Henry Francis Groom was born in Hobart Town, VDL. on the 28th July, 1819. His mother was Emma Groom born in 1795 possibly in Middlesex, in 1817 she was tried at the Old Bailey and found guilty of theft and sentenced  to 7 years transportation to VDL. On the 14th January, 1818 she arrived in New South Wales on board the" Friendship".On 20th February 1818 Emma arrived in Hobart on board the "Duke of Wellington". During the following year Emma was listed on a convict muster record as being a servant to William Sharples. On 11th February 1828 Emma died just 7 months after the abduction, rape and murder of her daughter Emma Francis Groom. According to Queens Orphanage records Henry's father was William Sharples, who appears to be William Butterworth Sharples who was born in about 1780 in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. On April 1855 Sharples was convicted at the Lancaster Lent Assizes of forging banknotes at Blackburn, Lancashire. and sentenced to 14 years transportation to VDL. arriving in New South Wales in January 1816 on board the "Ocean" later that month arriving in Hobart on board the "Chapman" he was later listed as an invalid in convict muster records. Following the death of his mother, Henry was placed in Queens Orphanage, Hobart, where he remained  for 8 years until he was 16 years of age. His life until his marriage on 27th July 1842 to Hannah Oakley remains unknown, however his marriage records show that he could write and was a stone mason by trade. In about 1846 Henry and Hanna moved to Collingwood an inner city part of Melbourne, Victoria, with their first 2 Children they would later have 10 more children, in the Collingwood area. One of them Henry Martin Groom 1849-1912 was my great grand father. Henry Francis was a quarryman and  became a succesful business man, and land owner during the early years of Collingwood. In 1855 living in Abbotsford he was a City of Melbourne Councillor. (ref. City of Yarra Heritage Review. July 1998.)  Henry Francis Groom died on the 27th February 1885 in Hoddle Street Collingwood, and was buried at Boroondara, Kew, Victoria. Through my branch of the family Henry Francis Groom's decendants now span 6 generations from an extremely unlikely begining. On behalf of our Groom family I now claim him as our Orphan.

Rod Groom.