Joseph Holt

74

iain Frazier on 10th November 2024

Family connections for Joseph (Holt) are: Some amendments added Aug 2025. HOLT Joseph (Holt) son of John (Holt) Protestant farmer with 5siblings was born about 1756 at Ballydaniel co.Wicklow Ireland & became a farmer & political activist. He married Hester/Esther (Long) in 1782 in UK. He joined the United Irishmen in 1797 & became a General of Irish Rebels & participated in the Irish Rebellion 1798. [Some confederates of his were Hugh 'Vesty' (Byrne TELLICHERRY 1806) & Michael (Dwyer TELLICHERRY 1806).) He is said to have surrendered on 10 11 1798 with agreement to exile & is also shown as tried at Wicklow Ireland, sentenced to Life, held at Cork & arrived in NSW as a convict with his family on 11 1 1800 after a voyage of 4.5months on MINERVA. He immediately commenced management of Brush Farm for Captain William (Cox). He was affected by suspicions of other Irish, involved in Irish convict rebellion at Rouse Hill in 1804 & was sent to Norfolk Island in March 1804; where pseudo convict status was imposed on him by Gov. (Fouveaux). Soon after, his pseudo-convict status was cancelled by Gov. (Piper). He is recorded as being a convict labourer off stores on Norfolk Island in February 1805. He returned to NSW on 1 11 1805; where he provided criticsm of Gov. (Foveaux). In 1806 he visited Hobart, where he was asked to assess where evacuees fro Norfolk Island may be settled-selecting land upstream from Hobart which became New Norfolk. By 1809 he owned 21acres of his own. He was given Free Pardon in 1809 & Absolute Pardon in 1811. In 1812 he sold his farm & returned to Ireland, maybe with his wife, where he became a publican in Dublin in 1812. He retired to Dunleary (Dun Laoghaire) in 1814. He died on 16 5 1826 in Ireland age60. [Some details taken from this Website] Hester/Esther (Long) was daughter of Protestant farmer of Roundwood co.Wicklow Ireland. She arrived in NSW with her family on 11 1 1800 after a voyage of 4.5months on MINERVA. She may have returned to Ireland with her husband in 1812. Joseph (Holt) & Hester (Long) produced 3children: 1.Joshua (Holt) was born in 1787. He presumably arrived in NSW with his parents on 11 1 1800 after a voyage of 4.5months on MINERVA. He became a farmer. He married Elizabeth (Bray age15) on 20 1 1809 at St Phillips CofE Sydney. He was recorded in 1826 & 1828 as a grazier. ..Elizabeth (Bray) was born on 22 12 1794 & baptised on 30 1 1795 at St Phillips CofE Sydney. She died on 27 4 1858 age63. ..Details of Elizabeth (Bray)s family are given in entry for James (Squire CHARLOTTE 1788) on this Website. ..Joshua (Holt) & Elizabeth (Bray) produced at least 9children: ..1.Mary Ann (Holt) was born on 31 1 1810 & baptised on 8 5 1810 at St Johns CofE Parramatta. She married William (Sparke) butcher on 19 11 1828 at St James CofE Sydney. ....William (Sparke) was born about 1804. He became a butcher. ....[Noted a Thomas (Sparkes SALAMANDER 1791) has an entry on this Website] .. ..2.Esther (Holt) was born on 4 11 1811 & baptised on 12 1 1812 at St Phillips CofE Sydney. She died on 3 6 1833 age21. ..3.Joseph (Holt) was born on 8 5 1814 & baptised on 29 5 1814 at St Phillips CofE Sydney. He died on 21 10 1873 age59. ..4.John (Holt) was born on 1 1 1817 & baptised on 9 2 1817 at St Phillips CofE Sydney. He died on 8 4 1853 age36. ..5.Elizabeth (Holt) was born on 6 6 1819 & baptised on 14 11 1819 at St Phillips CofE Sydney. She died in 1891 age about72. ..6.Sarah Emma (Holt) was born on 19 11 1822 & baptised on 2 2 1823 at St Phillips CofE Sydney. She died on 14 12 1890 age68. ..7.Joshua (Holt) was born on 21 9 1824 at George St Sydney & baptised on 21 11 1824 at St James CofE Sydney. He died on 3 6 1862 age37 ..8.Mary Jane (Holt) was born on 26 5 1826 at George St Sydney & baptised on 25 6 1826 at St James CofE Sydney. ..9.Eliza (Holt) was born on 11 6 1828 at George St Sydney & baptised on 23 7 1828 at St James CofE Sydney. .. 2.??? female (Holt) .. 3.Joseph Harrison (Holt) was born on 17 7 1799 in Ireland. He arrived in NSW with his parents on 11 1 1800 after a voyage of 4.5months on MINERVA. Reference: Craig James Smee 'Births and Baptisms Marriages and Defacto Relationships Deaths and Burials New South Wales 1788-1830' ..a complete listing from church & other records in the early colony.

