James Vandercom

75

iain Frazier on 3rd May 2025

Family connections for James (Vandercorn) are: VANDERCORN James (Vandercorn/Vandercomb/e) was born about 1763/7 & became a bricklayer & plasterer. He was tried w/1other for housebreking, on 19 11 1795, & stealing goods of Meriel & Ann (Neville) in Portugal St Grosvenor-square at Old Bailey on 22 6 1796, sentenced to death reprieved to Life, held at Middlesex Gaol Delivery & arrived in NSW as a convict on 18 5 1798 after a voyage of 8months on BARWELL. He was apparantly sent to Newcastle, for a misdemeanour?, as he was allowed to return to Sydney on 10 1 1810. He had a relationship with Elizabeth (Jones) as Elizabeth (Evans/Jones perhaps her third relationship) emancipist & married her on 2 2 1810 at St Phillips CofE Sydney. He was a bricklayer & plasterer in 1810. He was at Windmill Row The Rocks when he was issued a licence to sell beer etc on 21 7 1810, which he held until at least 1817. He was still at Windmill Row in 1817 & at Liverpool in 1818. He was still a plasterer in 1822. [Some details taken from this Website] Elizabeth (Evans/Jones) was born about 1759. She married ??? (Jones?) in London. [Her born or married name may have been (Evans)] She, as Elizabeth (Evans), was tried for stealing tea, on 8 11 1876, of Thomas (Whitehead) at Old Bailey on 13 12 1786, sentenced to 7years, held at Middlesex Gaol Delivery & arrived in NSW unaccompanied as a convict with her daughter on 22 1 1788 after a voyage of 13months on First Fleet ship LADY PENRHYN-on the voyage she miscarried on 25 5 1787. She died on 27 9 1820 age60 mother of perhaps 4children & was buried at St Phillips CofE Sydney. [Some details taken from this Website] Elizabeth (Evans/Jones) & James (Vandercorn) produced 1child: 1.Thomas (Vandercorn) was born in 1802. 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.

