James Winfield, Crawley

[BrentonT]

James Winfield was my great, great, great grandfather who was deported to Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) in 1823, arriving in Hobart Town 19 January 1824. After serving his seven year sentence he moved to the new Colony of South Australia in 1838, married in 1840 and became a successful farmer and landowner. His life was cut short by his untimely death as a result of a farm accident. He left 6 children, the eldest of whom, Mary Ann, became my great, great grandmother.

Some sources say his father's name was Joseph and that he had a brother named Thomas. No information about his mother. I have been unable thus far to confirm these details or to concisely establish his date of birth. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. BrentonT

[KGarrad]

Welcome to RootsChat!

From: Prison Hulk Registers, "Justitia", at Woolwich

Received 17th March 1823

James Winfield,  age 21,
Convicted of Assault with intent to rob at Oxford Assizes, Sentence 7 years
Transported 21st July 1823

Which implies a date of birth c1802?


Ancestry has a Christening record of a James Winfield, 1807, at Ewelme?
This is obviously where the confusion comes from!

Ewelme and Crawley are about 30 miles apart, on opposite sides of Oxford!
Ewelme to the SE; Crawley to the NW.

[KGarrad]

Just to add: there's some real garbage on some people's trees on Ancestry!

One I looked at had this timeline for James:
1806 born Ewelme
1840 marriage in Adelaide
1851 resident at Cartworth, Yorkshire
1854 death at Kensington, Adelaide
1861 resident at Batley, Yorkshire
1871 resident at Batley, Yorkshire
1881 resident at Ewelme
1909 resident at Horsham, Wannon, Victoris, Australia

How can people do this?!?!

[NDRFT]

Hi Brenton T
Again - welcome to Roots Chat.

In 1847 a chapel was built in Crawley but all PR's were entered in the St Marys Church, Witney PR's.

So finding your family may be a bit more difficult. I am having a look now. Be back shortly

[NDRFT]

Hi  again

Mmmm odd this - I cannot see a James WINFIELD at all in the PR's for St Marys Witney, Witney Independant, Baptist nor Quakers.

There are these which may offer a clue:

Joseph bapt in St Marys on 17 Jan 1808 s o William & Ann

Elizabeth bapt 19 Nov 1809 d o John & Ann


Cant help anymore in fact not sure I have helped at all here. That's a shame because I may have a connection to this WINFIELD - mine are from Witney and belong to my Uncle who is a Winfield. Hence my interest.

[BrentonT]

To K Garrad, NDRFT,

Gentlemen, many thanks for your input regarding my question about James Winfield. The 1840 marriage date is correct. James married Hannah Blackeby (late of Stoke Newington, London - on marriage register) on 9 March 1840 in Holy Trinity Anglican Church, the first church built in Adelaide (I visited it a few weeks ago) after the city's foundation in 1836. His date of death, 1854, in Kensington is also correct.

A problem arises over James's date of birth. All the records I have state he died in 1854 at the age of 47. On the marriage register it records he was 33 years old in 1840. If the documents recording these two events are correct, then his date of birth would be c.1807. I realise that information on official documents is not always 100% accurate either, so I will simply plough on, so to speak, until I get more confirming evidence.

Thanks for checking the PR's in Witney, it now presents me with another problem. I will be staying in Oxford for four nights late April/early May and intended spending a day in Witney searching whatever records I can find. I now wonder if that would really be productive. I'll see what eventuates meantime.

Once again, gentlemen, thanks for your help and the search goes on!

Kind regards,

BrentonT

[KGarrad]

James Winfield, born 1807 in Ewelme can be found still in England on the 1861, 1871, and 1881 censuses. With wife Sarah.

James Winfield, born 1804, Witney can be found in England on the 1851, 1861 and 1871 censuses, with wife Hannah.


So you can eliminate those 2!