James Sheers (1744 - 1838)

Born 1744 in England

Husband of Mary (Smith) Sheers — married 21 Feb 1788 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

Died 17 Dec 1838 at about age 94 in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Jeff Meurer [send private message]

• First Fleet, 1788

Biography

James Sheers was a convict on the First Fleet.

James Sheers was born at Middlesex in 1744 and baptized on March 25, 1744^[1]. James married Mary Smith on 21st February 1788 at Sydney, New South Wales.^[2]. James died on December 17, 1838, in Bathurst, New South Wales, at the impressive age of 94^[3].

James "Shiers" was convicted in July 1784^[4] at the Old Bailey, London on the charge of "Assault & Steal on King's Highway", and sentenced to death which was commuted life imprisonment. His Old Bailey trial can be seen here.^[5] He was sent to the Ceres hulk at Woolwich on 5 April 1785, age 38.^[6] On 24 February 1787 he was ordered to Portsmouth and embarked on the Scarborough. He was transported to Australia on the First Fleet vessel the Scarborough arriving 26 January 1788.^[7]

Marriage: James Sheers, (signed) & Mary Smith, (marked X), were married 21 February 1788, registered St Phillips Church of England Sydney, by Richard Johnson, Chaplain. Witnesses: James Macky, (marked X) and Samuel Barnes (signed). On the register was the notation: "Marriage by permission of His Excellency Arthur Phillip".^[8]

On 4 March 1790 James & Mary were sent to Norfolk Island on the 'Sirius'. James was a butcher on Norfolk Island.

According to Mollie Gillen's book "The Founders of Australia", Mary and James separated before 1791 as James fathered a daughter, Mary Ann Sheers (she was born in August 1791), to Elizabeth Wishaw.^[6] However Cathy Dunn who has researched Norfolk Island first settlement records has the following: "Mary Sheers died 9 December 1792, and marked as dead 27 December 1792 Norfolk Island, leaving James to care for their infant daughter Mary (Ann). After Mary’s death, James lived with Elizabeth WISHAW, Convict Lady Juliana 1790 on Norfolk Island who had arrived aboard the Surprize in August 1790. The Norfolk Island 1792 – 1796 Victualling Book reflects Elizabeth as the mother of Mary (Ann) Sheers/Wishaw, as Elizabeth had adopted James’s first child Mary (Ann) as her own. Elizabeth Wishaw had two children with James Sheers on Norfolk Island, James in 1794 and Mary in 1795."^[9]

On 23 March 1796 James received an Absolute Pardon from the Governor of New South Wales^[10] and in 1797 he was granted 60 acres of land, Settler's Block number 12.

On 14 January 1800 James sold the 60 acres of land at Norfolk Island to a Thomas Fowler.^[11]

Elizabeth Wishaw died on Norfolk Island sometime between 1800 and 1802.

James lived with Mary Wilson, (Prince of Wales 1788), the widow of John Owles. James and Mary returned to Sydney abroad the Kangaroo in February 1814.^[9]

In the 1814 muster James Sheers was listed at Sydney, butcher, off stores. Mary Wilson, was listed as the wife of James Sheers in Sydney, off stores.

It is possible that James was the James Shears appointed on 28th April 1814 as assistant in the hospital dispensary, Sydney.^[12]

His wife, Mary Sheers, died 15 August 1816 Sydney, buried 17 August 1816, her burial recorded in the burial register of St Phillips as Mary Sheers aged 85 years. She would have been buried in the Old Sydney Burial Ground (where the Town Hall now stands).^[13]

In 1821 the New South Wales Muster shows James working for Captain Piper. Captain Piper was the husband of James's daughter Mary Ann. James died at the home of Captain John Piper in 1838 at Alloway Bank, near Bathurst New South Wales.^[14]

Death Notice, The Sydney Herald, 28 December 1838:^[15]

Death.

