John Burnett (bef. 1781 - 1860)

Born before 8 Sep 1781 in Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Ancestors

Husband of Penelope Isabella (Hayes) Burnett — married 1 Jun 1804 in Gamrie, Banffshire, Scotland, United Kingdom

Descendants

Died 10 Jul 1860 after age 78 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Stephen Corkey [send private message]

Biography

John Burnett migrated from Scotland to van Diemen's Land.

Wikidata: Item Q24205014, en:Wikipedia Australia Dictionary of Biography Published biography entries focus on his career and achievements. but skim over his family.

John was christened in September 1781 at Peterculter in Aberdeenshire.^[1] He was the son of James Burnett of Countesswells and Elizabeth Grant (daughter of Sir Ludovic Grant MP, 7th Baronet of Luss).^[2] This also makes him a direct descendent of Henry VII of England.

He spent his early life in Scotland but appears to have settled on the Isle of Man prior to his appointment, in March 1826, as Colonial Secretary of Van Diemen's Land.

In 1804 he had married Penelope Hayes and they reportedly had 4 sons and 5 daughters,^[3] all of whom accompanied them to Tasmania in 1826, except James who followed in 1832. These were:

• Mary Jane Burnett b. after 1805 • (m. Edward Chapman)
• Charlotte Burnett b.1814^[4]
• James Ludovic Burnett 1816–1858^[5] • (m. Margaret Thomas)
• John Cartwright Burnett 1817–1887 • (m. Ellen Cox)​​
• Mary Gascoigne Burnett 1819–1892 • (m. Rev. Dr John Lillie)
• Atholl Burnett b.1821 Douglas • (m. Louisa Costley Ommanney)
• Marianne Jane Campbell Burnett^[6] 1823-1870^[7] • (d. unmarried in Hobart)
• Henrietta Burnett d. 1859 • (m. Sholto Douglas)
• Robert Edward Burnett^[8] •

The family arrived in Hobart on 22 November 1826.^[9]

John completed his term as Colonial Secretary later taking up the role of Sheriff, but was forced to retire in 1855 following accusations of corruption and incompetence.

He passed away (of influenza) in 1860 in Hobart, Tasmania.

Sources

1. ↑ "Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XYFH-FG4 : 16 September 2021), John Burnett, 1781.
2. ↑ https://www.thepeerage.com/p33901.htm
3. ↑ See ADB entry
4. ↑ Marianne and Charlotte's connection to John, plus birth years supported by Annie Baxter's journal, edited by Sherwood (footnote 11) - note it incorrectly assumes Campbell to be Marianne's married name but it's on her birth record as a middle name.
5. ↑ Biography
6. ↑ "Isle of Man Births and Baptisms, 1607-1910", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X5P4-7V3 : 6 February 2020), Marianne Jane Campbell Burnett, 1824.
7. ↑ https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89CH-W4NG?i=311&cc=2125029&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AQ27M-YB5D
8. ↑ named in Baxter, but see research notes - another individual with the same name was in Hobart at the same time so sources may have mixed them together.
9. ↑ This very specific date is given by the ADB biography, and is fascinating because it coincides with the arrival of a convict ship, The Woodford under Captain Chapman from Portsmouth via Sydney and other stops. Intercontinental arrivals were infrequent enough at the time to make the newspapers, so if ADB is correct, the inference is that Burnett and his wife and 8 children (ADB says 9 but see James Ludovic's biography, he did not travel with them) travelled to Van Diemen's Land aboard the convict ship. There are lists of the convicts but no mentions of any additional passengers in available sources. As a government official travelling to a government posting on a government ship, he may not have been a paying passenger anyway. There is extra intrigue in that at least one reference to the captain of the Woodford on that voyage names him as Edward Chapman (very likely grandson of Abel Chapman of Whitby, following the family calling.) Other references to captain of 'the Woodford on earlier voyages have the captain as Alfred Chapman - most likely Edward's brother. Commands of ships were not set in stone and could switch voyage to voyage. I favour Edward being the captain in 1826 because - firstly the reference in Baxter (see research notes), but also a mere 2 weeks after the ship arrived one Edward Chapman wrote to the Acting Colonial Secretary (John's predecessor W.H. Hamilton) requesting a licence to marry without publication of banns, one Mary Jane Burnett, presumed to be the eldest daughter of John Burnett not least because he gives his permission for her to marry underage attached to the very same letter, witnessed by the Acting Colonial Secretary! They married 2 days later on 8 December 1826. It makes no sense if Mary Jane just arrived in Van Diemens Land to marry a stranger with such urgency. But, if they had spent several months together on a ship sailing from Portsmouth, that is plenty of time for romance to develop. No doubt John would have no objections to his daughter marrying someone with the status of a sea captain. We can speculate about whether there were other reasons for the haste of the marriage (it could be as straightforward as Edward having to take the Woodford on to Madras imminently), but they had no known issue until 1834.

