Emigrating from one side of the world to the other in the 1850s was no small feat. Yet when my 3x great-grandfather, Francis Philip Toms made the journey from Devon’s Kingsbridge to New South Wales, it was part of an even bigger personal journey. One of being in the Royal Marines, becoming a remittance man, and finally a family man.

Early life and the Royal Marines

Frank, as he was known to his family, was born in 1830 and the oldest surviving son of surgeon William Toms and his wife Susanna nee Darracott. At eighteen, by commission, he became a second lieutenant in the Royal Marines, following a service career path many in his family took. His brother, uncle, cousin, and brother-in-law all made their mark in different ways, some rising to prestigious positions. Yet somehow Frank lost his way.

While stationed in County Cork’s Bantry Bay, and less than three months after being promoted to first lieutenant, Frank was reported for being drunk at half-past five in the evening when he was supposed to be on duty. The incident took place just a week before his father’s death. William Toms had been sick with pleurisy for three months, and Frank was probably aware of his declining health. It’s possible, though not certain, that concern for his father contributed to his behaviour.

Frank was court-martialled aboard H.M.S. Queen, before an admiral and twelve captains, plus spectators from the local region. The defence counsellor read a long statement from Frank, and witnesses for the defence gave him the “the highest character for good conduct and gentlemanly demeanour” and said:

“[He] was perfectly sober up to five o’clock; that he then went down to his cabin, and lay on his bed, from which he was suddenly called up; and that when he came on deck, he appeared rather confused and frightened…”

Found guilty of drunkenness while on duty, but taking into account his defence and the recent death of his father, Frank’s sentence was to be reprimanded, demoted, and dismissed from his position on H.M.S. Queen. It was one considered remarkably lenient. Were strings pulled by people in authority, or was compassion shown for his circumstances? It’s difficult to know.

Unfortunately, Frank didn’t appear to learn his lesson. On New Year’s Day 1854 he was reported absent without leave. Worse was to come when he was gaoled and tried as an insolvent debtor. He was ultimately dismissed from the Royal Marines.

Remittance man

Frank greatly disappointed his family, and none more so than his uncle, Philip Toms, a naval surgeon for many years and the family patriarch following William Toms’ death. Frank received tough love and became a remittance man, exiled to the colony of New South Wales. He’s believed to have arrived sometime between 1854 and 1857. Multiple researchers have been unable to confirm with certainty the date or ship he travelled on, and it’s possible his connections found him an undocumented working passage.

A portrait of Frank dressed in his naval uniform is a reminder of what might have been; while a series of letters and other family papers now held by the State Library of New South Wales give insight into Frank’s life after arrival, including ongoing correspondence with his family in England.

In his early years in the colony, Frank travelled in the Monaro, Gippsland and South Coast regions. It was during that time he crossed paths with a Lancashire lass by the name of Margaret Dennett, who had emigrated with her widowed mother and younger sister. Frank was smitten.

In a small pocket notebook, Frank documented a winter droving journey from Coolamatong south of Berridale, north to Gundagai and back again. It was four months before his marriage to Margaret, and the diary was filled with daily references to her:

“Wrote a letter to my dear dear intended. I trust she is well. O that I was sure she thought of me sometimes too. I think she does. I find now that I am away from her I love her even more than when I was with her…”

Family man

Love and marriage seems to have grounded Frank, who married his Margaret, my 3x great-grandmother, at St Mary’s Church, Gegedzerick, near Berridale on 26 October 1861, when he was 30 and she was 21. Frank became a well-known figure in the local community where he was a trustee and founding member of the school board at Coolamatong. He and Margaret had seven children, including my great-great-grandfather, Frank junior.

Notwithstanding his past behaviour, Frank worked hard to improve himself and turn his life around. In 1871 his uncle Philip Toms sent him 300 pounds so he could begin farming independently at Cathcart, near Bombala. He named his house there Barnfield after his childhood home. A letter from Philip Toms around that time captures how Frank had reclaimed his uncle’s pride and trust:

“I have long been impressed with a belief that your conduct for many years past has been right & proper, consequently you have long since regained my love & affection….May the Almighty in his mercy bless your proceedings & prosper all your undertakings in your new career, and that your dear family, of whom you so affectionately speak, may fully participate in those blessings, is my earnest prayer.”

