Two months later Governor John Hunter appointed him superintendent of convicts for the Hawkesbury region, a newly established area of farms to the northwest of Baker's own lands.Cobley 1986, p. xxi His reputation was somewhat marred by a 1797 conviction for stealing a boat worth £16 from a neighbour, Thomas Raby. Baker admitted possession of the vessel but denied it was Raby's. He was found guilty of theft and fined a proportion of the vessel's value.New South Wales Court of Civil Jurisdiction, Minutes 185–187, July 1797. Cited in Cobley 1986, p. 155
