Thomas Shelton

Biography

Family

1756 – Shelton was reportedly born at Datchet in Bucks. He was the son of John (1716-1792) and Anne (1726-1810) Shelton. John and Ann were buried in the church yard at Datchet.

John and Anne’s children were: • Thomas, a lawyer; • William, another lawyer; • Maria Ann, who never married, and died in 1845; • Laetitia, who never married, and died in 1843; • Sarah who married Thomas Clark in 1786.

Thomas Shelton never married.

William

Nothing is known of William Shelton at this stage.

Maria and Laetitia

Maria and Laetitia never married and lived in Clifton House, Datchet. They lived into their seventies when they were recorded in the first census of 1841. Laetitia died in 1843 aged 77 and Maria Anne two years later aged 82. (http://www.datchethistory.org.uk)

Sarah

Sarah married Thomas Clark of Wingfield in the county of Berkshire at St Andrew Undershaft in London on 20 May 1786. She was from that parish, suggesting that the family might have moved to London by that date. The witnesses were Thomas Lewis and Sarah Morgan. (LMA, St Andrew Undershaft, Register of marriages 1765-92 and banns 1764-85, 1764-92, P69/AND4/A/01/Ms 4109/2)

Her son, John, was a clerk to Shelton and then his successor as Clerk of the Peace for London and Southwark and Clerk to the Central Criminal Court. John and his wife Martha (died 1858 and 1869) are commemorated on another gravestone close to those of the Sheltons, together with their sons William and Thomas. It is very likely that the Clarks followed the Sheltons as occupants of Clifton House, but the latest burials may have been brought back to the family graves in Datchet having lived elsewhere. (http://www.datchethistory.org.uk)

5 October 1803 – Thomas Clark, son of Thomas Clark of Wingfield in the county of Berks, yeoman, was admitted as an apprentice to Thomas Shelton, citizen and vintner on London.

26 May 1805 – Thomas Shelton of the Sessions House, took his nephew, Thomas Clark as an articled clerk.

22 March 1806 – Thomas Shelton of the Session House took John James Clarke as an articled Clerk. The paperwork was signed by Thomas Clark.

Thomas Clark senior reportedly had a brother, Richard Clark, who is listed in the Land Tax records as living at one of the Datchet houses from at least 1781, most likely Clifton House because of the relationship to the Sheltons known to be there about twenty years later. Richard's son, the musician Richard Clark (1780-1856) has an entry in the Dictionary of National Biography. (http://www.datchethistory.org.uk)

Death and Probate

10 July 1829 – Shelton died aged 72 (or 82 or 74), and was buried at Datchet. (Gentlemen’s Magazine, July to December 1829, London: Nichols & Son, p.89) He had been unwell for some time, although he had heard his last coronial inquiry ten days before. (London Evening Standard, 11 July 1829, p.2)

His will was signed the same day as he died:

Thomas Shelton, of the Sessions House, London. His nephew, John Clark, and his sisters, Maria Ann and Letitia Shelton, were appointed as his executors. They were to purchase such three percent consolidated bank annuities, in trust for Maria Ann and Letitia, as would deliver £160 a year in dividends, and the same for John Clark, to deliver £50 a year. 50 guineas were given to Mr Townshend, the keeper of the Sessions House. The remainder was bequeathed to John Clark. The witnesses were J. Latham of Harley Street, John B. Eyles, apothecary of St Andrew’s Court, and J. Roper, clerk to Thomas Shelton. (TNA Prob11/1764; Morning Chronicle, 15 December 1829, p.3)

11 December 1829 – Shelton’s will was proved. (TNA Prob11/1764)

An obituary in the Gentleman’s Magazine read:

"This highly useful and excellent officer, and amiable man, was never married, and is supposed to have died very rich. He was one of the most independent men in the Corporation [of London]. He never asked a favour of any of his superiors; he never deviated one step from his path of duty to perform a favour for them. The dispatch of business in his office was regular and able; and as a mark of attention to their excellent officer, the Court of Common Council suspended their standing orders, and unanimously elected his nephew, Mr John Clark (who had been many years his assistant), Clerk of the Arraigns. Mr Alderman Lucas, in bringing the subject to the Court, said, that he held in his hand letters from the Lord Chief Justice, and others of the Judges, to Mr Clark, expressing their sense of the great loss sustained by the public in the death of Mr Shelton, and their opinion of Mr Clark’s qualifications for the office of Clerk of the Arraigns. Mr Shelton’s remains were interred at Datchet, attended by the Lord Mayor, Recorder, and other civic officers." (Gentlemen’s Magazine, July to December 1829, London: Nichols & Son, p.89)

