- Area Settled :
- Leumeah (near Campbelltown
- Children :
- 1 . Sophia Smith (b......d.) died at 2 years of
age.
- 2 . Thomas Smith (b......d.)
- 3 . Ann Smith (b......d.)
- 4 . Eliza Smith (b......d.)
- 5 . John Smith (b......d.)
- 6 . Jeremiah Smith (b......d.)
- 7 . Mary Ann Smith (b......d.) , married John Gowen
(b.1810.....d)son of Marine Private GOWEN John
- 8 . Joseph Smith (b......d.)
- 9 . Margaret Smith (b......d.)
- 10 . William Smith (b......d.)
- 11 . Henry Smith (b......d.)
- The transcript
from the Felony File states
"
The jurors for our Lord the King upon their oath present
That Jeremiah Smith late of the Parish of High Easter in
the County of Essex Labourer on the Eleventh day of
August in the twenty sixth year of the Reign of our
Sovereign Lord George the third now King of Great Britain
etc about the hour of nine in the forenoon of the same
day with force and arms at the Parish aforesaid in the
County aforesaid the dwelling House of one James Beard
there situate feloniously did break and enter (no person
in the said dwelling there being) and one Canvas Purse of
the value of six pence three pieces of the Gold Coin of
the Realm called half Guineas of the value of one pound
eleven shillings and six pence and four shillings and ten
pence halfpenny in Monies numbered of the Goods Chattels
and Monies of James Young in the same dwelling then and
there being found then and there feloniously did steal
take and carry away against the Peace of our said Lord
the King his Crown and Dignity. "
This
page was further annotated with the following:
"
Not guilty of breaking and entering. Guilty of that goods
and money no chattels. To be transported beyond the seas
for the term of seven years to such place etc "
Elsewhere
in records held by the Public Records Office (PRO) in
Chancery Lane London is further mention of Jeremiah:
"
Jeremiah Smith House breaking daytime (no person therein)
of James Board and stealing goods and money v £1.16.11 1/2
of James Young puts himself guilty. No chattels fined 1/-.
Imprisoned in the House of Correction at Chelmsford 6
calendar months. "
The above documents also note that Jeremiah was "
Sent to the Hulks 24th April 1788. " The prison hulk
was the 'Justitia' and according to PRO document TI/654
RC/6554, Jeremiah, convict No. 241 was employed with
others " in raising gravel from Barking and Woolwich
shoals and washing the same for the purpose of raising
the ground level. They were also employed in repairing
the Thames Wall, and on the new works at His majesty's
Dock Yard at Woolwich. "
The
above document is a report from Duncan Campbell,
contractor for the Thames Hulks, for convicts ordered for
hard labour for the period 12.7.1788 to 12.10.1788.
On ship 27th March 1791 and after
a period of almost three years on the hulk, he was
embarked on the
- convict March 1791, as part of the third fleet
and following a voyage of some 154 days, arrived at Port
Jackson on 28th August 1791, having sailed direct from
Rio de Janeiro.:'William
and Ann' with 187 other convicts.The 'William and Ann'
set sail from Plymouth on 7th
Jeremiah joined the NSW Corps on
4th December 1797 and served until his discharge on 6th
April 1810.
- He was listed as a deserter from the Corps, for a
10-month period, from February to December 1801.
While serving with the NSW Corps,
Jeremiah was detached to Port Dalrymple in Van Diemen's
Land, (now
- known as Launceston, Tasmania), from 1803 to 1809.
He initially served there under Major Johnston (until
1804) then under Lieutenant Colonel Paterson until
returning to Sydney.
While serving at Port Dalrymple
Jeremiah had a lucky escape while fighting a barn fire.
The barn had
- belonged to Anthony Kemp, who had been a Captain
with the NSW Corps. In a routine despatch to Paterson,
Captain Brabyn, commanding at Port Dalrymple, wrote:"I
am sorry to say Capt Kemp's barn with all the grain is
burnt, Jerry Smith had a narrow escape, he contended with
flames until his G..... (illegible) took fire he had been
thrashing sometime."the Johnston later commanded the
detachment to Castle Hill (Parramatta) on 4 March 1804 to
put down the uprising by Irish convicts that later became
known as the Vinegar Hill Uprising; the only rebellion of
convicts on the mainland.
On 23rd September 1811, Jeremiah
married Sophia ACRES at St John's Church of England at
Parramatta.
- Sophia was the daughter of Thomas AKERS and Ann
GUY, both convicts who arrived with the First and Third
Fleets respectively.
By the 1822 general muster of
settlers in NSW, Jeremiah Smith, 'free by servitude', was
a landholder at
- Liverpool. He had received a grant of 10 acres
and took up residence. 2 acres were under wheat and he
also owned 5 hogs.
In the 1828 Census, Jeremiah was
described as a sawyer. He was a protestant and was
granted purchase of
- 10 acres of land at Campbelltown (County Airds).
He later purchased Portion 11, Parish of Mongarlowe, near
Braidwood. This land was both farmed and mined by his son
Jeremiah and his grandson.
Jeremiah also had a land grant at
Leumeah (near Campbelltown) and also worked as a sawyer
at Burnt
- Forest. Jeremiah and Sophia raised a family of 11
children, namely: Sophia, Thomas, Ann, Eliza, John,
Jeremiah, Mary Ann, Joseph, Margaret, William and Henry.
Daughter Sophia died at 2 years of age.
Jeremiah and Sophia's 6th child,
Jeremiah, married Catherine GRADY, the daughter of Martin
GRADY
- and Mary KNIGHT, both convicts who had arrived in
the colony in 1822 and 1833 respectively.
Jeremiah died on 30th May 1848 at
Camden and is buried at St Peter's Church of England at
- Campbelltown, NSW
Kris Incher, married to Warren, and we live in Canberra.
Warren's GGG Grandparents are Jeremiah Smith and Sophie
Acres, coming from their son, John. John had a daughter,
Sophia Mary, who married into the Shiels/Sheil family.a
little bit in the form of a note written by Warren's
Grandfather, Septimus Shiels(b. 1878), regarding the son,
John.
It reads:
"John Smith, Leigh's Great Great Grandfather had
ring made from some of the
first gold got from Kiandra in 1860. It was given me for
my 21st birthday
and I want it given to Leigh on his 21st. S Shiels."
Septimus would have received the ring in 1899.
Leigh, Warren's brother still wears the ring to this day.
The other bit of info that I found is Sophia Mary Smith(nee
Acres)is
reported to be "Granny Smith" of Granny Smith
apple fame. Attached is the
webpage.
-
- References
- Military records ,Pay rolls, Pay
Musters, Cemetery Records, Church Records & General Muster Records,
Mitchell Library ,Sydney Australia
- The information is intended for short
Historical value only,
- E- mail address
- © Copyright B & M Chapman (QLD) Australia
.
-