and Elizabeth

IGI Batch No K139442