Tuesday 1 February 2011
James Bloodworth, Superintendent of Builders, was the first person to have an obituary published in an Australian newspaper. In many ways it is fitting that James should have had that honour as not only was he a former convict who made ‘good’ but he arrived in Australia in the First Fleet.
He had been sentenced to seven years transportation in 1785 for stealing one game cock and two hens and arrived in the colony of New South Wales aboard the Charlotte on 10 February 1788. His obituary was published in the Sydney Gazette on 25 March 1804.