Samuel Bednall of Hanbury Staffordshire

Photograph Wanted

Date of Birth:

18 June 1804

Place of birth:

Fauld, Hanbury, Staffordshire

Date of Death :

21st November 1882

Place of Death:
Place of Burial:

Hanbury, Staffordshire.
Hanbury, Staffordshire

Father's Name:
Mother's Name:

John  Bednall
Sarah Godwin

Father's Occupation:

Farm labourer

Date Married:
Place :

Never married

Wife's Name :

Never married

Children's Names:

Grandchildren’s Names

Probate of Will

No will

Samuel Bednall was one of the sons of John and Sarah Bednall  (nee Godwin) of Fauld, near Hanbury, Staffordshire and was baptised there on 18 June 1804[1].  He was their 5th child and 4th son and during the next 6 years, John & Sarah's family increased further with the addition another daughter and two more sons.  John Bednall [2] was an agricultural labourer, working for neighbouring farmers and tending his own small plot to support his growing family. He may also have earned a little extra to tide them over bad times and improve their standard of living in good, by making and repairing shoes and by catching vermin.  John & Sarah, like other villagers would have made use of the commons and wastes of Hanbury, amongst other things, to feed their cow and possibly a pig, to obtain fuel for the fire, pick herbs and gather wild fruits and nuts from time to time.  In 1811, however, the wastes and commons of Hanbury were enclosed and although its effect on the family (and others like them) is uncertain, it is likely that life became more difficult for them. Just when the family needed him most, John Bednall died, leaving his widow with 8 children between 2 and 16 years of age to look after.
 
Samuel was just 8 years old when his father died, and John's death brought many changes to the family, the first of which was their mother Sarah's marriage to Rupert Wardle of Foston, Derbyshire in January 1812 almost exactly a year after her former husband's death[3]. The family continued to live in Hanbury for a while and began to grow again with birth of a half-sister, Maria in 1813[4] Their circumstances had been fairly desperate for a number of years with the Hanbury Overseers providing support to the family.  In addition to this they occasionally paid relief to cover exceptional costs such as the bill for John Bednall's funeral and in  1813, spent almost £3 on clothing for Sam. A little later that year, the Overseers, no doubt keen to minimise the continuing cost of keeping the family,  paid one John Wilks £5.50 to take Sam on as an apprentice.  Sam's brother Thomas was also put out to an apprenticeship, probably to a shoemaker but few details are known about either case [16].   

A few years later, his brothers and sisters began to marry and/or leave home. Sarah was the first, marrying Richard Large in 1816[5]. Three years later, her brother John married Mary Woolley[6] and in 1821 her 18 year brother Joseph created something of a local sensation by marrying 60 year old Mary Coltman at Hanbury[7].  At or about this time (1821-24), Samuel Bednall's brother Thomas moved to Manchester, married and set himself up in business, as a boot and shoemaker, there[8]. His brother James seems to have joined him there later and their brother Charles joined the army in 1831[9]. What happened to their mother and her husband Rupert Wardle is unclear. 

When his mother remarried, Samuel Bednall was 11 years old and from 1813 until at least 1820, serving out his apprenticeship with John Wilks.  He may have continued to work for Wilks after this must have moved to Stockport in Cheshire, possibly with his mother and step father, sometime before the 3rd April 1826, when 18 year old Sam was in Court, in Chester, charged with stealing a watch, shoes and clothing from a house in Stockport.  He was found guilty and sentenced to death but this was commuted to transportation to Tasmania for 14 years[10].

On being sentenced to transportation he was taken from Chester goal to a prison hulk  in Portsmouth.  The hulk is believed to have been  the former HMS York, a 74 gun warship built in 1807 at Rotherhithe and had fought in the Battle of Trafalgar. The ship was used converted to a prison hulk in 1819, and served as a hulk at Gosport and London from 1820 to 1848.  According to some sources, on arrival, Samuel would have been immediately stripped and washed, clothed in a coarse grey jacket and trousers and had irons clamped on one of his legs. While in the hulks he would have had to work, in chains, in or near the docks and had he behaved well, might have avoided being sent to Tasmania or Van Dieman’s Land as it was then known. However, although his behaviour in the hulk got him a good report, the Gaol report stated that he was a “bad character” and on the 5th of August 1826 he set sail from London in The Woodford bound for Tasmania, a colony 150 miles south of Australia , first settled by the British in 1803 and 1804. Most of its early settlers were convicts and their guards [11][13]. 

