Docks, Portsmouth, Hampshire • July 6th, 1820, a Thursday
My convivial Companion, here we are all over again, looking at His Majesty’s ships in Portsmouth Harbour! I am sure you will agree, our journey here was considerably better than our first. The coach being sprung, we were jolted a good deal less. The weather is tolerable, too—it is summer after all—not to imply you should remove that voluminous garment from your body. I am well aware of your aversion to cold.
Survey the Vista, if you will! The great ships of interest to us today are of a very different order to those in Admiral Bridport’s Channel Fleet, which we observed here more than twenty years ago. If the ship-board conditions against which the Mariners of the Royal Navy mutinied in 1797 were onerous, I fear those on these vessels are far worse. Let me draw your attention to H.M.S. Leviathan.
Among the crowd of men on board is one of your Relations—: You are quite right, he not the first to have a connexion with a Prison Ship. Lieutenant E.N. Greensword spent several years in command of H.M.S. Fyen, which was moored on the Medway at Chatham. However, this particular Relative, dare I say Fore-Father, is neither an Officer nor a Sailor.
He is a Convict and the Leviathan is a prison hulk, a decommissioned ship turned into a floating gaol. Perhaps you have noticed those many vessels without sails at mast?
Figure 1. Prison Hulks in Portsmouth Harbour, Monsieur Ambrose Louis Garneray, c. 1810. Oil on canvas, 15in. x 30in., Portsmouth Museum, 1812-14.
Your Relative, Mr. Isaac Wordley (sometimes spelled Wardley), is a 43-year-old married man. He was born and baptised in Glemsford, Suffolk, in 1777, the first-born of Isaac and his wife, Sarah, nee Bird, formerly Clark. The Convict’s parents—his mother was a Widow—married on Christmas Day 1776 and had 9 children.
Our main Protagonist, the younger Isaac, met his own wife Sarah in Norfolk. What took him from Suffolk to Norfolk, a distance of less than 50-miles, I cannot say. Whatever the case, he married Miss Grimswood in the Church of St. Lawrence, Norwich, on the 15th of February, 1801.
Mr. & Mrs. Isaac Wordley settled in Harleston in the Parish of St. Mary, Redenhall with Harleston and Wortwell, Norfolk, which is where Sarah was born in 1779. She is the daughter of Mr. Jude Grimwood and his second wife, Sarah Youngs.
Having thus far lacked the capacity to be forthcoming about your Maternal Antecedents—most of whom seem to be named Sarah—let me Divert you with what little I know of Mrs. Wordley’s father.
My Research to date reveals that Mr. Jude Grimwood was born in Akenham, Suffolk, in 1716. His Parents were Mr. William Grimwood and Mary, nee Bruce, who died in 1729. By his first wife, Mary Aggus, whom he married in Chedgrave, Norfolk, in 1743, Jude had 6-sons: James, Jude, William, John, Robert and Samuel.
Jude Grimwood was 63 when he fathered his only daughter with his second wife, Sarah Youngs. He died in 1805, aged 89-years-old. Regrettably, at least from a Genealogical point of view, Mr. Grimwood appears to have made no Impression on History in spite of his longevity. I do not even know his Occupation.
Mr. Wordley and his family returned to Glemsford several years ago. The family’s decision may have been informed by the death of Sarah’s mother in 1816. Isaac’s own mother was dead by then—she was buried on the 30th of June 1809 at the age of 56—but his father, Isaac Wordley, senior, now 65, still lives.
Our future Convict and his wife brought their 7-children to Glemsford—assuming that George, by then aged 15, and Abraham, 13, were not already indentured in Norfolk. The younger children are their sons William, Alfred and James and their daughters are Eliza and Jane. Another daughter, Susannah, was born in Glemsford late last year, viz. 1819.
The village to which they returned is some 46-miles from Harleston, 12-miles from Bury St. Edmund, 5½ miles from Sudbury, which is the Civil District, and 31-miles from the University town of Cambridge. Mr. William White describes Glemsford as a “large straggling village on an eminence”.[1] The Rivers Stour and Glem flow nearby—the village takes its name from the ford across the latter river.
I am given to understand that the inhabitants of Glemsford were strongly Puritan in days gone by. There are Independent, Primitive Methodist and Baptist places of worship in addition to the Parish Church of St. Mary. It occurs to me that the several Old Testament names in the Wordley family may indicate their religious persuasion, even if Isaac’s crime does not.
According to Mr. White, there is much arable land about Glemsford, and its Industries include: soap and candle making; silk weaving (there is a throwsting mill for silk); and the manufactory of horsehair seating and cocoa-nut fibre matting. I cannot answer to the state of soap and candle making in Glemsford in 1820, but the other industries do not appear to to be well-established at this time.
Of course, the County of Suffolk as a whole is known for its Wool, and the grand buildings in many of its Towns reflect the great prosperity of the Wool Merchants during the Middle Ages. Unfortunately, the manufactory of woollen cloth, worsted and stockings has endured a long, slow descent into a state of decay, affecting all of those who make their livelihood from Wool. Perhaps Mr. Wordley is one of those so pressed, for he is a Wool-Comber and Sorter.
It seems your Ancestor had rather different designs on the Sheep that came into his hands sometime on Wednesday the 15th of March, 1820. I regret to inform you that, as a consequence, Mr. Wordley spent that particular Wednesday night in gaol, along with one of his relatives.
The Bury and Norwich Post reports that “Isaac Wordley and John Wordley are committed to our gaol (by the Rev. William Butts) charged with stealing, from a close in Glemsford, one wether sheep, the property of Mr. David Ling, of Stoke-by-Clare”.
