Elijah Elton was born in 1824 in Littledean and worked as a collier. On 5 Oct 1835, he was up in court for the theft of a chicken with two others. On 28 Jan 1836, he was convicted of stealing coal from Bilson Pit and sentenced to one month in Littledean prison. On 28 Jul 1838, he was convicted of stealing brass from James Bennett of St Briavels and sentenced to 6 months in prison and twice whipped. On 15 October 1839, he was sentenced to eight months in prison with two months in solitude and three times severely whipped for stealing a pair of stockings from Robert Silburn at Littledean.
On 5 January 1841, at the age of 17, he was convicted of picking the pockets of George Lucas and stealing 12s 9d. He was sentenced to be transported for ten years. On 21 January 1841, he was transferred to the hulk, Justitia and then after several months transferred to the Layton which set sail for Van Diemen’s Land on 9 April 1841 and arrived on 1 September 1841.
There is some confusion in the records from this point onwards as one of the records lists Elton as dying on the journey. However other records list him as obtaining his ticket of leave on 10 Aug 1847 and certificate of freedom 5 Apr 1852. More confusion is created by the fact that another convict called Elijah Elton arrived a year later.