James Hasleby (born 1833, Stamford Lincs UK; died 1903,

Northampton, Western Australia Northampton is a town north of Geraldton, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 868. The town contains a National Trust building. The town lies on the North West Coastal Highway. Original ...

), was an English

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convicts ...

transported to colonial Western Australia. He was one of only 37 convicts

transported ''Transported'' is an Australian convict melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln. It is considered a lost film. Plot In England, Jessie Grey is about to marry Leonard Lincoln but the evil Harold Hawk tries to force her to marry him and she ...

to the colony to overcome the

social stigma Stigma, originally referring to the visible marking of people considered inferior, has evolved to mean a negative perception or sense of disapproval that a society places on a group or individual based on certain characteristics such as their ...

of convictism to become school teachers, and one of only four convicts to be elected a member of a local Education Board. Notwithstanding his previous conviction at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, in 1893 he was appointed Clerk of the Local Court at Northampton. Little is known of James Hasleby's early life. Born in 1833, he worked as a clerk. At the Old Bailey in February 1864 he pleaded guilty to three indictments for embezzlement, after a former conviction at Preston in October, 1856 and was sentenced to eight years

penal servitude Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included inv ...

. Hasleby was transported to Western Australia on board , arriving in July 1867. He received a

ticket of leave A ticket of leave was a document of parole issued to convicts who had shown they could now be trusted with some freedoms. Originally the ticket was issued in United Kingdom, Britain and later adapted by the United States, Canada, and Ireland. ...

in 1868, and taught at the Greenhills School, now Irishtown, near Northam until receiving a Conditional Pardon in 1870, when he resigned from teaching. He received his

Certificate of Freedom A certificate of freedom was a government issued document given to a convict in one of the Australian penal colonies at the end of the convict's sentence. That stated that the ex-convict had been restored "to all the rights and privileges of free ...

in 1872. In 1873 he advertised himself as a storekeeper and in October 1873 leased the Avon Bridge Hotel. He employed a number of ticket of leave convicts in his businesses. In 1873 he married Eliza Barlow, with whom he would have seven children. Hasleby served as Honorary Secretary of the Northam Farmers' Club, and in 1874 was elected a member of the local Education Board. A prestigious and respected body, only three other convicts achieved membership of a local Education Board:

Daniel Connor Daniel Connor (183112 January 1898) was an Irish people, Irish convict penal transportation, transported to colony of Western Australia, colonial Western Australia, who would go on to become one of the wealthiest, and most successful men in the ...

, Malachi Meagher and

Herman Moll Herman Moll (mid-17th century – 22 September 1732) was a British cartographer, engraver, and publisher. Origin and early life While Moll's exact place and date of birth are unknown, he was probably born in the mid-17th century in German ...

. He also became involved in a venture that intended to establish a second, co-operative, Northam flour mill. Hasleby's leasehold of the Avon Bridge Hotel unfortunately coincided with the rise of the

temperance movement in Australia The temperance movement has been active in Australia. As with the movement internationally, in Australia it has sought to curb the drinking of alcohol. The temperance movement had some success in the early twentieth century, although from the Se ...

in general, and in Northam in particular, and by December 1875 he became insolvent. With the hotel sold by the owner, he returned to teaching. The new owner was no more successful and in 1881 the hotel was shut down. From 1876 Hasleby taught at

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

, south-east of Toodyay, until 1877 when the school closed. He then took over the Gwalla School at

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

until his retirement in 1893. He also served as Secretary of the Northampton Roads Board, as clerk to the magistrates and Clerk of the Local Court at Northampton and, in the absence of a clergyman, officiated at local funerals. Hasleby was one of a very small number of convicts in Western Australia to overcome the social stigma of his conviction and obtain a respectable position in society. Although most respectable occupations were closed to ex-convicts, the colony was desperately short of teachers, yet unable to pay a sufficient wage to attract them. Whereas educated people of the "free" class were not attracted to teaching positions, the positions were attractive to educated ex-convicts, for whom the salary was no lower than other vocations open to them, and the job offered a degree of respectability. In total, 39 ex-convicts became school teachers in Western Australia. Ex-convict school teachers played an important role in the gradual breaking down of the social stigma of convictism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasleby, James 1833 births 1903 deaths Convicts transported to Western Australia Settlers of Western Australia Australian schoolteachers