Newman Emmerton was baptised in All Saints Church, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, England on 25th December, 1815, the son of John Emmerton & Elizabeth (nee) Kempster. (Picture shows his descendants David Hunter, Nancy Mauger (nee Hunter) and Sandra Mauger at the font.)His actual date of birth could have been much earlier as it seemed a number of babies were baptised in the church on that day. He could have been born up to a year earlier based on his stated age in a number of records. Nothing is known of his early life until his activities as a thief!
The Emmerton name appears in the Leighton Buzzard Church records at least as far back as 1685. Emmertons have been recorded in various parish records in counties surrounding the town and may have come from the same family roots. The Emmerton name also appears in the north of England, the London area and southern counties. A reasonable connection has been made as far back as 1717 for Newman's ancestors which can be found on the database posted on the rootsweb site. Click on button for that link....
(Above is an extract from the baptism records for 25th December, 1815 showing the baptism of Newman Emmerton. There were 3 other baptisms on that day. )
He was transported to Hobart, Australia arriving on the ship LADY KENNAWAY from England. His sentence of transportation was made after being convicted on 8th April, 1834 of stealing 20 pounds of lead worth 20 pence (penny a pound) at the Bedford Assizes; from a Mr John Partridge on 22nd of March, 1834 and sentenced to 14 years penal servitude.
He had previously served a sentence of 6 calendar months for stealing (with John Emmerton - cousin perhaps?) 2 tablecloths, 1 shirt and one shift; the property of Joseph Flemons?. He was discharged from this sentence on 3rd September, 1833. He was described in the charges as a labourer.
(Hugh Hunter, his great grandson, said that he understood that Newman had also been active as a poacher in England)
In the same year during the summer of 1834 a John Emmerton aged 25 was convicted of burglary at Leighton Buzzard and on conviction was sentenced to transportation for life and sent to the hulk "Fortitude" before transportation. While awaiting trial on the 30th March he scaled the walls of the prison and went to London. He was returned from there (Bow Street) on 14th April. In a letter he confessed to the burglary. He had previous convictions for larceny (perhaps the linen with Newman?) and sheep stealing.
Newman was sent on 2nd May, 1834 to the 'Leviathan' prison hulk (one of up to 40 prison ships in various river ports, similarly to the one pictured on the left) before transportation. The "Leviathan" was built in 1790/2 at Chatham as a 74 gun warship and was part of the flotilla at the Battle of Trafalgar. The ship was used as a prison and convict hulk from 1816 to 1843 being finally broken up in 1843 at Portsmouth. It was also depicted by the painter Turner being towed by a steam tug.
The Lady Kennaway (pictured on right)was a ship of 584 tons built in Calcutta in 1817. This painting is from the collection in the Greeenwich Maritime Museum in London (ref PY8468). She sailed from England via Cork (Ireland) on the 27th October, 1834 taking 109 days to reach Hobart in February, 1835. Passengers consisted of 311 male convicts of which 274 were landed in hobart and the remainder taken to Sydney where she arrived on the 4th March, 1835. 19 persons died during the voyage
He is assumed to have received a ticket of leave and moved to Adelaide where he married in 1849.
He was married in the original St Johns Church, Halifax Street, Adelaide on 27th April, 1849 to Jane Hayward. The original church was built in 1839 and demolished in 1886. The present church (2002) was built on the same site in C1887. Materials from the original St Johns were used to build the Mary Magdelene Church in Moore Street, between Angas & Carrington Streets, Adelaide which was opened in 1887. Neither the bride nor the groom could write and made their mark on the marriage certificate. It is possible that Jane Hayward did learn later on as she is shown in a photo reading a book in her latter years (although she may have just been looking at pictures). Only one witness was present at the marriage and did not appear to be a family member (Peter Baitle?) As she was pregnant at the time there may have been some tensions in the family!
Jane (pictured on the left) who was born at Bathford near Bath in 1829 had travelled to Hobart on the ship "ORLEANA" from London/Plymouth as an immigrant. Family consisted of parents and 6 children. She moved to Adelaide arriving on the ship "SISTERS" from Hobart in 26th June,1845 with her mother and other children. Her father was already in Adelaide.
According to his 'Hulk report' Newman was 5'3" had a brown complexion with dark brown hair, hazel eyes, an oval face with large thick lips, a narrow visage and a small nose! During Newman's sentence in Tasmania he was a less than exemplary prisoner as his record shows; having received punishment including lashes and the treadmill for various misdemeanors while working for various persons around the Hobart area.
Because he had a fairly poor record it is suggested that he may have left Hobart before completing his sentence by falsifying his name as no mention is made on his record of a ticket of leave although it was assumed that he had received one.. He was probably in contact with the Hayward family who had moved to Adelaide and made a decision to move there. He would have been in Adelaide by November 1848 as his first child was born in August, 1849.
