Thomas Eccles (abt. 1737 - 1814)

Born about 1737 in Guildford, Surrey, England

Husband of Elizabeth (Bird) Eccles — married 1791 in Norfolk Island, Australia

Died 1 Apr 1814 at about age 77 in Parramatta, Colony of New South Wales

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Biography

Thomas Eccles was a convict on the First Fleet.

Thomas Eccles was born between 1730 and 1742 in Stoke Next Guildford, Surrey, England, probably the son of Thomas Eccles. His age at death was recorded as 97, but researchers conclude that he was more likely to be younger.^[1]

Conviction

Thomas Eccles, labourer, late of Stoke next Guildford, was found guilty on 29 July 1782 at Guildford of breaking into a house and stealing a 'fitch' of bacon (a side of bacon) and two half peck loaves of wheaten bread. The judge, in August, recommended mercy if he served in the forces in Africa for life. It was eventually decided by authorities that the proposed penal settlement was to be Botany Bay in New South Wales, and Thomas was sent to the Ceres hulk in 1785 to await transportation. His age was recorded variously as 43 to 55.^[1][2]

Transportation

Thomas served two years on the hulk before he embarked for New South Wales on the Scarborough in February 1787, arriving in Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.^[3]

Marriage and life

In 1788 he was listed as convict on stores.^[4]

Eccles was charged on 21 October 1788 with being drunk and stealing vegetables from the garden of Captain John Shea where he was working. Eccles said that the Captain had given him ‘a tumbler of rum and water’ for the work, and he ‘did not think there was any harm in giving away a few radishes.’ He was found guilty and sent to work at the brickfields.^[1]

In March 1789 he was sent to Norfolk Island on the Supply.

Thomas and Elizabeth Bird were probably one of the couples married in November 1791 on Norfolk Island, Australia by Reverend Richard Johnson when he visited Norfolk Island. According to Phillip Gidley King, "Several of the Settlers requested my permission to marry some of the best-behaved female convicts; As the Rev. Mr Johnson, Chaplain to the Territory came here in the Atlantic, I requested him to marry them; Upwards of one Hundred Couples were married in the course of three Days". No records for these marriages have survived. ^[5]

On Norfolk Island he had a one acre Sydney Town lot. By June 1793 he was selling maize to the government from his clearings.^[6]

On 20 July 1793 Lieutenant Governor King recommended him for a pardon because he ‘has been of the utmost service to himself and the publick as a gardener and has behaved well.’ He was granted an absolute pardon on 12 December 1794 but the writ was a long time coming: King was still asking for it on 14 July 1795.^[1][7][8]

In 1796 Eccles leased 10 acres on Norfolk Island. The rent was 10 shillings per year for 7 years commencing from 31st August, 1796.^[9][10]

He returned to Port Jackson with his wife on the Porpoise in 1801.^[11]

In 1802 Musters he is listed as free, on stores with his wife, and two female hogs.^[12]

In January 1806 he leased an acre of land at Parramatta to raise vegetables and kept some hogs. The land was ‘on the N[orth] side of the [Parramatta] river’ and leased to Thomas ‘for 14 years or so long as he may live when the said Land is to revert to the Crown after the said term shall expire or on his demise.’ ^[13][14][15]

In March 1809 Thomas advertised in The Sydney Gazette that he had lemon trees for sale:

CHOICE LEMON TREES.—Any Quantity will be supplied by Thomas Eccles, at Parramatta, at the Rate of Twenty-five Shillings per Hundred. ^[16]

The 1811 muster incorrectly stated his sentence as 7 years.^[17]

Death

He died on 1 April 1814 according to his headstone. He was buried on 3 April in St Johns Cemetery, Parramatta, New South Wales, the register recording his name as Thomas 'Hecles' and age 96. Burial location: -33.81658, 150.99843 (R.16.H).^[18][19] His weathered headstone appears to have been damaged in the past, as only the top of the stone is in the ground. The inscription has been recorded in the past as: “To the Mem— —-/ THOMAS EXELES [sic] / Who died Aprel the 1 1814 Aged / 97 years.”^[20] His age at death is uncertain, ranging from 76 to 96.