135

C H on 7th March 2024

Old Bailey Online JAMES VANDERCOM. JAMES ABBOTT. Theft; housebreaking. 22nd June 1796 Text type Trial account Defendants JAMES VANDERCOM, JAMES ABBOTT Offences Theft > Housebreaking Session Date 22nd June 1796 Reference Number t17960622-20 Verdicts Guilty Punishments Death 405. JAMES VANDERCOM , and JAMES ABBOTT , were indicted for breaking and entering the dwelling-house of Meriel Neville , and Ann Neville , spinster s, on the 19th of November , with intent, the goods of the said Meriel, and Ann Neville; burglariously to steal, take, and take away . (The indictment was stated by Mr. Trebeck, and the case was opened by Mr. Raine.) SUSANNAH GIBBS sworn. I am cook and house-keeper to the Miss Nevilles, in Portugal-street, Grosvenor-square . Q. What are their names? - A. Meriel, and Ann; the house belongs to them; they went out of town on the 17th of July, and I left town on the Monday following, the 20th. Q. Before you went out of town, did you see that house secured? - A. I did it myself, I locked all the doors, and fastened the windows, every one with bars and bolts, as far as I possibly could; I was the last person in the house; I fastened the outer door; I locked it with two locks, a patent lock, and a common lock; I put all the keys on a string, and gave them to Mr. Slack. Q. Did you leave every thing in its place? - A. Yes; every door was locked, and every box and drawer. Q. How long after you had given the keys to Mr. Slack was it before you saw it again? - A. Not till the 21st of November; we came to town, on hearing that the house had been broke open, and found every thing turned upside down, every thing turned out of the drawers, and a great deal of property gone. Q. Did you observe any particular part of the furniture in disorder? - A. Yes; every thing almost moved out of its place. Q. Have you lost any property yourself? - A. A great deal. HENRY SLACK sworn. I am a hatter in South Audley-street. Q. Are you acquainted with the Miss Nevilles? - A. Yes; Mrs. Gibbs left the keys with me last July; as she always did when the Miss Nevilles went out of town; I had the care of the house prior to the 19th of November; there having been a high wind, I was apprehensive some tiles might have blown off the house; I went to see that it was safe between two and three-o'clock in the afternoon; I took my youngest son William with me; when we came to the door, we found it only on the single lock. Q. Did you observe any thing done to the other lock? - A. Yes; the door ought to have been fastened with a patent lock, and a common spring-lock, the patent lock was forced off; the box that the lock goes into was forced off; when we got the door open, we saw a bed, a pillow, blankets, and bolsters, I believe, all packed up and laid in the hall, but I did not examine it particulary; I was a great deal surprised at that, and looked into the parlours, the parlour doors were both open, every thing was in confusion, and every paper and drawer opened, and thrown about, that was in the back parlour; in the front parlour there was a harpsichord, which was broke, and a bottle that had been emptied, and six glasses; I should suppose they had been drinking wine out of them; there was a looking-glass taken out of the frame, and a vast deal of dirt in the room, the cheek of the door had been forced off. Jury. Q. Did the glasses appear to have been recently used? - A. I cannot tell when they had been used, it certainly had not been long. Court. It most likely was done at different times. Mr. Slack. We went up stairs; and found every thing in confusion, the doors were all forced open; we went up stairs, and under the garret stairs there was a cedar chest, and knowing that Miss Neville used to leave her household linen in that chest, I looked into it, and they had emptied and done their business in it; the second floor was in confusion, every bureau and drawer open; and wherever there was a curiosity, or a little box, or any thing, it was thrown about under foot; the papers were in such confusion you cannot conceive, they were thrown about so; some of the beds were gone out of the two pair of stairs; we went into the garret, and found every box, and every thing in the same confusion; the boxes emptied, and all the distress that could be, every thing was ransacked and gone; we went below stairs then, into the house-keeper's room, and found that in the same situation, every door opened; and under the kitchen stairs, where I knew the iron chest was deposited, I looked there, and found that removed, but not taken away; it was set on one side, it was not opened; then we went down into the cellar, and the cellar door was open, but not a bottle left with any thing in it; we went into the front kitchen, somebody had been in there, but there was nothing that I knew of gone; we examined every place, and there was nobody left in the house. Q. Did you go into every room in the house? - A. Yes, and examined every room carefully. Q. How long were you in the house? - A. About half an hour, or three quarters of an hour. Q. How did you leave it? - A. Double locked by the spring lock. Q. Can you undertake positively to say, that nobody was in that house when you left it? - A. Yes; I can positively. Q. Do you know the exact hour when you left this door double-locked? - A. After three o'clock, but I cannot say how much, I went home; I understood a friend from Brentford was there, and I staid there about a quarter of an hour, and from there I went to Justice Addingtion; I went to Clarges-street first, knowing that he used to live there, and expected to find him there then; upon not finding him there, I heard where he