Thomas Huxley (abt. 1768 - 1854)

Born about 1768 in England [uncertain]

Husband of Ann (Forbes) Huxley — married after 1798 in New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

Died 4 Jul 1854 at about age 86 in Richmond Bottoms, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Thomas Huxley was a convict on the Third Fleet.

Thomas Huxley was sentenced to seven years transportation and arrived in Sydney 21 August 1791 aboard the Salamander as part of the Third Fleet. Thomas Huxley's identification as a convict on the Salamander is difficult as he appears to have used the alias of Thomas Jones. A document having both names is a mortgage document for 1843 (for Jones farm at Paradise Point) which was signed Thomas Huxley otherwise Thomas Jones - this was found by a descendant of Thomas, Helen Huxley.^[1]

There were 3 Thomas Jones and a Thomas Huckles who arrived on the Salamander so determining for which offence our Thomas was transported is difficult.^[2] It has been assumed by some historians that he is the Thomas Huckles who stole a pig and was tried at the Old Bailey in London, however Thomas Huckles returned to England in 1796. The Thomas Jones/Huxley we are interested in is the Thomas Jones who was tried in June 1788 at the Old Bailey for pickpocketing a silk handerchief; we know he is the correct man because his trial date was later given in the 1811 muster. His trial at the Old Bailey can be seen here.^[3]

Thomas Jones/Huxley may have been emaciated and weak from his voyage.^[4] He was NOT on the Salamander when she sailed with convicts to Norfolk Island in September 1791.^[5]

By 1797 Thomas was living with Ann Forbes (First Fleet 1788, Prince of Wales)

Musters etc:^[6]

1802 Thomas Jones, Salamander, Free; Purchase Mulgrave Place 5 acres, Cleared: 5 acres, Cultivated, 5 acres barley sown, 10 bushels maize held, 1 female hog. In debt 44 bushels grain; All people off stores: Proprietor (Thomas Jones), one woman and four children.

1806 Thomas Jones, Land: Grant & lease 90 acres August 1806 Anne Forbes: Housekeeper. She is also listed in Marsden's Female Muster as Concubine with Thomas Jones, Children: 2 male and 3 female.

1811 Thomas Jones: includes the date of his trial at Old Bailey, London, June 1788.^[7]

1814 Ann Forbes: Abode: Windsor, Widow.

1820 Thomas Oxley in a list of Freeholders at Portland Head (see Bowd p.58)

1822 Thomas Jones, Free by Servitude; Landholder; Residence: Windsor. Ann Forbes: Abode: Windsor, wife of Thomas Uxley (sic) with 5 children.

1825 Thomas Jones, Free by Servitude; Employment: Landholder; Residence: Wilberforce. Ana Forbes: Abode: Wilberforce, wife of Thomas Jones.

1828 census: Thomas Huxley: Age 55 years, Farmer. Ann Huxley: Age 55 years, Samuel Huxley, 17, John Huxley, 15, HesterHuxley, 12, Sophia Huxley, 10, Abode: "lower P.Head" (Lower Portland Head), 100 acres, 40 acres cleared, 40 acres cultivated.^[8]

Children: Jane Forbes (1798-1833), Charlotte (c1801-1885), Thomas (1804-c1880), Ann (1805-1869), James (1811-1894), Samuel (1813-1894), John (1815-1860), Esther (1817-1884), Sophia (1818-1866).^[9][10]Tragically, it appears that they also had an infant boy who died of scalding age two in December 1806.^[11]

Land:

• According to Bobbie Hardy,"Thomas (as Thomas Jones) was granted 30 acres at Bardonarrang in January 1798. Still as Thomas Jones, he was granted a further 70 acres near the Colo junction in 4 Jun 1804."^[12](to confirm)
• According to D G Boyd, "Thomas Huxley's property of 100 acres was near the mouth of the Colo River and his eldest son, Thomas, who had married Mary Arndell in 1822, also farmed eighty acres at Lower Portland Head."^[13]
• From Hawkesbury People & Places: "In June 1804, Thomas Huxley was granted 70 acres by Governor King at Paradise Point, New South Wales. In 1810 he then acquired 90 acres of land on the point from James Bull. In 1820 Thomas Huxley made a gift of 35 acres of the Paradise Point land to his son Thomas."

Death: Thomas died on 4 July 1854, age 85 at Richmond Bottoms.^[14] Richmond Bottoms is now known as Richmond Lowlands.^[15] He was buried 6 July 1854 in St. Peters Church of England Graveyard, Richmond.^[16] His gravestone has the inscription:

Sacred to The Memory of

THOMAS HUXLEY

Who departed this life the 4th of

July A.D. 1854

Aged 85 Years

Our term of time is seventy years,

An age that few survive;

But if with more than common strength,

To eighty we arrive;

Yet then our boasted strength decays,

To sorrow turn'd and pain;

So soon the slender thread is cut,

And we no more remain.

Disputed Parents

Uriah HUXLEY as the father of Thomas is unsourced was suggested as a tentative father in a book by Doug Huxley.^[17][18]

Was Tom Ugly's Point named after Thomas Huxley?

