In Britain, the period that followed the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 was characterised by widespread unemployment and social unrest. Emigration to the colonies was a convenient solution for many among the poverty stricken, working-class and also for the British government who were wary of the threat of revolution. (1) Subsequently, several branches of the same Presnell family emigrated from England to Van Diemen's Land. John and Eleanor Presnell accompanied by their surviving children arrived on the Midas in Hobart on Friday 12 January 1821. The Midas had taken five months to travel from England with 38 passengers under the command of Captain Watson. (2) No diary or other firsthand account of their migration survives but it's arguable that their subsequent documented life in the colony sheds some light on their specific motivations for migration and provides some measure of their success. (3)
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The newspaper announcement published the day after their arrival in the Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter, while listing some of the more noteworthy passengers, makes no mention of the Presnell family. (4) The Presnell family are perhaps a type of migrant that Penny Russell has described as historically invisible: a family who like so many of the lower orders of migrant, went on to make a significant but understated contribution to their adopted land. (5) Regardless, the couple were clearly able to secure the letter of introduction from the Home authorities that was necessary at the time to secure a grant of land. (6)
The Presnells belonged to a family of publicans, and they were not the first members of their family to migrate from England to the colony of Van Diemen's Land. John and Eleanor were to enter into a business partnership with William Presnell of Hobart, a brewer and former Norfolk Islander. (7) John and Eleanor's eldest daughter Christiana subsequently married Thomas Presnell junior at New Norfolk in 1826 and the witnesses were 'Thomas Presnell senior' and 'John Presnell senior.' (8) Thomas Presnell senior was the proprietor of the Black Snake Inn at Granton. (9) Therefore, John and Eleanor appear to have been part of a wider family 'chain migration' to the colony: they were able to take advantage of a readymade support system to help them meet the inherent challenges of what was a 'psychological, familial, financial and organisational challenge far greater than most others in the lives of working people.' (10)
John and Eleanor's story is closely tied to the early history of the White Hart Inn. On arrival, John received a grant of 300 acres located at Sorell Springs and was granted a liquor licence in 1821. He was a qualified blacksmith and the business provided travellers with accommodation, refreshment and smithing services. However, the main road was realigned in 1830 and this necessitated shifting not only of the business but the entire building to Antill Ponds. This must have been a gargantuan test for both John and Eleanor. At the time the Inn was valued at 500 pounds and was comprised of seven rooms, a six-stall stable and assorted outbuildings. (11) For a century, the Inn remained a public asset and a central feature of travel in the colony. It was renamed the 'Half-way House' reflecting its position midway between Launceston and Hobart in 1842 but was eventually delicensed in the 1930s and demolished in the 1970s; there is a little evidence of its existence today. (12)
Despite their demonstrated industry in the colony, their success was to some extent frustrated by both adverse fortune and an indifferent colonial administration. John first submitted an application to extend his land grant to the Colonial Secretary in 1826 arguing that his present holdings (which he had expanded, improved, and maintained) were not sufficient to provide for a growing family. (13) He submitted a second application on 13 March 1827. (14) John's third petition dated 11 March 1831 indicated that he held 300 acres by grant, 300 by purchase and had cleared 105 acres of that total. Additionally, he possessed 100 head of cattle and 900 sheep as well as three horses. He owned buildings to the value of 500 pounds, employed eight mechanics or labourers and one convict servant. He also indicated that this time his application was based partly on the inconvenience experienced at having to relocate his hotel due to the road realignment. (15) It appears the Presnells initially attempted to sell the property instead in 1829. (16) While the third application began to gain administrative traction, John passed away before he could present his case to the Land Board on 20 May 1831 aged only 45 years. (17)
Eleanor's trials had only just begun though. Although the Land Board posthumously approved John's application with a 500 acre grant, the Governor refused the application. (18) Eleanor made a second application on 20 January 1832 but this was also refused by which time the family's chief means of support was their stock. (19) Eleanor also appears to have struggled to personally obtain a liquor licence following John's death, finally acquiring one in November 1833. (20) It's possible the stress of life as a widow affected Eleanor's health and she died sometime around or before February 1834. (21) The White Hart Inn was let to David Solomon in 1837 who afterwards purchased it by auction on 6 June 1838 with an accompanying 15 acres of land. (22) Their son John Presnell junior appears to have struggled to maintain the legacy of his parents, declaring bankruptcy in 1837. (23) The White Hart Inn with upwards of 415 acres of land were offered for auction in June 1838. (24)
Perhaps some of the motivations for John and Eleanor Presnell's migration can be gleaned from their subsequent life in the colony of Van Diemen's Land. They were clearly hard working and of good reputation, being able to acquire the letter of introduction necessary for migration in the period and qualify for a grant of 300 acres. It is not clear to what extent their migration was prompted by the economic distress of the post Napoleonic period but their subsequent enterprise certainly castes them as aspirational. However, adverse circumstances gradually shifted their focus from improvement to subsistence. Following John's death, Eleanor appears to have been confronted by a colonial administration indifferent to her plight as a widow with dependent children. The various challenges they both experienced may have contributed to their respective premature deaths. While their physical legacy was not enduring, they were nevertheless able to contribute to the economic life of the colony through their enterprise and in perpetuity through their numerous descendants.
