CHARLES MINALL (1814-1898)

Charles was baptised on 12 June 1814 at Hambledon, Hampshire, England, the son of Charles Minall and Hester Daniels, who were married on 1 December 1810, at Hambledon. The family history goes back to the Minall/Mildenhall families of Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire.

On 15 January 1829, a Charles Minall, said to be aged 13 years, of St John sub Castro, Lewes, a labourer, was tried at the eastern Sussex court of quarter sessions sitting at Lewes, for stealing one and a half pounds of sausages from Henry Kennard and others. He was found guilty and sentenced to solitary confinement for one calendar month having been first privately whipped. (NB. If this was the Charles who was baptised at Hambledon in 1814, his true age would have been 14.)

On 15 August 1830, Charles, aged 16, was tried for housebreaking. He was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment and transportation to Australia. He sailed from Portsmouth on the 8th April 1830, aboard The Lady Feversham, arriving at Port Jackson on the 29 July 1830, a journey of 112 days. He was then taken to Carters Barracks. His Prisoner number was 30/1207.

The Convict Indent Records (4/401) note that Charles was a Bicklayer's labourer by trade, that he was able to read and that his native place was Hampshire, England. He stood 5 feet 1/2 inch tall, had a ruddy and freckled complexion, and brown hair. He also had a tattoo of a woman on his left arm, and another mark whose interpretation in the ledger is indecipherable.

It is not known what became of Charles over the next few years, but it must have been a difficult time for him, so young and far from loved ones, in a strange land and brandished a convict. But by 1836 he mad decided to marry Honor Bourke/Burke (occasionally known as Honoria or Norah). She had arrived in Australia in 1835 aboard the Dutches of Northumberland, as a free person. As Charles was a convict, they had to apply for permission to marry. This was granted on the normal condition that they had work to go to after the marriage. The undertaking to employ them was provided by one of the executors to the late Reverend Richard Hill in November 1837. They were married in 1838 in St James Church, Sydney.

Charles and Honor raised a family of eleven children over a span of 21 years. In April 1843 Charles was granted a Ticket-of-Leave, allowing him to go at large in the community and to obtain work, subject to certain conditions. His Ticket-of-Leave Butt (number 43/1976) allowed him to remain in the district of Camden, on the outskirts of Sydney. The family were living at Cobbity, near Camden, at the time. On 18 March 1845, his Ticket-of-Leave was altered by recommendation to allow him to move to Muswellbrook, north of Sydney. Presumably the prospect of work must have taken Charles to this area, yet 4 months later, on 4 July 1845 it was again altered to allow him to return to the Camden district. The reasons are not known, but he remained there till at least 1860.

The NSW Sands Directory has a Charles Minell living at 166 Palmer Street in 1871 and at 37 Brisbane Stret in 1876. Presumably these addresses are in he Glebe / Annandale areas of Sydney. On both occasions his occupation is noted as Stonemason. Thus from his beginnings as a bricklayer's boy Charles continued throughout his life in the building industry, and was well known as a stonemason and building contractor.

Charles Minall died on 15 May 1898 from a cerebral haemorrhage following a 5 weeks illness. His death certificate listed his father's name as Charles, occupation maltster.

His address at the time of his death was 107 Booth Street, Annandale, Sydney. Honoria had died the previous year.

Charles was survived by his children, Richard, Louisa, Eliza, Rose and Charlotte. Six other children, Sarah, Maria, Margaret, Kate, Charles and Timothy had died before 1898. Richard registered the death of his father.

Charles' place of birth was recorded on his death certificate (incorrectly) as Brighton, England. He was buried 17 May 1898 beside his wife in the Roman Catholic sction of Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney (Section Q, Mortuary 1, Grave Number 54). This is a very old part of Rookwood, and few graves remain today.

[Most of this information was supplied by Kristen Bennett, a direct descendant.

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