WILLIAM SHIELL, Junior (1823-1899)
By Richard Shiell & Dorothy Anderson (last revised Sept 2005). hairman@mira.net
Introduction
We are about to give some details from the life of a man who was born to a middle-class colored woman on the tiny West Indian Island of Montserrat in 1923 and who died 76 years later in far-off Australia, the father of 9 children and the progenitor of an extended family that includes the present two authors, who are his great-grandchildren.[1]
Why is William Shiell included in this collection of essays about Matthew Phipps Shiel (MPS) and his antecedents? The answer is that William was born just 20 months before Matthew Dowdy Shiell (MDS), the father of MPS.[2] The two little boys were both lightly colored, illegitimate grandsons of Queely Shiell, Montserrat’s largest land-owner and probably grew up in Plymouth only a few yards apart. Matthew’s father and mother have not been positively identified but the father was possibly James Phipps Shiell, Collector of Customs for Montserrat and the mother perhaps a slave girl, the property of Sarah Dowdy.[3] William’s parents will be discussed below. Both boys grew up as Methodists and, living in the small town of Plymouth, would have attended the same Sunday School and possibly attended Chapel services with their mothers.[4]
Birth of
William
William was born at Plymouth on the island of Montserrat in the British West Indies on 8th January 1823.[5] His parents were Mary McNamara, a free, colored lass and William Shiell, a white planter.[6] No birth records for William or his parents could be found on Montserrat as most early documents have been lost due to neglect or to the hurricanes, floods, earthquakes or volcanic activity to which the island is prone. Important events in the life of the Australian Shiell family were recorded in the front pages of the Family Bible during the lifetime of William and his wife Hannah. For this reason it was presumed that the data given within its pages was accurate and later data from historic records has confirmed all points.
William’s descendants believe that his mother Mary McNamara ran a ship’s chandler’s store in Plymouth, Montserrat.[7] Little more is known about her except that there are records of her having paid taxes in the years 1822-25.[8] British Government records from London reveal that she received £102-8-0 compensation for her slaves after their emancipation in 1836.[9] In 1846 she was recorded as joint owner of property in Plymouth valued at £100, along with Lucy McNamara.[10]
Lucy was probably Mary’s sister and in 1834 received £34-4-2 compensation for her slaves.[11] By 1841 she was Headmistress of the only Public School in Plymouth and a record exists of her annual salary, which was £14-8-0.[12] In 1846 she was recorded as owning land in her own right valued at £200.[13]
A William McNamara appears frequently in the
maritime records of Montserrat in the 1830s and 40s as a mariner and Master of
small vessels.[14] He may have been either the father or brother
of Mary. He also seemed to be one of
the residents pushing for greater recognition and opportunity for the island
colored population, of which he almost certainly was a leading member.
The names of Mary and William McNamara were sometimes written in the
records with the middle name of “ Dorset” but the significance of this has not
been discovered. It may have been the maiden name of their mother or a
grandparent. Mary, Lucy and William may have been descended from a Richard
Macnamara who was an Attorney on Montserrat in the late 18th century[15]
or a Francis McNemera who, in 1811, proposed the establishment of a publicly
funded school for boys from poor white families.[16]
On a small island with only a small free population, it is highly likely that
they were all related in some way.
It was possibly from his mother, aunt and uncle that young William Shiell received his early education and this was later extended at the only public school in Plymouth. His aunt, Lucy McNamara, taught at this school and was later headmistress in 1841. It is certain that William was bright and received a good education for the time, as he was able to quickly pass his Master’s Certificate in London in 1853. This required knowledge of astronomy, metrology, navigation, maritime law as well as seafaring skills and literacy in English adequate enough to maintain a ship’s log and pass the written examination.[17]
William senior married Mary Cabey Semper in 1826 [18] and went on to have 8 children with her.[19] This gentleman lived with his wife and children only 2 km north of Plymouth on either the Grove or Richmond plantations, which were side by side.[20] He must have run into his natural son and his mother Mary from time to time and, as a person of considerable influence, was perhaps able to provide business opportunities for both of them.[21] It is most likely that his many legitimate children were educated by a governess in their early years and that they later went to England for further education.[22] They may have had little or no contact with their lightly colored, but tradesman-class, half-brother.
