Thomas Kidner / Jane Whiting
Thomas Kidner (sometimes referred to as Kidney) was born in North Petherton, Somerset, in 1765. With four others
he was tried at Bristol on 30 Oct 1782 for stealing 4 pieces of Irish Linen valued at 6 pounds. He was sentenced to
7 years, and kept in gaol until early 1786 before being transferred to the 'Censor' hulk, then transported in 1787 to
Botany Bay on the 'Alexander' with the First Fleet. He was listed as a stone cutter and in 1789 he was made
'A Free Man' before being sent to Norfolk Island (Nov 1789) on the 'Supply'.
Thomas and Jane were probably married on Norfolk Island in 1795 by the Rev. Samuel Marsden. They had two children, Thomas Jnr (b. 1795) and Ann (b. 1798). In 1796 Thomas was granted 15 acres of land overlooking Ball Bay.
In 1805 Thomas and Jane and the two children sailed on the HMS 'Buffalo' for Port Jackson (Sydney) - before leaving the land grant was revoked. Thomas & Thomas Jnr later returned to Norfolk Island and in 1807 they were on the 'Lady Nelson' bound for the Derwent River in Van Diemens Land. Wife Jane and daughter Ann were not listed with them but reported as living in Hobart later - Jane was pardoned in 1809.
There appear to be no records showing Thomas and Jane together in Van Diemens Land - they seem to have gone their separate ways.
Thomas and Jane are both named (separately) at a Hobart Town convict muster in 1811.
Note that James Morrisby also appears on the same page as Thomas.
Also, Jane is recorded under the name 'Whiting'. Her burial record (Sep 1826 - now under the name Kidner) refers to her as a 'Poor Woman', possibly indicating that she had been on her own when she died.
In 1809 Thomas was granted 22 acres of land at Brown's River and in 1810 was living on land at Sandy Bay (above Wrest Point- area formerly known as Queenborough) although this land was not officially granted until 1813 (as compensation for the land relinquished when he left Norfolk Island).
By 1818 he seems to have been linked to the shipping business with interests in the 'Jupiter' and later the 'Spring, which traded between Sydney, the Derwent and Kangaroo Island. No record has been found of Thomas' death, though Jane is reported to have referred to herself as a widow prior to her death.
Jane was initially sentenced to death, but this was later commuted to transportation for the 'term of her natural life'. She was transported on the ‘Lady Juliana’ (Second Fleet), arriving in Port Jackson in 1790, and in August of that year went to Norfolk Island on the ‘Surprize’.
(Note that these were the same ships/dates as Ann Brooks)
Jane Whiting was tried for 'theft with violence' in Middlesex in 1789. At the trial she indicated that her age was close to 14 and that her mother lived in Peter Street, Westminster. A Jane Whiting was baptised at Westminster in 1773 - a discrepancy of a couple of years from age indicated at trial, but may well have been the same Jane. Note also that at Jane's burial (1826) her age is given as 50.