Researchers who have claimed this convict
There is currently one researcher who has claimed John Fothergill
- Researcher (James Cosgrave)
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Biographies
John Fothergill was baptised at Holbeck, Leeds 28 June 1818, the sixth of 13 children of Samuel Fothergill and Elizabeth Rhodes.
On 12 November 1838, John Fothergill married Ann Craven at the parish church in Leeds. Just two months later, on 30 January 1839, John and Ann welcomed their first child, Bessy. The marriage produced two additional children – Ellen (b. 1841) and Mary Hannah (b. 1843). Only Ellen lived to adulthood, and she married and raised a large family.
John was convicted of assault in 1840 & 1841, and with theft in 1842, before being tried at the Leeds Borough Sessions on 5 July 1843, where he was convicted for attempting to steal goods, and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
John was transferred to the prison hulk Fortitude, and on 2 September 1843 he and 498 other male convicts boarded the Anson and sailed for Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania). The Anson arrived in Tasmania on 4 February 1844, via Rio de Janeiro, 126 days after leaving Plymouth.
John Fothergill was assigned to the Westbury Probation Station in Northern Tasmania, where his Criminal Conduct record states that he was given 22 months of hard labour, and emerged from the gang on 4 December 1845. On 21 November 1846 he was given another six months of hard labour for insolence to his Overseer. He seemed to stay out of trouble after that and was issued with a Ticket of Leave on 28 August 1849. On 2 November 1850 he “made use of obscene and abusive language to Mr. Shackles”, was given another six months of hard labour and his ticket of leave was revoked.
The Cornwall Chronicle newspaper of 26 April 1851 states that John had again been issued with a Ticket of Leave. This is the last record found in Tasmania for John Fothergill.
It is likely that around this time John Fothergill met Elizabeth Hemblen. Elizabeth had married James Elder in Launceston, Tasmania in 1844, but James Elder died in 1849, leaving the 25 year old Elizabeth a widow with a young son.
John Fothergill did not yet have his freedom, and was known to have a wife and family back in England, so he could not marry Elizabeth Hemblen, and could not leave Tasmania. But it seems that John Fothergill, Elizabeth Hemblen, and her young son, James Elder, somehow boarded a ship and travelled to New Zealand, where John assumed the name John Meale.
John Meale and Elizabeth Hemblen were married in St. Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Auckland, New Zealand on 13 June 1854. John Meale and Elizabeth Hemblen produced five children – John James Meale (b. 1855), Ellen Meale (b. 1859), Joseph Meale (b. 1861), George Meale (b. 1863) and Elizabeth Meale (b. 1868).
Soon after the birth of their first child, John and Elizabeth moved north to Waiwera, where they farmed for the remainder of their lives.
The eldest child of John and Elizabeth Meale, John James Meale, died 19 June 1870, at the age of 15 years, as a result of a shooting accident whilst playing with friends. The remaining four children all married and had children of their own.
John Meale died at Upper Waiwera on 7 January, 1889, from syncope and general debility, after a three week illness. He was buried at Puhoi.
Submitted by Researcher (James Cosgrave) on 13 April 2022
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Disclaimer: The information has not been verified by Claim a Convict. As this information is contributed, it is the responsibility of those who use the data to verify its accuracy. Research notes
There are currently no research notes attached to this convict. Sources
- The National Archives (TNA) : HO 11/13, p.472
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