A misfiled Australian record adds details about Lewis Lewis, who led workers in the 1831 Merthyr Rising in Wales. It records his sudden death in 1847 while he was a farm labourer; researcher Rhodri Johns is fairly confident he died in Kempsey.
Deported to Australia in 1832 and sent to Port Macquarie prison, Lewis later worked as a farm labourer in the Macleay River Valley once his conviction was spent. The record lists about £13 and debts when he died; Johns said this suggested he had been earning a living and was in a reasonable position. Johns was fairly confident Lewis had a funeral, while Phil Lee of the Macleay River Historical Society said East Kempsey cemetery was the most likely burial site, though that remains unconfirmed.
Lewis had applied to bring his wife and four children to Australia, and colonial authorities in New South Wales approved the application. The documents do not show what happened next; he died alone. Johns hopes to raise funds for a memorial in Kempsey before the Merthyr Rising's 200th anniversary in 2031.
