William Dearman Son Joseph 1799-?
Of the three convict sons, I know the least about Joseph. Basically I know that he was christened in 1799, that he must have married at some point and that he had two convictions at the Old Bailey - the first leading to a short jail sentence and the second to transportation for seven years to New South Wales in 1829. He must have worked out his time because in 1841 he got his Certificate of Freedom, which would have allowed him to go back home if he wished. But there alas the trail ends.
And as far as William and Ann his parents are concerned, if we are to believe the statement that they had died before John was twelve, then they would not have known about their sons' criminal lives. Maybe the criminal lives came about because of the death of the parents. A sudden loss of income and security perhaps?
Joseph’s second (and last) trial was on 4th December, 1828. This time he had stolen some tools and pawned them in nearby Barnet. Then, to make matters worse, after he had been up before the magistrate and put in a cell he escaped and was at large for some time, which, I guess, shows some spunk. The crime seems to have been committed in May, but it was December before he was brought to the Old Bailey. On a personal note we learn that he had been out of work for some time, and that he had hightailed it to Hertfordshire. He must have remained at large for around six months. He tried to maintain his innocence at the trial, but the evidence does seem a bit against him, though I guess it hinges on the guy in the Pawnbroker’s recognising him. I guess the fact that they were carpenter’s tools has nothing to do with whether he was a carpenter or not - he just seems to have stolen them to get money. He is still living in Enfield and seems to have been a lodger at the Chamberlain’s place. No mention of a wife this time. Transcript is below:
“JOSEPH DEARMAN was indicted for stealing, a variety of carpenters’ tools, value 21s., the goods of Charles Chamberlain ; and another quantity of tools, value 21s. , the goods of Thomas Newell .
CHRISTOPHER CHAMBERLAIN . I am a wheelwright, and live at Enfield; the prisoner lived there, but did not work for me; Thomas Newell worked with me. Newell’s shop was broken open on the night of the 23d of April, when we went in the morning we found it broken open, and missed the tools; I lost an axe, two planes, and two spoke-shaves. THOMAS NEWELL. I work for my father. I went to work that morning, and missed eight planes and a saw; here are six of them - the prisoner lived in the place. WILLIAM THOMAS CLARKSON. I am servant to Mr. Capel, a pawnbroker. On the 29th of April the prisoner brought seven planes to pawn for 5s.; he told me he brought them from a poor man named Wright, who was out of work - I live at Barnet, five or six miles from Enfield. Cross-examined by MR. PHILLIPS. Q. Have you ever seen the man before? A.Never; our shop is not much frequented. COURT. Q.Have you any doubt that he is the man? A. No; I saw him again in about a month. JOHN WILSON . I heard that the things were pawned at Barnet; I went and got them - I took the prisoner, but found no duplicates on him. Cross-examined. Q. Who told you they were stolen? A. Mr. Hicks told me some tools were gone to Barnet; Hicks would have been before the Magistrate, but the prisoner broke out of the cage, and we never saw him again till about a fortnight ago. Cross-examined. Q. Did you search him? A. Yes, but found nothing on him; I took him first on the 22d of May. Prisoner’s Defence I know nothing about the tools - I never saw them. CHRISTOPHER CHAMBERLAIN re-examined. Q. What is the value of these planes? A. This one is worth about half-a-crown; I gave 3s. 9d. for this small one two years ago.
JURY to JOHN WILSON . Q. Did the prisoner abscond after the robbery? A. He remained till the 22d of May; he went before the Magistrate on the Monday - on the Tuesday he broke out of the cage, and was not taken till about a fortnight ago, in Hertfordshire: he had been in no employ for some time.
GUILTY . Aged 30. Transported for Seven Years .
Links
Ann Mason
Joseph Dearman
Essendon and Little Berkhamsted
Labourers - Agricultural and Urban
Joseph’s first trial was in February, 1826 when he was sent to prison for three months for stealing coal. James’ (the direct ancestor) first trial was later in the same year. Here is the transcript of Joseph’s trial:
JOSEPH DEARMAN , was indicted for stealing, on the 12th of February, 3 pecks of coals, value 1s. 6d. , the goods of Thomas Shambrook .
THOMAS SHAMBROOK. I am a coal-dealer, and live at Endfield. The prisoner is a next door neighbour; on the 12th of February, I went out to chapel, and left my son at home - I returned home about five o’clock, and he told me he had caught the prisoner taking coals. GEORGE SHAMBROOK . I am the prosecutor’s son. I was at home, and saw the prisoner’s wife come and try to get the staple out of the coal-house door, but she could not; the prisoner then came, took it out, and took about three pecks of coals into his own house; he then took a hammer and drove the staple in again. JOHN WILSON . I went on the morning of the 13th of February, and took the prisoner at his own house. I asked him if he had got any coals in the house; he said he had bought half a bushel of Mr. Shambrook on Saturday night, which was all he had - I then looked, and found these coals in a back place, under some hay. There was no promise or threat held out to him; but he told the Magistrate, he was very sorry for what he had done, and he hoped he would forgive him, and let him pay for them.
GUILTY Aged 25. Confined Three Months.”
We don’t learn a huge amount from this I guess, other than the fact that he was married, that his wife was a partner in crime and that they lived in Enfield next door to the Shambrooks. A peck is 8 quarts or 554.8 cubic inches. There are four quarts in a gallon, so 6 gallons. Not a lot of coal really - 3 bucketsworth perhaps Don’t know at this stage who his wife (Elizabeth?) was or whether they had any children. His wife doesn’t seem to have been prosecuted even though she obviously took part in it all.
Joseph left England from Spithead (near Portsmouth and pictured below) on the Norfolk on 22nd May, 1829, so he must have spent five months in the prison hulk Leviathan at Portsmouth. His voyage was one of the shortest - a mere 97 days, arriving in New South Wales on 27th August, 1829 . The ship carried 200 male convicts and a few passengers all of whom survived the journey.
Joseph seems to have served his full seven years, but I do not know where. He received a Certificate of Freedom in 1836, which seems to have been renewed in 1841 and Bathurst is mentioned as a location. Bathurst is some considerable distance inland - over the Blue Mountains. All I have checked out so far are the indexes, so I do not have the details. Maybe the actual records would tell me more, though I have to confess this research is a little low on my list. I should post a question on the net somewhere. Maybe somebody out there knows more. Indeed if you are reading this and do know more, do get in touch.
So in 1841 he was still in New South Wales. I do not have a death for him, so do not know whether he went elsewhere in Australia, back to England, or somewhere else. Descendants? Who knows.