Family:Unknown Presnell and Sarah Unknown (1)

It was reported in the Hobart Town Gazette (p. 2 c. 1) on 4 January 1823 that Mrs S. Presnell and family arrived on "Regalia" on 30 December 1822. The Captain was T. Collins. It is not known exactly who the members of the family were.

The obituary for Sarah in the Hobart Town Gazette on 29 March 1823 (p. 2 c. 1) reads: "Died: On Thursday morning last, after a short illness, Mrs Presnell, mother of Mr William Presnell of Argyle Street, leaving a numerous family both in this colony and in England to mourn her loss. The deceased arrived only a few months ago from England, in apparently good health and lived to see the 86th year of her age."

In the light of this obituary, it seems very likely that the Sarah who came to Australia on Regalia was the mother of the convict William Presnell. It has been established that he did live in Argyle Street for much of the time he was in Van Diemen's Land. As Thomas, James and John were not mentioned in the obituary, it has not been possible to confirm with certainty that they are actually children of Sarah and brothers of William. However, there is certainly a strong connection between them all and it seems likely that the connection made is correct, or at least close. The identity of Sarah's parents and husband still remain a mystery. There have been some feasible suggestions made, but none are completely convincing. Among these are the following:

• It has been suggested that she is Sarah TOOTH born c1741 in East Grinstead, Sussex, England, daughter of William TOOTH and Sarah REED. This Sarah married James PRESNELL on 26 May 1765 at Piddinghoe, Sussex. James was born c1738 at Barcombe, Sussex to Thomas PRESNELL and Jane MARWICK. James and Sarah had a son Thomas baptised at Piddinghoe in 1772 which is reasonably close to the c1769 indicated by other information on Thomas. No record has been found of an appropriate baptism date for William or John as a son of this couple. Some other children of this couple for whom she has presumably found baptisms: Sarah PRESNELL (c1767 - ???), Mary PRESNELL (c1769 - ???), Jenny PRESNELL (c1774 - ???), Elizabeth PRESNELL (c1776 - ???), Phillis PRESNELL (c1778 - ???), Thomas Hugh PRESNELL (c1782 - ???). Having another child named Thomas is of some concern when considering this couple as contenders for the parents of William, Thomas, James and John. (See http://freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~tcowley/index.htm)

• Another possibility for Sarah's identity is Sarah (maiden name not known) who together with Thomas PRESNELL had the following children baptised at St Mary's, Leyton, Essex: Thomas 1774, James 1778, Ann 1780, Sarah 1782, Joseph 1784, John 1787 and Lucy 1789 (from BVRI2, FHL Film 1564254). James and John's baptism dates both coincide with their approximate birth dates calculated from other information while Thomas' is about 5 years later than may have been expected. Another concern with identifying this Sarah as the mother of William who died at the given age of 85, is that she would have been about 50 when James was born and 52 at the time of the birth of Lucy.

The major difficulty with both of these women being identified as the mother of William is that no record for the baptism of William has yet been found. While these two women are possibilities as the Sarah who so bravely travelled to Australia as a free passenger in a convict ship at the approximate age of 85, there is still more work to be done to confirm her identity.