James Hardy Vaux
| James Hardy Vaux | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 1783 Surrey, England |
| Died | 1841 |
| Other names | James Lowe, James Young |
| Criminal penalty | Transportation to Australia |
| Conviction(s) | Pickpocketting, theft & passing forged banknotes |
James Hardy Vaux (born 1782, date of death unknown) was an English-born convict transported to Australia on three separate occasions. He was the author of Memoirs of James Hardy Vaux including A Vocabulary of the Flash Language, first published in 1819, which is regarded as both the first full length autobiography and first dictionary written in Australia.
Born in Surrey, England, James Hardy Vaux was the son of Hardy Vaux, butler and house steward to George Holme Sumner MP of Hatchlands Park, and his wife Sophia, the daughter of an attorney. Vaux spent much of his childhood living with his maternal grandparents in Shropshire, England.
At age 14, Vaux was apprenticed to a linen draper in Liverpool. He was initially well behaved however soon developed rakish habits, staying out late at night and disappearing to cock fights during the day. He began pilfering small amounts of money from the till of his employer to pay his gambling debts and maintain his lifestyle. Even though the thefts went undiscovered, Vaux's employer did not approve of his habits and dismissed him after only a few months' service.
Vaux next found employment as a clerk in London, although he was far more interested in frequenting the red-light district of Covent Garden and seedy alehouses than his work. Always restless, he changed jobs several times, including a stint in the Navy in 1798-99 on board HMS Astraea until he deserted and returned to London.
By 1800 Vaux was a professional thief and swindler. He started out by ordering clothes and other goods from tradesmen on credit, never intending to pay for them, and then moving out of his lodgings late at night to avoid paying his debts and rent. He progressed to duping people into donating money to him and betrayed the trust of his employers by stealing from them. He was arrested in April 1800 after defrauding an employer although avoided conviction.
...
Wikipedia