Elizabeth Dewhurst

5

Stephanie Etchells-Butler on 3rd September 2022

First husband was Mr. Dewhurst and had two children Thomas and Mary. Her second husband was James Ratcliffe (died).Then she married Thomas Etchells on 20th Nov. 1827 at St. James Church Sydney. Her fourth husband was Samuel Powers.

71

Robin Sharkey on 11th September 2021

________________________________ REMARRIAGE, DEATH Elizabeth did not die in 1853, and did not die as "Dewhurst". She died in 1860 as Elizabeth Power, having married again in 1837 to SAMUEL POWER. He had been tried at Warwick assizes 20 years earlier and transported for life on 'Neptune' in 1818. He got a Conditional Pardon in 1821 and had been a horse dealer since. In 1836, the year before she married this third colonial husband she received another conditional pardon. It gave her physical description as follows: "Native of Yorkshire, 5ft 4in tall, complexion ruddy and pock pitted, Hair: sandy; eyes: grey." She was also recorded then as missing all her upper front teeth. Missing her front teeth did not prevent Elizabeth and Sam Power from having a long marriage of 23 years. They both died in 1860. Sam died on 20 April and then on 23 May, executorship was granted solely to Edward Lord (businessman, son of Simeon Lord who back in 1814 had employed her first NSW husband, Luddite rioter and hatter, James Radcliffe). Elizabeth renounced her own appointment as executor under Sam’s will. (SMH 24 May 1860, p.2) Sadly, Elizabeth also died in 1860, at her home in Chippendale, aged about 72 years, on 21 July shortly after Sam's death. Edward Lord was appointed executor as she'd stipulated in her will (NSW Gov Gazette 7 Aug 1860, p. 1476). Probate was granted for 2,000 pounds, which she bequeathed to her brothers in Yorkshire. [See SR NSW NRS-13660-1-[14/3327]-Series 1_4817] _________________________________ Finally, Elizabeth Dewhurst had indeed been married in Yorkshire before she was transported to NSW. She truthfully stated in NSW she was single, because in fact she was a widow. Her husband ROBERT DEWHURST had been executed at Lancaster Castle on 2 Oct 1813 for uttering forged notes. Lancaster Gazetter, Saturday Oct 9 1813, p.3: “ On Saturday last, about noon, the two unfortunate men [who had been] left for execution at our late assizes, underwent the awful sentence of the law, on the drop, behind our castle, this: ROBERT DEWHURST [aged 30] for uttering forged banknotes at Manchester…. Elizabeth, the wife of the above Robert Dewhurst was convicted and received sentence of death at the last Spring sizes for a similar crime to her husband’s but this sentence was remitted for transportation for life. " Dewhurst had been a “wholesale dealer” as the judge emphatically styled him, in forged notes, and had acquired considerable property by this unlawful traffic.” With their father hanged, and their mother transported, the two children Elizabeth stated she had left in York were left as young orphans dependent on relatives, or the poorhouse system.