Young William gained considerable experience as a seaman in small craft and a brief perusal of the maritime records revealed some details of his early career
9-7-1844 - 13-9/-1844. William signed on as crew on the Antigua registered 15 ton schooner Ocean Bride.[23].
7-7-1845. William was master of the 5 ton Faithful Mary carrying beef and candles.[24]
4-8-1845. William was master of the 5 ton Letitia.[25]
7-11-1845. William was master of the 3 ton Alternative.[26]
1846 - 1848. No records found with Shiell as Master.[27]
19-2-1849 and 8-6-1850. William Shiell master of the 30 ton schooner
Charlotte.[28]
Such merchant-marine work in small ships was competitive, dangerous, and probably not very rewarding but it was the only job he knew. Fortunately news was arriving in Montserrat of gold discovery in Australia and, with the economy of the leeward island in the doldrums and his newfound knowledge of gold prospecting, William must have decided to try his luck once again. An added incentive may have been the death of his mother sometime after she was recorded as a ratepayer in Plymouth in 1846 and then the death of his father in 1853.[29] The old world that he had known for 30 years was now irrevocably changed and he could probably see no future for himself on Montserrat.
As an experienced seaman, William had no need to be a fare paying passenger. He worked a one-way passage to London on the 138 ton brigantine Callender owned by Alexander Foreman, who also served as Master for the voyage, arriving on 20th June 1853.[30]. The brigantine was sold by Foreman on 25 July 1853.[31]
While briefly in London William was granted Mariner’s Registration
ticket No. 601166 which enabled him to be employed on ships of British
registration.[32] He also
sat for and passed the examination for his Master’s Certificate and was granted
Certificate No 46601 on 30th July 1853.[33]
Two weeks later, on 13th August 1853, William signed on at
the Limehouse Shipping Office as 2nd Mate of the 153 ton
brig Gazelle.[34]
She was owned
by some of the passengers and was bound for Geelong, Australia. Her Captain,
William Thomas Parkin, was related to
some of the passengers.[35]
William Shiell, along with his fellow crew of 11 men and 68 passengers, arrived in Australia on the 23rd December 1853, “after a long but pleasant 111 day voyage from London”.[36] Although he had his master’s certificate he served as 2nd Mate on board Gazelle and received the token pay of one shilling.[37] Although many families were on the ship and several persons were of above average education of the day, not one diary describing the voyage has ever been located and even the ship’s log has disappeared. The reconstructed story of this voyage to a new land and a new life and what subsequently became of the crew and passengers of Gazelle is beautifully told by Dorothy Anderson in her book “The Tradesmen of Gazelle”.[38]
On arrival in Geelong the crew was paid off and some departed for the goldfields. A Geelong Agent Frederick Champion, bought the Gazelle from her owners and Captain Parkin continued to sail in the South-west Pacific until he met an untimely end on Woodlark Island in 1855.[39]
William and some of the others from the Gazelle traversed the 100 odd
miles to the new goldfields at Four Mile Creek, near the township of Avoca in
the newly proclaimed Crown Colony of Victoria.[40]
He had modest success on the goldfields and on 1st November 1860 he
married Hannah Burkinshaw, daughter of local farmer John Burkinshaw.[41]
William never returned to sea but continued prospecting and mining and later acquired 20 acres of land at Homebush, near Avoca[42] and with Hannah raised a family of 2 girls and 7 boys. William spoke little about his past life although it is said that he claimed that his forebears had been privateers. If he ever discussed his own past with his children, no clear recollections of sea-faring or island life passed down to his 38 grandchildren, some of whom were interviewed by the authors. There was a vague recollection from some that he had spoken of visiting the Californian Gold Rush and had acquired some knowledge of mining techniques whilst there.[43]
William leaves an extended family of descendants including the two authors of this present article, who are his great- grandchildren. Of William’s 9 children, 6 married and 5 had families. After almost exactly 150 years in Australia there are now more than 300 living descendants of the William Shiell who was born on Montserrat in 1823.[44]
APPENDICES
APPENDIX
I (a). Letter from Dr Norman Griffin to Dr Richard Shiell
25th August 1974
Richmond
Hill,
Montserrat, West Indies.