Thomas Clark was obliged to spend a significant amount of time collecting sums that were owing to Shelton. The following is an extract from the parliamentary debates for 13 April 1832, concerning payment of the fees owing him for up to 40 years for managing the contracts and bonds relating to convict transportation:

"On the question, that £15,700 be paid to the representatives of the late Mr. Shelton, for expenses incurred for contracts and securities relative to the transportation of convicts to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land,

"Mr. Dixon said, this was a most extraordinary charge, and he begged the right hon. Gentleman would favour the House with some explanation of it.

"Mr. Spring Rice said, the late Mr. Shelton had delayed, in an extraordinary manner, for nearly forty years, sending his accounts, as Clerk of Arraigns, concerning the transportation of convicts. A considerable sum had been paid for stamps; and other sums were paid by him which he had never demanded from Government. The account presented by his executors was £22,000 which had been reduced to £15,700.

"Mr. Alderman Wood said, he must bear his testimony to the probity of Mr. Shelton, with whom he had been many years acquainted. He was a very careless man with regard to money. He had a large income, and his expenses were small; the consequence was, that he did not collect the money owing to him. On his death Bankers' checks, to the amount of several thousand pounds, which had been paid to him, were found scattered about his drawers. A more honourable man never existed, and he was of opinion no deduction ought to have been made from the £22,000 claimed.

"Mr. Alderman Hughes Hughes begged to confirm every word which had been uttered by his hon. friend. He assured the Committee, after a very careful investigation of the subject, that the public had been great gainers by the accounts not being duly remitted.

"Resolution agreed to." (House of Commons Debates, 13 April 1832, Vol.12, pp.466-95)

Thomas Shelton was buried in the Datchet graveyard. His gravestone, which lists his many public offices, faces the path leading round to the east end of the church, close to the churchyard wall. (http://www.datchethistory.org.uk)

Professional Career

16 March 1771 – Thomas Shelton commenced an apprenticeship (articles) with Benjamin Deacon, attorney, of Kingshead Court, Fetter Lane. (Board of Stamps: Apprenticeship Books, Series IR 1, TNA)

Deacon had been chosen as clerk of gaol delivery for Middlesex (which included Nedwgate) on 18 January 1771, so it is possible that he had hired Shelton to assist with the workload – Craftsman or Say’s Weekly Journal, 19 January 1771) In 1776, Deacon was listed as one of the clerks of arraigns for London and Middlesex.

November 1771 – Edward Reynolds was clerk of arraigns in London. (General Evening Post, 23-26 November 1771)

20 October 1773 – Shelton was already described as an attorney, and produced evidence of a ‘nonpros’ in the case of Chilton v Howell. (R v Chilton, Old Bailey, 20 October 1773)

July 1775 – Thomas Shelton’s name is included on a list of names among the Justices’ Working Papers in the Middlesex Sessions. (Middlesex Sessions, Sessions Papers, Justices Working Papers, at LMA & on London Lives)

1777 – ‘Mr Shelton’ was clerk to Benjamin Deacon, the Clerk of Arraigns for Middlesex. (Public Advertiser, 20 October 1777)

8 July 1778 – A newspaper reference to a matter being taken before Mr Shelton, the Clerk of Arraigns (for London), who was nominated by the Lord Mayor to do the work of coroner. (Whitehall Evening Post, 8-10 July 1778; Morning Chronicle & London Advertiser, 10 July 1778)

24 October 1778 – Thomas Shelton of No.4 Lyons Inn, Gentleman, swore an oath that he had seen James Randall sign a particular document, and that he and Thomas King had signed it. (Middlesex Sessions, Sessions Papers, Justices Working Papers, at LMA & on London Lives)

April 1781 – Benjamin Deacon died and was replaced by Edward Reynolds. (St James’s Chronicle or the British Evening Post, 24 April 1781) Reynolds was now clerk of arraigns for London and Middlesex and Shelton was his deputy.

