Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office - Lambie Family Research

The Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office research provided to the ABC:

Hite Family
The Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (incorporating the Archives Office of Tasmania) has
researched as far as possible the Hite family connection to the aboriginal descendants of George
Briggs.
The claimed Hite connection to the Briggs family appears to be family lines which come from
children (Ann and William) of a union of a Thomas Hite and Mary/Margaret Briggs, daughter of
George Briggs. We cannot confirm any claims based on this connection as we have not been able to
locate any records which give evidence to this union.
Regarding the children, Ann and William, we have records which list the parents of two Tasmanian
born children, Ann and William, as Samuel and Mary Ann Hite.
Mary Ann Pendrell and Samuel Hite married 10/7/1837 (RGD36, 4016/1837, Campbell Town). In
Anne Hite’s baptismal record 9/10/1838 (RGD32, 586/1839, Evandale), Ann’s parents are listed as
Samuel Hite and Mary Ann. No mention is made of her being an adopted or aboriginal child. The
same is the case for the birth registration of William Hite (born 26/6/1844, RGD33 296/1844,
Launceston).
Eight children are listed in Tasmanian birth registers as having parents Samuel and Mary Ann
Pendrill/Pendrell: Ann, Charles, George, James, John, Mary, George (registered as 'Kite'), and
William.
Confusion appears to occur in the case of William where ‘native’ is recorded on his death
registration. In 1919 this terminology was used for people of European descent who were born in
Tasmania and not used to designate aboriginality. You can see this use of ‘native’ as meaning ‘born
in’ in many of our pre 1900 records. Where a child was aboriginal a note usually stated this with the
word ‘aboriginal’, ‘half-caste’, or ‘person of colour’.
We have been unable to find any evidence to suggest that Mary or Margaret Briggs, who was an
Aboriginal person, had children. There is a reference to her in a return of school aged children that
were taken in about 1827 and she is then 8 years old, residing in Launceston and her guardian was
William Brag [CSO1/122A p.62]. The next reference to her is in 1831 when she spends 28 days in the
House of Correction in Launceston [CSO1/1/322 (7578), 28/2/1831].

All of the published resources we have searched state that Margaret/Mary Briggs died aged 22
without any children. The evidence for this is based on a burial record for 'Margaret Briggs' a 'half
caste native' on 31st July 1839 [RGD34/2 p.145].
We have also not been able to locate evidence that there was a Thomas Hite in Tasmania at the time
of Ann and William’s births. There is no one called Thomas Hite in the Tasmanian convict index and
there is no one of that name listed as a sealer in Brian Plomley’s book Friendly Mission. Claims have
been made that Thomas arrived with Samuel. We have checked the list of convicts on the Malabar
(CSO1/1/403 9105) and there is only a ‘Samuel Hite’ listed.
Based on the lack of records stating otherwise, it is not possible for our Office to provide any
evidence for the Hite family claim to a link to the Briggs family.