Bartholomew Reardon & Hannah Flinger
First Fleet · Second Fleet · Norfolk Island
Bartholomew Reardon was the fifth of my First Fleet ancestors. Like Nathaniel Lucas, he arrived at Sydney Cove aboard Scarborough in January 1788. His journey would also take him to Norfolk Island, where another branch of my Tasmanian family began.
There he formed a family with Hannah, usually recorded as Hannah Rowney or Ronay, who had arrived with the Second Fleet aboard Lady Juliana. Their daughter Frances Reardon was born on Norfolk Island in 1794.
Bartholomew would never make the final journey to Tasmania. He died on Norfolk Island in 1807. But Hannah and Frances did—and through them, his First Fleet story became part of my Tasmanian story.
Bartholomew — The First Fleet
Bartholomew was a shoemaker living at Gosport in Hampshire. In 1783 he was convicted of receiving a stolen trunk and sentenced to seven years’ transportation.
His first attempt to reach America as a transported prisoner ended when a mutiny forced the Swift back to England. He was subsequently held aboard the prison hulk Censor before being placed aboard Scarborough for the voyage of the First Fleet.
After arriving at Sydney Cove in 1788, Bartholomew was eventually sent to Norfolk Island aboard Sirius in 1790. His sentence expired, but Norfolk Island became his home.
Hannah — The Second Fleet
Hannah had been convicted in London of stealing books and sentenced to seven years’ transportation. She arrived in Australia aboard Lady Juliana with the Second Fleet and was soon sent to Norfolk Island.
There her life became intertwined with Bartholomew’s. Their children were among the first generations of Australian-born members of my family
Frances Reardon — From Norfolk Island to Tasmania
Their daughter Frances Reardon was born on Norfolk Island on 12 October 1794.
In 1807, after Bartholomew’s death, Frances left Norfolk Island with her mother for Van Diemen’s Land. The Norfolk Island muster records Frances as the daughter of Bartholomew and Hannah, while First Fleet family records document Hannah and Frances among those who made the move to Tasmania.
Frances later married Thomas Williams, and it is through their descendants that Bartholomew Reardon’s First Fleet line continues into my family.
The Fifth Line Comes Home
Bartholomew Reardon’s family followed a different path from my other four First Fleet lines.
From his Norfolk Island-born daughter Frances, the line continued through the Williams family, then through Susannah Williams and Ann Phillips. From there it passed into the Wilson family and eventually the Atkinson family.
Generations later, Alice Annie Wilson married Thomas Atkinson. Their descendants included my maternal grandfather, Stanley Howard Atkinson.
The line continued through Stanley Howard Atkinson → Lexie Pearl Atkinson → Shirley Fay Hyland → me.
So Bartholomew’s story did eventually meet the other First Fleet lines—not on Norfolk Island and not in nineteenth-century Longford, but generations later within my own Tasmanian family.
Five First Fleet journeys. Five different paths. One family.