BILLETT, Jacob

1765 - 1813  (48 years)

• Name	BILLETT, Jacob  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
  Born	24 Jan 1765	Webs Square, Shoreditch, London, England   [3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
  Christened	18 Feb 1765	St Leonard, Shoreditch, Middlesex, England   [3, 5, 6]
  Gender	Male
  Died	2 Dec 1813	Hobart, Van Diemens Land, Australia   [3, 4, 5, 6, 7]
  	Some sources give "Kavha" as place of death, but this is not a place name. It is an acronym for Kingston and Arthurs Vale Historic Area, which is in Norfolk Island, not Tasmania, therefore wrong as a death location.
  Buried	3 Dec 1813	St David's Cemetary, Hobart, Van Diemen's Land, Australia   [3, 5, 6, 7]
  Person ID	I11518	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	16 Sep 2023

  
  

  Father	BELLETT, John,   b. 8 Aug 1749, Spitalfields, Middlesex, England, United Kingdom ,   d. Sep 1838, Shoreditch, London, England  (Age 89 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	LEMERY BROWN, Susanna,   b. 18 Sep 1744, Spitalfields, London, England ,   d. 2 Dec 1812, Shoreditch, London, England  (Age 68 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Married	19 Jul 1770	Stepney, Middlesex, England
  	Spitalfields Christ Church
  Family ID	F4290	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	HARPER, Ann Harrison,   b. 10 Sep 1772, Bristol, Somerset, England ,   d. 10 Sep 1842, Sorell, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 70 years)
  Married	5 Nov 1791	Norfolk Island, Tasmania, Australia   [5]
  Children	1. BELLETT, Elizabeth Harper,   b. 18 Jan 1792, Norfolk Island, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 24 Dec 1866, South Arm, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 74 years)  [natural]   2. BELLETTE, Susannah Harper,   b. 1 Feb 1794, Norfolk Island, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 6 Jan 1871, Sorell, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 76 years)  [natural]   3. BELLETT, Mary Harper,   b. 30 Apr 1795, Norfolk Is, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 23 Jan 1877, Cygnet, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 81 years)  [natural]   4. BELLETT, Ann,   b. 30 Apr 1796, Norfolk Is New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 29 Apr 1896, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 99 years)  [natural]   5. BELLETT, John,   b. 5 Aug 1800, Norfolk Island, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 23 Jan 1877, Sorell, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 76 years)  [natural]   6. BELLETT, Jacob,   b. 7 Dec 1802, Norfolk Island, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 20 May 1835, Rokeby, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 32 years)  [natural]   7. BELLETT, William,   b. 10 Jun 1805, Norfolk Island, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 27 May 1875, Sorell, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 69 years)  [natural]   8. BELLETT, James,   b. 19 Oct 1809, Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia ,   d. 15 Jun 1837, Sorell, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 27 years)  [natural]   9. BELLETT, George,   b. 3 Mar 1812, Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Australia ,   d. 16 Mar 1885, Sorell, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 73 years)  [natural]
  Last Modified	16 Sep 2023
  Family ID	F3107	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		House of Jacob Bellett & Ann Harper NI (1)
  		Jacob Bellett Plaque
  		Jacob Belletts Headstone

  
  

  Documents

  Ship City of Edinburgh

  
  