Thomas's son James Huxley "used often to relate to his near friends" the tale that Tom Ugly's Point was named after his father Thomas Huxley, according to James's obituary in 1894 in Windsor and Richmond Gazette.^[19] However there is no evidence that Thomas Huxley had land in this area. There are other theories about the naming of Tom Ugly's Point in Wikipedia.

Research Notes

There were 3 Thomas Jones and a Thomas Huckles who arrived on the Salamander. Note that none of them have aliases in the court records or convict indent.

• Thomas Huckles tried 25th February 1789 at the Old Bailey for stealing a pig can be seen here.^[20] Thomas Huckles departed Norfolk Island on 28 May 1796 for Europe.^[21]
• Another convict given as a possibility in the Convictrecords website (in spite of the trial date not being one of the dates in the indent of the Salamander) is Thomas Jones tried 9th December 1789 at Old Bailey. Accused of grand larceny (stealing, on the 7th of November, forty-two steel files, value 3 s.). Found guilty. Sentenced to transportation. However be died 18th December 1789.^[22]

DNA

These DNA confirmations are currently under review and are works in progress. Please contact Veronica WIlliams 20:06, 11 April 2019 (UTC) if you wish to discuss them.

Autosomal DNA has confirmed relationships back to Thomas Huxley and his wife Ann Forbes. It is currently unclear whether these segments on Chromosome 2 and Chromosome 10 belong to Thomas or Anne his wife.^{[23] [24]}

It should be noted that these DNA confirmations have only been sourced via two four of their children:-

• Ann (Huxley) Wall; and
• Esther (Huxley) Cavanough.
• Thomas Huxley (tentative as at April 2019)
• Charlotte (Huxley) Ellam (tentative as at April 2019)

Whilst there is some further evidence of DNA confirmation on different segments via the following children, they have not yet been confirmed via valid triangulation (whilst highly probable, they have been assumed not verified - DNA Painter is not a valid triangulation method. Testers all need to be on the same site, these matches can be cited but are not valid for ‘Confirmed with DNA’ status and would be marked as ‘confident’.):-

• Charlotte (Huxley) Ellem^[25]
• Thomas Huxley^[26]

No documented confirmations currently exist for the following children and the 'confirmed with DNA' indicators should be removed:-

• Thomas Huxley (as at Nov 2018, now tentative April 2019)
• Samuel Huxley (as at Nov 2018)

A Y-DNA test has been taken by a 5th generation descendant of Thomas Huxley. The list of matches reveals no people named Huxley which infers that Thomas was not likely to have been born with the surname Huxley. There are several people named Jones amongst the matches but, given the popularity of Jones as a surname, probably nothing can be inferred from this. The most common surname amongst closer matches is Stewart/Stuart.^[27]

