Samuel Lyons was convicted of theft in London in 1814. He arrived in Sydney, New South Wales in the Marquis of Wellington in January 1815. After many adventures, escapes and recaptures he returned to Sydney in 1823 opening a shop. He was granted a conditional pardon in 1825 and an absolute pardon in 1835. He set up in Sydney as an auctioneer in 1825 and became very wealthy and influential. His wealth and conservatism aroused antagonism and suspicion in Sydney in the 1830s and 1840s.
Source: Paul Edwin Le Roy, 'Lyons, Samuel (1791 - 1851)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 2, Melbourne University Press, 1967, pp 141-143.
