George Best

[Kit]

George Best was transported to Australia on the William and Ann and arrived August 1791. He later married Martha Chamberlain, another convict, and had numerous children. He died in 1836.

What happened in Australia I know about but his reason for arriving has me confused.

I have a partial copy of court documents stating that George stole property from William Cheeseman the elder, in East Peckham, Kent. He was tried at the Maidstone Assizes and sentenced to death. The sentence was later commuted to transportation for life.

Having a look at ancestry today and records I have had for years, the records of his arrival all state George was tried in Coventry, which is nowhere near Kent.

I have not been able to find a birth for George, but have ruled out what is on many online trees - James and Frances are not his parents. Their George died in England in 1818.

I have never found any newspaper accounts of the trial in Maidstone, nor any record of William Cheeseman.

I'd love to find a DOB for George but for now I'm trying to make sure that the George who was tried at Maidstone is actually my George.