John Gutsell (c1784-1853)

'''John Gutsell was also known as John Gould. '''John Gutsell was baptised on 3 October 1784 at Frant, Sussex. His parents, Richard Gutsell & Elizabeth Gould, had married on 31 August 1783 at Leigh, Kent, 16 kilomtres (10 miles) from where their son John was born. That his mother's maiden surname was Gould was to become significant later in John's life when he took his mother's maiden surname as an alias.

At the age of 18 years, John Gutsell married Frances Tomsett on 20 November 1802 in Frant, Sussex. Frances, or Fanny, was only about 16 years old. Marriages at such a young age were uncommon in England at the time, but not unknown. Parents' permission was required for all those who had not yet attained the age of 21.

John & Fanny Gutsell's first 2 children were named after John's parents. There was Richard who was baptised on 19 Feb 1804 and Elizabeth who was baptised on 9 Mar 1806, both at Frant, Sussex. Other children of the couple born in England are unknown, and it appears that none of these children, including little Richard & Elizabeth, survived.

Then in early 1814, when John Gutsell was 29 years old and his wife Fanny Gutsell (nee Tomsett) was about 27, the couple were arrested in Sussex and sent to Horsham. They were charged with breaking, entering & stealing, Fanny with 3 counts, and John with 2. The first offence for which they were both charged was that on 1 September 1813, in the parish of Mayfield (10 kilometres, 6 miles, from Frant), they had stolen goods valued at 12s 6d (12 shillings & 6 pence), the property of Samuel Saunders. The second offence for which they were both charged was that on 28 September 1813, in the same parish, they had stolen goods valued at 16s, the property of John Garner. The third and final offence, for which Fanny alone was charged, was that on 1 October 1813, in the nearby parish of Rotherfield, Fanny had stolen goods described as being a tea caddy and an ounce of tea, 3 penny weight of cheese and 1 penny weight of butter, to a total value of 9s 6d, the property of Robert Payne. John and Fanny were detained in custody pending their trial, and their charges were to be held concurrently at Horsham, Sussex, on 21 March 1814. John, however, managed to escape from gaol, and only Fanny faced the Court. Fanny was acquitted on the first charge, but found guilty of the other two robberies. She received a sentence of transportation for 7 years. John Gutsell's case was heard in his absence and a sentence of death by hanging was handed down. A warrant for his apprehension was issued to the Sherriff of Sussex. Written at the bottom of the warrant was the name Gould. This is the first documentary evidence of John Gutsell using his mother's maiden surname as an alias.

The warrant for John Gutsell's arrest had been issued in Sussex, but he had escaped to the next county of Kent where he was unknown. While there he was arrested for a new offence. As an escaped felon he could not let it be known who he really was. Using the name of Gould, on 11 July 1814 he appeared before the Court at Canterbury, Kent, was convicted, and received a sentence of transportaion for 7 years. By assuming his mother's maiden surname he had managed to escape the hangman's noose. While John Gould sat in gaol in Kent awaiting his transportation, his wife Fanny Gutsell sat in gaol in Sussex awaiting hers. Her ship, the Northampton, sailed from Portsmouth on 2 January 1815, while his ship did not leave until nearly 8 months later on 25 August 1815.

After a 5½ month voyage the 31-year-old convict John Gould* arrived in Sydney on 18 January 1816. He was described as 5' 8¼" (173cm) tall, of sallow complexion, with black hair & hazel eyes. The ship on which he had sailed was, coincidentally, named the Fanny, the same as the pet-name for his wife. T he Fanny had carried a “cargo” of male convicts . 174 convicts had embarked, but there had been 3 deaths at sea. 171 convict men were landed at Port Jackson. Of these men some already had convict wives in the colony, and John was one of them. ( * John Gould is shown in the records for the voyage of the Fanny as the convict John Gold. Gold is an alternative spelling for Gould.)

How did we know that John Gould of the Fanny is John Gutsell, the husband of Fanny Gutsell?

 1. Some have conjectured that perhaps John Gutsell accompanied Fanny as a free man on the Northampton in 1815, just as another husband William Blake had accompanied his convict wife. Contemporaneous records, however, exist stating that William Blake accompanied his wife, and no such records exist for John Gutsell. For example William Blake is mentioned on the list of male passengers that was prepared by the ship's surgeon at the time that the boat docked in Port Jackson. The list does not contain the name of John Gutsell. Also, as an escaped felon from Sussex under the sentence of death, there is no way that Fanny's husband could have received permission to sail on the Northampton as a free man.

 2. Others have instead conjectured that Fanny's husband is the convict John Gutsell listed in the 1822 muster of New South Wales. This, however, is an impossibility as it is recorded in the 1822 muster that this John Gutsell arrived on the Eliza which arrived in Sydney in mid-1820, far too late for this man to be the father of Frances, Jane, Charlotte, or Lucy. This record is not incorrect as it also states that he is still a convict, still sevring his 7 year sentence. If he had been Fanny's husband, and had instead arrived in New South Wales on an earlier ship, he would have completed serving his sentence before the 1822 muster, and have been recorded as "F by S", or free by having served his sentence.

