Most of the postings on this blog have been about my family. When I first started doing genealogical research, however, I was as passionate about exploring my husband’s family a I was my own. I posted about one of the most rewarding experiences in my quest when I wrote about finding William and Grace Dryden Spindle living in Virginia on land that had been in the Spindle family since the late 1700s.
Now another opportunity in the Spindle arena has arisen.
Reading Dick Eastman’s newsletter this morning, I found the following from Nathan W. Murphy:
Can you provide convincing evidence that an ancestor was one of the 50,000 English convicts transported to Colonial America in the 1700s? If so, and you’re one of the first 50 people to contact him, a professional genealogist in Salt Lake City is offering to research that person’s life and overseas origins for you FOR FREE.
Nathan W. Murphy, MA, AG, an expert in tracing transported convicts and indentured servants in Colonial America is collecting information on these immigrants for his Ph.D. dissertation. He’ll be happy to provide a written report of his finds at no charge. You may contact him at nmurphy@pricegen.com or visit his website at www.pricegen.com/nathanwmurphy.html to learn more.
I immediately submitted “our” John Spindle, progenitor of our Spindle line in the Americas. This entry at the online records from the Proceedings of the Old Bailey is my husband’s 4th great-grandfather:
23. John Spindle was indicted for stealing a Feather Bed, 2 Pillows, a Quilt, a Coat, a Waistcoat, a Jacket, and 2 Cotton Shirts, the Goods of Benjamin Cook , in the Ship call’d the Isabella , the 29th of April last. Guilty 10 d.
We originally found John Spindle in one of Peter Coldham’s books about convicts who had been sentenced to transportation. John Spindle arrived in the Colonies in 1732 aboard a ship named the Cesear.
Despite his inauspicious beginnings, John did pretty well for himself. If he didn’t marry the boss’ daughter, he did marry well–Bridget Martin, daughter of John Martin. He died as owner of a 4 plantations, as the farms were then called, and he left that land to his children.
I sincerely hope that John gets chosen to be one of the lucky research subjects. We have not been able to link John to a specific family back in London, though I have not worked as diligently on that particular issue as I have some others.
Stay tuned, I’ll keep you posted on whether John makes the cut.