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Thomas Jessep 1816-1854 and Jane Cooper (1817-1851)
3rd great-grandparents
William Thomas Jessep 1842-1919
Frederick Ernest Jessep 1889-1966
William Frederick Jessep 1910-1939
Trevor Warren Jessep-Pond
Tania Lynne Jessep-Pond
Thomas Jessep (1816-1854); When Thomas Jessep was born on July 21, 1816, in Cockley Cley, Norfolk, England, his father, James, was 33 and his mother, Jane, was 29. He married Jane Cooper and they had nine children together. He was the earliest recorded licensee of the Cricketer's Inn, Gooderstone, then a beerhouse. He kept the pub with his wife Jane in the late 1840's. In the 1851 census the pub was recorded as Jessep's Beerhouse. He also farmed 32 acres and, on his immigration record to Australia his occupation is listed as "Shepherd". Jane died giving birth. He then married Elizabeth English and they had one daughter together. They decided to emigrate to Australia, having already heard of the prospects there from a relative who had emigrated earlier. His brother James also went with his family.
They were sponsored under the indenture scheme, where the government paid their passages if they agreed to work for four years to pay off the debt. The whole family boarded the ship the Caroline Middleton and set sail for Hobart. Unfortunately there was an outbreak of Scarlet Fever onboard and a number of people, including Thomas, died. He died on July 11, 1854, at the age of 37. His body was cast overboard at the canary islands. Also a victim of the Scarlet Fever outbreak onboard was the baby daughter of Thomas's brother James, Mary-Ann.
When the ship landed in Hobart his second wife Elizabeth (English) abandoned his children and the younger ones went into the orphanage. The older children got jobs and helped to finance the upkeep of the younger children. One son, also Thomas, later became a member of parliament in Australia (https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/Pages/member-details.aspx?pk=909
When Jane Cooper was born on February 9, 1817, in Longham, Norfolk, England, her father, Charles, was 29, and her mother, Jane, was 31. She was baptized on the 9 February 1817 (Norfolk, England, Transcripts of Church of England Baptism, Marriage and Burial Registers, 1600-1935) so presumably she was actually born before this. She married Thomas Jessep on April 27, 1837, in Cockley Cley, Norfolk, England. They had nine children in 13 years. She died as a young mother on July 27, 1851, in Swaffham, Norfolk, England, at the age of 34.
A detailed account of the Jesseps in Australia is written by my cousin Bill Jessep and is available online at;
The journey to Australia is recounted from original diaries of shipmates and makes very interesting reading.
Below; The photograph shows the Cricketer's Inn (shown with the Say family who later owned the pub and had changed the name). Right; All Saints Church in Cockley Clay.
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