71

Robin Sharkey on 30th August 2021

Elizabeth Dewhurst, was tried for uttering, at the Lancaster Assizes commencing 20 March 1813. She was found guilty, and sentenced to death, but her sentence was commuted to transportation for life since she sailed a few months later on “Wanstead”, departing in August 1813, arriving in NSW in January 1814. Elizabeth Dewhurst had prior form, having been acquitted one year earlier on another uttering charge. Women’s role in forgery networks was, commonly, to pass the notes in shops. It is very likely that Elizabeth and another convict named Martha Hughes were part of the same network of forgers. Martha Hughes was found guilty of uttering, at the same 1813 assizes as Elizabeth; both women had passed forged notes to a man named James Platt, and Martha was also transported on “Wanstead”. Elizabeth Dewhurst wrote in a letter before departure that she had two small children who she was leaving behind. It’s likely that “Dewhurst” was her married name, since when she died in NSW she was buried as “Dewhurst” despite two church marriages in NSW. Lancaster Gazette, Sat 20 March 1813 p.3 “Lancaster Assizes “The Calendar of Prisoners who are to take their trials at our assizes, which commence this day, before the Hon. Baron Thomason and the Hon Justice Le Blanc, we are sorry to say, contains no less than seventy-three offenders, many of whom are charged with capital offences. They are as follows: “MARTHA HUGHES charged with having uttered to James Platt, at Salford, three forged 2 pound Bank of England notes “ELIZ. DEWHURST charged with having put off to James Platt, at Manchester, five forged notes." James Platt may have been grocer/druggist at Bolton-le-Moors in Lancaster, who was made bankrupt in March 1813 (London Gazette – Whitehall March 9 1813 – Bankrupts). Salford, where Martha was arrested was then a town north of Manchester (now part of Greater Manchester). Bolton-le-Moors where a James Platt had his store was actually a parish, not far from Salford. Both these places are around Manchester. CHARGES in PRIOR YEARS In a letter written in July 1812 to the Bank of England, Elizabeth said that she had been “taken at Leeds in Yorkshire” and “not any found on me”, meaning no forged notes were found on her. This seems to be a third charge, separate to the one she was acquitted of at the Lancaster Lent Assizes of 1812, the year before her guilty verdict: Lancaster Gazetter, 21 March 1812 p.3 Lancaster Lent Assizes Elizabeth Dewhurst, charged with having uttered to Elizabeth Hailwood, at Manchester, a forged two pounds Bank of England note, with intent to defraud the Governor and co of the Bank of England Her acquittal was reported in the Lancaster Gazetter of the following week, 28 March 1812. _________________________________ SEEKING FINANCIAL HELP from THE BANK OF ENGLAND By 8 July 1813, the women had been placed on board the “Wanstead”. This was the date that Elizabeth (and Martha also) wrote a letter from on board the ship while it was moored at Deptford. The letter was to the Bank of England seeking some financial assistance before she departed England. Elizabeth tells the Bank that she had been “taken at Leeds in Yorkshire” when no forged notes were found on her. This may even be a third charge, separate to the one she was acquitted of at the Lancaster Lent Assizes of 1812, the year before her guilty verdict: For some decades, the Bank of England provided a small amount of assistance to female prisoners who the bank had successfully prosecuted for forging or uttering. The women had to write to the Bank to request this assistance. Help was given because women often remained in the local gaol for a long time until they were transported, but also would face very hard times with no means of support, and frequently had children as well. Many in gaol were destitute. Elizabeth’s letter would have been written by someone else on her behalf. There are several other letters from “Wanstead” convicts written at Deptford which are almost identical in words and format (for example, those from Eleanor Thorpe, Phoebe Chandler, and Elizabeth Chedlow). It is reproduced here as originally spelt: From "Prisoners Letters to the Bank of England 1781-1827", ed Deidre Palk:- 633. [F25/11/22] Elizabeth Dewhurst, Wanstead transport ship, Deptford, 8 July 1813 Worthey Sir this is to inform you that I am now on board of the Ship a going to Botoney and I have not troubled you before so I hope your Goodness would be kind enough to think of me now as I have two small Children to Leave Behind me and very much distress for Cloaths and not a friend to assist me in anything I was taken in Leeds in Yorkshire (fn. 1) and not any found on me I was tried at Lancaster in March Last so I hope your Goodness will not forget me I am Sir your Most Humble Servant Elizth Duert" _______________________________ MARRIAGE in NSW to JAMES RADCLIFFE / the LUDDITE CONNECTION If Elizabeth had two small children then she was probably married. However in NSW she advised she was single. The indents recorded her as being aged 26 and having the trade of a baker. The 1814 Muster nine months after her arrival does not indicate who she has been assigned to, simply stating ‘single” and her residence being in Sydney, off the government stores. In 1815 she married James Radcliffe /Ratcliffe at Sydney. [NSWBDM Marriages registration 1728/1815 V18151728 3A]. Radcliffe was a hatter who came from Denton, an increasingly important hat-making centre. He