WILKES, Joseph (DOB ~1800)

[JoPro]

Hello all. So exciting to see this forum exists. I'm writing a book on a convict from Birmingham named Joseph Wilkes (a silversmith/sailor) who arrived in Australia in 1820 and had a rather interesting life. He was convicted and sentenced to transportation in Warwick for larceny committed in Birmingham at the Summer Assizes 1817. For a bit more background, have a look here: https://wilkes.jorgprobst.com/

I'm really struggling finding this man's birth family. There are a number of candidates, there were a few men by this name, about the same age who were sent to Australia.

I've gone through Ancestry and MyHeritage records backwards and forwards, I've even been to Birmingham and Warwick to look at some records (including the various trade directories), but I still can't be sure, because the records I have of the various Joseph Wilkes (or Wilks) which include age references and descriptions are conflicting.

Does anyone have any insights/information or shares that special interest into the Wilkes families of Birmingham and surrounds around the turn of the 19th century?

 

[suemalings]

Hello all. So exciting to see this forum exists. I'm writing a book on a convict from Birmingham named Joseph Wilkes (a silversmith/sailor) who arrived in Australia in 1820 and had a rather interesting life. He was convicted and sentenced to transportation in Warwick for larceny committed in Birmingham at the Summer Assizes 1817. For a bit more background, have a look here: https://wilkes.jorgprobst.com/

I'm really struggling finding this man's birth family. There are a number of candidates, there were a few men by this name, about the same age who were sent to Australia.

I've gone through Ancestry and MyHeritage records backwards and forwards, I've even been to Birmingham and Warwick to look at some records (including the various trade directories), but I still can't be sure, because the records I have of the various Joseph Wilkes (or Wilks) which include age references and descriptions are conflicting.

Does anyone have any insights/information or shares that special interest into the Wilkes families of Birmingham and surrounds around the turn of the 19th century?

Are you sure he was born in Birmingham? If he was a sailor, Birmingham is a long way from the sea!

 

[Astoness]

hi and welcome...reading what you know and correct me if i am wrong it seems that when joseph was transported to australia he did not return to england/birmingham...if this is the case i am sure you will know that there will be no census years for him here.. are you certain he was born abt 1795 in birmingham ?..having said that we do have some pretty good researchers on this forum who may just turn something up but it does seem a tough one especially as you dont know the names of his parents...good luck though..ps no doubt you have checked the parish records on ancestry for possible births for him ?

lyn

 

[JoPro]

Thank you

Are you sure he was born in Birmingham? If he was a sailor, Birmingham is a long way from the sea!

In all the documents where his ‘native’ place is mentioned, it’s always stated as ‘Birmingham’. Does that mean he was actually born in Birmingham? I imagine he could have been born in the surroundings of Birmingham too, and moved there early on in life, and then still given his native as ‘Birmingham’. To that extend I can’t be 100% sure. But looking at all the people called Wilkes born around that time on Ancestry, there seems to have been a bit of a cluster of people with that surname in and around Birmingham.
His trade was silversmith, and on most documents that’s the profession that is stated. Times were tough around then, so perhaps he was willing to try the sea. There was a man by that name who was in the merchant navy, but only for a year (1813/14), and because some records state ‘silversmith/sailor’ it could well be ‘my’ Joseph Wilkes.

 

[JoPro]

hi and welcome...reading what you know and correct me if i am wrong it seems that when joseph was transported to australia he did not return to england/birmingham...if this is the case i am sure you will know that there will be no census years for him here.. are you certain he was born abt 1795 in birmingham ?..having said that we do have some pretty good researchers on this forum who may just turn something up but it does seem a tough one especially as you dont know the names of his parents...good luck though..ps no doubt you have checked the parish records on ancestry for possible births for him ?

lyn

Thank you for asking, Lyn, and no, he definitely did not return to England. I’ve looked at the Parish records through Ancestry.
I’m pretty sure it was 1800 or a few years before. If he was indeed in the merchant navy, then he would have been 13 or 14 at the time. Was that too young to be in the merchant navy perhaps? That’s why I’m thinking it could have been the Joseph Wilkes born in Sep 1795 (father John, mother Mary).
There is another clue: he had a tattoo on his arm that read JW MW EW. I’m imagining the first two could be father/mother. EW could have been a sister or his wife. That seems to fit together, except that some documents point to 1800.