• Notes

  Jacob Bellett was indicted for feloniously stealing on the 25 December 1784 one ells of half-ell manufactured lining, value 31. 8s. two pounds of unwound black silk, value 20s. thirty-two ounces of double black silk would value 31. 12s. the property of John Gearing, John Vaux, and Thomas John Taylor. Jacob was tried at the Old Bailey in 12 January 1785 and sentenced to seven years transportation. Arrived in Sydney Cove aboard Scarborough. Jacob Bellette, a silkweaver, was tried at the Old Bailey in 1785 for stealing material. Sentenced to seven years' transportation, he sailed with the First Fleet on the Scarborough. From 1790 he worked at Norfolk Island and was allowed to settle in 1791. He lived with Ann Harper, also a convict who arrived in the Second Fleet in 1790 on the Lady Juliana. During the next ten years, they had four daughters and three sons. On the evacuation of the island, the family was re-settled in Van Diemen's Land. Jacob Bellette died in Hobart in 1813. Jacob Bellette (aka Bellett or Billett) and Ann Harper Jacob Bellette was born on 24 January 1765 at New Inn Yard, Shoreditch, London, England. He was the son of John and Susannah Bellett (nee Brown). Jacob was baptized on 18 February 1765 at St. Leonard's Church, Shoreditch, London, England. His parents had been married in the same church in 1753. In 1783 John Bellett, father of Jacob, owned two businesses at St. Mary's Axe, Shoreditch. He is listed as a warehouseman and upholsterer. Jacob worked as a silkweaver for John Gearing & Co., premises at 39 Duke Street and Cox Square, Spitalfields. It was at their workshop in Cox Square where Jacob was employed, and from here the material which Jacob was found guilty of stealing was allegedly taken. William Cole, foreman at the Cox Square premises, gave a statement to the arresting officer that differed markedly from the evidence he gave in court (refer Trial Report). Jacob was not represented by an attorney and consequently Cole was not cross-examined. Jacob was tried at the Old Bailey, 7th January 1785, for the theft of silk lining, unwound silk, and double black wound silk. Sentenced to transportation for seven years he departed the Isle of Wight aboard the ‘Scarborough’ (FIRST FLEET) 13th May 1787 arriving at Botany Bay 18th January 1788, but eventually debarking at Port Jackson 26th January 1788. Jacob left Port Jackson 6th March 1790 aboard the ‘Sirius’ to travel to Norfolk Island. The ship was wrecked in Sydney Cove (Norfolk Island). No lives were lost and most of the supplies were salvaged, but the stranding of the crew on Norfolk Island put a great strain on the resources of the island. By July 24th only 10 to 12 days' provisions remained. The arrival of the ‘Surprize’ and the ‘Justinian’ on August 7th saved the settlement. Aboard the ‘Surprize’ was Ann Harper, future wife of Jacob Bellett. Ann was also a convict who arrived in the Second Fleet in 1790 on the ‘Lady Juliana’. From 1790 Jacob worked on Norfolk Island and was allowed to settle in 1791. Ann was granted 39 acres adjoining Jacob's land. There they met and married. In February 1791 Jacob Bellett and Ann Harper were jointly issued with a sow. By July they held a Sydney Town lot on Norfolk Island. It is believed they married 5 November 1791 on Norfolk Island. During the next ten years, they had four daughters and three sons. They had moved to a hilly 12 acre farm at First Settler's Vale by December 1792, and by 1796 Ann held 39 acres in her own name adjacent to the twelve held by Jacob. Jacob Bellett was a constable with a thriving 26 acre farm in 1805. He grew wheat and maize, owned a cow, 22 sheep, and 16 pigs. He sold 43 sheep and 16 lambs in December 1806 for £89/10/00, and two years later owned a cow, 29 sheep, 7 hogs and 120 bushels of maize. Jacob and Ann Bellett and family departed Norfolk Island, 3rd September 1808 aboard the ‘City of Edinburgh’ to travel to Hobart. They left behind them 45 cleared acres, a wooden, shingled house, a barn with a boarded floor and walls and two logged out-houses valued at £60. Jacob's stock entitlement was £82. Jacob Bellett was granted land (45 acres) at Sandy Bay as compensation for his property on Norfolk Island. In 1810 Jacob and Ann moved to Pittwater on the Sorell Rivulet, where Jacob had a 60 acre land grant. He died 2nd December 1813, aged 47, and was buried in St. David's Cemetery, Hobart circa 4 December 1813. His death notice reads: "Died suddenly at Hobart, 2 December alt. Mr Jacob Bellett, settler, formerly of Norfolk Island.” A minute or two before his death he was in jocular conversation with some of his friends, from whom he was in an instant snatched at that awful command of the Supreme Director, leaving behind a wife and infant family in whose affliction all who were acquainted with him must feelingly participate. Ann Bellett, using the surname Harrison, was the sole occupant of a wooden house at Sorell in 1842. Her son George, occupied a nearby house. Ann died at Sorell, 10th September 1842. Her headstone in the Henry Street cemetery at Sorell shows her to be 70 years of age, relict of Jacob Bellett Snr. http://micktopfer.com/familyhistory/149.html JACOB BELLETT was indicted