Jeremiah Crossley

1811 - 1884  (72 years)

• Name	Jeremiah Crossley
  Born	16 Aug 1811	Scholes, Yorkshire, England
  Gender	Male
  Baptism	06 Oct 1811	the Chapel, Cleckheaton, Parish of Birstall, County of York, England
  Occupation	1831
  	a Clothier
  Criminal	04 Apr 1831	York, Yorkshire, England
  	On Monday 4 April 1831 Jeremiah, at the age of 20, was sentenced at the York assizes to 7 years transportation for larceny. He was tried at Pontefract where there were 10 witnesses to his armed robbery of various clothing materials worth a total value of five pounds and four shillings. The National Archives at Kew (UK) hold a number of documents including the following: Petitioners: 24 inhabitants of Clifton, Cleckheaton and district, Yorkshire, the prisoner's friends and neighbours. Grounds for Clemency (Petition Details): Youth; respectable family; led astray by others. Other Papers: Note directing reply to the Reverand Benjamin Firth, Hartshead Moor, Cleckheaton, near Leeds, Yorkshire. Additional information: Prisoner is from Hartshead Moor.
  Occupation	Between Jul 1832 and May 1838
  	assigned to George Macleay to work on the property "Brownlow Hill" near Camden
  Freedom	10 May 1838
  Newspaper	15 Feb 1839	The Sydney Herald, Sydney, NSW, Australia   [1]
  	CAUTION. I HEREBY Caution all Constables and others from molesting me after this notice, I having lost my Certificate of Freedom. Description-Name, Jeremiah Crossley; ship, John 3; year of arrival, 1832; sentence, seven years; tried at York, 1831; native place, Yorkshire; year of birth, 1811 ; hair, brown; eyes, grey; height, five feet eight and three-quarter inches; complexion, ruddy; trade or calling, brickmaker ; general remarks, two upper front teeth wide, small-pock mark on the back of eachhand.
  Residence	From 1840 to 1842	Seven Hills, NSW, Australia
  Residence	1842	Throsby's Creek, Burrowa, NSW, Australia
  Residence	Bef 1859	Kangiara, NSW, Australia
  Residence	Abt 1859	Wargeila, NSW, Australia
  Died	01 Aug 1884	Wargeila, near Yass, NSW, Australia
  Newspaper	02 Aug 1884	The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, NSW, Australia   [1]
  	YASS, Friday. Jeremiah Crossley, aged 73 years, a very old and much respected resident of this district, committed suicide at his residence, Wargeila, this morning, by shooting himself. He had been suffering for some time past from acute rheumatism, and during a severe attack of pain he committed the rash act. Great sympathy is expressed for his widow and family.
  Buried	Aft 01 Aug 1884	Church of England cemetery, Yass, NSW, Australia   [2]
  	The inscription on the headstone reads - Affectionate Rememberence of Jerremiah Crossley Born Yorkshire England Beloved Husband of Sarah Crossley Who Departed This Life August 1st 1884 aged 73 years.
  		000020g1 The Headstone for Jeremiah Crossley in the Yass Cemetery. Photograph taken in 1980 by Gordon Mote.; headstone
  Obit	04 Aug 1884	The Yass Courier, Yass, NSW, Australia   [3]
  	CORONER'S INQUEST Dr. Blake held an inquest at Wargeila on Friday last when the following evidence, touching the death of deceased (Jeremiah Crossley) was taken. Hezekiah Crossley Deposed. I am a son of the deceased and lived in the same house with him; the last time I saw deceased alive was about half past 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon, the 31st of July. He complained that he was suffering acute pains in his legs; deceased had been suffering for some time past from rheumatic pains; I was absent from home from half past five o'clock yesterday afternoon until ten o'clock at night; when I returned home at ten o'clock I did not see deceased. About two o'clock this morning my mother woke me up, telling me to come out, that she wanted me; I came out onto the verandah and saw deceased lying dead there; I lifted deceased up, and carried him into the house, and placed him on a sofa; when I lifted the deceased up I saw the double barrel gun produced; it was lying under deceased; I was using the gun last night shooting opossums; when I brought the gun in I left it hanging on one of the beams of the roof; it was not loaded in either barrel; when I picked the gun up, after lifting deceased on the sofa, I noticed that it had been recently discharged; I am sure that no one but deceased took the gun after I hung it on the beam; I did not hear the report of a gun being fired during the night; it would be possible for a gun to be fired on the verandah of the house without me hearing it as I sleep in a room some distance from the verandah. I informed my brother of what had taken place and he reported the matter to the police; my brother's name is James Crossley; when I hung up the gun on the beam, the hammers of both barrels were cocked, and when I found it where deceased was lying, the hammer on the right-hand barrel was down and battered cap on the nipple; the gun is my property; deceased often used it. Sarah Crossley deposed:- The deceased (Jeremiah Crossley) is my husband; deceased is 73 years of age; I last saw deceased alive at eleven o'clock last night, July 31st, 1884; he was suffering from rheumatic pains in his legs; I bathed his legs with hot water and turpentine about nine o'clock; he then went to bed, and shortly afterwards I went to bed also; we slept in the same bed; after we went to bed we slept a short time, and about eleven o'clock deceased complained that the pains were very severe, and he would get up; he told me not to get up, or that I had better go into the bed with my daughter; I told him I would stay where I was, but that I would leave him plenty of room to get in and out without disturbing me; deceased then got up and I heard him making a fire; he sat by the fire, and I went to sleep; about two o'clock this morning I was awakened by hearing a noise like something falling on to the ground; I thought that deceased had fallen down; I got up and when I came into the room where the fire was, I could not see deceased; both doors of the room were open; I called to deceased, asking where he was, and, hearing no reply, went in search of him, and found him lying on the verandah; I noticed that blood was flowing from the left side of his head; I then called my daughter and son, and when my son carried deceased to the sofa, I saw the gun produced lying where the body of deceased was lifted from; the gun is the property of the last witness; deceased, when he complained of the pains, said if he suffered another night as much as he had done on last Tuesday night, he could not stand it; I am quite sure deceased fired the shot that caused his death; he had said he would make away with himself rather than again suffer the pains he endured on last Tuesday night; deceased appeared to be quite dead when I found him; deceased and myself always lived on the best of terms, and the only reason I can assign for deceased committing suicide was the acute pains he was suffering. Alton Kingsley Hoets deposed: I am a legally qualified medical practitioner, and reside at Yass; I have made a post mortem examination of the deceased (Jeremiah Crossley); immediately in front of the right ear I found a large irregular wound, communicating with the interior of the skull; the edges of the wound were blackened, and smelt strongly of burnt gunpowder; on opening the skull, I found the bones on the right side of the head extremely fractured; the interior portion of the brain is severely lacerated; on the left side of the brain I found a large quantity of small sized shot; it appears to be No. 4 shot; I produce some of the shot found in the brain; there were no other marks of violence about the body; I am of opinion that the cause of death was injury to the brain, caused by a gunshot wound; the wound could have been inflicted by deceased, who could have placed the muzzle of the gun produced to his head, and fired it by touching the trigger with his foot; he could not have pulled the trigger with his hand; a shot fired from the gun produced would cause such a wound as I have described. The jury found the following verdict that the deceased Jeremiah Crossley of Wargeila died on the first day of August 1884 from the effects of a gunshot wound inflicted by himself on the same day
  Person ID	I20	Mote/McInnes
  Last Modified	22 Jun 2019

