John BOXALL of Blakeney (General)
by bernardh 
, Brisbane, Australia, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, 09:39 (3798 days ago)
In my research on my BOXEL/ BOXALL/ BOXWELL/. . . . family from Awre with Blakeney, one FODFHT member put me on to two John BOXALLs - both from Blakeney and born about the same time c1786 so I can assume with some confidence that they could be one and the same person.
The first John BOXALL:
At the age of 14 [in 1800] he enlisted with the Royal Marines and at 16 with the 90th of Foot, 2nd Battalion in Abergavenny, signing up for an unlimited period. After spending 6 years with this regiment overseas - Ireland and the West Indies, I think, as records are not clear on this, he is discharged in 1816 due to "Malformation" which to me, suggests some deformity perhaps, due to war wounds.
The second John BOXALL:
At the age of 31 in 1817 he is tried at Gloucester Quarter Sessions for 'stealing wool cloth' while resident in Blakeney and sentenced to 7 years transportation to New South Wales. After spending months in the prison hulk "Justitia" at Woolwich he departs on the "Batavia", arriving in Port Jackson [Sydney] in 1818.
I find him on muster lists in 1818, 1820 and 1821 after being sent to Windsor [just outside Sydney] to work for the government. After that he seems to disappear - at least in NSW.
I shudder to think how I would cope in what would appear to be such a dispassionate environment as that of the late 1700s and 1800s.
Is anyone familiar with convict trial records held at the Gloucester Record Office?
I would appreciate any help.
Regards, Bernard
John BOXALL of Blakeney
by Paul Andrews , Shropshire, England, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, 10:52 (3798 days ago) @ bernardh
You say he seems to disappear after 1821.
Ancestry has a record for him being issued a Certificate of Freedom in New South Wales, Australia on 15 April 1824. The certificate gives details of his conviction in Gloucester on 15 April 1817 and his transportation on the vessel 'Batavia'.
There is also a record of him in the Population Book of Wilberforce, New South Wales for 1822.
Ancestry also has a record of him in 1819 in a New South Wales Population Book, in Windsor, as a patient in hospital.
John BOXALL of Blakeney, Gloster Archives
by Jefff , West London, Middlesex, Wednesday, June 25, 2014, 18:19 (3798 days ago) @ Paul Andrews
Hi Bernard,
ref your enquiry abt the Convict Records at Gloucester Record Office, this is now known as Gloucester Archives, have you seen their website ?.
http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives/article/107703/Archives-Homepage
That said, searching their site for "convict", for example, surprisingly gives no hits ?
However searching for "criminals" does give a few hits including this file
http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=56565&p=0
If you've not already done so it's probably worth searching all the various corners of their website more thoroughly in case something is hidden, the way the website is setup and worded suggests to me they don't have complete faith in their own search engines, perhaps they've pooled various separate collections under one heading ?.
http://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/archives/article/107389/Family-history-resources
Searching their Genealogical database gives a link to John Boxall's conviction on 10th April 1817, their reference Q/Gc5/1. I suspect this is only what you already know but may be worth followingup.
http://ww3.gloucestershire.gov.uk/genealogy/Search.aspx
Hoping this may help you, J
John BOXALL of Blakeney, Gloster Archives
by bernardh , Brisbane, Australia, Friday, June 27, 2014, 09:38 (3796 days ago) @ Jefff
Thanks for that Jeff and Peter.
I have accessed the Gloucestershire Archives in search of online digitized images of records but have only searched their Wills and Inventories database so far. I'm waiting for them to put up their parish records which I believe is coming in the latter half of 2014.
They also have a transcription of a document associated with John BOXALL's Conviction and trial that lists his 'Public Address' as Blakeney in 1817. I would like to see the original.
I'd already retrieved the 1824 Certificate of Freedom page from Ancestry but disregarded it since I was blindly intent in finding a marriage, children, his return to England or even a death.
My search skills must need more practice since I completely failed to bring up his admission to Windsor Hospital. I'll have another go.
Thank you both again for your interest and help.
regards,
Bernard
John BOXALL of Blakeney
by Paul Andrews , Shropshire, England, Friday, June 27, 2014, 10:29 (3796 days ago) @ bernardh
Doing a simple search for John Boxall born 1786 and any event in New South Wales, with no other filters, gives a number of results. The record for him being a patient is on page 7, of the results, where his name is given as Jno Boxall.