A Cheshire Convict

John Birchall of Woore

c1779-1860

By Les Pickering

The loss of the American colonies caused a severe shortage of timber suitable for shipbuilding and, in particular, for masts and spars. The Admiralty, worried by this loss, decided to survey the woodlands of Australia and New Zealand. H.M.S. Calcutta and H.M.S. Ocean sailed from Portsmouth to carry out a survey and, where possible, to bring home samples for inspection by the Board's officers. On the outward voyage H.M.S. Calcutta carried 308 souls, including the ship's company and military escort and convicts bound for Hobart, Tasmania, or Van Dieman's Land as it was then known.

One such convict was John Birchall c.1779-1860. Aged 23 at the time of his trial he was a native of Woore, married with four children. He was the son of James and Elizabeth Birchall, tenant farmers of Woore Hollows. One of five children, he was baptised at Woore on May 6^th 1779.

Birchall was tried at the City of Chester Pleas of Sessions on October 23^rd, 1802, for the theft of five pounds' worth of goods, the property of Thomas Benbow and for breaking gaol on October 31^st 1802. He was retaken in London on April 24^th 1803.

At his trial he was acquitted of theft but sentenced to death for breaking gaol. He was reprieved and sentenced to transportation for life. Gaoled in Chester Castle, he was transported to the Captivity, a hulk moored at Portsmouth. He is mentioned in the Hobart musters of 1810, 1818, 1819 and 1823. He was granted a conditional pardon in June of 1810 and freed in 1818. Granted 55 acres of land at Pitt Waters, he purchased 400 acres in 1819 and employed seven servants. A further 433 acres were added to his property in 1831. He contracted to supply the commissariat and the military with large quantities of grain and meat.

He married Sussanah Bellett on October 24th,1809. She was the daughter of a Jacob Bellett, a First Fleeter from Norfolk Island. They had nine children between 1812 and 1819. Their eldest son, James, the first native-born white child, married Sarah Reardon the daughter of a neighbour, Bartholomew Reardon who was also a First Fleeter.

Birchall acted as a district constable for the Pitt Water district until 1819. He built a schooner which he used to carry passengers and goods across the lagoon between Pitt Water and the opposite bank.

He was absent from work for five months in 1806 and stole a dog. For these misdemeanours he received 500 lashes. In 1818 he was tried for beating a prisoner but there was insufficient evidence to convict him. Later in 1818 he was removed from his duties as a constable.

He was buried on May 9th, 1860. One is tempted to think how different his life would have been around Woore had he remained in Chester to await his trial.

Not so fortunate was Edward Deacon, a bricklayer aged 27 who was tried at Chester Sessions in April 1802. Sentenced to transportation for life he was gaoled at the Castle and later sent to the prison hulks in Langstone Harbour, Portsmouth. He died of scurvy in 1804.

H.M.S. Calcutta landed her convicts and sailed for Port Philip Bay where she loaded 185 pieces of timber. Several suitable timber sites were found but with the worsening state of relations with France H.M.S. Calcutta and her escort H.M.S. Ocean were ordered home. Later expeditions to Tasmania and New Zealand found trees tall enough and of sufficient girth to make main masts and spars for the largest ships being built at that time for the Navy.

H.M.S. Calcutta was sunk by the French while on convoy duty in the Bay of Biscay. H.M.S. Ocean later returned to service with the East India Company.