Dear Dr
Shiell,
I was
interested in reading your letter asking for information about your Montserrat
family published in the “Montserrat Mirror” of 16th instant. It
happens that William G. Shiell, who seems to have been the first on the scene
came out from Ireland at much the same time as my great-grandfather, John
Griffin who was born in Hutchin, Hertfordshire, England , in 1784 and married
in Montserrat in 1815.
William
G. Shiell, was born in 1784 and married in Montserrat in 1826 to Mary Caby
Semper, daughter of Michael Joseph Semper.
This was in June 1826 and in August (2 months after) a son was born and
named William. We have no further
record of this son and it could be that he was your great-grandfather who
arrived in Australia as Mate on the brig Gazelle in 1853; maybe he ran away to
sea from school either in Montserrat or in England.
Of the
other children of Wm G. Shiell we have few records. Several seem to have died
as children; the family lived at The Grove or at Richmond ( these two estates
probably even then run as one). Another son Henry was born in 1827; John Ross
was born in 1834, James Phipps in 1836, Queely in 1837, and the last, born in
1850, was also given the name of William but died at 5 months.
When
Queely was born William G Shiell was President of the Council of Montserrat; in 1848 he owned one estate called
Morris’ in the South of Montserrat (small and unimportant in comparison with
many others), but was Attorney for about 10 others including a number shown on
a list of Montserrat estates as owned by Queely Shiell; he was also Executor,
Lessee or Receiver in Chancery of another 14 estates. Presumably as President
of the Council he had to divest himself of some of his properties, giving his
son the titles. Wm. G. Shiell died in 1853 as did his wife Mary.
In
1849, Henry Shiell, Bachelor, married Mary Ann Wilcox, and we have reasons to
believe that he emigrated to Australia but have no idea as to whether he was in
touch with any of your family. In 1851, Thomas Masters Howes (of Yorkshire
England) who had come out from England in 1835 married a Mary Ann Shiell
(relationship not defined) and in 1879,
2 years after her husband died, she went out to Australia with her 2
daughters, one of whom married a McMaster whose son Shiell McMaster became a
landowner and sheep farmer in New South Wales. It is thought that Mary Ann was
some relation of Henry’s and went out to him in Australia.
Sorry
that this Aerogramme does not leave room for more. There is a long story about
another family named Shiel (with one l) starting with one Matthew Dowdye Shiel
who came out from Ireland and claimed descent from ancient kings of that
country. If you are interested I will write again.
Norman
Griffin M.D. (Mc Gill 1922)
APPENDIX I (b).
Letter from Dr Norman Griffin to Dr Richard Shiell
29th October 1974.
Richmond
Hill,
Montserrat,
West Indies.
Dear Dr
Shiell,
Thanks
for your letter of 17th September received on 25th. I
agree generally with some of your deductions from information available and in
particular about the likelihood that your William Shiell may have been the son
of the original William before his marriage to Mary Cabey Semper. Sorry I
cannot check on the 1823 dates as all records of the births before 1829 have
been lost.
As
regards the economic conditions of Montserrat in the 1840-1860 period, the
effects of emancipation of slavery which took place in 1834 was becoming felt
and the labour situation was difficult. Many estates were sold for indebtedness
or changed hands to newcomers at a fraction of the value a which they were
rated a few years earlier.