15 January 1785 – Reynolds died at his home at Goldsmith’s Hall (he had also been clerk of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths. (London Chronicle, 13-15 January 1785)

c.22 January 1785 – It was reported that Shelton had been promoted to Clerk of Arraigns for the County of Middlesex in place of the late Mr Reynolds, to whom he had been deputy. (Whitehall Evening Post, 20-22 January 1785) However, other accounts said this was not true. (London Chronicle, 22-25 January 1785)

23 February 1785 – Shelton was appointed as Clerk of Arraigns for the County of Middlesex. (Public Advertiser, 24 February 1785)

24 December 1785 – Thomas Shelton of Lyon’s Court, attorney, took James Newman of Giltspur Street, son of John Newman, as an articled clerk. (Board of Stamps: Apprenticeship Books, Series IR 1, TNA) William Lewis Newman, of Halcon Square, London, witnessed the indenture. (Court of King's Bench: Plea Side: Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles of Clerkship, Series I, II, III (KB 105-107, TNA)

February 1786 – Preliminary hearing of Carpenter v Shelton, in which the plaintiff was challenging the right of the Court of Gaol Delivery to appoint the Clerk of the Arraigns. (Public Advertiser, 24 February 1786)

October 1786 – Shelton was involved as attorney in the bankruptcy proceedings against Dennis Curren, soap boiler of Princes Street, Drury Lane. (General Evening Post, 21-24 October 1786)

November 1786 – Mr William Wilson, one of the coroners for the County of Middlesex, died. He had acted in the place of Mr Shelton at the previous session of the Old Bailey, he having been sick and unable to attend. (Public Advertiser, 11 November 1786)

October 1787 – Shelton is described as Clerk of the Session of Gaol Delivery for the City of London and Clerk of the Session of Oyer and Terminer. (Middlesex and City of London Session Papers, 1 & 18 October 1787)

9 January 1788 – William Fitzpatrick was described as deputy to Thomas Shelton as clerk of the arraigns. (Old Baily Proceedings: Accounts of Criminal Trials, Harvard University Library and on London Lives)

July 1788 – Shelton, as Clerk of Arraigns, was nominated by the Lord Mayor to act as Coroner of London following the death of Mr Beach. (Morning Port & Daily Advertiser, 11 July 1788)

24 July 1788 – Shelton was unanimously elected as the Coroner of London and Southwark. (London Chronicle, 24-26 July 1788) (A great deal of time thereafter was spent on his coronial duties.)

July 1789 – Shelton was appointed as Clerk of Arraigns to the High Court of Admiralty by the Lords of the Admiralty. (London Chronicle, 23-25 July 1789)

4 December 1789 – Michael John Fitzpatrick, clerk to Thomas Shelton, witnessed some of the contracts and bonds for the Second Fleet. (Colonial Secretary, ‘Convict Indents’, 1788 to 1798, COD 9)

November 1790 – Shelton acted as attorney in the bankruptcy of William Meredith, merchant of Shadwell. (General Evening Post, 13-16 November 1790)

December 1790 – Shelton acted as attorney in the bankruptcy of Joseph Story, soap boiler, of West Smithfield. (General Evening Post, 30 November to 2 December 1790)

July 1792 – Shelton acted as attorney in the bankruptcy of William Kerr, hatter, of Hanover Square. (London Gazette, 24-26 July 1792)

7 March 1793 – Thomas Shelton of the Session House took Michael John Fitzpatrick of Cross Key Square as an articled clerk. Note that he had been working as a clerk to Shelton since 1789 at least. (Court of King's Bench: Plea Side: Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles of Clerkship, Series I, II, III (KB 105-107, TNA)

December 1793 – Shelton acted as attorney in the bankruptcy of John Cox, mason and victualler, of Deptford. (London Chronicle, 24-26 December 1793)

June 1794 – Shelton acted as attorney in the bankruptcy of Samuel Payne, coal merchant, of Chelsea. (Whitehall Evening Post, 7-10 June 1794)

