Due to the huge success of our initial First Fleeters Series, we have decided to continue with part 2. As always take extra care when geocaching and even though these roads are quiet they are still thoroghfares for many vehecles each day. We have combined our love of geocaching with our love of Australian history and found some very inetresting stories for you.
It is a simple park and grab power trail series which can include tree fishing (please be very careful gaining the log out and returning), suitable for beginners and for those that wish to boost the old Smilies tally for others. Please read each caches attributes. Please be very mindful of how busy this country road can be at times. All care has been taken to only place these caches were safe parking is available.
In regards to the tree fishing caches, IT IS YOUR CHOICE IF YOU UTILISE A TOTT, OR YOUR OWN EQUIPMENT, OR JUST SIMPLY CLIMB THE TREE, IT IS YOUR DECISION. THE TERRAIN RATING IS A GUIDE ONLY.
Please note: These caches have been placed in a rural or country area and as such the road verges may not be manicured and may have thorns, thistles, burrs and most probably overgrown grass. If in summer there is a high chance for reptiles including snakes, lizards and monitors to be active and there will be lots of spiders.
Since this is a power trail containing a lot of caches we DO NOT expect a hundred find blurbs, a simple TYFTC or F (ound) is accepted and preferred. There is no need to send us a big blurb for each one that contains the same message. However if there is a genuine story to tell please share.
The devices we use to determine the GPS Co ords are a garmin Quintrex (which uses 1 satellite) and a mobile device with a an app that uses up to 40 satellites. But we are human and mistakes can be made, and we always provide a hint. This is geocaching and you are looking for a cache so at some point you just have to trust your geosenses.
GEOCACHING IS A FAMILY OUTDOOR ENTERTAINMENT FOR US, SO PLEASE KIND AND CONSIDERATE WITH YOUR COMMENTS IN YOUR LOG. HAPPY CACHING!
Ruth Bowyer
(c. 1761 – 5 June 1788), also known as Ruth Baldwin, was an English convict sent to Australia aboard a ship of the First Fleet. Convicted in 1786 for the theft of five spoons from a Surrey hotel, she was sentenced to seven years' transportation but died two years later and was buried beside the shore of Sydney cove.
According to evidence at her trial, Bowyer had on 7 October approached James Coombes, an ironmonger in Windsor, asking to buy a gold ring in exchange for silver spoons. She had told Coombes that her name was Bowyer, and gave her address as the Six Bells Hotel in the town. Coombes doubted the spoons were hers to sell, and returned them to her after examining their monograms. Later he recognised the monograms as those from the Bush Hotel, and wrote to innkeeper White to advise him of the attempted sale.
A colleague of White's, publican Richard Martin, gave evidence that he, White and a local magistrate had then travelled to Egham to confront Bowyer in her home. Bowyer and her aunt were arrested and taken to Martin's hotel, the Castle. Bowyer had denied taking the spoons or attempting to sell them to Coombes, but was contradicted by Coombes himself who arrived to identify her.
Local constable James Fish also gave evidence, indicating he had attended the Castle Hotel at midnight on 7 October, and the following morning he and Bowyer had travelled to Windsor where she pointed out the spoons hidden in a hedge but claimed that another woman had put them there. The spoons were shown to White, who identified them as those stolen from him the preceding June.
Bowyer's only testimony was to tell the court, "I am not guilty of the crime; I have no witnesses." She was found guilty of feloniously stealing five spoons with a combined worth of 30 shillings, and was sentenced to seven years penal transportation.
The First Fleet at voyage's end in 1788. Engraving from The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay
Bowyer was returned to Newgate Prison where she remained for the next six months. On 30 April 1787 she and 36 other women were brought to Portsmouth and embarked aboard the convict transport "Prince of Wales". Ten other female convicts were also brought from prison hulks on the Thames, bringing to 47 the total number of convicts aboard the ship.
Prince of Wales sailed from Portsmouth on 13 May 1787 as part of the First Fleet to Australia. Due to an administrative oversight, no female clothing had been brought aboard and Bowyer and her fellow convicts remained in their increasingly ragged prison apparel until 6 August, when the ship reached Rio and was resupplied. Near Rio, humid conditions and heavy rains generated a "plague of bugs" below decks with more than a hundred insects found in one small sleeping area alone. There were also reports of rats, fleas and lice, and an outbreak of scurvy in late December.
The Fleet reached Botany Bay on 18 January 1788, and relocated to Sydney Cove eight days later. On disembarkation around 200 of the male convicts from the Fleet were set to work clearing the foreshore and constructing huts. Female convicts including Bowyer were left to their own devices, subsisting on a limited ration of salted meat, rancid butter and shellfish. Conditions were harsh and Bowyer was one of 94 convicts who fell seriously ill within the first six months of arrival. She died on 5 June 1788, less than two years into her sentence, and was buried along the shoreline of the Cove.
Information gained from the Collection and reserach webpage NSW State archives under convict index