On 28th October 1858 Ellen Wells of Tattershall, Lincolnshire married James Andrew Raithby Hoodless of North Somercotes, Lincolnshire. James was the cousin of Gerrit L Hoodless, their father’s were brothers. The newly wed couple lived the ag-lab rural life in North Somercotes, on the Lincolnshire coast, a little south of the Humber estuary.
On the night of 7th April 1861 James is 30 years old and Ellen is 27. They have a one year old son Matthew Joseph and a new baby, Margaret, only two months old. A census document is cold and clinical and does not even hint at the hardships and poverty that such a family might have faced. The work was seasonal and casual, the wages, hard earned, might range from 9 to 15 shillings per week with a harvest time bonus once a year for the extra hours committed to bringing in the crop, baling and loading. The major portion of these earnings would be spent on rent, light (candles before oil lamps) and heating (coal and wood). The remainder would be spread thinly between food, clothing and essentials such as soap, soda and starch. Families would bulk up their diet with bread, the cheapest way to stave off hunger but nutritionally poor. Most young families would be living week to week with nothing to spare and when an unforeseen disaster struck, such as illness or lack of work, they would need to resort to credit to keep from going cold and hungry. To top this off, babies were conceived readily and regularly, adding to the growing burden, year on year.
With this in mind, on 3rd October 1860, some two years after their marriage, Ellen is arrested and taken to prison on 4th October where she is held to stand trial for stealing on 23rd October 1860. Her theft was:
Eight pairs of boots and shoes, several Women’s Dresses and other Articles, the property of John Robinson of North Somercotes on 6th August 1860
Lindsey Gaol, Lincolnshire Calendar of Trials
Ellen goes before the magistrates in the House of Correction at Spilsby. William Teale Welfitt Esq. of Manby Hall and William Robert Emeris Esq. of Louth hear her case. Ellen pleads guilty and is imprisoned there for 3 months with hard labour.
The Quarter Sessions Courthouse fronted the actual gaol and frankly still looks terrifyingly imposing. It was built around 1827 and is still standing, though now it is a theatre.
Ellen would have been four or five months pregnant when she was sentenced and that would make her seven or eight months pregnant when she was released. Her second child Margaret was born sometime in February 1861. Hard labour for female prisoners at the time consisted of laundry duty, sewing and picking oakham.
England & Wales Criminal Registers 1791-1892
Shortly after the April1861 Census was taken, Ellen, James and their two infant children left England and sailed on board the Empress of the Seas, departing Liverpool and making a 66 day journey to Melbourne, arriving there on 6th August then on to Launceston, Tasmania by the Havillah. Arriving on 21st August 1861. The passenger manifest states that Ellen died on the voyage out to Melbourne and the baby Margaret at just five months old died three days after arrival in Tasmania.
It paints a tragic scene. James Hoodless arriving in a strange new country, bereaved of his wife and daughter, with his two-year-old son to care for, as well as work and somewhere to live to find. UPDATE: James and Ellen were actually sponsored on their emigration to Tasmania by a merchant naval Captain Samuel Horton, who had been granted a long strip of land in Tasmania and on which he needed tenants to manage and farm. James would likely have signed up for a minimum tenure of four years under the scheme. It is clear there was a local connection between James and Captain Horton, since the homestead established by Horton was named “Somercotes”. (Thank you to Elizabeth, who read this post and has filled in some gaps from her own research).
On an interesting end note, the clipper ship Empress of the Seas which was designed to speed up the voyage between England and Australia considerably, was delayed in leaving Melbourne due to a shortage of hands. Thousands of men had left for the Otago gold fields in New Zealand shortly before her arrival in Melbourne. When she did set sail Captain Bragg called in to Queenscliff to try to recruit more men and the ship was deliberately set on fire and by unknown persons, who had removed the handles from the water pumps beforehand. She was grounded on purpose at Point Nepean and everyone was safely removed to shore. The wreck is still a diving spot today.