In July, 1850 Newman purchased lot 103, 109 & 110 in Kensington from James Paterson for 10 pounds. This was mortgaged for 10 pounds in October, 1851 for one year including 4 pound interest (rate of 40% per annum)! In November 1851 he purchased a lot intended to be called Cranbourne Tce., in section 288 (Beulah Park) for 7 pounds 5 shillings which he sold to his father-in-law James Hayward, in December, 1853 for 11 pounds.
According to the Kensington & Norwood assessment books of 1853, Newman owned property in Kensington. They were lots 103 & 95 in Queen Street, (now part of Maesbury Street) & adjacent to Regent Street, KENSINGTON) on which there were at least 3 buildings - 2 of which (on lot 103) he rented to Joseph Denson & John Wood. On allotment 95 the family lived in a wooden hut, with an acre and quarter of land. The assessment book has a column for occupiers, who could also be owners as well as a column for lessor, owner, landlord or agent and for lot 103 & 95 he is shown as a lessor, owner etc. No doubt the rental from the houses on 103 gave him an income to support his family.(Map on right shows situation of blocks referred to - blue line is the alignment of William street added after this map produced)
By that time he and his wife and 3 small children lived on the property. His daughter Virginia Jeanette (my great grandmother pictured at left in her later years), may have been born on that property as she was baptised near there in St Matthews Church of England, Kensington Road in 1851. The church was not long established on that site and she would be one of the earliest baptisms in their records.
His father in law, James Hayward also owned land (lots 108 & 107) in William Street, which became Salter Street and ran between the boundaries of lot 108 & 107 ending at Hill Street. This included a shop with 1 room and four allotments as well as a brick house of 2 rooms. Lot 108 also had other owners so there were a number of allotments in the block. This makes the assessment books a little difficult to follow! For example the small allotment on block 107 did not appear in the assessment until 1856/7. James Hayward and the properties on block 108 appeared in the assessments until 1856/7 in 1857/8 not mentioned but mentioned in respect of vacant land in 1858/9 After that date he would appear to have left the area.
In 1855 Newman purchased lot 79 in Kensington for 24 pounds 5 shillings consisting of two allotments which he sold in 1858 for 35 pounds.
By 1856 Newman had disposed of the Queen Street property. (As Queen and William were also street names used in Norwood the Kensington streets were renamed in the 1920's to remove the confusion)
In 1855 Newman had acquire 2 lots of land at Montacute being parts of section 997 consisting of 130+ acres of timber and mainly open pasture at a cost of 462 pounds 10 shillings. To help pay for this he took out a mortgage with Arthur Blythe, merchant of Adelaide for 250 pounds.
In 1859 there was a slab hut on the property and by 1860 a stone house. (by this time he had 5 children)
In 1861 he leased 3 acres for 15 years at 2 pounds per acre per annum to Alfred Brown.
By 1862 he had acquired a further 20 acres on section 996 from Messrs Henry Ayers & Thomas Coon for 81 pounds 12 shillings & 5 pence!
In March 1873 he sold 5 acres to John Miller for 25 pounds.
Information about Newman's properties in Montacute has been sourced from the Assessment books of the District Council of East Torrens. In some entries the name Reuben Emmerton appears but it is probable that this was Newman Emmerton as the two names sound similar. As previously mentioned Newman could not write (he signed his marriage certificate with a cross in 1849) and it is not known if he ever learned so a listener could mistake the name.
Jane and Newman had 10 children in all with the last being born in 1870. Two of the children did not live beyond 5 & 7 years of age respectively and one died as an infant. Of the 7 surviving children all except one were married and raised families. My great grandmother was Virginia Jeanette Emmerton their second child and the eldest girl who married Samuel Smith.
In 1871 he appeared to have transferred 25 acres to his son Levi Emmerton who was now 22 years of age.
By 1873 he had rented his property to Smith & Webster and by 1874 he appears to have sold it to his son Levi (who had in turn disposed of 25 acres to William Daff the brother-in-law of Newman and Levi's uncle.)
Newman became a green grocer and operated out of rented premises at Bridge Street, Kensington in 1875 and 1876 at least. He probably sold produce from the gardens in Montacute.
Little is known of his last few years of life but it is possible that the business did not do well or his health deteriorated and he moved back to live with his son, Levi at Fifth Creek, as it was here that he died in 16th July,1886. No death certificate seems to have been issued or it was lost and the information about his death was found in the "Advertiser" and "Register" newspapers.