7 May 1795 – Thomas Shelton of the Session House took Charles Edward Reynolds, of No.5 St Martin le Grand, London, son-in-law of Charles Raven of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, as an articled clerk. James Newman and Michael John Fitzpatrick were witnesses. (Court of King's Bench: Plea Side: Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles of Clerkship, Series I, II, III (KB 105-107, TNA)

December 1795 – Shelton acted as attorney in the bankruptcy of Jonathan Coombs, shopkeeper, of Theale, Berks. (Lloyds Evening Post, 21-23 December 1795)

May 1796 – Shelton acted as attorney in the bankruptcy of Timothy Harris, pinmaker, of the City Of London. (Gazetteer & New Daily Advertiser, 12 May 1796)

October 1797 – Shelton was described as the Clerk of Gaol Delivery. (Evening Mail, 4-6 October 1797)

April, October 1800 – Classified advertisement:

"Law Partnership: A young man who has served his clerkship in town, and has since been in the office of a considerable business, is desirous of forming a connexion with a gentleman of respectability who may wish to relinquish the laborious part of the profession. A premium adequate to the concern will be advanced. Address to Thomas Shelton, Sessions House, Old Bailey." (Morning Chronicle, 21 April & 31 October 1800)

5 August 1800 – Thomas Shelton, attorney, of Sessions House, London, took George Kendall as an apprentice. (Board of Stamps: Apprenticeship Books, Series IR 1, TNA)

September 1800 – Shelton acted as the attorney in the bankruptcy of J. Fulcher, tailor and draper, of Sudbury, Suffolk. (Lloyds Evening Post, 19-22 September 1800)

December 1801 – Shelton was elected as Clerk of the Peace for London and Southwark, and Register of the Mayor’s Court. (Bell’s Weekly Messenger, 20 December 1801)

February 1802 – Shelton acted as attorney in the bankruptcy of James Nowland, soapmaker of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. (E. Johnson’s British Gazette, 28 February 1802)

June 1802 – Shelton acted as attorney in the bankruptcy of William Sewell, merchant, of Falcon Square, London. (E. Johnson’s British Gazette, 6 June 1802) August 1802 – Shelton was one of the solicitors acting in the sale of the estate of Mr Winstanley of Aston near Birmingham. (Times, 21 August 1802)

5 October 1803 – Thomas Clark, son of Thomas Clark of Winkfield in the county of Berks, yeoman, was admitted as an apprentice to Thomas Shelton, citizen and vintner on London. (Shelton was a member of the Vintner’s Company – see Universal British Directory, 1791)

26 May 1805 – Thomas Shelton of the Sessions House, took his nephew, Thomas Clark as an articled clerk.

22 March 1806 – Thomas Shelton of the Session House took John James Clarke, of Kirby Street, Hatton Garden, as an articled clerk. The paperwork was signed by Thomas Clark. (Court of King's Bench: Plea Side: Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles of Clerkship, Series I, II, III (KB 105-107, TNA)

1811 – Thomas Shelton, Sessions House, London, was listed in the London and County Directory as Coroner of London and the Borough of Southwark, and Clerk of Arraigns to the Admiralty, and Clerk of the Peace to the City of London. (Ancestry.com)

1818 – Shelton was still presiding over coronial inquiries. (Times, 6 October 1818, p.3)

27 November 1820 – Thomas Shelton of the Sessions House took William Henry Goodfellow, of Hatfield Street in the parish of Christchurch, Surrey, as an articled clerk. Paperwork signed by John Clark of 71 Judd Street, Brunswick Square. (Court of King's Bench: Plea Side: Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles of Clerkship, Series I, II, III (KB 105-107); Registers of Articles of Clerkship and Affidavits of Due Execution (CP 71), TNA)

5 December 1828 – Sun insurance policy for Thomas Shelton of the Sessions House, the Old Bailey.

Investigation of Treasonable Activities

Along with well-regarded London magistrates such as Aaron Graham, Shelton was used by the government on several occasions to investigate treasonable activities, or to assist local magistrates in their preparations of such cases.

