Nicholas Hedges

Art, Writing and Research

The Marquis of Hastings

by

Prior to my residency in Australia, I’ve been researching my four-times great uncle Stephen Hedges (1811-1885) who was transported there in 1828 aboard the convict ship, the Marquis of Hastings (3). I wanted to find out more about the voyage which took 104 days between 30th June and 12th October 1828. In total, 178 convicts were transported, all of whom survived the journey, which, given the conditions in which they were kept is quite surprising. The following is a list of the men who were transported with my ancestor, with sentences of 7 years, 14 years and life.

John Birch
Thomas Smith
Charles Mason
William Smith
William Burgess
Charles Shearman
Stephen Hedges
Henry Stockwell
William Duncombe
William Edwards
Jake White
John Wright
Daniel Murrell
James Matthews
John Richardson
Joseph Dorman
Abraham Storr Junior
James Sewell
Robert Popple
James Goodey
Thomas Cherry
James Wilkinson
George Henley
David Rowland
Jas Briton
Thomas Inman
Samuel Le Count
James Unsworth
Thomas Wells
Abraham Scholfield
William Kinley
Henry Hammond Fleming
Jonathan Collis
James Dixon
Richard Grace
Matthew Green
John Mitchell
John Jones
Jonathan Knowles
William Watt
Roger Worthington
William Ford
John Marsden
Thomas Briant
John Marsh
William Finch
John Burrows
Isaac Jacobs
Thomas Booth
James Mackay
John Bywater
Michael Russell
Richard Hart
Francis Hayes
Henry Dignum
Thomas Hewitt
James Cobson
James Featherston
James Const
Steven Dace
Thomas Knight
William Longman
John Booty
William Orson
James Haines
Thomas Reynolds
John Hitchcock
William Keeven
William Baker
John Levy
William Hawkins
Robert Williams
James Herring
Michael Ryan
Bigley Hermitage
Richard Richardson
John Cavanah
Daniel McCarthy
William Allkin
George Newman
Jeremiah Crawley
Samuel Smith
Anthony Bernard
Martin Blaney
William Godfrey
John Kilminster
Thomas Floodgate
George Glover
Henry Nicholls
John Foot
Richard Jones
John Wilkie
William Mitchell
Andrew Keating
Thomas Holmes
William Cardinell
William Woodwill
James McCarthy
John Phipps
Nicholas Binken
Charles Brewhouse
James Pascoe
Thomas Willis
Joseph Griffiths
William Thompson
Thomas King
Thomas Northam
John Maxfield
Daniel Meney
Thomas Jones
John Kennedy
John McGinnis
James Moss
John Jarvis
William Reynolds
James Wiseman
Thomas Taylor
John Wade
John Jones
Philip Riches
Charles Sandy
Charles Westbury
James Pye
Thomas Burton
William Goodyer
Robert Stafford
Joseph Ockenden
William Nobes Junior
William Ockenden
William Burton
James Gumbrell
James Burraston
John Newberry
Charles Briggs
John Hockley
Offord Russ
Thomas Catley
Edward Leader
William Jones
John Smith
George Munday
Thomas Thompson
Henry Brown
Samuel Freestone
Joseph Callow
Henry Cox
Francis Barr
William Bavin
George Britton
William Jollan
Stephen Burnett
George Martin
James Millen
John Head
Martin Hall
James Bristow
Thomas Dennison
Thomas Montague
James Chambers
Edward Schofield
George Shot
James Walkins
James Binns
Joseph Smith
John Serjeantson
Thomas Winterburn
John Ledgard
William Field
George Spencer
Matthew Spencer
John Field
James Woodhead
James Lister
Joseph Quiby
Joseph Owen
Thomas Vickers
John Wild
Henry Fowler

Emma Stevens (1835-1873)

by

Following on from my last blog entry, I ordered a copy of Emma Stevens’ death certificate to ascertain how she died and whether she was indeed the Emma Stevens (nee Fisher) to who I am, albeit indirectly, related. Sure enough, the death certificate showed that she was married at the time of her death to John Stevens, a tailor, who at the time was incarcerated in Moulsford Asylum, where he remained until his death in 1888. Emma’s age at death is given as 38, meaning she was actually born in 1835.

When her husband John was incarcerated in 1871, Emma and her two youngest children went to the Reading Union Workhouse. With no income coming from her husband it seems she had little choice. Two years later, on 12th August 1873, in what must have been extremely grim conditions, Emma died of cancer in the workhouse. The story of John Stevens’ epilepsy was sad enough, but through the lives of his wife and his children, we can see just how it affected the rest of the family.

The two young girls who went with their mother into the workhouse later married. Martha Stevens, who was 2 when she went in, married George Amor in 1888 and had 6 children. Her sister, Kate, who was 4 at the time she entered the workhouse, married Charles Plested in 1892. Together they had two children. Kate died in 1943 at the age of 73. Martha died 7 years later in 1950 at the age of 81.

Cornelius Squelch

by

I’ve recently returned to my family tree and have been following up the story of my four-times-great-uncle John Stevens (1837-1888) who died in the Moulsford Asylum having suffered for many years with epilepsy. He had married Emma Fisher in 1857 and was incarcerated in the asylum in 1871. In the census for 1881, two of John and Emma’s sons (Henry and John) are listed as living with their uncle, Samuel Stevens – a tailor, whilst a daughter, Mary, is listed as living with her aunt, Rosetta Hunt. The couple’s youngest children, Martha and Kate are recorded, sadly, as being inmates at the Reading and Wokingham District school, which was in effect a workhouse.

I’ve wondered why the children had been left to such a fate? Was their mother unable to look after them? Or perhaps their relatives? Whilst looking for an answer, I discovered an Emma Stevens who died in Reading in 1873, and am assuming that this is Emma Fisher. I’ve ordered a copy of her death certificate to see, but if it is, then it marks another tragic episode in this family’s life, coming just two years after the incarceration of John in 1871.

If Emma Stevens died in 1873, aged just 36, then her two young daughters would have been just 4 and 2 respectively. Could they have entered the school/workhouse at that age? And what happened to them afterwards? Why could none of their aunts or uncles take them in? After all, there were 7 altogether. Given the conditions at the school/workhouse , it is quite hard to understand how they could have ended up there. More research is needed of course but I hope their stories are, eventually, happier ones.

As an aside, whilst looking at the list of inmates for the school/workhouse in 1881, one name stuck out above all others.The boy in question was there with his sister Emily. She was just 12 years old and he was 4 years younger. His name, like something from a children’s book was Cornelius Squelch. He has a story to tell, and I’d like to be the one to write it.

© Nicholas Hedges 2024