Richard Towns Townsend
- Born: 1821, Stevington, Bedfordshire England
- Christened: 1829, Stevington, Bedfordshire England
- Marriage (1): Ruth White on 12 Jun 1839 in Bedford, Bedfordshire England
- Died: 29 Mar 1870, Armidale, NSW Australia at age 49
General Notes:
Elizabeth Striplin notes:
Records show:
England and Wales Criminal Registers:
April 1838 - age 16 for fraud (Richard Towns)
October 1840 - age 19 for Sheep Stealing (Richard Townsend)
6 July 1841 (Suffolk) - age 21, Richard and his brother Thomas were both accused of (not legible but could be larceny) and were sentenced 'transportation' for 7 years.
31 March 1845 he was on board the vessel 'Elizabeth' bound for NSW, Australia as follows:
Richard Towns - Labourer - 22
Ruth Towns - Lacemaker - 24
James Towns - Son 5
Sarah Towns - Daughter 1
Richard Townsend's death made the newspapers (unfortunately)
The Manaro Mercury, and Cooma and Combala Advertiser (NSW 1862-1931), Saturday 7 May 1870 page 7
(National Library of Australia) www.nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113957878 <http://www.nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113957878> reads as follows:
SUFFOCATED BY DRINK.
Another terrible instance of death through excessive drinking is related in the Armidale Express:
On Tuesday, Richard Townsend and his wife came into Armidale to get their two daughters baptised. In the night, when Mrs Townsend looked for her husband, she found him lying drunk in Marsh Street. He was lifted into the dray, and the party went off home. Townsend, living about 12 miles from town, near the Rocky. Shortly after reaching his place, he was found dead and quite cold, in the dray. Mrs Townsend subsequently thought that he must have been dying when put into the dray, although she did not then think anything was wrong with him except intoxication, which he was addicted to. A post-mortem examination by Dr. Spasshatt showed that the lungs were thoroughly congested, the other organs being in a healthy state. The Coroner's jury returned a verdict of death from suffocation brought on by drink.
Noted events in his life were:
• connection.
Richard married Ruth White, daughter of Thomas White and Lucy Hutchins, on 12 Jun 1839 in Bedford, Bedfordshire England. (Ruth White was born in 1819 in Stevington, Bedfordshire England, christened on 23 Apr 1820 in Stevington, Bedfordshire England, died on 17 Jul 1883 in Mount Butler, near Armidale, NSW Australia and was buried in Saumarez Ponds, near Armidale, NSW Australia.)
|