got involved in the riots around Manchester in April 1812. Known as the Luddite riots which went across 1811- 1813, James Radcliffe’s trial was held at the Chester Special Commission for the rioters, on 25 May 1812. Radcliffe was given 7 year’s transportation and had arrived on “Earl Spencer” in 1813, aged 24. In the November 1814 Muster he’d been assigned to Mr Simeon Lord, a wealthy merchant, who came as a convict from Yorkshire, who had started manufacturing hats and built a fulling mill also making textiles. Elizabeth came from the Manchester area also. She had still been in England in 1812, when rioting was severe in April and May. She would have known all about the riots, and may have been imprisoned with women rioters about the time of her own March 1812 trial where she was acquitted for uttering. Elizabeth came from the Manchester area also. She had still been in England in 1812, when rioting was severe in April and May. She would have known all about the riots, and may have been imprisoned with women rioters about the time of her own March 1812 trial where she was acquitted for uttering. Elizabeth also came from the Manchester, like James. She had still been in England in 1812, when rioting was severe in April and May. She would have known all about the riots, and may have been imprisoned with women rioters about the time of her own March 1812 trial where she was acquitted for uttering. Elizabeth and James maintained friendships with other Luddite rioters. Three Luddite hatters from Denton were in NSW, and they stuck together. When James died in 1825, Elizabeth went on to marry his friend, hatter Thomas Etchell also from Denton, who’d been picked up at the same April 1812 riot as James. A third hatter tradesman, Samuel Lees, also from Denton and involved in the same April 1812 riot and tried at Chester Special Assizes was employed by Elizabeth’s second husband (per 1828 Census). In August 1821, James advertised the hat making business from no 44 Philip St In February 1822, He advertised that he was moving from Phillip Street to 32 Castlereagh St where his hat making business would continue. In March 1822 Elizabeth and James were living in Castlereagh St when James Radcliffe had a convict servant assigned to him. Although a hatter himself, James was noted as the “husband of hatter, Elizabeth Dewhurst”. In November 1822 Elizabeth petitioned for a Conditional Pardon. She received her Cond. Pardon in 1825, publicly announced in the Sydney Gazette dated Monday 28 November 1826 at p.3. In the 1825 muster, James Ratcliffe was recorded as a hatter, so it seems they were in business together. Sadly, James died in November 1826 aged only 37 years, a “hatmaker”. He then lived at George Street, Sydney and was buried from St Phillip’s Church, Sydney. The circumstances of his death, described to an inquest, would today indicate that he suffered from depression. He had been despondent “for some time”, and often talked about “impending ruin”. His state had been aggravated by a circumstance of having been locked up for a short time. It appeared from the inquest that he had drowned himself as a consequence of all this, his body being found on Thursday afternoon, 14th November 1826 (see The Monitor, Friday 15 September 1826, p.1) MARRIAGE to THOMAS ETCHELL Thomas Etchell was a friend or associate of her husband’s from Chester. Also a hatter, he was with James at the same riot in 1812. In 1827, the year after James’s death, the widowed Elizabeth married Thomas Etchell [NSWBDM Marriage Register 4178/1827 V18274178 3B]. The register recorded Elizabeth as being aged 40, (could not sign her name) Thomas 48, (signed his name) Married 29 November 1827. One of the witnesses was Wm Drinkwater, a baker, from Manchester. Thomas Etchell had arrived in NSW as a 7-year convict on the “Earl Spencer” in 1813, the same ship as James Radcliffe. Etchell was also a hatter in Denton, and was also involved in the Luddite Riots near Chester in April 1812. In England, he had the alias of “Thomas Brunt”. He was tried at the same Chester Assizes as James Radcliffe. Like James Radcliffe, Etchell had also been assigned to Simeon Lord on arrival. In the 1825 Muster, he was recorded as free by servitude, and his own householder. In the 1828 Census of NSW she was recorded as Elizabeth Etchell, aged 48 years (but based on age at arrival she would have been only 40 years old). Protestant. Conditional Pardon. Residing in the household of Thomas Etchell of George Street, and being noted as having the surname “Dewest”. Thomas Etchell died on Saturday 11th July 1835, leaving Elizabeth a widow again. “ DEATHS - On Saturday last, after a few days ill-ness Mr. Thomas Etchells, of the Brick-field Hills, aged 55 years.” [ The Sydney Herald, dated Monday 13 July 1835, p. 3] Thomas was originally buried at the Sydney Burial Ground. Recordings of Monumental Inscriptions there, made in 1901, showed that he was buried in the same grave as Elizabeth’s first NSW husband, James Radcliffe. “James RATCLIFFE died 7th September 1826 aged 37 years. Also Thomas ETCHELL, died 11th July 1835 aged 56 years” Thomas Etchell’s remains were re-interred in the Bunnerong Cemetery, together with those of his widow Elizabeth Dewhurst/ Radcliffe/ Etchell. [Sydney Burial Ground Re-interment Register. Section: 1S, Plot: 112; Original Remarks: [with Ratcliffe]] Elizabeth’s death was possibly the one recorded as Jane Elizabeth Dewhurst, in 1853. If so, she would have been aged 65 years.