John Jessop 1795 - 1885

Owned by Liz Hardie
Last updated: Oct 24, 2019

John Jessop 1795 - 1885

John Jessup was born in Cratfield in 1793, the sixth child and third son of Charles Jessop and Elizabeth Bedingfield. He was christened on 13 December 1795 at the St Mary's Church in Cratfield.

On 11 April 1812 - during the peak of the Napoleonic wars - John enlisted in the army. He joined in the 68th Light Foot Regiment. He was a reinforcement and likely joined the regiment at ?. On 28th March 1814 at La Reole in France he was wounded - with a bullet in the groin that was not extracted. He was then sent to Kilmainham War Hospital in Belfast where he was pensioned out on 14 Dec 1814 after serving a total of 1 year 247 days. His He was described as being a 21 yo labourer who was 5'8" tall with brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion.

John married Lucy Mouser at St Mary's Cratfield on 19 February 1817. Lucy Mouser was the eldest child of William Mouser and Lucy Cullingford of Ubbeston, Suffolk. She was born on 26 August 1795 in Ubbeston. She had 9 siblings (Susan, Mary, Samuel, Everett, William, Samuel, James, Johnathon, Anthony).

John Jessup and Lucy had eight children 6 sons and 3 daughters:

  • Harriet Jessup Born 1817.
  • Charles Jessup Born 1818. Married Lucy Clutterham on 18 October, 1836. Married Anne Marie Walker in 1854 Died 1877
  • Robert Jessup Born 1821. 
  • Mary Jessup Born 1824. Married Henry Guy on 6 May 1841. Died 1901.
  • William Jessup Born 1826. Died 1838 At Sea (Died as a Child)
  • James Jessup Born 1828. Married Elizabeth Mills in 1853. Died 1907
  • Jonas Jessup Born abt 1832. Died 1838 At Sea (Died as a Child)
  • John Jessup Born 1834. Married Sarah Ann Burgess 1861 ; Died 1906. 
  • Elizabeth Jessup Born February 1836. Died 1 April 1836 Cratfield, Suffolk (Died as an Infant)

It was in giving birth the their last child that Lucy died in February 1836, with the baby Elizabeth surviving her by less than 2 months. Lucy was buried at St Peters in Linstead Magna, Suffolk on 20 February 1836, Elizabeth in the same place on 3 April 1836.

With eight children, John did not remain a widower for long. On 14 November 1837, he married Mary Ann Fuller. Mary Ann was born on 19 August 1810 in Redisham, Suffolk, one of five children born to Thomas Fuller and Ann Low (aka Love). Mary Ann already had an illegitimate daughter, Sarah Fuller born in 1830.

John and Mary Ann produced 5 children, 4 girls and a boy:

  • Delilah Jessup Born 1837, Cratfield, Suffolk. Died 15 Mary 1838 At Sea (Died as a Child)
  • Elizabeth Jessup Born 1839, Australia . Married John York .
  • Harriet Jessup Born 1841, Australia. Married Alfred Chown.
  • Delilah Jessup Born 1842, Australia . Married John Wilson.
  • Jonas Jessup Born 1844, Australia. Married Susannah Collins

Based on research, it appears that John worked for the Earl of Stradbroke at Henham Park. The Earl lived in Henham Hall, he spent a lot of time overseas, He was an active member of the military, as was his son. The Earl served in the Peninsula wars of 1812 - 1814, and no doubt Johns' service placed him in good stead.

Between 1836 and 1839, the Earl assisted many of his tenants to emigrate to Australia. He directly sponsored a number of boats - including the ill fated Maitland. He also recommended a number of his tenants to government sponsored emigration schemes. It was in 1837 - just after his marriage to Mary Ann - John made the decision to emigrate to Australia. The Earl had 3 self sponsored boats travelling in the same time frame, but it appears that he may not have been able to berth the family on any of these voyages, John was 'recommended' by the Earl to a government sponsored scheme - as were a number of other individuals who travelled on the Orontes.

On his immigration record there is the following notation

farm labourer from Suffolk recommended by Lord Stradbroke as a good farm labourer in all its branches

Orontes Wreck off Port Essington Dec 1838

So in November 1837, the family (now numbering 10, with another on the way) made its way to London. (NB: Eldest son Charles was already married at this point and chose to stay in England). They were designated to travel boarded the Orontes - an 8 year old Barque built in Yarmouth and weighing 452 tonnes. The barque was engaged by the Admiralty on 3rd October 1837 for government sponsored immigration to Australia. The ship was wrecked later in 1838 outside Port Essington in the Northern Territory, while acting as a storeship.

The family boarded the Orontes to commenced their journey on 23 November 1837. The boat was carrying 220 passengers (54 men, 58 women and 108 children under 14) and there were seven births during the journey. Illness raged throughout the journey, with 14 deaths, including 3 of the Jessop children. The first to die was Jonas on 4 February 1838. On 9 March 1838, the Orontes made land at Capetown, South Africa. Shortly after leaving Capetown John and Mary Anns baby, Delilah died on 15 March 1838. The third Jessop child, William died on 18 April 1838. The Orontes finally arrived in Sydney on 18 May 1838 after 176 days at sea. John was 43 at the time (but is noted as 35 on his immigration record).

The family initially settled in Cabramatta. Within 2 months of their arrival they experienced another tragedy when Mary Ann's daughter, Sarah Fuller died on 4 July 1838. Over the next 5 years their final 4 children were born. Some time after 1853 they moved to South Creek and the Narellan area where John Snr worked as a fencer and carpenter for local farmers, before moving on to Goulbourn and then later the Braidwood area in the early 1870s.

By 1878, the family had moved to Araluen Valley in the hinterlands of the NSW South Coast. Araluen Valley was one of the three major gold producing areas and at that time in middle of gold rush. It was here at Long Swamp that Mary Ann died on 13 June 1878, she was 67.

John continued to live in the area, eventually passing away on 27 Oct 1885 at his son in laws - D. Brogden - property at Back Creek, near Araluen, NSW. His death was broadly reported in over 8 newspapers throughout the colony, although it erroneously notes that he fought at Waterloo, which we know from his discharge papers was not the case as he was pensioned out in Dec 1814, 7 months before Waterloo.

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