Elijah Herbert (General)

by Jean Herbert , Leeds Yorkshire, Friday, June 06, 2014, 13:51 (3824 days ago) @ dink999

Many many thanks to the people who have taken the time to look up and post information on Eligha. We are astounded at what has "come out of the woodwork". Initially we had some sympathy with Eligha and the sheep stealing episode, thinking that probably he had done it to feed his family. It turns out that he was the leader of a gang of hardened criminals, who were tried and convicted with him. He was sentenced to a combination of aprox 30 years. If he didn't die before the sentence was carried out, it would be assumed that there would be a record of his death but so far none has been found. If was actually transported, the time he would spend in the country he had been sent to would be more than the time he had lived in Gloucestershire. If this is so, and he survived, he would have been more Australian than British and may not have wanted to come home. Maybe he died on board ship or in Australia. There are so many possibilities and "what ifs" surrounding Eligha. I wonder if any of the gang of robbers he lead had families still in Australia and could shed some light on this mystery. Thank you all once again