lived, in Vine-street; and as I passed St. James's church, I observed that the clock was exactly four; I went to Vine-street, and told him my business, and he advised me to watch; I went home to my own house, and told my family; I did not stay at home more than four or five minutes, only to say where I was going; I went to the next door, and staid about the door till after the post-bell had rung. Court. Q. What time does the bell ring past your house? - A. It begins at five, and finishes about twenty minutes before six; the first bell was rung before I went home; I went from the next door back to my own house to see about a letter that my son was writing to Miss Neville, to acquaint her of the state of her house. Q. When you say next door, do you mean next door to your own house? - A. No; next door to Miss Nevilles'; I went home and drank tea, I staid at home till near six o'clock. I then went into Portugal-street, and looked into Miss Nevilles' parlour window, where I saw a light; I went to collect a few neighbours together at the public-house, to come to my assistance; we collected several neighbours, twenty or thirty, but, I believe, there were about a dozen went in with me. I kneeled down, and looked through the key-hole, to see if I could see any body pass or repass in the passage, but I saw nobody; I asked the people about me if they were ready to go in with me, and they said they were; I opened the door myself, and found it only single locked, I had left it double-locked; we found two lights in the parlour, my son fetched one of them out, and immediately as he was coming out of the parlour, there was a cry above stairs "shoot them, damn them, shoot them;" there was a great stamping above stairs, that you might suppose there were a dozen people there; after that cry, and this stamping, I said, "oh, damn you, I'll shoot you;" we directly proceeded up stairs as fast as we could, and my son, and another young man that was there at the same time, being rather more active than myself, ran up past me. Q. Whether it was possible for any person, besides your own party, your son, and these other persons, to have gone up stairs before you? - A. I am very sure it was impossible for any person whatever to go by me, for I stood at the foot of the stairs; when I came to the first landing-place they got by me; and when I came to the second landing-place, I saw the two prisoners go from the back drawing-room to the front drawing-room; when they found us so close, my son, or another person, I cannot say which, had a light in his hand, it was knocked out, and they called out for another light; James Harvey was the first before my son, but I was directly behind him with a light, for I had a light in one hand, and a cutlass in the other; I went in with the light, and when they found they could not get the door closed, they looked for something to defend themselves with. Court. Describe the closing of the door - A. It was a door between the two drawing-rooms, they open one into the other; after they were over-powered in that, they looked for something to defend themselves with; there was a flower-stand, which one of them took to the window, and jumped up for a window-bar, I think it was Vandercom, I am not sure, and my son cut him on the arm, and he dropped it; but it is so long ago, that I do not recollect whether it was my son or Harvey; I picked up the bar, and they desended themselves with chairs and tables till they were overpowered, and then they were secured, and taken to the watch-house; we did not search them, they were taken from the watch-house to Marlborough-street. Court. Q. Upon your return from Mr. Addington's to Miss Nevilles', you went to your own house? - A. Yes. Q. When you returned to Miss Nevilles', what fort of light was it? - A. It was day-light then. Q. When you returned the next time to the house, do you recollect what fort of light it was? - A. It was quite dark then; it was about six o'clock. Q. Was any one else besides your party there, or thereabouts, during the whole of this time? - A. No; I believe, not a soul; I was there myself, from half past four till I went home about the letter to Miss Neville. Q. From half past four till when? - A. Till after five; because the bell had rung. Q. Was it light or dark then? - A. Dark. Court. Q. When you left Miss Nevilles' house it was quite dark? - A. Yes, it was. Cross-examined by Mr. Knowlys. Q. When you went into the house first, and examined into the state of the kitchen, there is a door that leads into a garden-ground, or something? - A. Yes. Q. Can you take upon yourself to say that was fast at the time you left the house? - A. I certainly will not swear that it was - no, it was not fastened. Court. Q. Nor shut? - A. Yes; it was shut, but not fastened with the wooden bar that it ought to have been fastened with; it was fastened with a latch. Q. Can you pledge your memory to say it was not open? - A. I can. Q. You left it some time after three o'clock? - A. Yes. Q. From the time you went and saw your friend, went to Justice Addington's, and then returned to the house, it must have consumed more than an hour? - A. I can't say that; the only notice that I had of the time was, passing by St. James's church. Q. From your observation of the street-door, how did it appear to have been opened? - A. I left it double-locked and found it single-locked. Q. Did you observe the back-door? - A. No. Q. The house was left without any watch for above an hour in the day-time? - A. Yes, I believe, it was. Q. Did you observe, when you went the second time, any of the property brought down stairs? - A. I did not, except that the back drawing-room carpet had been