James Walton

Level 46

Heather Stevens on 28th January 2023

James Walton was born about 1763 according to the Old Bailey trial, or about 1757 according to the 1828 census James Walton was tried at the Old Bailey in London in July 1801 for the theft of a £40 note. His age was recorded as 38. He was a private in the Coldstream regiment of Guards, and he was a guard at the Tower. It was mentioned in the trial that he could not read. He said in his statement that he had "since last Monday been quartered at the Sun public-house, in Drury-lane; I had been previously quartered at Mr. Conley's, the White Swan, near Execution Dock". He had a "wife and two children, one of them near four years old, which I pay 2s. 6d. a week for, and have been a soldier thirteen years and upwards. ... My father was in the Lancashire militia 26 years; my four brothers are all in the army; and the one that has been in the shortest time has been seven years". He was sentenced to Death which was commuted to Transportation for life. Old Bailey trial:  https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?div=t18010701-67 He was transported on the ship Glatton, which departed in September 1802 and arrived in March 1803 at Sydney, New South Wales. In the 1806 muster, he was listed as a prisoner at Castle Hill. He petitioned for mitigation of sentence in 1811. He received a Conditional Pardon on 31 January 1814. In the muster of October 1814 he was listed as free, employed as a Scourger at Parramatta, on stores. Marriage (de facto) about 1813 to Elizabeth Hannell. They had three sons: James b.1813, John b.1815, Jessie b.1818. However Elizabeth was convicted for theft in 1820, and she was transported to Newcastle where she married John Butler Hewson in 1828. In the 1822 muster  James Walton   was listed as a scourger at Parramatta. In 1823 he was on pay lists of constables in the Parramatta district. In 1825 he was listed as scourger and constable in a paylist, and in the 1825 muster he was listed as a constable, with his three sons, and a girl assumed to be his daughter, Mary Walton, aged 5. The "Australian" reported on 22 September 1825: Two hundred dollars reward. Whereas on the night of Friday, the 11th instant (September) about twelve o'clock, a most violent and outrageous attack was committed on the person of James Walton, scourger and constable of Parramatta. It appears James Walton resides in a dwelling contiguous to the old Factory, Parramatta; about twelve o'clock a constable called him up to go on duty at the gaol (as was usual;) Walton got up and went into the front yard, on his turning about to return into his dwelling, he was knocked down in the door way, where he lay for some time insensible, by some person or persons unknown. On examination in the morning it was discovered that he had received a severe wound on the back part of his head, and some severe bruises on his person. A very large bludgeon has been found on the premises, with which it is supposed the blows were inflicted. Any person, or persons giving information that may lead, to the conviction of the party or parties concerned in the said outrageous and murderous assault, will receive a reward of Two Hundred Dollars by applying at Walker's Hotel, Parramatta In the 1828 census James Walton was listed at Parramatta: James Walton, conditional pardon, Glatton, 1803, life, Protestant, scourger, with his children James Jr. Walton 15, born in the colony, Jesse Walton, 11, born in the colony. Although the index to the 1828 census does not have his age, the remunerator's return has survived, and gives his age as 71 years. His son John Walton, 13, born in the colony, was listed separately as an apprentice to George Flintoff, shoe maker, and they were living in the household of constable Terence McManis at Parramatta. His three sons moved to the Newcastle area and took for their surnames the maiden name of their mother, Hannell. Marriage: 12 September 1836 at St Johns, Parramatta: James Walton, free, age 64, of the parish of Parramatta, and Ann Hubey, free, age 54 of the parish of Parramatta by banns. Death: James Walton was buried on 10 September 1846, registered in the Wesleyan burial register for the parish of St John's. The register recorded that he was a labourer, abode Parramatta, and he was 104 years old (he was actually about 20 years younger). He was buried in Parramatta Methodist Cemetery, North Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia. (Note that several trees have his marriage on 2 May 1786 to Elizabeth Tugwell at Saint Botolph Bishopsgate, in London, England, however this is incorrect - this is another man who died in Lambeth in 1841).