John Suffolk (abt. 1783 - 1852)

Born about 1783 in Warwickshire, England

Husband of Elizabeth Cockshall — married 16 May 1821 (to 18 Nov 1852) in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

Died 18 Nov 1852 at about age 69 in Windsor, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

John Suffolk may have been the illegitimate son of Mary Suffolk - this John was baptised in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, on the 10th of March, 1783.^[1]

John Suffolk was a convict after the Third Fleet transported to New South Wales

He was convicted at the Berkshire Assizes 6 Jul 1818 for receiving 27 stolen promissory notes (valued at £73) from Mary Sims. Mary got off with two years hard labour for the theft, but John was sentenced to 14 years for receiving the stolen goods. At this time John was a cheesemonger. ^[3] (For comparison, Mulhall's calculation of average annual wages in England gave the 1800 annual income for a labourer as £12, and a bailiff £20.)^[4] He was held on the prison hulk Justicia from the 20th July to about the 25th of August 1818, then transported via the ship Lord Sidmouth.

On the 15th of May 1821 John married Elizabeth Cockshall, a needlewoman who had been transported for 14 years on the Morley(3), at St. John's church Parramatta. John was 35 and Elizabeth was recorded as 21 but may have been a little younger. Oddly enough, Elizabeth had received permission to marry another man, Robert Moore who had arrived on the ship Neptune, on the 5th of February. Permission to marry John has not turned up as yet.

John and Elizabeth appear on the 1828 census in Windsor, where they were keeping a shop together. I'm very curious about the logistics of this since they were both illiterate.

In 1836 John's son Joseph Suffolk arrived in the Colony with his wife Jane, and they also took up residence in Windsor. Sadly Jane died in 1838, cause unknown, and Joseph married Ellen, Helen or Elen Ferguson the following year (her descendants call her Elen).

According to information in his probate packet, he died around the 16th of September 1852 and was buried at what is now the McGraths Hill Cemetery but was then 'the graveyard of the religious body known as Wesleyan Methodists near Windsor,'^[5] However his death certificate gives his burial as the 19th November 1852.^[6]

Research Notes

In his probate packet, his son Joseph swore that John died leaving a widow and your Petitioner his only son and heir at law in the Colony aforesaid, and one daughter in England - Amelia?^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Ancestry.com. Warwickshire, England, Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1535-1812.
2. ↑ Toomer's 1815 Census
3. ↑ Windsor and Eton Express. Sunday 12 July 1818 p. 3-4. Retrieved from the British Newspaper Archive.
4. ↑ http://www.afamilystory.co.uk/history/wages-and-prices.aspx
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Probate packet (5 Dec 1853). NSW State Archives & Records Series 1-2769
6. ↑ Death: NSW BDM 631/1852 V1852631 110

• New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842
• Marriage to Elizabeth Cockshall Reference Number: REG/COMP/1; Description: Vol 01, Baptisms, 1790-1825; Marriages, 1789-1823; Burials, 1790-1825; Parish: St. John's Anglican Church Parramatta
• Probate notice: ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION. (1853, August 9). New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW : 1832 - 1900), p. 1354. Retrieved April 22, 2020, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article231516827
• John Suffolk Convict Records website
• http://rellotivity.blogspot.com.au/2017/01/john-suffolk-and-elizabeth-cockshall.html