Robert Mewburn was a convict transported

Penal transportation

Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...

 to Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, who later became one of the colony

Penal colony

A penal colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general populace by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory...

's ex-convict school teachers

Ex-convict school teachers in Western Australia

Following Western Australia's convict era, 37 ex-convicts were appointed school teachers in the colony. The appointment of such a large number of ex-convicts to what was considered a respectable government position was highly unusual for a penal colony, as the social stigma of conviction usually...

.

Born in 1827, Robert Mewburn lived at Stockton on Tees, Durham

Durham

Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...

, and worked as a printer

Printer (publisher)

In publishing, printers are both companies providing printing services and individuals who directly operate printing presses. With the invention of the moveable type printing press by Johannes Gutenberg around 1450, printing—and printers—proliferated throughout Europe.Today, printers are found...

 and clerk, but was convicted of "stealing boots and larceny

Larceny

Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales,...

" and sentenced to seven years' transportation. He arrived in Western Australia on board the Pyrenees in May 1853. He received his ticket of leave on arrival in the colony, and was issued with a conditional pardon the following year. We worked for Thomas Peel

Thomas Peel

Mr. Peel, he moans, took him from England to Swan River, West Australia, means of subsistence and of production to the amount of £50,000. Mr. Peel had the foresight to bring with him, besides, 300 persons of the working-class, men, women, and children. Once arrived at his destination, "Mr. Peel was...

 at first, and later ran a general store at Mandurah

Mandurah, Western Australia

Mandurah is the second-largest city in Western Australia and is located approximately south of the state capital, Perth.The city attracts a large number of tourists, including many international visitors...

. He also acted as a lay preacher in the area.

Mewburn apparently began also began informal school teaching, and on 16 March 1870 he married one of his students, fifteen-year-old Emma Eacott, with whom he would have seven children. In 1872 he organised a petition for a regular teacher in the Mandurah area, and this resulted in him being appointed government schoolmaster. He then built his own school, and taught there until his death in 1891.