Edward Kershaw, 30, a bootmaker from Hampshire, was tried and convicted at Middlesex Session of Peace on 25 August 1834 for robbing lodgings. He was sentenced to seven years’ transportation. He sailed for New South Wales on the Royal Sovereign on 25 July 1835, arriving 12 December 1835.

Kershaw’s record describes him as being 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 centimetres) with dark yellow complexion, dark brown hair mixed with grey and dark chestnut eyes. The top of his head was bald. Granted a ticket of leave in April 1840, he was allowed to stay in the district of Illawarra.

The style of this token is very similar to that of John Hobbs. A companion piece is in the collection of the British Museum (1952,0904.141).