Wainewright in Tasmania

Thomas Griffiths Wainewright (1794-1847) was born in Chiswick, England to Thomas and Ann Griffiths Wainewright. He married a lady named Eliza Frances Ward. It was an unhappy marriage and he left his wife and fled to France after the mysterious death of a young woman who was living with them at the time. After six years in France he was arrested in 1837 for forgery and put into Newgate Prison. Eventually he was transported to what was then known as Van Dieman's Land and is now called Tasmania where he spent a number of years in hard labor. He was eventually pardoned and became a well-known artist.