James Squire
Records of James Squire begin with his baptism 18th December 1754 at Kingston-Upon-Thames, Surrey. James' parents were well known gypsies, Timothy Squires & Mary Wells who were married 8th 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 James' birth.

(Group Sheet for James Squire)
Aged 20 in 1774, James Squire, was convicted of highway robbery in Surrey & sentenced to seven years transportation in the American Colonies. He is believed to have served part of his time with the Marines or the Army & was back in England within four years & was operating a successful hotel in Heathen St. Kingston. The Hotel was a haunt for highway robbers & smugglers. He successfully evaded the Authorities who pursued him for his numerous nefarious activities for about six years, but they finally caught up with him in 1784. He was sentenced to transportation for seven years at the General Sessions of the Peace for the Town & Hundred of Kingston-Upon-Thames on 11th April 1785. At the time of his arrest he was living with his wife Martha (nee Quinton) & their three children John (7), Sarah (5) & James (2). His crime was theft of "four Cocks & five Hens & diverse other goods & Chattels the property of John Stacey" who had recently moved to Heathen St.. James Squire was held at Southwark gaol until the end of March 1787, when he was sent to Portsmouth, ordered to Friendship but embarked on Charlotte.

Charlotte Convict Transport

With the arrival of The First Fleet in Sydney began a new life for James. In November 1789, employed in the Laboratory tent at Port Jackson, he was charged with theft of medicines from the Hospital stores & one pound of pepper belonging to Surgeon John White. For this he received 150 of 350 lashes at once & the remainder to be "given when he can bear it". He seems to have been assigned to Lieutenant Ralph Clark & later as a guard to Governor Philip, who was reported as saying he "felt safer with him than the Marines".

He had a short-lived association with Mary Spencer, which resulted in the birth of a son Francis Spencer born 1st August 1790 in Norfolk Island.
On 22nd July 1795 James Squire received a 30-acre grant of land in the Eastern Farms (Kissing Point) & from this time on with hard work & honesty he prospered & became a very wealthy man. By 1799 he was licensed proprietor of the Malting Shovel Tavern. He was an extremely enterprising man & by mid 1800 he had 10 sheep, 18 pigs & 35 goats. Five acres were sown in wheat & another 45 acres ready for planting maize & barley. Two years later he owned 291 acres with 120 cleared & 28 in grain. His household comprised himself a woman, six children, four free men & two government servants & was self supporting. By 1806 he owned 986 acres by grant & purchase. Many of his purchases included the grants of his less energetic neighbours. His main interest was Hop Growing & there is evidence to suggest he started to experiment with hops in 1802. James told Commissioner Bigge that he had been to Van Diemans Land where he commenced the Hop industry there with the help of his son, Francis Spencer, who was stationed in Port Dalrympole in 1803. On 14th March 1806 Squire attended Government House with two vines of hops, for which he was made the gift of a cow. So started the first Brewery in Australia!!! By 1806 James was the official Constable of Kissing Point.

By 1817 he was able to offer 1,000 acres of choice land for sale together with his dwelling, brewhouse (Hotel) & cellar on the Point.

During this time he raised a family of six children with Elizabeth Mason till her death in 1809. By 1814 he was living with Lucy Harding. He did not marry in Australia, as he was still married to Martha Quinton.

James Squire died 16th May 1822 in his 68th year. His will includes his wife & three children "now residing in London", his natural born children to Mary Spencer & Elizabeth Mason & his "housekeeper" Lucy Harding & grandchildren. He was known as the Patriarch of Kissing Point. The Epitaph on his tombstone gave eloquent testimony to the regard in which Squire was held:

"He arrived in this Colony in the First Fleet
And by Integrity & industry,
Acquired and maintained an unsullied Reputation,
Under his Care
The HOP PLANT was first Cultivated
In this Settlement, and
The first Brewery was erected,
Which progressively matured to Perfection.
As a Father,
A Husband, a Friend, and a Christian
He lived Respected and died Lamented".

Fellow emancipist, the artist Joseph Lycett wrote of him "He was universally respected & beloved for his amiable & useful qualities as a member of the lower class of settlers. Had he been less liberal, he might have died more wealthy; but his assistance always accompanied his advice to the poor & unfortunate & his name will long be pronounced with veneration by the grateful objects of his liberality".

He was a friend to the aborigines & it was on his property that Bennelong & Andrew Snape Hamond Douglas White (the adopted son of Surgeon General John White (qv) lived in their last years & were buried there in 1813 & 1821 respectively.

"To live on in the Hearts & Minds of Descendants is never to die"

Sources used: James Squire's Will, J H Donoghue Publications, Founders of a Nation by Mollie Gillen, Sydney Gazette & State Archives, Certificates & Court Proceedings.



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This Website last updated 16th January 2007