Family Biography:
James William Izzard (c1813-1895)
Family Connections
So far, other than the approximate year of birth, little is known about the formative years of both James William Izzard and his wife-to-be, Mary Ann Elizabeth Shinton.
James, born about 1813, was the eldest known son of James Izzard, a weaver, and Sarah Izzard (née Clarke) and was christened at the parish church of St Sepulchre on 15 November 1813. From various documents it is estimated that Mary, the daughter of Thomas Shinton, a glover, and Phoebe Jemima Shinton (née Hodges), was born around 1821.
Sources
IGI: Batch: C025651; Sheet: 00; Source Call: 0375002; Dates: 1813-1820
IGI: Batch: M022322; Sheet: 00; Source Call: 0374344; Printout Call: 6903687; Dates: 1726-1840
Early Married Life
On 12 July 1840 James William married Mary at the parish Church of St George Bloomsbury and their first child, William, was born c1842. Two further sons followed - Henry Edwin in c1845 and then Walter James in c1847. Mary then gave birth to a daughter in c1850, also named Mary, but tragically it appears she died soon after, as she is not listed amongst the family members who immigrated to Australia.
It is not known quite why James decided to move his family half way around the world; it is possible only to speculate on the circumstances that drove him to make this decision. James was employed as a weaver, so perhaps it was because of the slow decline in this once thriving industry. Or perhaps it was the lure of a better life in a new country; the discovery of gold in Ballarat in 1851 and then Mount Alexander in 1852 attracted many prospectors, with 90,000 newcomers arriving in Victoria by the end of 1852 alone.
Sources
Marriage Certificate: George Izzard; Year: 1840; Quarter: September; District: Bloomsbury; Volume: 1; Page: 74
1841 Census: Class: HO107; Piece: 686; Book: 2; Folio: 17; Page: 28
1851 Census: Class: HO107; Piece: 1486; Folio: 459; Page: 22
Assisted Immigration
James Izzard, his wife and children, and his mother-in-law Phoebe Shinton participated in an assisted immigration scheme, whereby their passage to Australia was either subsidised or paid for in whole by the colony operating the scheme. These schemes were mainly aimed at reducing the ever-growing populations of the towns and cities of England, whilst at the same time to provide a source of labour to alleviate the shortages being experienced by the existing population in Australia. Despite the labour shortage in Australia, those who wished to participate in one of the assisted immigration schemes had to offer a skill; the habitual poor were not allowed.
Sources
Index to Assisted British Immigration 1839-1871: Colony: Victoria, Australia; Book: 6; Page: 68
Index to Assisted British Immigration 1839-1871: Colony: Victoria, Australia; Book: 6; Page: 73
The Journey
Here, in the 20th Century we tend to regard long-haul flights from England to Australia as being arduous, however, when the Izzard family sailed for Australia in 1852, their journey time was measured, not in hours, but in months. The journey would have taken two to three months, depending upon, amongst other hazards, the prevalent weather conditions, the possibility of shipwreck and the risk of encountering pirates.
The "Sir Edward Parry" set sail for Australia in the summer of 1852, and by the time it docked in Melbourne, Australia on 23 October, Mary and James had a fourth child; on 15 August Mary gave birth to another son, aptly named Arthur Edward Parry Izzard.
Sources
Birth Certificate: Arthur Izzard; District: Geelong; Colony: Victoria; Year: 1852; Registration: 23069
Living in Australia
The family settled first in the town of Geelong, approximately 71 km (44 miles) from Melbourne, but tragedy was not far away. Despite surviving arrival at sea in 1852, young Arthur died in March of the following year at just 7 months old and Phoebe Shinton died five years later, in 1858.
James and Mary went on to have a further four children Emily Jemima (1854), Martha Catherine and Charles Joseph (both given as born in 1857, so possibly twins), and Florence Alice (1860). At some point between 1858 and 1860 the family moved to Richmond, Victoria, where tragedy struck once again when Martha Catherine died, aged 3, in 1860.
Whether by circumstances or by desire it appears that on immigrating to Australia James was no longer employed in the textile industry. Official documents list James' occupation variously as a carter (1853), a lamp lighter (1858 and again in 1891 and 1895) and a labourer (1860).
Both James and Mary lived to a venerable age (a letter in a private collection, probably written some time between 1893 and 1895 refers to both James and Mary). James finally died on 7 December 1895 in Melbourne and is buried in the General Cemetery of the city (Mary's death has not yet been found).
Sources
Death Certificate: Arthur Izzard; District: Geelong; Colony: Victoria; Year: 1853; Registration: 24722
Death Certificate: Phoebe Shinton; District: Geelong; Colony: Victoria; Year: 1858; Registration: 6497
Death Certificate: Martha Izzard; District: Richmond; Colony: Victoria; Year: 1860; Registration: 10773
Death Certificate: James Izzard; District: East Melbourne; Colony: Victoria; Year: 1895; Registration: 14265
Future Generations
James and Mary's surviving children all went on to marry and have children of their own, thus establishing the first known branch of the Izzard family in Australia.
Sources
Death Certificate: Walter Izzard; District: Collingwood; Colony: Victoria; Year: 1891; Registration: 14660
Death Certificate: Minnie Izzard; District: Collingwood; Colony: Victoria; Year: 1891; Registration: 14594
Death Certificate: Henry Izzard; District: East Melbourne; Colony: Victoria; Year: 1897; Registration: 9767
Entries in the Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes for Victoria, Australia
Acknowledgements
This research was made possible courtesy of information provided by Gary Gardner.
