John Crofton Jessop 1861 - 1910

John Crofton Jessop 1861 - 1910

John Crofton Jessop was born in 1861 in Picton, NSW, the second child and eldest son of John Jessop and Sarah Ann Burgess.

Despite being born in Pictron, John moved with his parents to the farm on Cox's River in the Burragorang Valley, NSW - where he grew.

In 1882 he married Hannah Shoobridge 1859 - 1928 at St Johns Church of England, Camden, NSW. Hannah was the second of eleven children born to John H Shoobridge and Sophia Muriel Hinds of Burragorang.

John Crofton and Hannah began their married life in the Burragorang Valley, before moving to Granville where most of their family of seven children (four sons and 3 daughters) were born:

• Edith Clara Jessop. Born 1882. (stillborn)
• Arthur Leslie Jessop. Born 1883. Married Irene Alison Harrigan in 1909. Died 8 Mar 1965
• Raymond Jessop. Born 16 Sep 1885. Married Florence Annie Sherwood on 22 Apr 1914. Died 30 Aug 1979.
• Sydney Walter Jessop. Born 14 December 1887. Married Emily Louisa McDermott in 1914. Died 11 Dec 1973
• Florence Jessop. Born 1889. Married Frederick James Lever on 20 July 1907. Died 10 Jan 1962.
• Caroline Sophia Jessop. Born 16 May 1892. Married Clarence Johnston in 1911. Died 19 Jun 1993.
• Alfred George Jessop. Born 1893. Died 28 Sep 1917

John had known the Shoobridges since he was young, but his relationship with his sister-in-law Ellen Shoobridge developed to such a point that in 1894 John deserted Hannah and his young family and ran off to Goulburn with Ellen. John worked in a number of different roles, and the couple - and Ellens child from another relationship William - moved around until John gained more permanent employment and they settled into a house in Auburn Street, Goulburn, it was while living here that Ellen gave birth to their only child, a son:

• Walter Reginald Shoobridge Born 23 Sep 1897. Married Dorothy Clarke in 1931. Died 30 May 1942

Hannah, now left by herself with 6 young children - aged between 13 and 3 - went to work to provide for her family, gaining employment with Dr Bowden in Bowral. It wasn't easy for the family, and Hannah wrote to John more than once seeking money, but non was forthcoming. Hannah did not sue for divorce - maybe to spite her sister, maybe because it was to expensive to do so - but family oral history has it that by this time John Crofton had supposedly acquired a position of some important with the Goulburn Municipal Council, and Hannah was reluctant to take any action that might adversely affect his career.

Hannah and the children moved to the Tweed Valley in 1904 and had no further contact with John. 

In 1909 John Crofton became ill - he was thought to have had a brain tumour - and to gain treatment, he, Ellen and their son Walter moved to Parramatta where they lived for a while with Dick Roland - a friend of John's with a shop in Church St Parramatta. John was admitted to Sydney Hospital in 1910 and Ellen and Walter moved into a house in Church St, Harris Park.

Associated Documents

• Selectors Map of Tweed
• Military Records of Alfred George Jessop (1893 - 1917)