Sources

1. ↑ A transcription of this mortgage is in lizbeth55's Ancestry tree (subscription required), accessed 4 May 2021. It is a mortgage 6 November 1843 Thomas Jones alias Thomas Huxley the elder of the first part and Thomas Huxley the younger of the second part to William Hopkins of the third part, 70 acres in Mulgrave Place, known as Jones Farm, a crown grant to Jones otherwise Huxley the elder. According to the Vendor's Index accessed through the Historical Land Records Viewer, NSW Land Registry Services, the mortgage is in the General Register of Deeds (Old System deeds) Book 5 No. 274
2. ↑ New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842 for Thomas Huckle, Salamander 1791 https://www.ancestry.com.au/imageviewer/collections/2024/images/32082_223749__0002-00103?usePUB=true&_phsrc=dOf31570&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=8727
3. ↑ Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 04 May 2021), June 1788, trial of THOMAS JONES (t17880625-72).
4. ↑ Health of the Third Fleet Convicts Free Settler or Felon
5. ↑ "Ann Forbes, Convict, Prince of Wales 1788", HMS Sirius, Cathy Dunn https://hmssirius.com.au/ann-forbes-convict-prince-of-wales-1788/
6. ↑ Musters and similar records (unless otherwise stated) are in NSW Census and Population Books, and NSW Returns of the Colony in Biographical report for Thomas JONES, and Biographical report for Ann FORBES Biographical Database of Australia (BDA) (subscription required for access)
7. ↑ Population Muster 1811, New South Wales, Census and Population Books, 1811-1825 for Thos Jones
8. ↑ 1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (Australian Copy) for Thos Huxley, (NRS 1272) 1828 Census: Alphabetical Return, Surnames C-L. Unfortunately this was copied into the TNA copy (HO 10/23) with abode incorrectly transcribed as "Port Macq'ie" (Port Macquarie!) see 1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (TNA Copy) for Thos Huxley, New South Wales Census E-H 1828
9. ↑ Children's names and dates were sourced from "Australian Biographical and Genealogical Record - Series 1 - 1788-1841", Eds. John T. Spurway and Allison Allen. Pub. ABGR, Sydney, 1992., quoted in Biographical Database of Australia (BDA) https://www.bda-online.org.au/mybda/search/expanded-biographical-item/10011288001/910110676?f=thomas&l=huxley&ol=&i=3&s=&p= CAUTION: this ABGR biography incorrectly has Thomas going to Norfolk island.
10. ↑ Doug Huxley's book has different birth dates for the children, eg Thomas 1801, Charlotte 1802, James 1809, Samuel 1811, John 1813
11. ↑ 1806 'SYDNEY.', The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), 7 December, p. 2. , viewed 12 Jun 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article627351
12. ↑ Hardy, Bobbie. Early Hawkesbury settlers. Kenthurst: Kangaroo Press, 1985
13. ↑ Bowd, D. G., and Library of Australian History. Hawkesbury Journey : Up the Windsor Road from Baulkham Hills / D.G. Bowd. Sydney: Library of Australian History, 1986, p.60.
14. ↑ Death certificate of Thomas Huxley (New South Wales. Department of Justice and Attorney General. NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages, Death 1854 1448 Vol 41): Death 4 July 1854, farmer, age 85 at Richmond Bottoms, Burial 6 July 1854, parish of Richmond.
15. ↑ Hawkesbury People and Places https://www.hawkesbury.org/name/richmond-bottoms.html
16. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/117152710/thomas-huxley : accessed 05 May 2021), memorial page for Thomas Huxley (1769–4 Jul 1854), Find a Grave Memorial ID 117152710, citing Saint Peter's Anglican Cemetery, Richmond, Hawkesbury City, New South Wales, Australia ; Maintained by Frances France (contributor 47744340).
17. ↑ Message to Australia Project, [Huxley], 4 May 2021
18. ↑ Huxley, Douglas R. Transported to Paradise : A Genealogy of Ann Forbes / by Douglas R. Huxley. New Lambton, N.S.W.: D.R. Huxley, 1991, p.11.
19. ↑ 1894 'DEATH OF MR JAS HUXLEY', Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1961), 18 August, p. 10. , viewed 12 Jun 2021, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66444557
20. ↑ Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0, 04 May 2021), February 1789, trial of THOMAS HUCKLES (t17890225-36) (accessed 4 May 2021)
21. ↑ Thomas Huckles, Convict, Australian History Research, Cathy Dunn https://www.australianhistoryresearch.info/thomas-huckles-convict-salamander-1791/
22. ↑ Thomas Jones Life archive ID obpt17891209-98-defend886 Digital Panopticon https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/life?id=obpt17890225-36-defend399 (accessed 4 May 2021)
23. ↑ GEDMatch Triangulated group, confirming 5 distant cousins, Keryn (Morley) Zissler (through son Thomas Huxley), Carmel Denham (through daughter Esther Huxley), Richard Oxley, Paul Bech (through daughter Ann Huxley), Anne (Leonard) Velu (also through daughter Esther Huxley) on Chromosome 2, approx 15cMs, overlapping segments between 157.3 and 169.6.
24. ↑ GEDmatch Triangulated group, confirming 3 cousins (greater than 3rd cousins), Keryn (Morley) Zissler (through son Thomas Huxley), Cayley Hough (through Charlotte Huxley), A809574 (also through Charlotte Huxley). Overlapping segment of 16.2cM on Chromosome 10, 59-72. (Validated April 2019 Veronica WIlliams although descent lines for Charlotte need to be checked).
25. ↑ DNA Painter Triangulated group confirming 3 cousins (greater the 3rd cousins). Paul Bech (Ann Huxley), Susan Lush (FTDNA) (through Thomas Huxley), Bettina Lucey (My Heritage) (through Charlotte Huxley), on overlapping segment on chromosome 6 of 10.8 cM. One of the testers descends from Charlotte Huxley, daughter of Ann Forbes, one through Thomas Huxley, son of Ann Forbes
26. ↑ DNA Painter Triangulated group confirming 3 cousins (greater the 3rd cousins). Paul Bech (Ann Huxley), Susan Lush (FTDNA) (through Thomas Huxley), Bettina Lucey (My Heritage) (through Charlotte Huxley), on overlapping segment on chromosome 6 of 10.8 cM. One of the testers descends from Charlotte Huxley, daughter of Ann Forbes, one through Thomas Huxley, son of Ann Forbes
27. ↑ Unknown source, annotated prior to Nov 2018.

See also:

• Third Fleet, Australia, 1791
• Thomas Huxley, Community contributed record, Convict Records https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/huxley/thomas/131046
• Biographical report for Thomas JONES, Biographical Database of Australia (BDA) 2021 (subscription required for access) https://www.bda-online.org.au/mybda/search/biographical-report/10011288001?f=thomas&l=huxley&ol=&i=3&s=&p=
• Australian Royalty https://australianroyalty.net.au/tree/purnellmccord.ged/individual/I52612/Thomas-Huxley
• 'Huxley, Thomas (1768–1854)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/huxley-thomas-17520/text33594, accessed 7 November 2019. CAUTION - this incorrectly assumed he was Thomas Huckles when accessed in June 2021.
• Free Settler or Felon Convict Ship Salamander 1791 https://www.freesettlerorfelon.com/convict_ship_salamander.htm