• P. R. Eldershaw, 'Burnett, John (1781–1860)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/burnett-john-1855/text2155, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 20 September 2021.

Research Notes

Other than James, John and Mary Gascoigne, there is very little information on the "9 children" who accompanied John Burnett to Tasmania. Baxter has Charlotte, James, John, Mary, Marianne, Henrietta and Robert Edward, referring to another son in the military, and a daughter who married Captain Chapman of the Woodford.

According to this newsletter the family lived in the Isle of Man before heading to Tasmania, and had a son Atholl born there. Familysearch actually has a birth record for him with parents names matching, so he looks canon. Marianne also has an Isle of Man birth record.

Familysearch suggests a Robert and a Thomas but without any sources, the Australian Dictionary of Biography says they had 4 sons and 5 daughters, so with James, John and Atholl there isn't room for both of them. Unless ADB is wrong, which has happened before. UPDATE: Baxter (or at least her editor) claims the "missing" son was Robert Edward. She mentions another unnamed son "reportedly joined the military" - Atholl was the only son not named.

If John and Penelope married in 1804, it seems odd that they only had one child in their first decade of marriage, and then 8 in very close succession. It may be that John had a military or naval career which kept him apart from his wife.

Baxter is pretty much the only source of information on most of the children. No mention of a husband for Charlotte, the reference to Marianne marrying a Campbell is mistaken (it was a middle name, she died unmarried), and the mystery unnamed daughter married a Captain Chapman of the Woodford. With marriage records from Familysearch It now seems near-certain this daughter was Mary Jane and I've created a profile for her rather than taking up discussion space here.

Turns out the Australian Dictionary of Biography might have been wrong on one point - a biography of James Ludovic Burnett says he stayed behind to finish his education when the rest of his family left the British Isles in 1826, and didn't come out until 1832. So all nine children did not travel to Van Diemen's Land with their parents.

As for the final son - nothing definitive but the Robert Edward Burnett who married Anne Wandby is not connected - Page 24 of this magazine has an article about them.

I PREVIOUSLY WROTE: It suggests a "Henrietta" as another daughter, there was a Henrietta Burnett who married in Tasmania (to Sholto Douglas) but there's nothing to connect her to the parents and we know there are other Burnett families in Tasmania at the time.

THEN I FOUND: (almost by accident while looking for a very distantly related individual further up the page) Major Sholto (Douglas), d. 24 Dec 1838 having m.25 March 1830 Henrietta Patricia, daughter of John Burnett, Esq, Colonial Secretary of Van Diemen's Land, and by her, who re-m. 3 Jun 1844, Major Ferdinand White, 40th Regiment C.B., had issue: Edward Sholto (Douglas? White?) Sholto is the brother of Lt-Gen Sir James Douglas (m. Marianne Bullock) and both are the sons of Major James Sholto Douglas 1757-1829 (and Sarah Dawes, from Jamaica), who is the son of James Charles Sholto Douglas, described as "the uncle of the present Marquis (of Queensbury)."