James Squire
| James Squire | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1754 Kingston upon Thames, England |
| Died | 16 May 1822 Kissing Point, Sydney, Australia |
| Cause of death | From illness over 3 months |
| Residence | Kissing Point |
| Other names | James Squires |
| Occupation | Primarily a brewer, but also a: farmer, constable, butcher, baker, and banker |
| Spouse(s) | Martha Quinton. Left in England, when Squire was transported. |
| Partner(s) | (1st) Mary Spencer (Convict) (1789- circa. 1791); (2nd) Elizabeth Mason (Convict servant in his service) (circa. 1791-????); and (3rd) Lucy Vaughan-Harding. |
| Children | John, Sarah and James Squire, to Martha; Francis Spencer to Mary; and Priscilla, Martha, Sarah, James, Timothy, Elizabeth and Mary Ann to Elizabeth. |
| Parent(s) | Timothy Squires and Mary Wells |
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James Squire (alternatively known as James Squires, 1754 – 16 May 1822), was a first fleet convict transported to Australia. James Squire is credited with the first successful cultivation of hops in Australia around the start of the 19th century, and is also considered to have founded Australia's first commercial brewery using hops in 1798. Although John Boston appears to have opened a brewery making a form of corn beer two years earlier.
Squire was convicted of stealing in 1785 and was transported to Australia as a convict on the First Fleet in 1788. Squire ran a number of successful ventures during his life, including a farm, a popular tavern called The Malting Shovel, a bakery, a butcher shop and a credit union. He also became a town constable in the Eastern Farms district of Sydney. As a testament to the rise of position in society (from shame to fame), his death in 1822 was marked with the biggest funeral ever held in the colony.
James Squire was baptised on 18 December 1754 in Kingston upon Thames. Squire's parents were Romanies (Romanichal), Timothy Squires and Mary Wells, who were married on 8 December 1752 in West Molesey, Surrey. Their families had been embroiled in a dramatic incident (The Canning Affair) which polarized England in 1754, the year of Squire's birth.
In 1774, when Squire fled a ransacked house, he ran straight into several members of the local constabulary and was arrested for highway robbery. This was actually a lucky break. By escaping through the front door, which opened onto the highway, he avoided a more serious charge of stealing. Although Squire was sentenced to be transported to America for 7 years, he elected to serve in the army and returned to Kingston as a free man within 4 years. He then managed a hotel in Heathen Street, Kingston. This hotel was a popular haunt for highway robbers and smugglers.
His next attempt at a life of crime was similarly unsuccessful. Squire stole 5 hens and 4 cocks and diverse other goods and chattels from John Stacey's yard, just when the British Government needed people for the transported convict program. On 11 April 1785, he was sentenced to join the First Fleet at the General Sessions of the Peace for the Town & Hundred of Kingston upon Thames, England. Squire was sentenced to 7 years transportation, beyond the seas.
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