for feloniously stealing on the 25th of December last fifty one ells of half-ell manufactured lining, value 3 l. 8 s. two pounds of unwound black silk, value 20 s. thirty-two ounces of double black silk wound, value 3 l. 12 s. the property of John Gearing , John Vaux , and Thomas John Taylor . JOHN VAUX sworn. I only prove the property, my partners names are John Gearing , and Thomas John Taylor. WILLIAM COLE sworn. On the 25th of December, which was Christmas-day, between three and four in the afternoon, we had fifty-one ells of work cut out of the loom, two pounds of unwound silk, and thirty two ounces of double silk, it was silk lining, I worked for Messrs. Gearing, Vaux, and Taylor; about four I was informed my shop window was open, I went up to see and took the key of the stair foot door, that goes up to my work shop, and found all my work was taken away, the stair foot door was locked as I left it; I said, the prisoner was the person that robbed me, I went to the prisoner's house and asked for him, nobody was at home but the sister and a girl; I found the prisoner in Balls-alley, with a girl that he kept company with, I heard a scuffle withinside the house, I heard them shove up the window, and they kept me at the door for a minute or a minute and half, then the door was opened; he threatened to punish me, he followed me home, but upon my mentioning to search the loft the prisoner ran away directly; in searching the lofts we run over four houses, I found no property there, but I found one trap door open that went into the prisoner's house, and I dropped down upon the prisoner's bed, which was under that trap door; I there made a strict search, and his brother in law came down, and I looked behind an old pair of drawers, there was a net and this bag, and a shoot, and the unwrought silk, I pulls up the end a little more, says I, thank God here is my piece; the Justice ordered me to subpoenea this brother-in-law, but he is got out of the way, I carried the subpoenea, I went to search for the prisoner and found him at one Helder's, which was about two hours after he run away, I found him concealed in a closet, I asked him how he came to do such a wicked thing; he said, for God's sake have mercy upon me, you have your property let me go; says I, I cannot, it is my master's property, I brought him to the Crown alehouse, and sent for an officer and gave charge of him, and in my hearing he confessed he did it himself and nobody else; I made him no promise, he was going to tell us of one Jones, the father and son who were waiting for him, at the corner of Cox's-square, in Petticoat-lane, a man that buys stolen silk, little or much; I have never enquired after him, Mr. Wilmot said we could do nothing to him, without he had bought any thing, he uses a publick house the corner of that square. JOHN GRAY sworn. On the 25th of December, I was sent for by this young man and the prisoner, I said to the prisoner, was there any body along with you? - And he said, no, there was not, he was sadly distressed, and did it through necessity. Where does Jones live? - I cannot tell, only he said he used a public house, the corner of Cox's-square. Do not you know where that Jones lives? - No, upon my oath I do not, I never heard of any such name before. Where do you live? - In Shoreditch. (The wound silk deposed to.) Cole. I can swear they are them that were taken out of my looms, I can shew you, I have in my pocket a pattern of the quill that we head them with. PRISONER's DEFENCE. The man came and charged me, and swore he would hang me, I told him I would punish him, I went to see his work, and his wife collared me? says I, what do you collar me for, I have money of my own; I went to Mr. Helder's and this man came up, there was no string to latch the door, and the woman bid me get a plate out of the closet, and he came and swore I was shut up there; I am innocent. The Prisoner called five more witnesses who all gave him a good character. GUILTY . Transported for seven years . Tried by the second Middlesex Jury before Mr. RECORDER.

  
  

• Sources

  [S342] New South Wales, Australia, Land Grants, 1788-1963, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2014;), State Records Authority of New South Wales; Kingswood, NSW, Australia; Archive Reel: 1493; Series: 12976; Description: Index to Deeds and Grants for Leases of Land 1792-1826. New South Wales, Australia, Land Grants, 1788-1963 [S348] Tasmania, Australia, Deeds of Land Grants, 1804-1935, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2016;). Tasmania, Australia, Deeds of Land Grants, 1804-1935 Database online. Record for George Bellett [S89] Web: Australia, Convict Records Index, 1787-1867, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Lehi, UT, USA; Date: 2018;), State Library of Queensland; South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; personal document. Database online. Record for Jacob Bellett Database online. Record for Mary Harper BELLETT Database online. Record for Jacob BELLETT [S129] Web: London, England, Proceedings of the Old Bailey and Ordinary's Accounts Index, 1674-1913, Ancestry.com, (Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2016;).