At Allowaybank, on the 17th instant, Mr.James Sheers, at the advanced age of one hundred and three years and five months; he retained all his faculties till within three days of his decease

Sources

1. ↑ Detail London Metropolitan Archives, St Mary, Whitechapel, Composite register: baptisms Sep 1739 - Feb 1758, marriages Aug 1741 - Mar 1754, P93/MRY1/009
2. ↑ Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1950 21 Feb 1788 • Norfolk Island, New South Wales, Australia
3. ↑ Details from photograph taken by Jeff Meurer of the headstone at Kelso Cemetery, NSW, Australia. Taken 28 Sep 2015 Link to Image
4. ↑ New South Wales, Australia, Settler and Convict Lists, 1787-1834 Class: HO 10; Piece: 13
5. ↑ Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 21 May 2021), July 1784, trial of JAMES SHIERS (t17840707-12).
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Gillen, Mollie, The Founders of Australia : A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet, 1989, pp.326-327.
7. ↑ New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849 Detail Class: HO 10; Piece: 42
8. ↑ St Philip's Church of England, Sydney NSW: Church Register - Marriages; ML ref: Reel SAG 90, quoted in Biographical Database of Australia (BDA) (subscription required) https://www.bda-online.org.au/mybda/search/biographical-report/10011062901?f=james&l=sheers&ol=&i=3&s=&p= accessed 21 May 2021.
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1} Cathy Dunn, "James Sheers, Convict, Scarborough 1788 and Mary Smith, Convict Lady Penryhn 1788," in HMS Sirius, https://hmssirius.com.au/james-sheers-convict-scarborough-1788-and-mary-smith-convict-lady-penryhn-1788/, accessed May 20, 2021.
10. ↑ Detail: State Archives NSW New South Wales, Australia, Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons, 1788-1870
11. ↑ New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Papers, 1788-1856, Series: NRS 898; Reel or Fiche Numbers: Reels 6020-6040, 6070; Fiche 3260-3312
12. ↑ Eldershaw, M. Barnard., Adrian Feint, and National Trust of Australia. The Life and times of Captain John Piper / by M. Barnard Eldershaw ; Illustrated by Adrian Feint. Sydney: Ure Smith in Association with the National Trust of Australia (N.S.W.), 1973, p.31.
13. ↑ St Philip's Church of England, Sydney NSW: Church Register - Burials; ML ref: Reel SAG 90.; Volume entry number: 506, quoted in"Biographical report for Mary SHEERS", Biographical Database of Australia (BDA) (subscription required) https://www.bda-online.org.au/mybda/search/biographical-report/30004242901?f=mary&l=sheers&ol=&i=3&s=&p=
14. ↑ He died 17 December 1838 according to his death notice on 28 December 1838. Note that Trove has incorrectly indexed it as 1837. His death was registered in 1838 (NSW BDM online index has SHEERS JAMES 3217/1838 V1838 3217 22 AGE 103)
15. ↑ Death supposedly was in December 1837, according to Trove. HOWEVER it is a "supplement" and has no date on top or bottom, and if you look at notices on the page, they are dated December 1838, not 1837! So the date in Trove is wrong. 1837 (should be 1838) 'Family Notices', The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842), 28 December, p. 3. (Supplement to the Sydney Herald.), viewed 21 May 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28653308

See also:

• Cathy Dunn, "James Sheers, Convict, Scarborough 1788 and Mary Smith, Convict Lady Penryhn 1788," in HMS Sirius, https://hmssirius.com.au/james-sheers-convict-scarborough-1788-and-mary-smith-convict-lady-penryhn-1788/, accessed May 20, 2021.
• "James Sheers, Convict, Scarborough (1746-1838)" in Fellowship of First Fleeters http://www.fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au/jamessheers.htm
• * 'Sheers, James (c. 1746–1838)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/sheers-james-30986/text38354, accessed 21 May 2021.
• Gillen, Mollie, The Founders of Australia : A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet, 1989.

See the Changes page for the details of edits by Heather Stevens and others.