Summer 1793 – Shelton was sent to Manchester to assist magistrates preparing a case of treason against Thomas Walker. ‘Shelton’s assessment of the situation reveals him to have been wary of the zeal with which the local magistrates sought to prosecute Walker.’ (Clive Emsley, ‘The Home Office and Its Sources of Information and Investigation 1791-1801’, English Historical Review, (1979) 94:372, p.536)

November 1793 – In November 1793, in response to a request by the Prime Minister William Pitt and the Home Secretary, Henry Dundas, Shelton was sent to Norwich by government attorneys, Chamberlyn and White, to see if he could identify the authors of certain handbills regarded as treasonable. White described him as ‘a very intelligent & able solicitor’. He reported on the 13th of November that he had not been able to establish the authorship of the document and recommended a reward. (TNA HO42/27/174-5, 191-2; Clive Emsley, ‘The Home Office and Its Sources of Information and Investigation 1791-1801’, English Historical Review, (1979) 94:372, p.536)

31 March 1796 – Lord Colchester wrote in his diary that he consulted with Shelton on the statutes relating to the transportation of ‘the Scottish martyrs’, Muir and Palmer. Colchester concluded the ‘martyrs’ had been transported illegally. He thought this was an example of why it was necessary to have a register of expiring laws. He described Shelton as ‘a very correct and intelligent officer’. (The Diary and Correspondence of Charles Abbot, Lord Colchester, Volume 1, London: John Murray, 1861, p.50)

Convict Transportation

Thomas Shelton was for many years involved in preparing the contracts and bonds for the transportation of convicts to New South Wales.

13 December 1786 - Evan Nepean wrote to the clerks of the peace (except Norfolk) and to Thomas Shelton, the Clerk of Arraigns for London & Middlesex, advising them that the convicts named in an attached list, then in the custody of Duncan Campbell, would be loaded on board the Alexander, bound for NSW. . . . the commander of that ship, Mr Duncan Sinclair, as well as the contractor, Mr William Richards Junr, will be ready to enter into the usual bonds. I send a draft for your guidance which has been approved by the law officers.

Mr Sinclair and Mr Richards will be at this office on Friday morning [the 15th of December] at 9 o’clock and it is hoped you will meet them with the bonds ready for their signature. (Nepean to Clerks of Circuits, 13 December 1786, TNA HO13/4/355)

22 December 1786 - Shelton to Nepean, concerning the convicts of Harwdicke Richardson at the last sessions, to be transported to such place as His Majesty should direct. ‘It will therefore be necessary that he should be included in the Order in Council, for the Courts hast not power to alter the sentence passed at a former sessions.’ (TNA HO42/10/257)

1 January 1787 – Nepean to Shelton. He sends him attested copies of the four orders in council. He understands from Duncan Campbell that Shelton had already been furnished with a list of such convicts as were to be sent out in the Alexander and as it was wished that they be removed as soon as possible from the hulk to make room for the people now in Newgate, he asked him to get the bonds and contracts (if necessary) executed with as little delay as possible.

The Lady Penrhyn, now in the river, will receive all the female convicts now in Newgate under sentence of transportation, and her commander, Mr Richardson, would enter into the bonds. A further list will be sent of other convicts now in the hulks to be sent to the Scarborough at Portsmouth. (TNA CO201/1/47; HRNSW 1:2, 42-3)

4 January – Sydney to the Recorder of London and the Sheriffs of Middlesex [Shelton], with the pardons for 34 convicts on condition of their being transported to New South Wales. (TNA HO13/5/18-21)

- Sydney to Shelton, with change of destination from Africa to NSW for Thomas Goer. (TNA HO13/5/10)

9 January – Duncan Campbell to Nepean. He was unclear whether Shelton had prepared all the bonds, and he argued that Richards could sign the actual contracts after the fleet had sailed, since he would still be on hand. He wrote to Nepean:

"I have just now received by express from Woolwich the enclosed lists of convicts intended to make up the compliment for the Alexander with which you will be pleased to do the needful. The people which compose these lists are not all in good health and the sooner they are shipped the better. If you are pleased to send these lists to the different Clerks of Assize without delay they may at least add them to the bonds which are to be signed on Saturday. By that means the Capt may pursue his voyage, and the contracts, if not then ready can be signed afterwards, as Mr Richards is on the spot. I would have called on you myself but my leg was rather the worse of my yesterday’s visit.

"I am etc

"Is Shelton ready?