 

[Lady Penelope]

Are you sure he was born in Birmingham? If he was a sailor, Birmingham is a long way from the sea!

Hi Sue, yes, Birmingham is a long way from the sea but regular recruiting parties used to set up stall in this city and I'm sure in many others.. They probably would have run out of local men! I have two ancestors, Birmingham born, who were in the navy and two in the marines.

 

[JoPro]

Hi Sue, yes, Birmingham is a long way from the sea but regular recruiting parties used to set up stall in this city and I'm sure in many others.. They probably would have run out of local men! I have two ancestors, Birmingham born, who were in the navy and two in the marines.

Thanks so much, that's really interesting. I was wondering how he might have ended up joining the merchant navy. Do you have a source handy for what you stated, that there were recruiting parties? Did they set up stalls at the markets?

 

[ejessicac]

Hello all. So exciting to see this forum exists. I'm writing a book on a convict from Birmingham named Joseph Wilkes (a silversmith/sailor) who arrived in Australia in 1820 and had a rather interesting life. He was convicted and sentenced to transportation in Warwick for larceny committed in Birmingham at the Summer Assizes 1817. For a bit more background, have a look here: https://wilkes.jorgprobst.com/

I'm really struggling finding this man's birth family. There are a number of candidates, there were a few men by this name, about the same age who were sent to Australia.

I've gone through Ancestry and MyHeritage records backwards and forwards, I've even been to Birmingham and Warwick to look at some records (including the various trade directories), but I still can't be sure, because the records I have of the various Joseph Wilkes (or Wilks) which include age references and descriptions are conflicting.

Does anyone have any insights/information or shares that special interest into the Wilkes families of Birmingham and surrounds around the turn of the 19th century?

Hey, currently have a very rudimentary family tree going and have a Harriet Sofia Wilkes on my maternal grandmother's side. Harriet was born in 1871 in West Bromwich. I have her marriage certificate details which show her father was James Wilkes but haven't explored any further than that.

 

[Lady Penelope]

Thanks so much, that's really interesting. I was wondering how he might have ended up joining the merchant navy. Do you have a source handy for what you stated, that there were recruiting parties? Did they set up stalls at the markets?

Morning JoPro,

Firstly, I'm not familiar with the Merchant Navy but I had a look on the internet and I don't think the term applied until much later. This needs looking into but unfortunately my laptop crashed and I lost years of research (my own fault - I now back up regularly). I'm sure that cargo ships did exist but would have been called something else. Someone far more knowledgeable than me on this topic will hopefully let us know. I'd be interested.

However, the information I do have relates to Birmingham & Nelson's Navy, an article which appeared in Carl Chinn's Brummagem Magazine some years ago. It mentions pubs rather than the market as recruiting centres. I had luckily kept the pages and have scanned them for you. Unfortunately, I didn't date them. Hope they help.

 

[JoPro]

Thank you so much, Lady P, that's interesting, and I appreciate you scanning in that document.
And I think you're right that he wasn't in the merchant navy. I had another look at the record I found in the National Archives: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C16553897
My guy (presumably) is the very last one in the list. Looks like he was a private in the Royal Navy for about a year on the HMS Queen Charlotte (the ship launched in 1810).
I had no idea what an allotment register was, but here is a good summary https://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/lot-excited-admiralty-allotment-registers/

 

[Lady Penelope]

Glad you found it useful JoPro. It looks as though Joseph was a marine if I've read it right. I have Wilkes in my family tree about six generations back but as I said before lost all my research with the crash. I do have papers but they will take some time to look through but if I find anything useful I'll get back to you.

I looked at the Allotment write up and it mentions the Merchant Navy (paragraph 5) which, when I googled it, didn't appear until George V's reign. I will have to investigate further. This register is very interesting and I shall add it to my list of 'must get back to thats'.

 

[JoPro]

Thank you so much, I'd love to hear back when you get to review your papers.
By the way, did you keep the hard drive that gave up on you? It's amazing what some people can do retrieving info from old hard drives. I hope you're lucky!