Charlotte Gutsell (1819-1891)

Charlotte's mother was the convict Fanny Gutsell who arrived in Sydney in Dec 1814 aboard the "Northhampton" after being convicted for 7 years on 21 Mar 1814 in the Lewes, Sussex Assizes. (Fanny was a nickname for Frances. In the 1822 muster of New South Wales she is shown not as Fanny Gutsell but as Frances Gutsell. It is also the name given for their mother on the death registrations for both her Charlotte & her sister Mary.)

Charlotte's first husband was Henry Alce who she married in 1834 at the age of 15. With Henry she had 1 son, John, who married and has descendants. Henry Alce was a master mariner and is believed to have died at sea about 1836, possibly on the way to Sydney from the Hawkesbury but this so far has not been confirmed positively. (Alce is the correct spelling for this surname. Some have incorrectly changed it into Alice.)

Charlotte's second husband was the scotsman and lay-preacher John Laughton who she married in 1838 at the age of 18. With John she had 13 children, many of whom married and have descendants. John Laughton arrived in Australia on 21 March 1836. He was a ship's carpenter on the ship "Stirling Castle" which was captained by the famous Captain Frazer. John jumped ship in Sydney, New South Wales. He came to the Hawkesbury River because of his ship building and carpentry interests. (Please note that another different John Laughton arrived in Sydney, New South Wales on 5 July 1835 on the Marquis of Huntley as a convict.) The record of her marriage confirms that, as her husband was not a convict but a freeman, and because she had been born a freewoman in the colony, they did not have to obtain the governor's permission to marry.

In total Charlotte gave birth to 14 children over a 28 year period from the ages of 16 to 44.

On Charlotte's death certificate it is stated that her father's name was John Gutsell. This does not mean, however, that this was her father's name, or that she even knew who her father was. This information on her death certificate has led to the mistaken belief that her mother was a married woman when she was transported to Sydney, Australia, in 1814 at the age of 26. It has also led to the mistaken belief that her father, by the name of John Gutsell, somehow joined his wife, her mother, in Australia. Some believe he came to Australia as a free-man, and others that he was the convict John Gutsell who was transported to Sydney aboard the "Eliza" in 1819 and who originated from an unknown place in the United Kingdom. (The convict John Gutsell supposedly died in 1853 under the name of James. This again is a belief. He is found only in the 1822 muster of New South Wales.) If her mother's husband had been the convict John Gutsell he would not have arrived in Australia in time to be Charlotte's father, or the father of her elder sisters Frances or Jane. Her mother is believed to have married John Gutsell on 20 November 1802 in Frant, Sussex. This, however, would have only made her 14 when she married which just did not happen in England at the time amoung the working classes. Marriages at young ages occured in Australia amoung the working classes, but not in England. The truth is that her mother, at the age of 26 when she was transported to Sydney, may or may not have been married, and if she was married her husband's name is unknown, and he is not the father of her children born in New South Wales. In all the Musters in NSW Charlotte's mother was recorded only with her children born in New South Wales, and not with a husband. Her mother is never recorded with John Gutsell the convict. Charlotte's father in unknown.