A Snapshot of the House of Jillett
Robert Jillett (alias Thomas Elston, Robert Gillett) convict transported to Australia for stealing, arrived on the Hillsborough, 1799; wife and 5 children left in England.
Relationship with Elizabeth Bradshaw (nee Creamer) married to Thomas Bradshaw. Thomas was transported to Australia on the Hillsborough, for stealin; and he perished either during the voyage or on arrival in Sydney Cove. Elizabeth was granted permission to travel on the Hillsborough, and along with their daughter Mary Ann, she arrived as a free settler.
Elizabeth was granted lands in Sydney, and built a house. She was assigned Robert Jillett as her convict, and they developed a relationship. Two sons were born in Sydney.
In 1803 he stole 1/2 pig and was sentenced to death. He was taken to the gallows, and granted a reprieve. He was then sentenced to transportation to Norfolk Island. Elizabeth sold her lands and travelled with him on the same boat, along with her three young children.
She purchased land on Norfolk Island, and may have been the first free woman settler on Norfolk Island.
In 1808 they were resettled to Van Diemen's Land. She was granted land in exchange for those she left behind. They married in 1812, and had more children.
Robert and Elizabeth settled in New Norfolk, at Back River. Together they had 10 children.
Mary Ann Bradshaw b 1797 married Charles Horan in 1812. They had one child Edward who was born in 1813. In 1826 Charles advises that his wife had left him. She later is jailed in Launceston for upsetting the court.
William Bradshaw b 1800 married Mary Gunn. They had 9 children. He became a farmer, and a publican. He was insolvent and died 1859. They lived at Back River, New Norfolk.
James Bradshaw b 1802 married Jemima Lydia Gunn. They had 7 children. James was a farmer and an inn keeper. They lived at New Norfolk.
Susannah Jillett b 1805 (she was born and christened Bradshaw). Married Charles Dowdell, who met with a gruesome death in 1832, then she married William Garth, and later Joseph Oakley. She had 4 children
Rebecca Elizabeth Jillett b 1806/7 (she was born and christened Bradshaw). Married William Young, a successful businessman.
They had 11 children.
Eliza Jillett b 1807/08 baptised as Bradshaw. Married John Bowden. May have left him and took up with another person. They had 4 children.
Frederick Jillett b 1811 and died perhaps in infancy
Robert Jillett b 1812 Also known as Ropata Tireti. Went to New Zealand around 1836/7, was a shore whaler at Kapiti Island. Married Te Kaea (Sarah). They had at least 6 children
Charlotte Daisy Jillett b 1815. Married William Henry Smith and lived at Bruni Island. He became bankrupt in 1846.
No children of that marriage have been sourced.
Thomas Jillett b 1817 Married Mary Ann Shone. He became a very successful sheep farmer and business man.
His business interests crossed the mainland, into Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. He was a keen horseman, and very active within the Oatlands community. He owned the Callington Mill.
They had 12 children, of those 3 died within 6 weeks of each other in January and February 1859, of scarlet fever. He built a memorial to them in St Peter's Anglican Church at Oatlands, Tasmania.
John Jillett b 1819 Married Phoebe Triffett. He was a farmer and butcher. He built Eldergrove at York Plains.
They had 13 children, but 4 of those died within 6 weeks of each other in January and February 1859 of scarlet fever. He also built a memorial to them in St Peter's Anglican Church in Oatlands, Tasmania.