Baptism

I have not been able to find a baptism record for Richard Drayton at Isleham or any other parish within several miles of Isleham.

In the 1841 Census he was living next door to Thomas Drayton & Martha (née Reader) but tracing Thomas' ancestry did not help. Martha was a second wife but the first wife may have been Ann (née Drayton) so she could have been the connection to Richard.

I think the most likely situation is that he was the son of William Drayton and Mary (née Brown) who married in 1792. Their children included William (bap. 1792), Elizabeth (2 baptisms in 1794 but no burial record for the first) and Ann (bap. 1813).

Transportation

Richard Drayton was tried at the Cambridge County Sessions in 1842 on a charge of larceny. He was sentenced to 7 years’ transportation. It was the practice for prisoners being transported to be held in decommissioned ships known as prison hulks. In Richard Drayton’s case he was held at Portsmouth on the Leviathan which had fought at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Records show that the offence was breaking into a dovecote and stealing 24 pigeons. Apparently he had previous convictions recorded as “3 mths for coals; for leaving my wife 1 mth”.

He was transported along with about 390 other convicts on the Moffatt which set sail from Plymouth 10th August 1842 and arrived at Van Diemen’s Land (now known as Tasmania) 10th April 1843.

Shipping records state that he was 5ft 9ins tall and that he had 5 children.

I have not found him in the 1851 or later censuses and presume he never came back.