JOHN
SHIELL (1788-1843)
By
Richard Shiell and Dorothy Anderson, Melbourne Australia.
Revised version March 2005. For reader comment please contact the first author on hairman@mira.net
John was the second son of Queely and Ann Shiell (nee Gordon) and was
probably born on Montserrat around 1788.[1]
We know nothing about his early life but it is thought that the family lived on
the Richmond plantation about 2 km north of Plymouth. Education did not receive
a high priority in the sugar colonies, where a gentleman was not expected to do
any actual work. Nevertheless he was expected to oversee the running of his
estates and perhaps take a role in Politics, so at least a basic education was
desirable. Like most of the sons of the well-to-do land-owners on Montserrat,
he probably had a Governess or tutor in his early years and received his
secondary education at an English boarding school.
He must have been quite bright
and decided to enter the law. He was admitted to Lincoln’s Inn, London on 22
October 1808. He is recorded as being 20 years of age and "the 2nd son of Queily Shiell [sic]
gentleman, of Monserrat [sic]" [2]. We
have record of his presence on the Montserrat Legislative Assembly in 1810 [3]
so he was presumably spending at least part of his time back in the Leeward
Islands. He was “called to the bar”, that is, given his final qualification to
practice as a barrister, on 24th November 1813. [4]
John became a barrister and later a King’s Council for Antigua in 1826.[5] In 1936 he was Acting Clerk of the Council
of Antigua.[6]
It is interesting that John never appears in the records as a landowner
like his father or brother William. On emancipation of slaves in 1834, he
received compensation of £39-0-7 for his
slaves-probably all domestic servants.[7]
John must have married around 1838-40. [8]
His wife’s name was
Elizabeth Jane and her maiden name was probably Nugent although this point has
not been confirmed. They appear to have had 4 daughters and the girls start to
be married some 20 years later from around 1859.[9]
There is also a possibility that John was the natural father of John N. Shiell,
a colored Provision farmer, who was elected to the Montserrat Assembly in 1842.[10]
In 1841 John was apparently living in England for a time and was
granted a further 9 months leave from his post on the Council of Antigua.[11] In April 1843 he made application to be
appointed a Queen’s Council on Antigua and the following year, in June 1844, he
was appointed Chief Justice of Antigua at a salary of £150 p.a. [12] He presided
chiefly in Antigua but visited Montserrat in February, May, August and November
on official duties.[13] He died on Sept 6th 1847 aged
around 58 years [14] and
was succeeded by Sir Robert Marsh Horsford, KCB.[15]
Two mentions of John’s widow have been located. On January 7th. 1861,
Elizabeth Jane Shiell and her daughters sold Delvin’s Estate to the English
Quakers, Charles and Joseph Sturge of Birmingham for 10 shillings.[16]
In 1871, a Mrs. Sheil (sic) was listed as owner of “Yapton farm” of 343 acres
in St John’s Parish, Antigua[17].
We do not know the identity of this lady but it was a pretty large place by the
standards of Antigua so she was very probably John’s widow rather than some
other unknown person.
Copyright © 2005 By Richard Shiell and Dorothy Anderson.
Used with permission of the authors.
[1] We do not have a birth date for John but
Lincoln’s Inn records him as aged 20 in 1808. For details of John’s father and
family see the website http://alangullette.com/lit/shiel/index.html#family
[2] This was not like a Law School in today’s
terms – there were no set lectures and one only had to attend a stipulated
number of “dinners” at the Inn. Most of the training required working under the
guidance of another barrister and reading about famous cases. John took 5 years
to attend his stipulated number of dinners so presumably was working his legal
apprenticeship well away from London much of the time-probably in Montserrat or
Antigua.
[3]
Minutes of the Assembly July 1810-Jan. 1811. Queely Shiell and John Queely
Shiell both mentioned. (CO 177 17). This is the only time that a middle name
for John was ever noted.
[4] Lincoln’s Inn Register.
[5] CO 10 10.
[6]
BPP H of C, 1838, Vol 47.
[7]
Antigua Slave claim number 808.
[8] No certificates but dates deduced from the earliest marriage dates of
daughters.
[9] Maria Ann, (still single in Jan 1861 when her mother sold Devlin’s estate)
Louisa Gordon (single in
1861 but married the 62 year old
widower Colonel Sir Stephen John Hill
in 1871. No issue.
Elizabeth Harriet ( married Henry Dobridge, merchant prior to
1861 ).
Eleanor Matilda. She married the 29 year old Christopher
Musgrave, (planter of Antigua and son of Anthony Musgrave) sometime between
1856 and 1859. This was his 2nd marriage and the couple had four
children Ella (born 1860), Amy (1862, died young), and Herbert (born 1863, died
unmarried 1894) and Marian Christophine who married Edward Jones of Antigua.) (See the History of Antigua Vol. 2,
page 287 Musgrave family chart and page 206 T. Savage English)
Anthony Musgrave’s older son, (also Anthony), was knighted and served as
Governor of South Australia from 9th June 1873 until 2nd
Oct 1877 and of Queensland from 1883 until his death in 1887.
[10] “John N. Shiell returned for Town of Plymouth and Kinsale in place of William Dyett” (CO 177 23)
Another John Shiell in recorded in the Montserrat records as dying on 24
June 1899 at aged 36. This may have
been the son or grandson of John N. Shiell. The present Shiell family on
Montserrat trace their lineage back through to a 19th century John
Shiell but whether it is to the same individual cannot be proved. It is
certainly very likely.
[12] CO 7 66
[13]
CO 7 66
[14] CO 178 17
[15]
CO 7 88
[16]
The estate was carrying massive debt which was probably as a result of earlier
loans from the Government for earthquake repairs. It is most likely that this
estate was inherited from Elizabeth Jane’s family, the Nugents, because there
is no record of land in John’s name on Montserrat and only a small number of
slaves, probably domestic servants, were
claimed under the name of John Shiell on Montserrat after Emancipation in 1836. In
1864 Devlin’s estate was merged with the adjacent Bransby’s estate (which the
Sturges had retitled “Elberton” in 1857.) Joseph Sturge, a Quaker and
anti-slavery campaigner, also bought the old Shiell plantations of Frye’s,
Grove and Richmond and used them to grow limes.
[17] History of
Antigua, Vol 3, page 357