The Seventh Generation: Exploring the journey of Charlotte (Birrpai Goori woman) and James Bugg (her English convict husband), and their descendants through to today, with reflection on the law of the seven generations

Abstract

<p>My 3^rd Great-Grandfather on my mother’s side of our family, James (Jimmy) Bugg, was convicted for stealing meat in Essex in 1825 and sentenced for life in the British penal colony of New South Wales. In January 1827 he was placed as assigned labour with the Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) which had received a million acre grant from the Colonial Government, across the lands of the Worimi, Gringhai and Birrpai2 peoples. He became an Overseer of Shepherds, and within 4 years he partnered, and later married my 3^rd Great Grandmother, a Goori woman who had been given the English name, Charlotte. Charlotte and James Bugg had eight children and part of their life together is documented in the historical records of the AACo as well as other sources such as Court transcripts, Church Records and Colonial Secretary Correspondence (CSC). As an inter-racial couple, they fought off challenges from the Church, the government, and some within the Goori community, to successfully raise their children and remain together until Charlotte’s death, aged 48 in 1861. Their life was an example of a successful cross-cultural marriage, albeit one that was weighted towards assimilation into the emerging domineering culture of British colonialism.</p>