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| The Scarborough on which Frederick Meredith arrived in 1788 |
So I have settled on a name which will be impenetrable to most people.
Fort Denison is the name of an island in Sydney Harbour and it was once known as Pinchgut - for the reason that convicts were sent there as punishment and did not get much to eat during their stay.
I am descended from Frederick Meredith who arrived with the first fleet which landed in Sydney in 1788. He was a free man but had a few problems with the law and a possum and apparently ended up on Pinchgut for a while.
This is not recorded in the histories I have read - but is the subject of anecdotal evidence in various reports and diaries. I like the thought of my ancestor arriving as a free man but ending up briefly as a convict. So I thought I would use the island as the name of my blog. Because why not.
For a time I lived in an apartment on the harbour and could see Pinchgut from my window - and could just imagine what it would have been like in 1788.
Frederick Meredith married three times and the third time was to Sarah Mason who was a convict who arrived on the second fleet. These are my grandparents a few times removed.
Up until the sixties people hid their connection to the first fleet and convicts but these days it is a badge of honour. There is a First Fleet Society and of course I am a member and have chart on my office wall showing the names of all the first fleeters.
I never tire of boring people senseless with the tales of my relatives from long ago.