"Could you with any degree of convenience look in on me for a few minutes this evening? I think we should then put everything in a fine train. I ask this because I have seen Captain Phillips [sic] here today." (Duncan Campbell to Evan Nepean, 10 January 1787, ‘Duncan Campbell Papers, 1766-1802’, 8 Volumes, Mitchell Library, SLNSW, A 3225 (Safe1/413) to A3232 (Safe1/420), published as ‘The Letterbooks and Papers of Duncan Campbell, 1726-1803’, Marlborough: Adam Matthews Publications, n.d., Volume 5, p.255)

19 January – Nepean to Shelton. The Lady Penrhyn was to receive all the female convicts mentioned in his list (their names were then listed). The last four could be sent on board as soon as the bonds and contracts could be got ready, and the time of their removal would entirely depend on Shelton since their sentences were fixed. The names of the other eleven would be inserted in an Order in Council which would pass on the 24th instant to determine their place of destination. In the meantime, the bonds and contracts could be prepared and their removal could take place immediately after. (TNA HO42/11/31)

29 January – On or about this date, Shelton sent an undated letter to Nepean with a list of the capital convicts and transports from the last session. He inquired whether any more convicts were to go from Newgate on board the Lady Penrhyn, because he had a bond to prepare for John Lockley, which might as well include any others that were to go. [List attached] (TNA HO42/11/75)

3 April – Shelton to Nepean, advising him when Samuel Hall was sentenced. ‘I have sent the bonds to Mr Richards at Portsmouth & have given certificates to Mr Akerman of bonds & contracts having been duly entered into for all the prisoners contained in your list to me who are in custody, so that they now await your order.’ (TNA HO42/11/220)

5 April – Wm Richards Junr, Portsmouth, to Evan Nepean, Esq:

"I yesterday had the honor of your acquainting me that I should in a few days receive three convicts for the Prince of Wales with two children. I shall comply with your directions in regard of their being received on board but it has always been understood that no male convict was to be transported in her. I beg your directions in regard to that. The children will be taken proper care of till an order comes from the Navy Board for their victualling. No order has yet been sent for their ration nor for the children of the marine soldiers. There are near 20 of both sorts now on board the transports and some provision should be served them. At present they barely subsist on that proportion they receive from their mother’s allowance. I will thank you for your direction to the Treasury for that purpose as the Navy Board have not any direction from thence on that head. Mr Shelton has this day sent me the bonds & contracts for 8 women for the Prince of Wales & 3 men for the Alexander, which makes her complement 212." (Richards to Nepean, 5 April 1787, TNA CO201/2/294-5)

18 December 1788 – Nepean wrote to William Chamberlayne (a government lawyer), advising that the clerks of assize of the several circuits who were employed in 1786 and 1787 in drawing contracts and bonds had lately delivered to Lord Sydney’s office accounts of fees for transacting that business. He was directed to transmit the same to Chamberlayne, so that he could examine the same and report. It was understood that the clerks of assize had already received one guinea from the county for each of the convicts above alluded to, and it was therefore to be considered whether that allowance was not intended to satisfy them for their trouble in preparing the contracts and bonds as well as the usual fees upon conviction. (TNA HO36/6/100-101)

February 1789 – An account was submitted by Shelton for drawing contracts and bonds. It is probable this related to the First Fleet. The account was for £295/7/8 and was forwarded by Lord Sydney to the Treasury on 22 February and approved by them on 2 March, the Treasury Solicitor having reported that Shelton was entitled to this payment. (Treasury Minutes, 2 March 1789, TNA T29/60/233; Sydney to the Lords of the Treasury, 22 February 1789, TNA HO36/6/198)

July 1789 – The Secretary of State issued a warrant authorising Shelton to contract for twenty-five named convicts ‘with any fit person or persons for the effectual transportation of the several convicts above named, and to take security from the person or persons so contracting. . .’ Shelton’s warrant signed by W.W. Grenville, 18 July 1789. (TNA HO13/7/125) These convicts were to be sent on HMS Guardian.