Research Notes

Michaela Ann Cameron, in her article “Thomas Eccles: The Swine Connoisseur,” writes (in Notes 14 and 4):

'A woman of “St, Mary’s Guildford, Surrey” named “Elizabeth Eccles” and noted to be the “wife of Thomas Eccles” died a little over a year before Thomas committed his crime and was buried at the parish of St. John the Evangelist at Stoke Next Guildford, on 9 March 1781. She may have been the wife of our bacon thief; on the other hand, she could have been his mother, as his father’s name was also Thomas Eccles. The only reason we might suppose it was more likely to be our bacon thief’s wife is the fact that the burial record for 9 March 1781 identified her as “the wife of Thomas Eccles,” which means the Thomas Eccles they referred to was still living at the time of her burial. Thomas’s father, Thomas Eccles senior, appears to have already passed away 18 years earlier on 5 February 1763 in the parish of St John the Evangelist at Stoke, long before this Elizabeth Eccles’s demise; if she had been Thomas Eccles senior’s wife, therefore, her burial record would have stated “the widow of Thomas Eccles.” It is possible that the bacon thief had more than one wife, too, as a marriage record for Thomas Eccles and a second woman by the name of Hannah White has also been located at St. John’s the Evangelist at Stoke on 23 November 1762. ...'

