was sentenced at the Old Bailey on 7 July 1784 to transportation for seven years on the charge that being a profligate person he had obtained some books by false pretences and attempted to sell them.  At his trial he had been in “great distress”.  He was aged 15, when received on the Censor hulk on 6 September.  Three years later on 24 February 1787 he was sent to Portsmouth by wagon for embarkation on Scarborough. 

In Sydney Cove on 13 March 1791, Matthew married Elizabeth Rimes (Neptune) and over the following year had ten children, of whom nine survived.  He became a farmer, government baker, and district constable. On 25 December 1815, Matthew fell into a river and was drowned at Lower Portland.  He was buried at Wilberforce NSW.

Honouring WW1

Reverend Professor Herbert Hedley Trigge

Reverend Trigge (courtesy A Thompson)

My father had an affiliation with the First World War and the First Fleet, being married to my mother, a descendant of First Fleeter Matthew Everingham.  My father, Reverend Professor Trigge, was appointed chaplain of the HMAS Sydney in April 1917 where she doing patrol work in the North Sea.

There were two memorable instances he related to his family.

One was that the Sydney had a light fighter aeroplane that could take off when a German fighter plan appeared.  The applied pilot now faced a one in three chance of survival.  First there was the possibility of being shot down and killed.  Secondly, if he won the battle he had to ditch the plane in the sea as the naval technology then did not provide for his return to the ship.  So, he had to wait in the water until Sydney reached him and, thirdly, hope this occurred before he died from hypothermia.

The memorable instance was observing the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet passing through an ‘avenue’ of allied ships.

Dad remained with the Sydney for four years.  On his retirement the Captain described him (Mr Trigge) as a very conscientious officer with a high sense of duty and a great influence for good amongst all ranks and ratings.

In those days the Naval Chaplains did not receive a distinctive uniform so when performing services Dad wore his Master of Arts gown from Melbourne University.

Submitted by Adele Thompson

Light Plane aboard HMAS Sydney

In 1917 experiments were made in launching aeroplanes from a platform on the forecastle.  In June 1918 a pilot actually took off after a German plane and succeeded in shooting it down, after which he had to ditch his own aircraft along-side the destroyer.

HMAS Sydney (Ships in Australian Waters)