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Visit site "The Afro-Australians: Randall/Martin Family 1788 to present" here.
It has been estimated that over 50000 Australians are direct living descendants of two Black African Convicts who arrived on the transport ship Alexander with the First Fleet in 1788. The two men were John Randall and John Martin. Many people are surprised at the notion of there being Negroes with the convicts, but the original sources have many references to them. Estimates of their number range from a conservative eight to twelve counting those of indeterminate racial origin. The two were given adjoining land-grants at North Parramatta in 1792, and both eventually married convicts from the Convict ship the Neptune, of the Second Fleet. John Randall had three known surviving children, Frances, Mary and John. Mary eventually married John Martin and they have many descendants. Frances her sister married John Aiken (also a man of colour) and also had many children. The two men had contrasting personalities. Randall had the more adventurous spirit while Martin was content to stay at home on his farm on his original land grant. Their descendants married other Black newcomers, emancipated convicts, free settlers, Aboriginal and (very often) their own cousins. By the middle of the Nineteenth Century large numbers of descendants settled the area stretching from North Parramatta, Carlingford, Pennant Hills, the Field of Mars Common, Gordon and the Fox Valley. Many of these people had distinctly African features, but were often publicity identified as Aboriginal. This part of Sydney was known derisively as "Dixieland" which suggests a recognition of their true identity. Some descendants acquired property and respectability and inter-married with the other "old" families of the region . Others remained "fringe dwellers". At least one descendant was hanged (for a crime he didn't commit!), another was shot by police (Tom Conquit). Many were associated with the timber trade, as sawyers, timber cutters and in allied trades. Towards the end of the 1850's the larger community broke up, some moving to settle the Clarence River region of NSW, others going to Sofala and Wattle Flat (for the gold rush), the NSW Southern Highlands, Cape York Queensland, and a remnant group consolidating themselves along Pennant Hills Road and near Aiken Road, Pennant Hills. The latter was known within living memory as "Dixie Lane". One Genealogy of Randall descendants has reached ten generations. On the other hand, there are still Australian's, who can count five generations back to John Randall, and three or four to John Martin. Clearly after two hundred and twenty five years the African genetic contribution in offspring has been overwhelmed by that from the larger European gene pool. There is strong anecdotal evidence however, particularly from the main Aiken and Martin branches of the family, of the retention or reappearance of some "African" characteristics. Descendants report occasional instances of "African" medical complaints. In maturity some develop a blue / grey tinge to their hair colour. Occasionally a child with a darker (than the general population) skin colour is born to descendants, particularly if their family line included as often happened, marriage between cousins. DNA testing has transformed understanding of the family. Interestingly the percentage of Sub-Saharan African DNA from a sample of three hundred descendants ranges from sixteen to one percent even after 225 years.
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