- Dr. Colin Woollcott Mallett, 22 November 2024.
Endnotes
(1) National Museum of Australia, 'Defining Moments, Assisted Migration, 1832: Introduction of Assisted Migration', National Museum of Australia Website, n.d., https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/assisted-migration, accessed 17 July 2024.
(2) 'Ship News', Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter (Tasmania), 13 January 1821, p. 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/659222?# , accessed 17 July 2024.
(3) John Presnell's letter to Governor Arthur dated 8 February 1826 confirms that he arrived with his family on the Midas (Master Watson) in January 1821: John Presnell to Colonial Secretary [letter], 8 February 1826, General Correspondence, Colonial Secretary's Office, Tasmanian Archives, CSO1/79/1760, p. 148.
(4) 'Ship News'.
(5) Penny Russell, 'Travelling steerage: class, commerce, religion and family in colonial Sydney', Journal of Australian Studies, (2014), 38(4):383-395, p 384.
(6) Libraries Tasmania, 'Free Immigration to Tasmania 1803-1946'. Libraries Tasmania Website, n.d., https://libraries.tas.gov.au/family-history/arrivals-immigration-and-departures/immigration-to-tasmania-1803-1946/introduction/#:~:text=After%201820%20many%20more%20people,to%20free%20settlers%20as%20labourers , accessed 17 July 2024.
(7) 'To Be Sold or Let', Hobart Town Courier (Tasmania), 25 May 1829, p. 4, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4216722 , acccessed 17 July 2024; 'Presnell, William (1784-1839(', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/presnell-william-29752/text36829 , accessed 17 July 2024; William Presnell was clearly a close relation (possibly an older brother, Uncle or cousin) to Thomas senior and John Senior. He at least was a native of Chelmsford, Essex. William brought his (?) mother over to the colony where she passed away in 1823 and was observed to have had 'a numerous family both in this colony, and in England...' See: 'Died', Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (New South Wales), 17 April 1823, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2181811 , accessed 17 July 2024.
(8) Tasmanian Archives: Register General's Department; Registers of Marriages, RGD 36/1/1, 968, https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/RGD36-1-1/RGD36-1-1P176 , accessed 17 July 2024.
(9) Geoff Ritchie, 'The Black Snake Inn', 9 October 2013, On the Convict Trail blog, https://ontheconvicttrail.blogspot.com/2013/10/black-snake-inn.html , accessed 17 July 2024.
(10) Eric Richards, 'How did poor people emigrate from the British Isles to Australia in the Nineteenth Century?', Journal of British Studies, 1993, 32(3), p 253, https://www.jstor.org/stable/176082 , accessed 17 July 2024.
(11) R. H. Green, 'Antill Ponds and the Half Way House', Occasional Paper (Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania), 1997, 7, pp 2-3,
(12) Mick Roberts, 'The Half Way House, Antill Ponds, Tasmania', Time Gents blog, 14 May 2015, https://timegents.com/2015/05/14/the-half-way-house-antill-ponds-tasmania/ , accessed 17 July 2024.
(13) John Presnell to Colonial Secretary [letter], 8 February 1826. At the time, John described his family as consisting of four children. Later in 1831, Eleanor described her family as consisting of five young children: Eleanor Presnell to Colonial Secretary [letter], 17 June 1831, General Correspondence, Colonial Secretary's Office, Tasmanian Archives, CSO1/79/1760, p 154. Eleanor's family is finally described as consisting of three sons and three daughters by the Land Board late that same year: Land Board to Colonial Secretary [Report of the Land Board on the application of John Presnell for an additional Grant], 14 November 1831, General Correspondence, Colonial Secretary's Office, Tasmanian Archives, CSO1/79/1760, pp 161-2.
(14) John Presnell to Colonial Secretary [letter], 13 March 1827, General Correspondence, Colonial Secretary's Office, Tasmanian Archives, CSO1/79/1760, pp 151-2.
(15) John Presnell to Colonial Secretary [letter], 11 March 1831, General Correspondence, Colonial Secretary's Office, Tasmanian Archives, CSO1/79/1760, p 158.
(16) 'To Be Sold or Let'.
(17) 'Died', Hobart Town Courier (Tasmania), 25 June 1831, p 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4203351 , accessed 17 July 2024.
(18) Land Board to Colonial Secretary [Report of the Land Board on the application of John Presnell for an additional Grant], 14 November 1831. It's possible that her children were not considered old enough or capable enough to be sufficient support for her. Indeed, Eleanor placed the property on the market in December 1832: 'Farm for Sale', Colonial Times (Hobart), 18 December 1832, p 3, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8646807 , accessed 17 July 2024.
(19) Eleanor Presnell to Colonial Secretary [letter], 20 January 1832, General Correspondence, Colonial Secretary's Office, Tasmanian Archives, CSO1/79/1760, p 164.