  
  

  Father	James Crossley,   b. Bef 1780, England ,   d. Aft 26 Jan 1832, Yorkshire, England  (Age > 53 years)
  Mother	Martha Howgate,   b. Abt Oct 1779, West Yorkshire, England ,   d. 13 Dec 1835, Clifton, Yorkshire, England  (Age ~ 56 years)
  Married	26 Nov 1797	the Church of St John the Baptist, Parish of Halifax, West Yorkshire, England
  Family ID	F19	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Sarah James,   b. 11 Aug 1824, Castle Hill, NSW, Australia ,   d. 18 Feb 1909, Wargeila, near Yass, NSW, Australia  (Age 84 years)
  Married	25 May 1840	Parramatta, NSW, Australia
  Count of Children	Between 1842 and 1870
  	15 children, two of them still born and unregistered,
  Children	1. Martha Crossley,   b. 15 Oct 1842, Seven Hills, NSW, Australia ,   d. 14 Aug 1937, Yass, NSW, Australia  (Age 94 years)   2. Ann Crossley,   b. 09 Apr 1844, Windsor, NSW, Australia ,   d. Australia   3. Jane Crossley,   b. 28 Dec 1846, Throsby's Creek, Burrowa, NSW, Australia ,   d. 09 Jul 1922, Laidlaw Street, Yass, NSW, Australia  (Age 75 years)   4. James Crossley,   b. 01 Feb 1849, Throsby's Creek, Burrowa, NSW, Australia ,   d. 03 Nov 1911, Yass, NSW, Australia  (Age 62 years)   5. Lucy Crossley,   b. 07 Feb 1851, Kangiaroo, NSW, Australia ,   d. 31 Mar 1908, Gallops Creek, Yass, NSW, Australia  (Age 57 years)   6. Esther Crossley,   b. 31 May 1853, Kangiaroo, NSW, Australia ,   d. 11 Nov 1934, Campbelltown, NSW, Australia  (Age 81 years)   7. Uriah Crossley,   b. 27 Mar 1855, Kangiaroo, NSW, Australia ,   d. 23 Mar 1860, Yass, NSW, Australia  (Age 4 years)   8. William Crossley,   b. 09 May 1857, Kangiaroo, NSW, Australia ,   d. 14 Nov 1922, Wargeila, near Yass, NSW, Australia  (Age 65 years)   9. Ann Maria Crossley,   b. 28 Mar 1859, Kangiaroo, NSW, Australia ,   d. 05 Feb 1952, Yass, NSW, Australia  (Age 92 years)   10. Hezekiah Crossley,   b. 10 Jun 1861, Wargeila, near Yass, NSW, Australia ,   d. 31 Mar 1945, Wargeila, near Yass, NSW, Australia  (Age 83 years)   11. Elizabeth Ellen Crossley,   b. 19 May 1863, Wargeila, near Yass, NSW, Australia ,   d. 01 Apr 1950, Mount Elliott, Wargeila, NSW, Australia  (Age 86 years)   12. Emma Amelia Crossley,   b. 13 May 1867, Wargeila, near Yass, NSW, Australia ,   d. 1868, Yass, NSW, Australia  (Age 0 years)   13. Ada Eliza Rosetta Crossley,   b. 15 Apr 1869, Wargeila, near Yass, NSW, Australia ,   d. 15 Nov 1951, Rosebank, Wargeila, NSW, Australia  (Age 82 years)
  Last Modified	11 Dec 2021
  Family ID	F18	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos		Jeremiah Crossley Jeremiah Crossley
  		Jeremiah Crossley & Wife Sarah and Jeremiah Crossley

  
  

• Sources

  [S999] Trove. [S10] Yass Cemetery, Compiler: Ray, Pam, (The Heraldry & Genealogy Society of Canberra Inc., Canberra, 1996), Page: 24; Number: 342c. [S58] The Courier, Yass, News Reporter, (4 August 1884), from National Library.