Bankruptcy? Help pls with interpreting articles

[Westby]

I've found some articles in London Gazette about my ancestor, Thomas Wilmot Easthope.  It seems he was a bankrupt, but I'm having trouble interpreting what they mean.

I've attached a document that includes extracts from a variety of Gazettes that refer to Thomas, his wife Sarah and his son Frank.  I'd appreciate some help in interpreting what they mean.

- Was Thomas a bankrupt?
- Would he have needed to appear in person at court?
- Are his wife Sarah and son Frank tied up with his debts or do they have their own problems?
- Would Thomas have gone to debtors prison?

This is more mysterious because he is supposed to have been in South Australia at the time.  He arrived in Adelaide in 1839, married Sarah Elizabeth (Homer) in 1840 and had two children born in Adelaide in 1842 and 1844. 

- Could Thomas have run away to avoid his debts? 
- Could the court action have taken place while he was overseas?

I don't know exactly when he returned to England, but the family was living in Cheltenham at the time of the 1851 census.  Thomas died in 1862.

Any background info or suggestions very much appreciated.

[Rena]

It looks like there's been more than one bankruptcy in the family.  You don't say what occupation Thos W Easthope had prior to the 1851 census which would have helped. As he'd been put in the debtor's prison it appears a creditor had started proceedings against him when he didn't settle a bill.  I have a Scottish ancestor who was bankrupt and was lucky enough to find all the documents which set out who was at the creditors meeting, the list of what my ancestor owed each creditor (e.g. he owed supplies needed for his business and also personal goods such as a walking stick and some clothes plus he owed the coalman about £9.) and what debtors owed my ancestor - he printed office stationery and sold books which people didn't seem to pay cash for).  The documents showed that his creditors decided that they would get more money if they used the raw stock and produce finished goods)

Also with the paperwork was the list of goods that the auctioneer made of what the business had in its premises and also what my ancestor had in his home;  against each item was what the auctioneer valued them at.   When the auctioneer sold everything he submitted a list of who bought what item(s) and how much they'd paid for each item (at the auction my ancestor's brother in law bought all the household goods back for my ancestor for the princely sum of £158. = furniture, walking stick, 7 portraits, etc.).  When all the money was collected in, just like your ancestor, the creditors didn't get back all that they were owed.  The final meeting recorded that because my ancestor had been in business for many years and was considered trustworthy he could commence trading again straight away and thus he was officially discharged from bankruptcy.   If he hadn't been discharged he wouldn't have been allowed to run a business again, although one of his sons could run it for him.
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For the next instance of "Liquidation" in 1881, it looks like market gardener Frank WH Easthope had decided that he ought to wind up the business - a common cause for this is when there's a downturn in trade and the bank won't give an overdraft facility or extend more money if he already had a facility OR he was solvent, but business was slow and he decided to change occupation and by officially going into liquidation it meant there would be no loose ends.
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1882 Eliz Easthope: On the face of it,  either (a) it looks like Frank decided to get out of that trade and change occupation, or (b) wasn't allowed to trade under his own name and Elizabeth had 'officially' carried on selling produce from the garden with Frank helping her,  but as shown in the gazette she too had to wind up the business in 1882.
 When you officially liquidate a company it means creditors have a "cut off date" by which time they have to produce evidence that you owe money.  After that cut off date they can't produce any other bill for payment.

[Billyblue]

Hi Westby
I was busy writing you similarly to Rena when I lost my connection!

But that practically covers it all.
To answer your specific questions...
Was Thomas a bankrupt - yes
Would he have need to appear in person at court - normally, yes.
Do Frank and Sarah have their own (bankruptcy) problems - yes, though may have as Rena suggests merely been liquidating the business to avoid bankruptcy.
Would Thomas have gone to debtors prison -

Could Thomas have run away to avoid debts?  People do, frequently!
Could the court action have taken place while he was overseas?  Probably, though the first notice lists five addresses in UK he has lived since being in Melbourne.  Maybe he got extradited?  Did they do that in those days I wonder?  It could at least have been initiated while he was overseas.

It's good that the notice has given you all those addresses where he lived, though a pity it doesn't say for how long.

Dawn M

[Rena]

The law requires intended insolvencies and bankruptcies to be published, the information has to include the persons name and address(es), who is officiating, and the office where the creditors can make contact.

Australia was a colony and as such would have received British newspapers which gave news of "home".

[Westby]

Thank you Rena and Dawn for your wonderful comments and insight.  In response to your various questions and queries:

Unfortunately, I haven’t found any record that shows what Thos W was doing before the 1851 census. 

Rena, thanks for your comments about the liquidations involving Frank and Sarah.  Are you suggesting these articles describe liquidation of assets to pay debts, rather than formal bankruptcy proceedings?

Frank started off as an architectural carver/sculptor, and seems to have gone into gardening with his father-in-law around the time he remarries.  The liquidation was only a few years before he went to Australia, so his emigration could have been a result of financial problems, or could have been the reason why he was settling up his business.

Thanks again.  I was trying not to get too bogged down with details at this stage, but its very tempting and intriguing isn’t it?

[Rena]

I don't know the company laws or the Liquidation laws that prevailed in 1881-1882.  Today anyone can set up a company without too many restrictions and red tape. 

Liquidating a company doesn't have to be anything sinister.

A partner in a business might want to take his share of what the company is worth and use the money for something else (a ticket to a new country, for instance).   I found that this was the case in the 1800's with a family I was following who had many fingers in many pies.  When I saw the first liquidation notice I was shocked to think it might be bankruptcy but it was the family re-arranging their business interests; e.g. taking a share of money out of one partnership and setting up new partnerships.

When my OH and I started up our own business in 1972 we had to legally register that we intended to set up a business partnership (company) and go before an (expensive) actuary to swear to abide by the law (which cost us money) and we were allotted a Registration Number.
As there was just the two of us we each owned 50% of the business. 
Four years later when the company grew we decided to change the type of company which meant we had to de-register (liquidate) that official partnership business.  In order to "liquidate" we had to provide a list of the value of everything in the company (office equipment, stock, etc) and also make a list of creditors who owed us money and a list of debtors we owed money to.

As per the law the liquidation of our registered partnership business would be made publicly known in the press.

 You'll laugh at this ... The liquidator also calculated how much salary we'd both taken from the company over those years ... remember the 50% share? ...well as I'd taken less wages than my OH my share of the cash at the end of the proceedings was much larger than my OH's       As that partnership company had not made a loss we had money to put into a new registered "Limited Liability" company.

If Eliza. mentioned in the 1882 liquidation case was the widow of Thos, then she may have done what I did when I became widowed.  I had the company assets valued and decided I could sell off various assets, pay the creditors and not owe money to anyone.  In other words I liquidated the company so that I could retire and the liquidation notice was publicised as the law requires.