Hi Sonya,
Many thanks for your help. The article you have found I would say is very probably the James Juba who was transported. It is the first item on James, besides the convict records that I know about. I did search some Births Marriages & Deaths for Tasmania but didn't manage to come up with anything. I have read that the last census records were for 1857 taken just a few months before James was released.
James juba is a direct descendant of Edward Juba born c 1724. Edward was a black slave in the employ of the Noel family of Kirkby Mallory in Leicestershire, England. The family were very good to him, enabled him to become an apprentice, and was one of the few slaves who was known to have married a white woman. He is famous as the first slave to become a Freeman. And the tradition survives as each generation has a become a "Freeman of Leicester." I am also a descendant of Edward hence my curiosity. Any ideas on where to look next?
Kindest Regards
Kath