Thomas Clarkson - The Missing Link
By the time the colony welcomed in the year of 1815
the Clarksons were
once again preparing for the arrival of another child, a Currency Lass
this time, whom they would call Ann. Ann was born 20 March 1815 and
became the sixth living child of Thomas and Catherine Clarkson.(1)
Much speculation has been made on the whereabouts of
young John
Clarkson who would have been 4 years old when his father was convicted
in Warwickshire England.
No records exist which list free passengers on the
"Alexander", which
brought Thomas and his family to NSW, so proof that he actually
accompanied them is difficult to obtain. However when Thomas petitioned
Governor Macquarie in 1810 for the retaining of his pardon, his second
son Thomas was but one month old, and in his petition Thomas makes
reference to his having FOUR small infants ---- they would be
Catherine, John, Sarah and little Thomas.(2)
Again, in the muster of 1814, Catherine declares she
has FIVE children,
and as Ann was not born until March of the following year, (and
therefore would not have been counted) this too, would seem to include
Catherine, John, Sarah and Thomas and Mountford, --born 1812.(3)
When the Clarkson's attended St Phillips Church to
baptise part of
their brood in June 1816, the list included Sarah, Thomas, Mountford
and Ann, all baptised together.(4) John and Catherine are both missing
but their respective ages may have excluded them, as Catherine would
have been 17 and John 16, and perhaps he was already part of the
workforce. So their ommission is not unusual.
There appears to be no record of a death of a
younger John Clarkson,
nor a likely marriage in NSW. Convicts of the name of "John Clarkson"
abound in the indents so the name appears in many areas and only
confuses the issue. We noted the conviction in 1820 in Sydney, of a
John Clarkson caught stealing in a dwelling.(5)
A John Clarkson left the colony as a seaman on the
ship "Baring"(6) in
1819 but definite identification is difficult. If John had left as a
private individual, to return home to England, he would have been
required to advertise the fact in the Sydney Gazette but no entry has
been sighted during our research.
The muster taken of all the colony's inhabitants in
1822 clearly lists the Clarkson's in detail.(7)
Thomas
Clarkson, free by servitude, "Alexander", 14 yrs, Licensed
brewer, Sydney.
Catherine Clarkson, came free,
"Alexander", Colonial Sentence of 5 yrs.
Wife of Thomas Clarkson.
Sarah
17 yrs, came free.
Thomas
11 yrs. Born in Colony.
Mountford
8 yrs, Born in
Colony.
Ann
5
yrs, Born in Colony.
Mary
4
yrs. Born in Colony.
Catherine (Jnr) by this time was married and was
listed with the family
of Thomas Rowley. John Clarkson does not appear at all.
When Thomas Clarkson died in 1824, his Will made
mention of his family
thus:
my
son and daughters namely John Clarkson, Thomas Clarkson, Mountford
Clarkson, Catherine Clarkson, Sarah Clarkson, ,Ann Clarkson and Mary
Clarkson.
The Will was dated 1824.(8)
The muster of 1825 still does not include John
Clarkson but neither
does it include Sarah (even under her married name of Cook) but it
contains other errors in the families details so perhaps it is not very
reliable in this case.(9)
A petition written by Catherine herself in 1825
states she has a family
of 7 --- "a heavy family of seven".(10)
The census of 1828 is also devoid of John's name.(11)
Curiously, in 1832 young Thomas Clarkson petitioned
the court for a
citation against the executors of his father's Will and describes
himself as "his eldest son and son at heir".(12)
Finally in 1840 when the property left to the children in Thomas' Will
was sold, the name of John Clarkson appears again as one of the
vendors.(13)
Whatever the whole "John Clarkson" story is, we have
been unable to
record it here. It is best left to those of his descendants, if there
be any, to retrace his steps fully and unravel the mystery. We concur
however that we believe John came to NSW aboard the "Alexander" in 1806.
Page last updated - 7 July
2006