The Woodford was a new ship, built in Bristol in 1819 for her owner-captain, Alfred (Edward?) Woodward and although she was, at 554 tons, relatively large for a convict ship the journey would not have been pleasant for the convicts on board. Although details of the Woodford’s construction are lacking, normally, convicts were housed below decks, in cramped conditions and in many cases restrained in chains. They slept on hammocks and were only allowed on deck for fresh air and exercise. There was a surgeon, James Dickson, on the Woodford, and it would have been his task to keep the prisoners healthy and avoid bringing disease into the colony. He seems to have performed his task well for only one prisoner died during the voyage. A painting in the British National Maritime Museum of the Woodford on passage from Madras to England vividly illustrates the sea conditions that they would have experienced during their 109 day journey to Tasmania. Sam, and the other 98 male prisoners who survived the 15000 mile voyage landed in Hobart, Tasmania on 22nd November 1826 [11][12]. 

The reports he brought with him from prison and from the hulks in which he had been confined prior to the voyage differed.  The goal report gave him a bad character whereas his behaviour was reported to have been good in the hulks. In the first few years his behaviour seemed to confirm his "bad character. On the 5 June 1828 (Barry) he was sentenced to the chain-gang for eight months, and removed to Government works, on suspicion of robbery. A month later he was sentenced to 25 lashes for losing, or making away with, a pair of shoes which was Government property while working on a chain-gang.   Six months later he tried to abscond  from chain gang  on was subsequently sentenced (28 January 1829) to a further six calendar months on the chain-gang  for this.  Samuel appears to have learnt his lesson, however, and  his behaviour improved sufficiently by 1834 to enable him to obtain a "ticket of leave" to work, probably as a carter, in Hamilton.  He completed his sentence in 1836 and in May 1837 applied for a pardon, supported by recommendations from a Mr A. Macpherson, Esq.,  and Mr. J. Lane.  The superintendent recommend that he be pardoned on the King’s birthday, commenting that it was more than eight years since Samuel's  last offence was recorded, and this was approved by the Governor General [13]

Sam stayed in Tasmania until June 1848, when he sailed from Launceston to Sydney Australia  in the 220 tonne steamer "The Shamrock", a 9 day voyage  including two intermediate ports of call.  Subsequently  he  returned to England and in March 1851, was living with his sister, Mrs Harriet Jepson, at 16 Wellington Road, Stockport.   Perhaps because of a shortage of work or the pressures of his  sister's growing household,   he finally returned to the place of his birth (Hanbury, Staffordshire) sometime between 1851 and 1861.  There he lodged with William Withnall, who may have been a childhood friend, and  remained there until he died on 21 November 1882 [17].  For the last 10 years of his life, one-time convict, Samuel Bednall received bi-annual payments of  1s 6d from the Hanbury Charity. He doesn't, however, seem to have received any poor law payments and was not put into the workhouse, so must have been able to survive on what he earned - possibly with the help of friends. He seems to have maintained contact with at least one of his brothers again (Charles who lived in Failsworth, Lancashire) and may have had some contact with other members  of his family.[14]  Samuel never married and (as far as I know) never had any children but  his brothers did and it is from their offspring that many Bednals (and some Bednalls) trace their ancestry [15]. 

Sources

[1] SRO D1528/1/4 Hanbury, Staffordshire Register of Baptisms & Burials 1777 to 1812.

[2] John was the 3rd son of William and Martha Bednall of Hanbury, Staffordshire -See Figure

[3] SRO D1528/1/8 Marriages 1803- 18 Rupert Wardle of Foston Derbyshire and Sarah Bednal widow of Hanbury married by licence 16 January 1813

[4] SRO D1528/1/5 Hanbury PR, Baptisms 1813-1864.

