Researchers who have claimed this convict
There are currently 3 researchers who have claimed Aaron Chevell
- Researcher (4625)
- Researcher (14018)
- Researcher (17529)
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Biographies
Aaron Chevell was born in 1789 to John Chevell, a tailor, and Elizabeth Grey in Littleport, Cambridgeshire. He followed in his father's footsteps and also became a tailor in Littleport. He married Rebecca Crabb on 20 September 1808 and they had five children: Mary 1809, Susanna 1810, William 1812, Elizabeth 1815 and Aaron 1816. He was transported for stealing and rioting.
On the evening of May 22nd 1816, a group of men gathered at the Globe Inn in Littleport, Cambridgeshire. They were very unhappy about the high price of wheat and tempers flared as more drink was consumed. After calling out more villagers from their houses, they rampaged through the streets of Littleport, breaking into houses and stealing property. After rioting through the streets of the town, they went on to Ely and continued their protest. The Royal Dragoons were promptly called in and arrested 82 men and threw them all in the tiny Ely gaol. The trials took place on the week of June 17th. Five prisoners, William Beamiss the elder, George Crow, John Dennis, Isaac Harley and Thomas South, were executed in Ely on June 28th for stealing and their parts in the riot. A stone plaque on St Mary’s Church reads: “May their awful fate be a warning to others.”
Nine others were sentenced to be transported to Australia: Mark Benton, John Easy and John Walker for seven years; Richard Rutter for fourteen years; and Joseph Easey, Aaron Chevell, Richard Jessop, John Jefferson and James Newell for life.
These seven men (not Mark Benton or John Walker) spent several months in the convict hulk, Justicia, in the Thames, before being transported together on the Sir William Bensley, which left London on October 9, 1816 and arrived in Sydney, NSW on March 10, 1817. This voyage was remarkable in that all but one of the convicts aboard arrived in Sydney alive – credit was given to a relatively new policy of having a surgeon on board each convict ship (one man drowned). After arriving in Sydney six of the Littleport convicts were transferred to the Elizabeth Henrietta along with 78 others from the Bensley for the voyage to Van Diemen’s Land [now Tasmania]. Half of the men, including Richard Rutter, disembarked at Port Dalrymple in the north of Tasmania and the rest arrived in Hobart on September 28, 1817.
The physical description given for Aaron was: tailor, 29, 5’9”, ruddy complexion, brown hair, and hazel eyes. In 1822 holding a ticket of leave, he was found guilty of stealing several sheep, the property of Thomas Dixon, and was sentenced to forfeit his ticket of leave, and to be transported to Macquarie Harbour for the remainder of his original term of transportation. I do not think that he actually went to Macquarie Harbour, because in 1838, he was given a pardon – he had held a ticket of leave for 8 years and it was observed that: "No offence on record for the last ten years and his conduct very favorably reported". [Macquarie Harbour was a terrible place to be sent.]
Aaron died of ascitis in 1857 in the general hospital in Hobart, Tasmania. Although the Lieutenant-Governor William Sorrell had written a letter in 1820 saying that four of these Transportees are now “well enabled” to support their families and offers his support to allow the families of these men to immigrate, they remained divided as no action was ever taken by the powers that be in Cambridgeshire. Aaron was buried on 15 September 1857 at Holy Trinity parish in Buckingham County (Hobart), Tasmania.
Rebecca and her oldest daughter, Mary, ran a “petty” shop on High Street in Littleport for many years. Rebecca died in 1875 at the age of 85 years.
Of the five children, Aaron, who was born after his father was put in gaol, died of cholera at the age of 18 months. Mary remained single; Susanna, William and Elizabeth all married and had families in Littleport.
Submitted by Researcher (4625) on 23 August 2015
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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 11/2, p.293
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