Billy Blue Research Paper

William Blue also known as Billy Blue was born in 1767 in Jamaica, New York City. However, in 1796 Blue was living in Deptford, London, working as a chocolate maker and a labourer in ships in the River Thames. Later that year on the 4th October at Maidstone, Kent, Blue was convicted of stealing raw sugar and was sentenced to seven years’ transportation.
Blue was travelling onboard a convict ship called Minorca with 297 other convicts. The convicts were housed below deck, in tiny confined spaces behind prison bars. The convicts were restrained in chains but were sometimes allowed up on deck for fresh air and exercise. By 1801 surgeons were employed to travel on the convict ships to make the voyages more successful which led to fewer deaths. By then …show more content…
When the convicts arrived at their location they were admitted to their jail and were expected to work from sunrise to sunset. Male convicts were generally assigned to do hard physical labour whereas female convicts were more likely to work as household servants. Some of the convicts had special skills and had work assigned that related to their skill.
By 1804, after Blue had finished his sentence, he was living at The Rocks with an ex-convict Elizabeth Williams. They were married on 27th April 1805 and were said to have six children. Five years later Blue was appointed harbour watchman and constable by Governor Macquarie, which gave him the name; ‘The Old Commodore’. This source is from a newspaper publishing of ‘the Black Commodore Billy Blue’, which refers to Blue working in the harbour and being recognised for his bubbly character, it also talks about when he died which was on 7th May 1834.
Later in 1817, Governor Lachlan Macquarie gave Blue a land grant at a place which is now known as Blues Point, one of the first ferry services in Sydney. This source is from an article called ‘Lavender and Blue on the North