Mr. Ling is a butcher. I see no reason to doubt the sheep was very nicely fattened, ready to be slaughtered and sold for mutton and not for his wool.
I do not know the identity of Mr. John Wordley. Isaac has an uncle so called, and no doubt cousins, too, but thankfully no son or brother of that name. The Uncle is 70, perhaps a trifle old for sheep-stealing, but he is presumably a fit man, for he lives to be 91-years-old.
As to what drives the men to steal, I cannot be certain. The Bury and Norwich Post does not see fit to reveal whether the Felony was driven by want, malice or the rectification of some Injustice, including political protest.[2] Neither does it disclose the fate of the sheep.
In the Edition of the aforementioned Newspaper dated the 26th day of March, 1820, the thieves are reported as having been convicted at the Suffolk Assizes. Along with 15 other prisoners, they are sentenced to death. Several day later, all are reprieved.
Next, the Bury and Norwich Post conveys the news that, “On Saturday last, 11 convicts were removed from Bury gaol to be put aboard the hulks at Portsmouth for transportation for life, amongst them were John Austin, John East, Isaac Wordley and James King”.[3]
Thus it was that on the 13th of May, Isaac Wordley travelled the 160-odd miles from Bury St. Edmonds to Portsmouth.[4]
Upon arrival, your Ancestor would have been issued with new, although poor, clothing; a plate and mug for his mess; and blankets for his hammock. He was also assigned to a work-gang. It is my understanding that Mr. Wordley has been working between 10- and 12-hours a day about the Harbour and Docks while he awaits Transportation.
A good number of Convicts endure their entire sentence on a hulk, whereby such persons suffer the inadequacy of an English prison diet, poor sanitation and a lack of ventilation for a prolonged period of time, often with fatal consequences. This makes Transportation somewhat of a blessing in disguise for those who are adaptable to the conditions in the Antipodes. Your Relative will spend less than 3-months on the Leviathan. He leaves in little more than 3-weeks’ time.
I have been given to understand that Isaac Wordley is due to depart for New South Wales on the 31st of July on the H.M.S. Hebe. The clothing he has been issued will be quite inadequate for the change of season as the ship makes its way around the Cape of Good Hope. The Convicts will likely languish for some 10-days in Rio De Janeiro.
Ultimately, I predict the voyage to New South Wales will take 153 days. Mr. Wordley will finally arrive at Port Jackson on the 31st of December 1820—and we shall be there to meet him!
Yes! You did indeed hear me correctly! We are going to New Holland! I can see that you are speechless with delight!
Topographical and genealogical stars have aligned to permit this unique Tourism opportunity. The Barque Skelton recently arrived in Portsmouth from Leith in Scotland with a cargo of Merchandise and 57-Passengers. Tomorrow we and 19 others shall join them for the Voyage to Van Diemen’s Land and Port Jackson, New South Wales.
The Passage costs only 70-guineas each for Cabins, and there are a number of persons of Quality making the voyage, including: Major McLeod and family; Miss Jane Miller; Mr. David Jamieson, Esq.; Dr. Cameron and family; &c., &c.[5]
I believe our journey across the Atlantic to the Cape of Good Hope will take us near the Canaries and St. Helena. The latter isle is where your relative, E.N. Greensword, went first with H.M.S. Sceptre as a Midshipman. I do not know if we shall make land there, but I see you are thrilled by the prospect!
We will stay a few days in Hobart-Town before proceeding to Sydney-Town, and still have ample time to rest before your Relative arrives in Port Jackson. Thanks to my various Connexions here and abroad, I am confident that we will be able to station ourselves within eye-shot of the Convicts as they disembark. Indeed, I think we shall be close enough to Mr. Wordley for you to see a Family resemblance! What fun, yes?
[1] Mr. William White, History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Suffolk, A General Survey of the County, and Separate Histories, & Statistical & Topographical Descriptions of all the Hundreds, Liberties, Unions, Boroughs, Towns, Ports, Parishes, Townships, Villages, and Hamlets; Shewing their Extent and Population; Their Agriculture, Manufactures, Markets, Fairs, Trade and Commerce; their Charities and Public Institutions; their Churches and Chapels; the Annual Value, and Patrons and Incumbents of the Benefices ; the Lords of the Manors and Owners of the Soil and Tithes ; the Unions and County Court Districts; the Addresses of the Inhabitants; the Railway Trains, Steam Packets, Coaches and Carriers ; the Seats of Nobility and Gentry, Magistrates & Public Officers; and a Variety of Agricultural, Statistical, and Biographical Information. In one Volume, with a Map of the County, Printed for the Author by Mr. Robert Leader, Independent Office, Sheffield, 1855, p. 751.
[2] Suffolk and Norfolk have been, since 1816, afflicted by the enclosure of previously common land, poor harvests and the introduction of farm and other machinery leading to unemployment. Ongoing protests include vandalism of machinery, poaching and even sheep-stealing. In this regard, Mr. Wordley’s crime may not reflect as poorly on his character as it might first appear. See Mr. Paul Muskett, “The East Anglian Agrarian Riots of 1822”, The Agricultural History Review, Vol. 32, No. 1, 1984, pp. 1–13.
[3] Bury and Norwich Post, 1820-1821 Bury and Norwich Post newspaper archive, http://www.foxearth.org.uk/1820-1821BuryNorwichPost.html
[4] I cannot be sure of the fate of Mr. John Wordley—were he the aged Uncle of our Convict, perhaps he was spared Transportation?
[5] “Latest received Hobart Town Gazettes”, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 23 December 1820, p. 4.
A FAMILY TOPOGRAPHY 