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HUNT – James Royal Marines Portsmouth Division 60th Company

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Royal Marines 1854 Britains Sea Soldiers Vol 1 by Cyril Field
China Medal 1842
NameHUNT – James
Regiment (s)Royal Marines
Regiment Number (s) 5666
Date/Age/Place/Trade or
Profession at Attestation
1824 / 18 years / Plymouth
Description – Height
Complexion/Eyes/Hair/Scars
5 Ft 7 in
Fresh / Hazel / Light brown / None
Overseas Service/DurationChina – not stated
Length of Service21 years
Rank/Date/Place of Discharge27th November 1845 pension commenced
Campaign MedalsChina War Medal 1840-1842
Intended Residence at
Discharge
Not stated
Pension Districts1845 Worcester
1847 Wolverhampton
1849 Wolverhampton
1850-1878 Western Australia
Pension Paid£15/4/- per annum
Date of Departure and Place
England or Ireland
4th March 1850 Portsmouth Hampshire England
Ship and Date of Arrival
Western Australia
SCINDIAN 1st June 1850
Date/Place of Birthc1806 Worcestershire England
Date/Place of BaptismNot yet known
Father
Date/Place of Birth
Not yet known
Mother
Date/Place of Birth
Marriage
Not yet known
SiblingsNot yet known
1st Wife
Date of Birth or Baptism
CONSTABLE Jane became defacto wife of EPG John HUBBLE
Date/Place of Marriage5th August 1849 Dudley Worcestershire
Children by 1st WifeMary Elizabeth B 1855 York Western Australia (This child may have been a Hubble)
Father of 1st wife
Date/Place of Birth
Not yet known
Mother of 1st wife
Date/Place of Birth
Marriage
Not yet known
Land Grants Western
Australia
7th August 1850 Assigned Location P8 South Perth
Resigned
Occupation after
Arrival
Not yet known
Newspaper ArticlesPerth Gazette 14th June 1850
Departure from Western
Australia
Not applicable
Date/Place of Death/Burial12th December 1878 Perth Western Australia
Church of England Section East Perth Cemeteries Western Australia
Date/Place of Death/Burial
Wife
2nd November 1908 Northam WA (Jane Thacker)
Will or ProbateNone known
Further InformationAfter the arrival of the Scindian at Fremantle Captain Henderson wrote a report listing the rank name, trade or calling, rate of pension, date of enlistment for 5 months service, marital status, and number of children for each pensioner. Sometimes the trade of calling differed from that recorded at the time of attestation:
Private James Hunt, farm labourer, £15/4/0, 19th January, married 1 child
Annual report of Captain Bruce to the Secretary at War 11th June 1851
“With respect to the Military Village of South Perth I have a still less favourable report to make. The sand although superior to the common run of land so prevalent in this Colony requires manure, a commodity that can only be obtained by keeping cattle which none of the Pensioners in this village have yet been able to so.
There were originally 13 men located here 2 of whom have already thrown up their land, and I suspect several others will follow their example, as the circuitous course of the river renders the distance they have to travel over coming to Perth too great for the purpose of daily labour. The men, however, have not suffered any wants but on the contrary have either obtained good wages by leaving their families and homes for days at a time or have earnings from 3/- to 3/6 per day by cutting firewood which abounds in their neighbourhood.
I made an effort to advance the interests of some of these men, which had it been responded to by them, must have eventually ensured them an ample independence.
Perceiving that the parties who usually supply Fremantle with firewood, only allowed about 3/- a cord to the Pensioners for cutting it, whilst at least 10/- per cord was obtained for the same at Fremantle, I recommended half a dozen men to join tender for the government contract, offering to have a boat built for them to carry the wood. A number of them accordingly joined in this scheme, a marine named Hunt, undertaking to instruct the others in the management of the boat. A suitable flat, for which the parties were to pay by instalments was forthwith ordered, and completed by the time specified for the transmission of Tenders. The Pensioners’ tender being lower than that of the other candidates was accepted, but to my great disappointment the mariner absented himself from the village a few days before, and the other parties declaring they knew nothing of the management of a boat, which is a critical matter for landsmen on this river in the winter seasons, I was obliged reluctantly to allow the scheme to fall to the ground”

4th April 1851 James Hunt advised Captain Bruce he had taken employment in the York district and would not be returning to his allotment at South Perth. As he had spent £8/1/10 ¾ of the money advanced by Captain Henderson he stopped half of his pension until it was repaid.
AJCP CO18/59 reel 449 page 398
In the 1859 census of York WA James Hunt was living at the home of Henry and Mary Thomas. He was age 54 and said he was a single man, occupation farmer, a protestant having arrived on the Scindian in 1849 and was born in England.
He also appears on the entry for John and Hannah Bagshaw as follows:
John Hunt, male, age 55, married, Protestant, labourer, can read and write, a free man, arrived Scindian 1850, born England, married England wife absent.
James wife Jane Constable deserted her husband in 1851 and he placed an advertisement in the newspaper saying he would not be responsible for her debts. Jane began a new relationship with fellow Scindian pensioner John Hubble and went on to have eight children with him. Although Jane was castigated for having left her husband she was an extremely hard working woman being the main financial support for her family as John Hubble was practically blind. Jane married Philip Thacker 26th June 1878 at York.