'There were a lot of Eccles family members in both Worplesdon and Stoke Next Guildford at the time of Thomas Eccles’s crime and they were all likely to have been related one way or another. Thomas Eccles’s exact age cannot be confirmed, as his baptism record has not been found in the parish records. However, he was probably the son of Thomas Eccles senior, whose other children were baptised in the parish in the same period; Elizabeth Eccles baptised 12 May 1734, Mary Eccles baptised 13 May 1741, John Eccles baptised 11 April 1744, and Martha Eccles baptised 20 May 1747. Often the surname was misspelt in the records, too, for example Eggles / Egles, which has potentially contributed to Thomas Eccles’s own baptism being untraceable.'^[21]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), pp. 115-16.
2. ↑ "Convicts to NSW 1788-1812", compiled & edited by Carol J. Baxter, published by Society of Australian Genealogists, Sydney, 2002. 1813-1828: Convict Indents & Ship Musters, various; SRNSW ref: Vol. 4/4004 - 4/4013
3. ↑ "Convicts to NSW 1788-1812", compiled & edited by Carol J. Baxter, published by Society of Australian Genealogists, Sydney, 2002. 1813-1828: Convict Indents & Ship Musters, various; SRNSW ref: Vol. 4/4004 - 4/4013
4. ↑ List of persons Victualled from HM Stores 26 Feb 1788 to 17 Nov 1788. Ref: T 1/668 - List 52.
5. ↑ Cathy Dunn, Marriages November 1791 Norfolk Island: Romance among the Pine Trees, www.australianhistoryresearch.info
6. ↑ 'Eccles, Thomas (1737–1814)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/eccles-thomas-24901/text33461, accessed 4 October 2023.
7. ↑ Criminal Register: "New South Wales, Australia, Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons, 1788-1870"
   State Records Authority of New South Wales; Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia; Card Index to Letters Received, Colonial Secretary; Reel Number: 800; Roll Number: 1250
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 1657 #60338 (accessed 6 October 2023)
   Name: Thomas Eccles; Conviction Date: 1782; Pardon Date: 12 Dec. 1794; Record Type: Absolute.
8. ↑ Governor King's List 6: List of Convicts who have received Absolute Emancipations in NSW [1788-1801]; TNA ref: Reel 10 Vol. CO 201/21 pp. 45-57, published in "Musters and Lists, New South Wales and Norfolk Island: 1800-1802", edited by Carol Baxter, ABGR, Sydney, 1988.; Book Entry# BF020
9. ↑ 1796 No. 668 THOMAS ECCLES, 1796 Oct 20 in Book "Land Grants 1788-1809 New South Wales,- Norfolk Island - Van Diemen's Land, Edited by R. J. Ryan, Australian Documents Library 1981, Sydney incorporating an Index published 1974 by Johnson & Sainty. SRNSW ref. 7/2731.
10. ↑ Land: "New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Papers, 1788-1856"
    Series: NRS 898; Reel or Fiche Numbers: Reels 6020-6040, 6070; Fiche 3260-3312; Page: 80
    Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 1905 #121045 (accessed 6 October 2023)
    Name: Thomas Eccles; Event Date: 20 Oct. 1796; Event Description: On list of all grants and leases of land registered in the Colonial Secretary's Office; Comments: Of Parramatta District.
11. ↑ 'Eccles, Thomas (1737–1814)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/eccles-thomas-24901/text33461, accessed 4 October 2023.
12. ↑ Settlers' Muster Book - List 7: Land & Stock held by Fee Settlers, Officers, or Expired or Emancipated Convicts in 1802; PLNSW ref: Vol. Safe 1/104-5, published in "Musters and Lists, New South Wales and Norfolk Island: 1800-1802", edited by Carol Baxter, ABGR, Sydney, 1988.; Book Entry# AG213
13. ↑ No. 182 THOMAS ECCLES, 1806 Jan 1 Leased 1 acre, 2 roods and 25 rods in the township of Parramatta. Rent: 10 shillings per year for 14 years commencing from date. in Book "Land Grants 1788-1809 New South Wales,- Norfolk Island - Van Diemen's Land, Edited by R. J. Ryan, Australian Documents Library 1981, Sydney incorporating an Index published 1974 by Johnson & Sainty. SRNSW ref. 7/2731.
14. ↑ Land: "New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary's Papers, 1788-1856"
    Series: NRS 898; Reel or Fiche Numbers: Reels 6020-6040, 6070; Fiche 3260-3312; Page: 210
    Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry au Record 1905 #123685 (accessed 6 October 2023)
    Name: Thomas Eccles; Event Date: 1 Jan. 1806; Event Description: On list of all grants and leases of town allotments registered in the Colonial Secretary's Office; Comments: Of Parramatta District.
15. ↑ State Records Authority of New South Wales, Colonial Secretary: List of all Grants and Leases 1788-1809, Archive Reel: 1999; Series: NRS 1213, (Kingswood, NSW, Australia); State Records Authority of New South Wales, Registers of Land Grants and Leases, Series: NRS 13836; Item: 7/445; Reel: 2560, cited in Cameron
16. ↑ 1809 'Classified Advertising', The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 26 March, p. 2. , viewed 02 Dec 2023, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/627710?searchTerm=thomas%20eccles
17. ↑ An Alphabetised List of Convicts & Free Persons taken at a NSW General Muster between 5 February and 5 March 1811; also those persons who may appear to have arrived in the Colony by Musters taken subsequently; SRNSW ref: Reel 1252 Vol. 4/1224, published in "General Musters of New South Wales, Norfolk Island and Van Diemen's Land", edited by Carol J. Baxter, published by ABGR, Sydney, 1987.; ; Book entry number: 1816.
18. ↑ Burial: New South Wales, Australia, St. John's Parramatta, Burials, 1790-1986 Vol 01, Baptisms, 1790-1825; Marriages, 1789-1823; Burials, 1790-1825 Ancestry.com sharing link
19. ↑ Death: "Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985"
    Nsw Pioneer Index - Pioneer Series 1778-1888; Volume Number: V18143182 2a
    Ancestry au Record 1779 #3318992 (accessed 4 October 2023)
    Thomas Eccles death 1814 in Parramatta, New South Wales.
20. ↑ Judith Dunn, The Parramatta Cemeteries: St. John’s, (Parramatta, NSW: Parramatta and District Historical Society, 1991), p.134.
21. ↑ Michaela Ann Cameron, “Thomas Eccles: The Swine Connoisseur,” St. John’s Online, (2016) https://stjohnsonline.org/bio/thomas-eccles/, accessed 6 Oct 2023

See also:

• Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), pp 115-16.
• 'Eccles, Thomas (1737–1814)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/eccles-thomas-24901/text33461, accessed 4 October 2023.
• The National Archives UK: TNA ref: HO 10/7, Reel 61; TNA ref: HO 10/6, Reel 61; TNA ref: CO 201/2, Reel 1&2; TNA ref: CO 201/2 Ross Returns, Reel 1
• St Johns Cemetery website (https://stjohnsonline.org/memorials/right-section/row-16/memorial-h/) has photographs.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/151054322/thomas-eccles: accessed 02 December 2023), memorial page for Thomas Eccles (unknown–2 Apr 1814), Find a Grave Memorial ID 151054322, citing St. John's Cemetery, Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council, New South Wales, Australia; Maintained by Dout (contributor 49428115).