It
seems that Queely Shiell was the only
one of the original William who like his father was interested in agriculture;
he followed his father as a Member of Council and in charge of the Richmond and
Grove Estates. It is suggested that the
other brothers followed some other calling,
either in business or in Government, though we have no records to confirm this
assumption. Certainly none of them produced a family in Montserrat.
The
family history would not be complete
without the story of the
Shiels (spelt with one “ l “) written
up by Charlesworth Ross six years ago in the Caribbean Quarterly, a publication
of the Extra Mural Department of the University of the West Indies. It begins with Matthew Dowdye Shiel who
claimed descent from the ancient Kings of Ireland and was living in Montserrat
in 1865 and trading between Montserrat and the neighboring islands. He had had
8 daughters before producing a son named Matthew Phipps Shiel born shortly
before that date. This son went to live
in England where he became a novelist and got to know many celebrities such as
Robert Louis Stephenson and Wilde; he was quite a linguist and once had a job as interpreter to the
International Congress of Hygiene and Demography.
Charlesworth
Ross, himself a West Indian, whom I know very well went to visit him in his
later years when he was living in an Alms House near Horsham on a Civil List
Pension, and had a very interesting conversation with him. He afterwards wrote
up his story describing him as the first West Indian Novelist. He discovered
that his Grandmother was one of the Shiel sisters. Of his other sisters we know
little, except that the last surviving one was still alive in 1935 and living
in St. Kitts with a niece. She was in looks much as you describe other Shiell
descendants in Australia. It may well be that Matthew Dowdye Shiel was an
illegitimate son of the original William Shiell in Montserrat.
I hope this is of interest to you
Sincerely,
Norman Griffin.
APPENDIX VI. Petition from
William Shiell to Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for the Colonies, stating
his credentials and seeking assistance in procuring an Army Commission for his
oldest son.
Montserrat
7 May 1842
To the
Right Honorable Lord Stanley
Her
Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies
The
Humble Memorial of William Shiell
President of Her Majesty’s Council for the Island of Montserrat
Humbly
Sheweth,
That
your Memorialist was appointed a Member of Her Majesty’s Council, in the year
1808 and has continued to act in that capacity ever since, being a period of
thirty two years, that he succeeded in the month of March 1840, upon the death
of Mr President Hamilton, to the local government of the Colony, which he
administered until the Month of August 1841, without deriving any Emolument
from the Crown, or the Colony, to the satisfaction of those who were placed in
authority over him, and with advantage to the general Interests of all classes
of Her Majesty’s Subjects in the Island.
That he
was superseded in the government of the
Colony by Mr Edward Dacres Baynes, the Provost Marshal of Dominica, by
Mandamus under Her Majesty’s Royal Sign
Manual, and that he receives from the Crown five hundred Pounds per annum, as
the Officer Administering the government of the said Colony.
That
your Memorialist always anxious to support the dignity of the Station, to which
he had been involuntarily called to fill, entertained at his own private
expense, all public functionaries who visited the island in their Official
Capacities, during the period that he administered the government of the
Colony.
That
your Memorialist is the Father of Eight children, three of them receiving their
Education in England, and three upon the point of being sent there for as similar purpose, that he is desirous,
having served her Majesty’s Royal Predecessors, and Her most Gracious Majesty,
with the strictest fidelity, in his said capacity as a Member of Her Majesty’s
Council, And as President administering the Government of the Colony, during
his term of office, to obtain a Commission, in the Army for his Eldest Son
William Shiell, now in his Sixteenth Year, but that he is prevented from
purchasing the same, from a variety of concurring causes not necessary to be
enumerated here, without doing a manifest Injury to the Interests and claims of
his other children.
That
your Memorialist therefore most humbly solicits your Lordship to take the
premises into your consideration, by using your intercession in his behalf and
recommending him in the proper quarter, as one not undeserving of the Royal
favor, with the view of procuring for his said Son William Shiell a Commission
in Her Majesty’s Army, in any Regiment of the line, which may be deemed by
those in Authority, most fitting and expedient to appoint him.
