Aplin, John Guise Robert

Ensign John Guise Robert Aplin was born in France and was twenty-one years old when he arrived in Berrima with a contingent of the 28^th Regiment of Foot in 1840. They were to protect the newly-built gaol following the escape of some prisoners.

Aplin had arrived in the colony earlier in 1840 on the King William from Dublin together with 29 other military personnel accompanying 180 prisoners.[1] His stay in New South Wales was comparatively short, most of it in Berrima. He left in June 1842 on the Kelso for India.[2] During his time in Australia, he was promoted to lieutenant.

His home while in Berrima was the Courthouse as, he told the colonial secretary, he had been unable to obtain suitable accommodation elsewhere. His men were housed in the military barracks. When, in 1842, teams of immigrants camped in Berrima, their provisions exhausted, Aplin sent them half a sheep, an act of generosity extended by others in the township[3] When his regiment left Berrima, Aplin was commended for the orderly way his troops had behaved during their stay.[4] The residents were concerned, however, that the gaol would be left under the protection of six or seven constables, and two or three turnkeys (warders), but Aplin’s men were replaced with a contingent of the 90^th Regiment of Foot.

Aplin went on to have a distinguished military career serving in the Crimea, for a time becoming the commanding officer of the 48th Regiment of Foot and attaining the rank of Lieutenant-General. He died, in London at the age of 63.[5]

[1] Australasian Chronicle, 24 June 1842

[2] Sydney Herald, 8 September 1841; Australasian Chronicle, 24 June 1842

[3] Sydney Herald, 8 March 1842

[4] Sydney Herald, 18 January 1842

[5] Family records – ancestry.com