cut up at the door. Q. Did you observe any of the things out of the back-parlour removed in the front, or out of the front into the back parlour? - A. No. Mr. Raine. Q. My Learned Friend has asked you if there was not a whole hour when this house was left unguarded; was it not, during the whole of that hour, broad day-light? - A. It was. Court. Q. When you left the house, at five o'clock, had you made considerable observation upon it? - A. I had only watched that nobody went in while I was there. Q. Was there any light to be seen there at that time? - A. No. WILLIAM SLACK sworn. On the 19th of November, I went to Miss Nevilles' at near three o'clock, I went with my father, to see if any damage was done to the house, occasioned by the high wind. Q. Did you go into the house? - A. I did; and found that it had been broke open and robbed; I went into all the rooms of the house, the doors were all forced, the cheeks split of some of them, and the locks broke off; I observed a bed lying in the hall tied up in a blanket, and a looking-glass taken out of its frame, and laid upon the harpsichord in the front parlour; I went with my father all over the house, but before we went over the house, I went to fetch my brother; I left the house nearly upon four, between three and four. Q. When you came out of the house, did you part company with your father? - A. Yes; he went to Justice Addington's; I went again with my father to Miss Nevilles', nearly upon six o'clock. Q. Had you seen it at all between the time you parted company with your father, and nearly upon six o'clock? - A. I had not; I had been home. Q. Who was with you when you returned to the house? - A. There was a person of the name of Birch there, and Bagley, and Lawless; my father was there before me, in Portugal-street; my father unlocked the door, and asked if we were all ready, and went in, I followed my father; I went into the parlour, and found two lights, I took one of them out, and went up stairs, my father stopped at the bottom of the stairs; I then heard a noise of stamping of feet, and crying out "damn them, shoot them, and fire upon them," and a few such words. Q. Could any person have ran up stairs between the time of your going in for a candle and your going up stairs? - A. I do not think they could; I went up stairs and followed the voices, and as I turned round the second landing-place of the drawing-room, they drew a table before them which I threw on one side; there was a bit of a scuffle ensued as they turned in at the door, between me and Harvey, and the two prisoners; one of them knocked out the light, which I had in my hand, I cannot pretend to say which of them it was, and then ran into the front drawing-room and endeavoured to shut the door, but shut Harvey's arm into it; they pushed against the door; we pushed against it as hard as we could; we bollowed out for another light; we pushed again; as soon as we got a light and got in, the first I saw was Abbot, and then I saw Vandercom coming from the window, the same two men that I had seen before; Vandercom came round Abbot, and took up a table and thrust it at me; I then cut at him with a cutlass, and we fought a bit; and at last I cut him over the hand, and he dropped the table; then, my Lord, he made at me with his fist; I cut him once or twice again, at last he staggered and I collared him; he did not fall, and I secured him; that is all I know of it. Q. How is this house of Miss Nevilles situated, is it at the corner of the street? - A. No; it is almost the middle house; I believe it is No. 3, there are five or six houses in the street, on that side of the way. Court. Q. Is it so situated that any body could go in at broad day-light, and could not be seen? - A. No; it is impossible, I think. Cross-examined by Mr. Knapp. Q. You left this house between three and four? - A. Yes. Q. You did not return again till near six? - A. No. Q. You locked the door when you went out, between three and four? - A. No; my father locked it. Q. It was day light of course when you left it, between three and four? - A. Yes. Q. Do you remember the back-door that there is to this house? - A. Very well. Q. Do you take upon yourself to say, whether that was fastened? - A. Yes; there was a bar across it, that I can swear to positively. Q. Recollect yourself, are you sure there was a bar put across the back-door? - A. I am quite positive of it. Q. Do you recollect the situation of the property when you returned again; did you observe any difference? - A. No. Q. Do you remember particularly any alteration of the carpet? - A. No; I did not see it. Q. Do you remember any of the property being removed to a different situation than that in which you left it? - A. No; I do not recollect any thing being altered at all. Q. Have you never said any thing of that fort? - A. Some things I said had been moved, but not between my first being there and my going at six o'clock. Q. Will you take upon yourself to swear that nothing was removed? - A. I can only say, I did not observe it. MISS MERIEL NEVILLE sworn. Examined by Mr. Raine. I live in Portugal-street. Q. Do you occupy that house with any other person? - A. My sister, Ann Neville , and I jointly occupy the house. Court. (To Mr. Henry Slack). Q. What difference did you observe in this carpet? - A. It was cut seemingly preparatory to its being taken up.(The prisoners delivered in a written defence, but by the advice of their Counsel it was not read, on the ground that it amounted to no more than a general allegation of their innocence, which they had declared in their plea of Not Guilty). Vandercom, GUILTY . Death . (Aged 33.) Abbott, GUILTY. Death. (Aged 32.)