And
your Memorialist as in duty bound, will ever pray.
Wm.
Shiel
Copyright © 2006 By Richard Shiell and Dorothy Anderson.
Used with permission of the authors.
[1] The subject is covered in the
book “Montserrat
to Melbourne - the story of a Shiell Family” by the present authors - Pakenham Press, 1984.
[2] From the certificate of William’s
1860 marriage to Hannah Burkinshaw.
[3] See the chapter on Matthew Dowdy
Shiell in this book.
[4] There was another colored Shiell
boy on the island who appears in 1841 as the successful candidate for the
Legislative Assembly seat of Kinsale (which included the town of
Plymouth). This was John N. Shiell,
parentage unknown but it is quite likely that his father was John Shiell, also
a son of Queely Shiell and later to be Chief Justice of Antigua (see biography
of both John Shiell and John N. Shiell in this book.)
[5] Entry in the
Shiell Family Bible (in the possession of Robert Shiell, Geelong, Vic.
Australia)
[6] The keeping of
a mistress was extremely common in the wealthy classes of the West Indies at
that time. Indeed it was common throughout the British Empire and in England,
the Duke of Clarence, (later William IV), had 10 children to his mistress Mrs. Dorothea Jordan before he
finally took a bride in 1818. To this day on Montserrat marriage may still be uncommon but there are few children of unknown parentage.
Although the father may not live with the mother he may visit occasionally and
is expected to contribute in whatever way possible to the child’s maintenance
and education.
[7] Family oral tradition.
It has a ring of truth to it because the McNamaras were a seafaring family.
[13] BPP, H of C, 1848, Vol. 45. This
land was obviously inherited as she would be able to save little, if any, from
her salary.
[15] The difference
in spelling of the name McNamara may not be important. We have seen how Shiell
is spelt in a variety of ways by clerks on Montserrat.
[16] CO 177 17. The Council tabled the
plan and did not consider it again.
[17] Certificate number 46601. The
Master’s examination was introduced in Britain in January 1846 and one had to
be at least 21 years of age, able to write a good hand and have good moral
references. In addition the candidate for the first class certificate had to
pass an examination on seamanship, terrestrial and celestial navigation, map
making and mercantile book-keeping.
[18] Letters from Montserrat historian
Dr Norman Griffin in 1974. Appendix 1 (a & b)
[19] Mary was one of the numerous children of a
wealthy landowner Dudley Semper By 1826 he had become a bitter enemy of William Shiell and went to
great lengths in his Will to ensure that none of his estate passed to his hated
son-in-law on his death in 1833. The cause of this animosity is complex and is
discussed in brief in the biography of William Shiell senior by the same authors. With this in mind it may be
thought surprising that this marriage ever took place. It seems to have been a love-match however, as Mary was pregnant at the time of her marriage
and according to Dr Griffin, a healthy son they named William was born only 4
months later in September 1826.
[20] Letter to the author from
Montserrat historian Dr Norman Griffin.
[21] By 1841, Council President
William Shiell was attorney to 16 plantations owned by absentee landlords,
including 5 owned by his father Queely Shiell. After the emancipation of the
slaves in 1834 the productive capacity of these plantations, which had been
slipping for decades, declined even more sharply and many became almost
worthless. Most were heavily encumbered with debts resulting from loans by the
British Government for rebuilding after the 1843 earthquake.
[22] See 1842 letter to Lord Stanley. (Appendix
VI ).
[23] BT 107 527
[24] CUST 34 503
[25] BT 107 545
[26] BT 107 545
[27] This may be
the period when William was in California, perhaps sailing by way of South
America and Cape Horn. No documentary
evidence for this dangerous voyage has been located to date but some of his
descendants claimed that William had gold mining experience in California prior
to coming to Australia in 1853.
