John Lilley Pearce, Elizabeth (Betsy) Cullen’s husband is a mystery.
John Lilley PearceSome researchers say he was a ship’s captain, others say he was a convict, arriving in 1814, at the age of 15.
There are several convicts that fit the time frame with the name John Pearce, in the records of the Tasmanian Heritage and Archives Office but I can’t definitively say which was he. Ancestry has records of a John Pearce, convict, but it would be a common name.
John PearceOn the marriage certificate in 1821, he is listed as “free”. If he had arrived as a convict, his sentence would have just expired. Whether or not a sentence was expired, the name of the convict ship appeared next to the person’s name on all records, including musters. James Bryan Cullen had Scarborough next to his name on all