October 1789 – A royal warrant was issued formalising arrangements to have Shelton handle all of the contracts and bonds. Shelton was authorised to make contracts for the effectual transportation of offenders, and ‘to direct to what person or persons security shall be given for the effectual transportation of such offender or offenders’. The warrant provided that every such contract and security was equally valid, and every contractor had like property in the service of such offenders, as if such contracts and securities had been given under 24 Geo. III, c.56. Thomas Shelton was named in the warrant as having been authorised and empowered to make contracts with any fit person or persons for effectual transportation, and to take securities. (‘Warrant Authorising Thomas Shelton Esq. to Contract for the Transportation of Convicts’, 30 October 1789, Public Record Office, TNA CO201/4/161-162) Thereafter, a warrant was issued to Shelton for each new shipment of convicts, with a list of the relevant convicts attached.

We have copies of the warrants for the Scarborough (1791), which did not sail (TNA HO13/8/390-392); the Surprize, signed in 1793 and 1794 (TNA HO13/9/384-385, 387-388; 403); the Indispensable (1795) (TNA HO13/10/351-352); the Ganges in 1796 (TNA HO13/10/516-518); the Lady Shore in 1797 (TNA HO13/11/104-107); the Barwell in 1797 (TNA HO13/11/334-343); the Britannia (1798) (TNA HO13/11/408-412), the Earl Cornwallis in 1800 (TNA HO13/13/80-82) and several vessels which sailed in 1801 (TNA HO13/14/193-194).

From the Guardian until Shelton’s death in 1829, we have his own accounts for drafting these contracts and managing these arrangements for shipments of convicts from England.

With the 21 convicts eventually shipped on the Guardian in 1789, the Home Office introduced a regular and centralised system for preparation and signature of the contracts and bonds. As it applied to the Guardian, that process was as follows:

a. Shelton obtained the documents relating to each of the 25 convicts, and perused them in order to prepare contracts and bonds. With larger shipments (such as the Second and Third Fleets, Shelton had to obtain these documents from each of county courts and quarter sessions.

b. He drew up a contract for each of them, to be signed by Lieutenant Riou (the commander of the Guardian), to be transported according to their several sentences. The contract apparently stated that he was to procure testimonials of their landing and that they should not be suffered to return before the expiration of their terms.

c. Shelton then took a bond from Riou and his sureties to perform the contract.

d. The contracts and bond then had to be attested.

e. Shelton drafted the assignment of the convicts from Riou to Governor Phillip. In the case of the Second and Third Fleet ships, these were signed by the contractor immediately, but perhaps counter-signed by the Master only when the ships arrived in NSW.

f. He then made a copy of the list of the convicts, with the places where they had been convicted and the date of their convictions to be annexed to His Majesty’s warrant authorising Shelton to contract for the transportation of these convicts.

g. Another copy was made to annex to the assignment.

h. A third copy was made for the Secretary of State for the Home Department. (TNA AO3/291/1-2)

i. In the case of the Second Fleet, and no doubt of some of the others in the early years, Shelton prepared lists of such of the convicts as had been ordered to be transported to North America and to Africa, so that the same could be annexed to an order of the Privy Council appointed New South Wales as the place of transportation. It was also necessary for him to draw up an order for two of the judges to sign to be annexed to this order. In the case of the Second Fleet, Shelton attended the execution of the order by Baron Hotham and Mr Justice Heath. (TNA AO3/291/25-25a)

Then it could be all thrown out the window at the last minute when convicts were moved from ship to ship. In the case of the Second Fleet, Shelton made a note in his accounts that Camden, Calvert and King had deviated from the original plan laid down by Lord Grenville and Evan Nepean, claiming that some of the ships were not ready and that they were obliged to send some of the convicts on different ships from those that had originally been specified. Shelton was unhappy – he was not able to get regular returns from any of the ships to compare with the assignments to send to Governor Phillip (so that legal liability for escapes of named convicts was entirely vitiated). He sent one of his clerks by coach to the ships at Portsmouth to examine and correct the lists and assignments, in which he was engaged six days. (TNA AO/3/291/62)

Because of his pivotal role in the transportation process, Shelton seems to become involved from time to time in issues well beyond his authority. The following report is from late January 1791, when the Third Fleet was preparing for sea.

