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John Jessop (1795 - 1885)

John Jessup was born in Cratfield in 1795, the sixth child and third son of Charles Jessop and Elizabeth Bedingfield. He was christened on 13 December 1795 at the St Mary's Church in Cratfield.

John married Lucy Mouser at St Mary's Cratfield on 19 February 1817. Lucy Mouser was the eldest child of William Mouser and Lucy Cullingford of Ubbeston, Suffolk. She was born on 26 August 1795 in Ubbeston. She had 9 siblings (Susan, Mary, Samuel, Everett, William, Samuel, James, Johnathon, Anthony).

John Jessup and Lucy had eight children 6 sons and 3 daughters:

It was in giving birth the their last child that Lucy died in February 1836, with the baby Elizabeth surviving her by less than 2 months. Lucy was buried at St Peters in Linstead Magna, Suffolk on 20 February 1836, Elizabeth in the same place on 3 April 1836.

With eight children, John did not remain a widower for long. In early 1837, he married Mary Ann Fuller. Mary Ann was born on 19 August 1810 in Redisham, Suffolk, one of five children born to Thomas Fuller and Ann Low (aka Love). Mary Ann already had an illegitimate daughter, Sarah Fuller born in 1830.

John and Mary Ann produced 5 children, 4 girls and a boy:

Based on research, it appears that John worked for the Earl of Stradbroke at Henham Park. The Earl lived in Henham Hall, he spent a lot of time overseas, He was an active member of the military, as was his son. The Earl served in the Peninsula wars of 1812 - 1814.

Between 1836 and 1839, the Earl assisted many of his tenant to emigrate to Australia. He directly sponsored a number of boats - including the illfated Maitland. He also recommended a numberof his tenants to government sponsored emigration schemes.

It was in 1837 - just after his marriage to Mary Ann - John made the decision to emigrate to Australia. The Earl had 3 self sponsored boats travelling in the same time frame, but it appears that he may not have been able to berth the family on any of these voyages, as John was 'recommended' by the Earl to a government sponsored scheme - as were a number of other individuals who travelled on the Orontes.

So in November 1837, the family (now numbering 10, with another on the way) made its way to London. (NB: Eldest son Charles stayed in England). They were designated to travel boarded the Orontes - an 8 year old Barque built in Yarmouth and weighing 452. The barque was engaged by the Admiralty on 3rd October 1837 for government sponsored immigration to Australia. The ship was wrecked later in 1838 outside Port Essington in the Northern Territory, while acting as a storeship.

The family boarded the Orontes to commenced their journey on 23 November 1837. The boat was carrying 220 passengers (54 men, 58 women and 108 children under 14) and there were seven births during the journey. Illness raged throughout the journey, with 14 deaths, including 3 of the Jessop children. The first to die was Jonas on 4 February 1838. On 9 March 1838, the Orontes made land at Capetown, South Africa. Shortly after leaving Capetown John and Mary Anns baby, Delilah died on 15 March 1838. The third Jessop child, William died on 18 April 1838. The Orontes finally arrived in Sydney on 18 May 1838 after 176 days at sea. John was 43 at the time.

The families numbers were again diminished when Mary Ann's daughter, Sarah died shortly after their arrival on 4 July 1838.

The family initially settled in Cabramatta - where several of their children married - and then moved to South Creek and the Narellan area where John Snr worked as a fencer and carpenter for local farmers, before moving on to Goulbourn and then later the Braidwood area in the early 1870s.

By 1878, the family had moved to Araluen Valley in the hinterlands of the NSW South Coast. Araluen Valley was one of the three major gold producing areas and at that time in middle of gold rush. It was here at Long Swamp that Mary Ann died on 13 June 1878, she was 67.

John continued to live in the area, eventually passing away on 27 Oct 1885 at Back Creek, near Araluen, NSW.