John Boyle (1756 - 1833)

Born 1756 in England

Husband of Catherine (Henry) Boyle — married 25 May 1788 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Died Dec 1833 at about age 77 in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

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Biography

John Boyle was a convict on the First Fleet.

John was born in 1756. He passed away in 1833.

John Boyle, a seaman, was found guilty on 21 April 1784 at the Old Bailey, London, of fraud — impersonating another seaman to get his wages. His death sentence was commuted to 7 years transportation. Boyle was sent to the Ceres hulk the next month, his age recorded as 29. On 24 February 1787 he was sent to Portsmouth for embarkation on the Scarborough which arrived in January 1788 at New South Wales as part of the First Fleet.^[1]

At Sydney Cove on 22 February 1788 Boyle charged James Stow whom he had known on Ceres with doing away with an opossum he left with him while he was working, having planned it as a gift to the governor. Stow was truculent and in the end admitted he had sold the animal for a bottle of rum to Frederick Meredith. The affair escalated for two or three days involving John Marshall of the Scarborough with whom Meredith had negotiated for the rum in exchange for the animal.^[1]

Marriage: John Boyle married Catherine Henry on 25 May 1788, their marriage recorded in the register of St Philips Church of England, Sydney by Rev. Richard Johnson, Chaplain. Both John and Catherine marked the register with a cross. Witnesses were Thomas Pritchard and Mary Conner.^[2]

On 2 November 1789 he received 100 lashes for 'grievously beating and ill treating his wife'. She did not accompany him when he was sent to Norfolk Island on the Supply on 11 November, though she did join him the following March.^[1]

On February 1790 Boyle received 25 lashes for absenting himself from work and received 50 more lashes on 10 May for fighting. By July 1791 Boyle was supporting his wife on a one acre allotment at Sydney Town, of which he had cleared 35 rods and filled timber on 40 rods. On 7 August he received 51 of 100 lashes for showing disrespect to Captain Hill of the NSW Corps; he received the other 49 lashes a month later.^[1]

In February 1791 he was able to pay £1.6s.8d. for a pig, and in May 1792, £4 for a sow.^[1]

By May 1792 he was settled on a 12 acre grant, 10 of them hilly, but all ploughable, and had four and a half cultivated by October 1793. On 30 December he had leased 12 acres and on 7 May 1799 he bought 30 acres from Henry Hatheway for £55.^[1]

In March 1805 Boyle had 26 acres in cultivation and 34 swine. By August 1807 3 of his 42 acres were in wheat, 17 in maize, one in barley, 21 were pasture, and he had 23 male and 27 female Hogs and 250 bushels of maize in hand. He was also selling meat to government stores.^[1]

John and Catherine Boyle left Norfolk island for Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) on the Estramina in May 1808, receiving £100 for 20 acres of cleared land with a two story house 25 x 13 feet, boarded inside and out and shingled, with “pannel” doors and a staircase; as well there were two shielings [huts], each boarded, floored and shingled, one 15 x 13 feet, the other 13 x 8 feet.^[1]

They settled on a 40 acre grant of land at Clarence Plains. Next year, Boyle was holding 80 acres, and on 15 September 1815 he signed the petition for establishing a Court of Criminal Judicature in Van Diemen's Land.^[1]

In 1825 John Boyle was indicated as an invalid. His wife had still appeared in the muster of 1821 but no record of her death has been traced.^[1]

Death: John Boyle died in hospital at Hobart in December 1833. He was buried on 18 December 1833, his age recorded in the Holy Trinity register as 87, and he was 'free'.^[3] There is no record of any children.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10} Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 43.
2. ↑ Marriage: St Philip's Church of England, Sydney NSW: Church Register - Marriages; State Library of NSW ref: Reel SAG 90
3. ↑ Death: Tasmanian archives Resource: RGD34/1/1 no 3187 https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Record/NamesIndex/1178787

See also:

• 'Boyle, John (c. 1756–1833)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/boyle-john-30384/text37686, accessed 5 January 2024