He seems to have had a very full life in Adelaide taking every opportunity to improve his circumstances. During his lifetime he had a number of occupations including labourer, woodcarter, gardener, yeoman and farmer. There is no known photograph of Newman and according to my father he heard that he was a person who was suspicious of people and refused to have his photo taken. In later years it is said that he also spent a lot of time shooting rabbits on the property where he lived in the Adelaide Hills with his son.
I would like to acknowledge the work of my father's cousin Enid Pascoe (nee Smith) a great granddaughter of Newman & Jane who gathered much of the information about the life of Newman in Adelaide. I had begun the process as far back as the 1970's when I visited the church in Leighton Buzzard and also researched the records in Tasmania & NSW to find his arrival in South Australia.
LEVIATHAN. (74 guns) (Built 1790/2 at Chatham. Made into a hulk 1816, broken up in 1843)
Record of Navy service - Capt. Hugh Seymour C0NWAY, -/93. She took part in the defeat of the French fleet by Lord H0WE on 1 June 1794. Capt. J.T. DUCKW0RTH, 4/95. He returned to England in 1797. Capt. Henry DIGBY was appointed to LEVIATHAN in the autumn of 1798 as flag captain to Rear Ad. DUCKW0RTH in the Mediterranean. With a small squadron of naval vessels and troops under the Hon. Charles Stuart they obtained possession of Minorca without the loss of a man. The naval contingent consisted of 250 seamen and 100 marines from LEVIATHAN and CENTAUR. 1800 Rear Ad. DUCKW0RTH and Capt. CARPENTER, Lisbon station.
0n the afternoon of 5 April 1800 LEVIATHAN and EMERALD sighted 12 sail from the masthead. They fell in with one of them during the night and learned that a convoy of 13 had sailed from Cadiz on the 3rd under convoy of 3 Spanish frigates. A 14-gun brig bound for Lima was taken the next morning by the boats of the two ships under Lieut. GREG0RY. SWIFTSURE was sent to seach to the southward, EMERALD to the east while LEVIATHAN stood to the westward. When EMERALD signalled for 6 sail LEVIATHAN joined her and at 2 o'clock the following morning they discovered two frigates who mistook them for part of the convoy.
LEVIATHAN called on them to surrender but she and EMERALD were forced to fire at them before they struck. The prizes were both 34-gun frigates, CARMEN, Dom Fraquin Porcel, and FL0RENTINA, Dom Manuel Norates, carrying quicksilver to Lima and victualled for 4 months. The Spaniards lost 2 officers and 21 men killed and 2 officers and 26 men wounded. Eleven merchantmen were taken. The two frigates were taken into the Royal Navy under the same names as 36 gun ships. In the autumn Rear Ad. DUCKW0RTH was Commander-in-Chief Barbados and Leeward Is. LEVIATHAN was at Guadaloupe when Capt. CARPENTER, being indisposed, left her in 0ctober to take passage home in the CHARL0TTE merchant ship with Capt. TAYL0R of DR0MEDARY which had been wrecked off Trinidad.
1801 Rear Ad. DUCKW0RTH and Capt. Edward Durnford KING, 9/00, Leeward Is. station. After deciding not to wait for reinforcements, Rear Ad. DUCKW0RTH and Lieut. Gen. Trigge sailed on 16 March from Barbados with the 1500 troops that were available to attack the islands of St. Bartholomew, St. Martin's and St. Thomas'. The squadron consisted of LEVIATHAN, ANDR0MEDA, UNITE, DRAKE, ECLAIR and ALEXANDRIA. They were joined later by PR0SELYTE with reinforcements from England and C0R0MANDEL and H0RNET. The islands were taken without much opposition.
Capt. KING removed to ANDR0MEDA. 1805 Capt. Henry William BAYNTUN, Mediterranean. At Trafalgar on 21 0ctober 1805 LEVIATHAN passed through the enemy line, the third ship after VICT0RY in the weather division, and engaged the SANTISSIMA TRINIDADA. She closed with the SAN AUGUSTIN and forced her surrender. After the battle the prize was set on fire and destroyed. LEVIATHAN lost only 4 men killed and 22 wounded. 0ne seaman, Thomas MAIN had his arm taken off by a shot but refused the assistance of his shipmates and made his own way to the cockpit. Although the stump was successfully amputated, he died later of a fever in Gibraltar.
1807 Under repair at Plymouth. 1808 Capt. J. HARVEY, North Sea. 1811 ditto, Mediterranean. 1812 Capt. Patrick CAMPBELL, Gulf of Venice. He removed to LEVIATHAN from UNITE. 1814 Capt. Adam DRUMM0ND to the West Indies on 6 January. 1815 Capt. Thomas BRIGGS, Lisbon
