With a few exceptions, the Debenhams who travelled to Australia
did so voluntarily rather than as part of the criminal transportation process (but
I am always receptive to new evidence that may tell another story!) In 1827 a
John Debenham, then 36 years old and a farm labourer, was transported for life for the
offence of "robbing lodges"; in 1833 a Thomas Debnam alias Steadman, an 18 year
old chimney sweep, was sentenced to 7 years for stealing money and a watch; and by 1838
three Deadmans had received sentences of 7 to 14 years for offences of machine breaking,
highway robbery and stealing a cap. These apart, the Australian Debenhams appear
to have been a law-abiding lot.
From the mid-19th Century onwards the Australian Debenhams grew in number as
families formed and grew, and there is a quantity of Birth, Marriage and Death
information held by the various State authorities in consequence. The available
records of Births, Marriages and Deaths relating to the name are set out here in
three documents that may be downloaded.
The local authorities 'down under' were not always at their best
when spelling English names, so to try to ensure a comprehensive coverage a number
of variants of the surname have been included, and these are evident from the
"Surname" column of the tables. They include in particular the common variant
Debnam, which originated in England as a contraction of Debenham on
various occasions in the 17th and 18th centuries, and many of the Australian
Debnams are no doubt of this descent. Others are probably Debenhams whose name
was wrongly recorded in Australia.
There are many Dedmans and Deadmans recorded, particularly in Victoria and South
Australia, and it is thought that a number of these originated as local variants
or misspellings of Debenham. Because of their quantity they have been recorded
separately, and are available for download in three further documents - see below.
They are in Adobe Acrobat format, and you will need the
Acrobat Reader software to read them. This software is available free for all
current operating systems. Click on the button for a link to the Adobe site.
"Debenham Births in Australia" (21 Kilobytes) - Download
"Debenham Marriages in Australia" (23 Kilobytes) - Download
"Debenham Deaths in Australia" (17 Kilobytes) - Download
"Dedman Births in Australia" (31 Kilobytes) - Download
"Dedman Marriages in Australia" (24 Kilobytes) - Download
"Dedman Deaths in Australia" (20 Kilobytes) - Download