Frank’s life had changed irrevocably when he didn’t live up to expectations, but he redeemed himself, proving to be a diligent family man and pillar of the community. Tragically, after an illness of some months which left him paralysed, Frank’s life was cut short. He died on 24 May 1873 at the age of 42. Frank left behind his wife Margaret who never remarried, and a young family.

This post was originally written as an entry in the Annual Croker Prize for Biography run by the Society of Australian Genealogists. The winning entry and judges highlights from other entries were published in the September 2025 issue of Descent (Vol. 53 No. 3), the magazine of the Society of Australian Genealogists.

Selected references

Baptism of Francis Philip Toms, baptised 30 January 1831, Register of Baptisms in the Parish of Kingsbridge in the County of Devon 1813-1842, St Edmund King and Martyr Kingsbridge, p. 66, no. 522, South West Heritage Trust, image 76, FindMyPast.co.uk, accessed 12 April 2025.

Service record of Francis Philip Toms, Admiralty: Officers’ Service Records (Series III), The National Archives, England, ADM 196/59/315.

Service record of Philip Toms, Admiralty: Officers’ Service Records (Series III), The National Archives, England, ADM 196/76/965.

Service record of Philip Toms, Admiralty: Officers’ Service Records (Series III), The National Archives, England, ADM 196/8/293.

Service record of Francis Yeates Toms, Admiralty: Officers’ Service Records (Series III), The National Archives, England, ADM 196/79/1099.

Service record of John Chamberlayne Ingles, Admiralty: Officers’ Service Records (Series III), The National Archives, England, ADM 196/75/526.

Service record of John Chamberlayne Ingles, Admiralty: Officers’ Service Records (Series III), The National Archives, England, ADM 196/78/698.

‘Court Martial On Board H.M.S. Queen’, Cork Southern Reporter, 27 September 1853, p. 3.

Death certificate of William Toms, died 18 September 1853, registered September Quarter 1853, Kingsbridge registration district, General Registry Office, England, vol. 05B, p. 124, no. 233.

‘Petitions’, Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post, 2 March 1854, p. 3.

‘Estates vested in Provisional Assignee—Feb, 28, 1854’, Perry’s Bankrupt and Insolvent Gazette, vol. XXVII, no. 1352, 4 March 1854, p. 141.

[no title], Globe, 10 April 1854, p. 1.

Philip Toms to Frank [Francis Philip] Toms, letter, 16 March 1871, ‘Family Correspondence – Letters received by Frank Toms from Philip Toms, 1871’, State Library of New South Wales, Toms family correspondence, with associated material, 1860-1919, MLMSS 4782, box 1, item 9.

Portrait of Francis Philip Toms in uniform, c1849, held in private collection, A.C.T., Australia.

Toms family correspondence, with associated material, 1860-1919, State Library of New South Wales, MLMSS 4782, https://collection.sl.nsw.gov.au/record/YRlZ45ln.

Passenger list entry for Margaret Dennett, Admiral Lyons, arrived 30 December 1858, New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896, Series 5316, Reel 2138, State Records Authority of NSW, Ancestry.com, accessed 12 April 2025.

Deposit journal entry for Margaret Dennett, 7 April 1858, New South Wales,
Australia, Immigration Deposit Journals, 1853-1900, Series 5264, Reel 2669, State Records Authority of NSW, Ancestry.com, accessed 12 April 2025.

Diary, Francis Philip Toms, ‘Personal papers – Francis Philip Toms’ diary, June – July, ca. 1860s’, State Library of New South Wales, Toms family correspondence, with associated material, 1860-1919, MLMSS 4782, box 1, item 11.

Diary entry for 8 July 1861, Francis Philip Toms, ‘Personal papers – Francis Philip Toms’ diary, June – July, ca. 1860s’.

Marriage certificate of Francis Philip Toms and Margaret Dennett, married 26 October 1861, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1679/1861.
17 ‘Coolamatong C. E. School’, Manaro Mercury, 23 April 1869, p. 4.

‘Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction’, New South Wales Government Gazette, Sydney, 23 Sep 1873, issue 219, p. 2621, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223105007, accessed 3 October 2025.

‘Local Intelligence’, Manaro Mercury, 31 May 1873, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article114396627, accessed 3 October 2025.

Death certificate of Francis Philip Toms, died 24 May 1873, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 3402/1873.

‘News and Notes’, Bombala Times, 23 March 1917, p. 1, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article134565306, accessed 3 October 2025.