1822 muster

The clue to the time of Fanny's husband's arrival to the Colony of New South Wales is contained in the November 1828 census. In this census Fanny (Frances) is shown with her children and a man by the name of John Gould who had arrived aboard the Fanny on 18 January 1816. Fanny is shown as "Frances Gould or Gustel" (sic). Her daughters Frances, Charlotte and Mary are shown with the surname of Gould, not Gutsell the surname that had been recorded in their birth records. John Gould is then the alias for Fanny's husband John Gutsell.

John Gould (Gutsell) arrived in Port Jackson aboard the Fanny on 18 January 1816, and their daughter Frances was born just under 12 months later.

In the 1822 & 1825 musters Fanny is not recorded as "wife of", a typical notation for a married woman, or a woman co-habitating with a man. Lack of this type of notation, however, did not mean that Fanny & John Gould (Gutsell) were not residing together. Another common notation for used for women, or even men, who were living in a domestic arrangement was "Housekeeper". In the 1822 & 1825 musters couples who had different surnames were also not recorded together. For the 1822 & 1825 musters, unlike for the birth records of their children when they both used the surname of Gutsell, John was using his alias surname of Gould, the surname under which he had been convicted and transported, and Fanny was using the surname of Gutsell.

 November 1828 census  FS = free by having served time      BC = born in colony      Ind = independent of government stores

Gustel is not a transposition of letters but the spelling used in the 1828 census document.

1825 muster  1822 muster  Note: The Northampton arrived in 1815 and the Fanny arrived in 1816.

Further evidence of the alias of Gould having being used by John Gutsell is found in the 1840 marriage record for his daughter Frances. The marriage record states that the marriage was between Richard Palmer & Frances Gold. Gold was an alternative spelling for Gould, and was the spelling used for the alias of John Gutsell for his transportation to New South Wales aboard the Fanny.

Examples of alternative uses of name of John Gutsell & John Gould

John Gutsell's birth & death

John Gutsell's wife Fanny died on 11 April 1853 at the home that she shared with her husband in (Old) South Head Road, Sydney. John Gutsell died just less than 6 months later in September 1853. Many years before this he had left his convict past far behind, and had ceased using the alias of Gould.

John Gutsell died on 20 September 1853 at his daughter's home in (Old) South Head Road, Sydney. His death was recorded under the name of "James" and the age shown was 68 years. Reports in the newspaper of his death recorded his age as 69 years, and in the November 1828 census of New South Wales his age is recorded by the census taker as 45 years. The estimate of his year of birth is about 1784. This agrees with the baptism at Frant, Sussex for the son of Richard Gutsell & Elizabeth Gould.

<p class="S8">His funeral notice in the Sydney Morning Herald of Wednesday 28 September 1853 states "The friends of the late Mr. JOHN GUTSELL are respectfully invited to attend his funeral. The procession will move from his late residence, South Head Road, Tomorrow (Thursday) morning, at 9 o'clock."

<p class="S8">John Gutsell died as the result of a road-accident between the gig upon which he was sitting, and a horse and dray. An inquest was held into his death, with reports in the newspapers.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> Empire Thursday 29 Sep 1853 (with details added from Sydney Morning Herald of same date):

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> "An inquest was held on the same day (yesterday) (before the Coroner), at the “Diggers’ Arms”, South Head Road, on view of the body of John Gutsell. The Rev. W(illiam) Schofield deposed that deceased, who was partially (employed) in his service, accompanied him in a gig to the shop of W. Aland, boot and shoe maker, Market-street, on Tuesday week (20th September) (leaving deceased in the gig); witness (Rev. W. Schofield) went into the shop, and shortly after, (hearing an outcry,) on looking out, saw the gig upset, and deceased on the ground (lying under it) a short distance off; on asking deceased if he were injured, he complained of a pain in his chest; witness (Rev. W. Schofield) observed a horse in a truck (dray) some distance off (at the corner of the street), and understood that the horse was being tried; saw Mr. Martyn, of Pitt-street, who said (told him) that he had had the horse for sale, and that the owner said he (the horse) had been broken into harness. Deceased, who was 69 years of age, was immediately (removed to the Infirmary, and thence) removed to his daughter's residence, on the South Head Road, where he expired. (Jacob Leader stated that he saw the accident which caused the death of deceased. A horse was running away with a dray, and the gig in which the deceased was sitting was upset by the concussion.) The   inquest was adjourned (by the Coroner) till Friday (next, to-morrow). "

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> Empire and Sydney Morning Herald Saturday 1 Oct 1853:

<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"> "INQUEST.-Yesterday, the inquest on the body of John Gutsell, adjourned from Wednesday, was brought to a conclusion at the "Diggers' Arms", South Head Road. The deceased came to his death by the upsetting of a gig, in which he was sitting in Market-street, caused by a collision with a horse and dray. The witnesses examined yesterday were Mr. Martyn, of Pitt-street, and a man in his employ, who was leading the horse, at the time of the occurrence. It appeared that the horse in the dray had been left with Mr. Martyn for sale, the owner telling that gentleman that the animal was broken to harness. The horse was being tried at the time of the accident, and had become unmanageable, although he did not run away, bringing the dray into contact with the gig, and injuring the man who was leading as well as the deceased. Verdict-died from injuries accidentally received. The jury appended a rider to their verdict, requesting the coroner to apply at the proper quarter for the enactment of a law against breaking or trying horses on the public streets. "