"Yesterday an express arrived at the Old Bailey from Woolwich, with an account that thirty-two convicts, consisting of thirty men and two women, had arrived there, from the gaol of Chelmsford, under an order of Government, to be taken on board the ships intended for Botany Bay, but that the Masters absolutely refused to receive them. Mr Shelton, Clerk of the Arraigns, immediately dispatched a messenger to Lord Grenville’s Office, Whitehall: but his Lordship being in the country and Mr Nepean being from the office upon other business, no order could be obtained, so that it is feared those unhappy persons must, of necessity, have been obliged to continue the whole might in the Marshes. The account to Mr Shelton stated, that the Gaoler of Chelmsford, and his men, were under great apprehension of an escape, as was the neighbourhood in general of serious consequences." (St James’s Chronicle, 29 January to 1 February 1791)

The Man

Shelton was thorough – he kept a complete archive of the accounts for the work he did in preparing the contracts and bonds for the convict ships, and a complete account of every coronial inquiry that he conducted from 1788 to 1829 – 6,351 of them. (Richard Harrison, ‘How They Came to their Death’, Lancet, 2 September 1978, p.518)

Lord Colchester described Shelton as ‘a very correct and intelligent officer’. (The Diary and Correspondence of Charles Abbot, Lord Colchester, Volume 1, London: John Murray, 1861, p.50)

Anecdote published in the papers:

"ANECDOTE OF MR. JUSTICE GAZELEE: In his early days this excellent and humane Judge, together with Mr. L., a reputable gentleman then living in Holborn, were members of a batchelor's club, who, as they got married, were as a matter of course, expunged from the records of celibacy. Mr. Gazelee and Mr. L. were one day conversing upon their future prospects in life, when the latter betted one guinea to 100 that his friend would one day or other be called to the Bench. Young Gazelee at that time not having the most distant prospect of such an event, readily accepted his friend's guinea, agreeing at the same time to pay him 100 should it ever take place. Several years before Mr. Justice Gazelee was called to the Bench, Mr. L. had departed this life, but the Judge, recollecting his obligation, attempted to find the executors to the defunct; but upon enquiry he found that they were dead, and that Mr. Shelton, the Coroner for London, and Clerk of the Arraigns at the Old Bailey, succeeded them. One day during the Old Bailey Sessions they being seated at dinner, Mr. Justice Gazelee said, "Mr. Justice Gazelee said, 'Mr. Shelton, I have one hundred guineas to pay into your hands," and then related how the obligation arose. Mr. Shelton had long before this finally settled his executorship. He, however, accepted the money, and again resumed his labours, by dividing his unexpected windfall among sixteen representatives of the late Mr. L. who were in different parts of the country." (Sydney Gazette and NSW Advertiser, 16 February 1827)

In 1832, during the debate over the payment of his fees for managing the contracts and bonds, Mr Alderman Wood told the Parliament:

"He was a very careless man with regard to money. He had a large income, and his expenses were small; the consequence was, that he did not collect the money owing to him. On his death bankers' checks, to the amount of several thousand pounds, which had been paid to him, were found scattered about his drawers. A more honourable man never existed, and he was of opinion no deduction ought to have been made from the £22,000 claimed." (House of Commons Debates, 13 April 1832, Vol.12, pp.466-95)

In March 1794, Thomas Shelton was a steward for Magdalen Hospital. (Oracle and Public Advertiser, 27 March 1794)

Addresses

24 October 1778 – Thomas Shelton, 4 Lyon’s Inn, gave evidence in relation to a legal proceeding. (R v John Pewsey, Middlesex Sessions Papers, LMA and London Lives)

1784 – Thomas Shelton, attorney, 4 Lyon’s Inn, London. (Bailey’s Directory)

29 June 1786 – His address was still given as Lyon’s Inn. (Shelton to George White Esq, House of Commons, City of London Session Papers)

1791 – Listed at the Session House, Old Bailey. (Universal British Directory)

1793 – Thomas Shelton, listed at the Session House, London, subscribed to a copy of ‘Index to Records called, the Originalia and Memoranda on the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer's Side of the Exchequer’.

13 October 1797 – A classified advertisement sought ‘to purchase or rent, in a respectable and pleasant neighbourhood, 10 to 20 miles from town, a genteel and convenient house for a small family, with 20 to 100 acres of land. Address, post paid, to Mr Shelton, Old Bailey.’ (Times, 13 October 1797)