342

Maureen Withey on 9th January 2023

James Vandercom and James Abbott were tried at the Old Bailey on 22nd June 1796, for theft and breaking and entering the house of spinsters, Meriel and Ann Neville, in Portugal-street, Grosvenor-square, on the 19th November with intent to steal and take away their goods. Both were found guilty and sentenced to death. Vandercom was aged 33, and Abbott 32. https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t17960622-20-defend271&div=t17960622-20#highlight ---------------------------------------------------- Colonial Secretary Index. VANDERCOM, James. Per "Barwell", 1798. 1810 Jan 10 Allowed to return to Sydney from Newcastle; appears as Vandicomb (Reel 6042; 9/2736 p.13) 1810 Jul 21 Of Windmill Row, The Rocks. Issued with licence to retail beer, ale and porter (Reel 6038; SZ758 pp.72-3) 1811 Mar 6 Received beer licence in Feb 1811 (Reel 6038; SZ758 p.184) 1812 May 29 Payment received by re buildings of new residence for Judge Advocate (Reel 6043; 4/1727 p.242) 1813 Aug 7 On list of persons holding licences for sale of wine and spirituous liquors (Reel 6038; SZ758 pp.405-7) 1814 Dec 14,19 Circular & letter sent re survey of bakery in Government Domain (Reel 6004; 4/3493 pp.396, 400-1) 1814 Dec 19; 1821 Nov 30 Assisted in the valuation of buildings situated on the Government Domain ordered to be removed (Reel 6051; 4/1749 p.176) 1815 Apr 1; 1816 Apr 6 On lists of persons licensed as publicans; for 1815 & 1816 at Sydney. Appears as Vandercomb (Reel 6038; SZ759 pp.54, 192) 1817 Apr 19 Publican of the Windmill, Sydney. On list of persons licensed as publicans for 1817; at Sydney. Appears as Vandercomb (Reel 6038; SZ759 p.340) 1818 Recommended that Thomas Rose be given land; appears as Mr Vandercum (Fiche 3266; 9/2652 p.54) 1818 Sep 10 Of Liverpool. On list of persons to receive grants of land in 1818 (Fiche 3266; 9/2652 p.47) 1822 Jun 17 Plasterer. Deposition in case of William Refaim convicted of horse stealing (Reel 6054; 4/1759 p.48) 1822 Jun 30-1823 Sep 30 Of Sydney. On lists of persons to whom convict mechanics have been assigned (Fiche 3296; X53 pp.22, 36, 51, 67, 81) -------------------------------------------------- GOVERNMENT PUBLIC NOTICE. Secretary's Office, Sydney, 19th April, 1817. FOR the Information of Travellers and the Public at large, and for the particular Guidance of the Officers of the Police Establishment, HIS EXCELLENCY the GOVERNOR has been pleased to order and direct that the following List of Publicans, who are duly licensed for Keeping of Public Houses, and Vending of Wines, Spirits, and Beer, and of those Persons licensed to brew Beer within the several Towns and Districts of Sydney, Parramatta, Windsor, Liverpool, and Castlereagh, for the present year, shall be published in the Sydney Gazette; viz. AT SYDNEY. No. NAME. SIGN. 9. James Vandercomb ......Windmill. Sydney Gazette, 19 April 1817. --------------------------------------------------