[28] BT 107 558 and 561
[29] President
William Shiell’s aged father Queely Shiell died in London in 1847 leaving his
now almost worthless estates to his only remaining son. There was however, a
provision that Queely’s widowed daughter Eleanor, her 3 daughters and his late
wife’s sister, were to receive handsome
annuities totaling £ 500 p.a. from the Estate. This must have been a cruel blow
to William and within three years he was bankrupted. In 1851 he had to resign
from the Council of Montserrat, where he had served for 41 years. Dr Griffin
claimed that both William and his wife died in 1853.
We
can only presume that with the fall from grace and later death of his father,
young William felt that there was no place for him in impoverished
Montserrat. We have not located the
Will of President William but under British law illegitimate children had no
right to inheritance and besides, there was nothing left to be divided even if his father
had made him a small bequest.
[30] Lloyd’s Daily
List
[31] BT 107 109.
[32] This ticket was required by all
personnel who sailed on British merchant ships, right down to the cabin boy.
[33] BT 124 8. Uncertain
of his future, William may have decided that this was an opportune time to gain
this qualification, essential if, in
the future, he was to take charge of vessels larger than the little
inter-island craft of Montserrat.
[34] BT 98 3452
5568. The Gazelle had been built in Bremen, Germany,
in 1839. She was bought by a consortium of men associated with the shipbuilding
industry in Deptford, England. She was of a brig design which, with its
two-masts, was much slower than a barque, but could be managed by a smaller
crew. The owners and their families intended to sail her to Australia with the
aid of a small professional crew and volunteers from amongst the passengers.
[35] Captain Parkin
was the nephew of Georgiana Caselli, wife of
Henry Caselli, one of the Gazelle’s owners.
[36] Item in the Geelong Advertiser 24th December 1853.
[37] BT 98/3452 RC
5568
[38] Published
privately in 2000, this most interesting volume was 10 years in the research
and writing and follows the preparation
for the voyage and the lives of most of the crew and passengers who arrived in
Geelong on Gazelle
in December 1853.
[39] Captain Parkin, along with his
younger brother Junius Parkin as 1st mate of Gazelle, plied the
Australian coastline and ventured as far as Manila as a freight transporter for
a year or two. In 1855, during a trip
to Woodlark Island off the East coast of New Guinea with supplies for the
Catholic missionaries stationed there, he ran onto a reef and he and his crew
were killed by the natives and the ship burnt to the waterline.
[40]
Gold was discovered at Four Mile Flat, Victoria in 1852 but the main
rush to the Avoca area did not occur until late 1853 when gold was discovered
in other areas nearby. Another series of rushes occurred in the area in 1860-61
and later the capital intensive quartz mining was introduced.
[41] John was from
Yorkshire, England. After taking part in a unlawful protest against low wages
in the linen weaving industry he, along with 22 other men, was convicted of
“high treason” and transported to Hobart in 1921 “for the term of his natural life”.
His story is recounted in the early pages of the book “Montserrat to Melbourne” by
the present authors. (Pakenham Press, 1984)
[42] Certificate of title
[43] This absence of oral family
background information is understandable if one realizes that illegitimacy
carried a heavy stigma in 19th century society. Colored skin was not
likely to get one easily admitted to higher social circles either. In Australia, a newly settled country where
most men spent a great deal of time working hard out-doors, a tanned complexion
was not unusual. The additional “color” carried by some Shiell descendants was
easily passed off as “Spanish Blood” from the West Indies. William’s wife
Hannah, although white and legitimate, was the daughter of a convicted man,
John Birkinshaw. Having been born and
bred in Tasmania, she was probably aware of this “moral stain” on her family
but this too was never discussed with her children. It was thus “forgotten” for
over a century until re-discovered by the present authors in 1982.
[44] This material is contained in “ Montserrat to Melbourne” - The Story of a Shiell Family in Australia. This small volume covers what was known of William Shiell and his wife Hannah and their antecedents at the time of the book’s publication in 1984.