John Lees Ross' Father - Not John Ross the Shoemaker
This post will be controversial, but I hope that anyone coming across it will add something to my theory or discussion. To date no one seems to question the validity that John Ross, the convict shoemaker is John Lees Ross' father. John Lees was christened at the same church John Ross, the convict, was buried at. The time was only a few years apart. But what more do we have to connect the two? Nothing that I can find. John Ross, the convict, was closely connected to another convict Sarah Bird. In one report his brother Joseph was reported as being Sarah's brother-in-law. John and Sarah ran a brothel together in the inner city of Sydney. I haven't found any connection between them in England, but they had lived in neighbouring towns. Sarah (nee Hill) married Robert Bird at Whitehaven, in 1816 prior to his transportation to Australia. At around the same time John Ross, the convict, was convicted at Wigton to transportation for stealing a watch. It is most likely this time wa...