60

Eric Harry Daly on 29th December 2012

Joseph Holt, Farmer, General Of Irish Rebels and Convict. Joseph Holt (1756-1826), Irish rebel and farmer, was one of the six sons of John Holt, a Protestant farmer of Ballydaniel, County Wicklow, Ireland. In 1782 he married Hester Long, daughter of a Protestant farmer of Roundwood, at the foot of the Wicklow mountains. Here Holt took up a farm and, as a trusted loyalist, held several minor local offices. About 1797 he joined the United Irishmen. In the course of a private feud Holt's house was burnt by a company of militia in May 1798, whereupon he took to the mountains. Active during most of the 1798 rebellion he rallied the defeated rebels with skill and resource and organized guerrilla resistance. Hunted long but unsuccessfully, Holt eventually surrendered himself on 10 November 1798 on condition of his exile without trial to New South Wales. These lenient terms and some transactions while he was held awaiting transportation at Cork aroused suspicions that he had turned informer. Holt, who took his United Irishmen's oath seriously, always denied this vehemently, but he was seldom one to keep silence, and the authorities may have got more out of him than he realized. After a lengthy delay Holt and his wife and son sailed from Cork in the Minerva on 24 August 1799 and arrived at Sydney Cove on 11 January 1800. From Captain William Cox, a passenger in the same ship, Holt accepted the management of Brush Farm. His arrival caused some little stir, and among those who sought him out were Maurice Margarot, Richard Atkins ('full of chatter as a hen magpie' while sharing a half-gallon bottle of rum) and Samuel Marsden whom he snubbed. The authorities seem to have feared that Holt, an experienced rebel leader, would be a centre of disaffection, but nothing was farther from his plans. As a lower middle class Irish Protestant with firm notions of respectability Holt wanted to better his position by thrift and hard work. A good farmer, he met early reverses resulting from the vagaries of the Australian climate, but showed more capacity than many in New South Wales at that time. He was a useful manager for Cox and by 1809 was himself the owner of 210 acres (85 ha), on which he grazed 400 sheep and 50 cattle. Despite his vigorous protests Holt was thrice arrested for suspected complicity in plans for an Irish rising. In September 1800 he was denounced as a conspirator during a period of alarm. He was acquitted but was constrained to witness the brutal flogging (of which he wrote a vivid account) of two convicted offenders, Fitzgerald and Galvin. On Christmas eve 1803 he was haled before Atkins on a false accusation of plotting his murder, but was again cleared. Three months later, however, he was detained after the Castle Hill rising and transported to Norfolk Island, where he remained until November 1805. Nevertheless he seems to have held aloof from conspiracies, having a lively fear of informers and something of a contempt for the amateurish tactics of the disaffected Irish Catholics. Returning to his farm, Holt met no further trouble except the confiscation of an illicit still in 1806. Through Major Edward Abbott he secured a free pardon from Lieutenant-Governor William Paterson in 1809, confirmed by Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1811. Next year Holt sold his properties for over £1800 and then returned to Ireland, suffering shipwreck on the way. He became a publican in Dublin but found his custom affected by old feuds. In 1814 he retired to Dunleary (Dun Laoghaire) where, lamenting that he had left New South Wales, he lived on the rents of several houses until his death on 16 May 1826. He left a daughter and two sons, Joshua (b.1787), who farmed land in New South Wales and left descendants, and Joseph Harrison (b.1799). Undoubtedly he was resolute and able, with qualities of leadership, although perhaps not quite so resourceful in deed and repartee as his memoirs suggest. From The Colonial Secretary Index, 1788-1825. HOLT, Joseph. Per "Minerva", 1800; farmer An Irish rebel transported per "Minerva", 1800; he was detained after the Castle Hill rebellion in 1804 and sent to Norfolk Island until November 1805; he managed Brush Farm for William Cox and also held property of his own; his absolute pardon granted by Paterson in 1809 was confirmed by Macquarie in 1811; he returned to Ireland the following year. 1803 Aug 15; 1809 Jun 9 On list of all grants & leases of land registered in the Colonial Secretary's Office (Fiche 3268; 9/2731 pp.134, 178) 1810 Jan 29 Memorial (Fiche 3004; 4/1821 No.146) 1810 Feb 3 Petition for mitigation of sentence (Fiche 3165; 4/1846 p.110) n.d. On list of convicts who have received absolute pardons [Jan 1811] (Fiche 3292; 4/6974.1 p.78) 1812 May 18,21-2 Plaintiff, High Court of Appeals (Reel 6042; 4/1724 pp.60, 61, 67, 69-70)