[5] SRO D1528/1/8 Marriages 1803- Richard Large and Sarah Badnall of Hanbury married by banns 25 November 1816.

[6] SRO D Parish Registers of Barton under Needwood, Staffordshire: Marriages 1813-1837

[7] In the words of the Staffordshire Advertiser the happy couple "set off immediately to the Tutbury Statutes where they kept their wedding and spent the evening with the greatest conviviality". Staffordshire Advertiser 27 October 1821-Marriages.

[8] Pigot's Directory 1824 re 45 Golden Street, Manchester

[9] PRO WO 97/510/41 Charles Bednell Born Hanbury, Staffordshire Served in 33rd Foot Regiment; 61st Foot Regiment Discharged aged 35, 1831 - 1846.

[10] Conviction of Samuel Bednall alias Pye aged 18 for theft from a house in Stockport. Report of the Assizes at Chester  April 1826; page 14,  Cheshire Ancestor Vol.30, June 2000 Issue 4.

[11]Convicts and Convict Ships sent to Tasmania  (& Victoria, Norfolk Island & NSW) 1812-1853. The convict ships, 1787-1868, by Charles Bateson. 2nd ed. 1974. 

[12] A Return of all ships or Vessels hired for the conveyance of Convicts from Great Britain and Ireland, between the 1st January 1839 and the 30th June 1846 stating the Ships' Names, Tonnage, Owner's Name, Broker's or Agent's Name, Class of Ship, Rate of Freight, and when the same commenced, Number of Convicts taken on Board, when Sailed, when Arrived, Amount of Demurrage (if any), and whether engaged by Public Tender or otherwise-(in continuation of Parliamentary Paper, No. 244, of Session 1839). British Parliamentary Papers (BPP) LXV (573). 

[13] No. 108,  Abstract of Petitions For Conditional Pardons, received in May 1837 (Appendix to communications) .??

[14] British National Archives WO97/503 Peter Swindells Alias Peter Swindels Born Macclesfield, Cheshire Served in 31^st Foot Regiment. Discharged aged 40   Covering dates 1825-1847.

[15] Family tree for the Anderson-Rae Family which links to that of . Private correspondence

[16] Hanbury Overseers Accounts 1805-1827  Staffordshire Record Office D/1528/5/3

[17] Death Certificate of Samuel Bedwell [Bednall] registered Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire 24 November 1882.

Details Of Career

Carter 1834.  Labourer 1861, 1881

Family Connections.

Samuel Bednall was the grandson of  William  Bednall of Hanbury and his wife Martha, nee Hawkesworth. He was thus one of the great great great grandchildren of William (1627-1700) and Sarah (  -1710) Badnall of Hanbury and Uttoxeter, the common ancestors of both the Badnalls of Leek and of many of the Bednalls of Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lancashire Warwickshire and elsewhere including Australia.  Samuel Bednall never married and (as far as I know) never had any children but  his brothers did and it is from their offspring that many Bednals (and some Bednalls) trace their ancestry. 

Samuel Bednall's eldest brother -Thomas- was the most successful  member of the family for he set himself up in business as a shoemaker and by 1851 was employing 2 men, one of whom was his brother James.  Thomas's sons (Thomas and Samuel) were even more successful than their father, establishing a printing and stationery business with, in 1871, substantial premises at 128 Market Street, Manchester and a factory nearby at 54 Tib Street.  The trade directories describe the brothers as "Printers, Stationers & Pattern Card Makers"  The firm was still occupying these premises in 1905 but by 1910 they had moved to Piccadilly and subsequently to 2 Moseley Street, Manchester though the works remained in Tib Street. Sometime in the 1920s they moved to 30 Dale Street, Oldham Street, Miles Platting and appear to have still been in business there in 1945.  What finally became of the firm after this date is not known but one of its owners -Arthur Bednal died in 1945 and this event may have led to the company being wound up. Incidentally the first mention of Bednal Street, Miles Platting that I have so far found occurs in directories of the 1890s: how it got its name I don't know but it probably relates to this firm.

(c) A.W.Bednall, Macclesfield UK 2000-2008