(20) 'Notice to Publicans', Hobart Town Courier (Tasmania), 22 November 1833, p 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/4188918 , accessed 17 July 2024.
(21) Her head stone in the old Anglican cemetery in Oatlands was virtually unreadable several years ago and there is no evidence of a death registration. TAMIOT records her death as occurring on 3 February 1831, aged 46 years. See: Tasmanian Family History Society (TFHS), Tombstones and Memorial Inscriptions of Tasmania (TAMIOT) 2nd Edition, TFHS, Rosny Park, June 1999, p 5313. In February 1834, Daniel O'Connor placed a caution notice to trespassers on his land at St. Peter's Pass describing it as a in proximity (among several others) to 'the late Widow Presnell's Grant at Sorell Springs'. See: 'Caution', Tasmanian (Hobart), 21 February 1834, p 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8647454 , accessed 17 July 2024. It's therefore likely that her correct death date was 3 February 1834.
(22) Green, 'Antill Ponds and the Half Way House', p 3.
(23) 'In the matter of Insolvency of John Pressnell', The True Colonist, Van Diemen's Land Political Dispatch, and Agricultural and Commercial Advertiser (Hobart), 28 July 1837, p 649, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/203147634 , accessed 17 July 2024.
(24) 'Most Important!', Colonial Times (Hobart), 15 May 1838, p 2, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8748665 , accessed on 17 July 2024. The Inn (Lot 1) is mentioned as having been let to David Solomon for several years by this time and he was still resident there. Both John Presnell junior (Lot 2) and his brother-in-law Thomas Presnell junior (Lot 3) appear to have been farming allotments on the estate.
Figures and Illustrations
(i) Alan Carswell, Image of Hobart, 1821, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hobart_Town-Alan_Carswell_(1821).jpg, accessed 8 August, 2024.
(ii) John Dower, Map of Tasmania, 1830, Wikimedia Commons,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1837_Dower_Map_of_Van_Dieman%27s_Land_or_Tasmania_-_Geographicus_-_Tazmania-dower-1837.jpg, accessed 8 August 2024.
(iii) John Henry Harvey, Photograph of the Half Way House, Antill Ponds, Tasmania, 1928, Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Half-way_House_at_Antill_Ponds_1928.jpg, accessed 8 August 2024.
(iv) Colin Woollcott Mallett, Photograph of the Half Way House ruins, Antill Ponds, Tasmania, 2024, original held by Colin Woollcott Mallett, Launceston, Tasmania.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Colonial Times (Hobart).
Hobart Town Courier (Tasmania).
Hobart Town Gazette and Southern Reporter (Tasmania).
Half Way House ruins, Antill Ponds, Tasmania, 2024, Photograph, original held by Colin Woollcott Mallett, Launceston, Tasmania
Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (New South Wales).
Tasmanian (Hobart).
Tasmanian Archives, General Correspondence, Colonial Secretary's Office, CS01.
Tasmanian Archives: Register General's Department; Registers of Marriages, RGD 36/1/1/1.
Tasmanian Family History Society (TFHS), Tombstones and Memorial Inscriptions of Tasmania (TAMIOT) 2nd Edition, TFHS, Rosny Park, June 1999.
True Colonist, Van Diemen's Land Political Dispatch and Agricultural and Commercial Advertiser (Hobart).
Secondary Sources
Green, R. H., 'Antill Ponds and the Half Way House', Occasional Paper (Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania), 1997, 7:1-7.
Richards, Eric, 'How did poor people emigrate from the British Isles to Australia in the Nineteenth Century?', Journal of British Studies, 1993, 32(3):250-279.
Russell, Penny, 'Travelling steerage: class commerce, religion and family in colonial Sydney', Journal of Australian Studies, (2014), 38(4):383-395.
Online Sources
Libraries Tasmania, 'Free Immigration to Tasmania, 1803-1946', Libraries Tasmania Website, n.d., https://libraries.tas.gov.au/family-history/arrivals-immigration-and-departures/immigration-to-tasmania-1803-1946/introduction/#:~:text=After%201820%20many%20more%20people,to%20free%20settlers%20as%20labourers , accessed 17 July 2024.
National Museum of Australia, 'Defining Moments, Assisted Migration, 1832: Introduction of Assisted Migration', National Museum of Australia Website, n.d., https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/assisted-migration , accessed 17 July 2024.
'Presnell, William (1764-1839)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/presnell-william-29752/text36829 , accessed 17 July 2024.
Ritchie, Geoff, 'The Black Snake Inn', 9 October 2013, On the Convict Trail blog, https://ontheconvicttrail.blogspot.com/2013/10/black-snake-inn.html, accessed 17 July 2024.
Roberts, Mick, 'The Half Way House, Antill Ponds, Tasmania', Time Gents blog, 14 May 2015, https://timegents.com/2015/05/14/the-half-way-house-antill-ponds-tasmania/ , accessed 17 July 2024.
Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page, accessed 8 August 2024.
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