Lot 632

Description

Convict love token, (on a cartwheel penny?), obverse, engraved `Elizabeth Taylor / to / Charles Taylor / God bless you my / Dear', reverse, engraved `A token of Love / to / My dear Husband / 1827' between the 18 and 27, two overlapping love hearts with arrow through. Nearly very fine.

Found in Sydney this keepsake which drips with emotion appears to be the only surviving token given by a wife to a husband to carry with him to Australia. Interestingly four Charles Taylor's arrived in Australia in the relevant time frame, however two can be confidently discounted due to age (15 years) and the point of disembarkation (Hobart). The third Charles Taylor, who was transported for life, arrived on the `Asia' on the 19th November 1827 and appears in the Convict Muster of 1837 as a 29 year old. The emotion contained in the token would seem unlikely to apply to a husband who would have been nineteen in 1827. The final and strongest candidate for `My dear Husband' is Charles Taylor who was transported for life on the `Marquis of Hastings' on the 14th April 1827. His death at age 47 was recorded on the 18th August 1839 at Bathurst very soon after he was pardoned, and before he could be reunited with his dear wife.