William Sykes ( – 4 January 1891) was an English convict, transported to Western Australia for manslaughter. Early life Sykes was born in Wentworth, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, England . As a member of a poor family, he received no formal education, and took on paid work from an early age. In 1851 he was recorded as unmarried and working as a coal-pit trammer. In 1853 Sykes married Myra Wilcock, and over the next ten years they had four children. He was later employed as a puddler. On 10 October 1865, Sykes went poaching with a group of six other men. Evidence suggests that Sykes had often poached in the past, but he had never been caught before. On this night the men were challenged by a group of gamekeepers, and in making their escape Sykes and a number of other men assaulted one of the gamekeepers. The gamekeeper died from his injuries, and a reward was offered for information about the attack. Eventually, the government offered a free pardon to anyone willing to give evidence, whereupon one of the seven men, Robert Woodhouse, gave evidence against the other six. Four of the men, including Sykes, were found guilty of manslaughter, and received life sentences with a minimum of twenty years of penal servitude. Sykes served the first nine months of his sentence in solitary confinement at Wakefield prison. He was then transferred to Portsmouth prison, and on 2 April 1867 boarded the Norwood for transportation to Western Australia. His brief diary of the voyage is extant. Western Australia The Norwood arrived at Fremantle, Western Australia on 13 July. On arrival Sykes was assigned a number, 9589, and recorded as "about five feet six and three-quarter inches in height, with light brown hair, grey eyes, an oval visage of light complexion, and in appearance healthy"; shortly afterwards he was sent to Bunbury to work on the roads. He worked in the district for seven years. He is then believed to have been sent to Newcastle (now Toodyay) around October 1875. By 1877 he had gained his ticket of leave, and was registered to work in the Toodyay district. He worked for a short time as a servant to the medical officer William Mayhew before working at various labouring jobs in the district, including grubbing, woodcutting, fencing, and well sinking. He apparently worked well until November 1879, but over the following three