Henry and Susannah Kable

About​

First Fleet convicts Henry Kable (1766-1846) and Susannah Holmes (1764-1825) arrived in New South Wales in 1788, married soon after, and went on to build a remarkable new life together. From winning the colony’s first civil court case to becoming successful landholders and businesspeople, their story reveals how dramatically life could change for some former convicts in early colonial Australia.

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Australian Direction of Biography

Biography - Henry Kable - People Australia

Henry Kable (1763-1846), businessman, was convicted of burglary at Thetford, Norfolk, England, on 1 February 1783 and sentenced to death. This was commuted to transportation for fourteen years to America, but he remained in prison until he embarked in the transport Friendship, in which he sailed in the First Fleet to New South Wales. On 10 February 1788 he married Susannah Holmes, a convict from the same village, who had already borne him a son. Before the young couple left England certain people, moved by their plight, had subscribed £20 to buy them a parcel of goods which Rev. Richard Johnson was to give them on their arrival in the penal colony. The gift was plundered on the voyage, but Kable won damages of £15 against the ship's captain in the first civil suit heard in New South Wales. This oddity may have brought Kable to the governor's notice, although Kable later claimed to have had influential letters of recommendation, for soon afterwards Governor Arthur Phillip appointed him an overseer. Three years later he was made a constable and nightwatchman, and a further three years service saw him elevated to chief constable: but he was dismissed in 1802 for misbehaviour, after being convicted for breaches of the port regulations and illegally buying and importing pigs from a visiting ship.

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Kable's business activities were to keep him in comparative affluence for at least the next ten years. His early activities as a trader, probably as a middleman between the trading officers of the New South Wales Corps and the consumer, are suggested by his possession of capital sufficient to take part in the sealing industry on a considerable scale after 1800. He was also one of seventy signatories to a petition to Governor John Hunter from creditors who were anxious to prevent debtors from frustrating their demands by legal delays.

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Kable's association with the emancipist boatbuilder James Underwood dated from at least as early as July 1800, for in that month he signed a partnership agreement with Underwood and a mariner resident in Sydney, Samuel Rodman Chace, who was to command Kable & Underwood's sloop Diana in sealing expeditions to Bass Strait. The agreement envisaged the working-up of sealskins into leather for boots and shoes. The partnership was to last two years, with Chace spending the coming year at Cape Barren or on other sealing grounds. The association with Chace proved transient but Kable and Underwood remained partners until 1809. At first they exported sealskins in ships controlled by Robert Campbell and his Calcutta partners who had an agent in Canton, but the depressed state of the China market persuaded them to join forces with Simeon Lord who had a valuable London connexion, T. W. & J. Plummer and Co., through which they could market their skins and oil. During the next two years Kable acted as 'ships' husband' to Lord, Kable & Underwood (Lord & Co.). The firm was involved in a wide range of speculations, including whaling, sealing, sandalwood and wholesale and retail trading, but Lord withdrew in 1808, Underwood split from Kable in 1809 and the firm dissolved in a welter of law suits not finally settled until 1819.

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Like Lord and other early Sydney entrepreneurs, Kable always had a substantial landholding as a kind of 'sheet anchor'. He had been granted farms at Petersham Hill in 1794 and 1795, and in the latter year bought out four near-by grantees within a week of their grants being signed. In 1807 he owned at least four farms of about 170 acres (69 ha); in 1809 in addition he held five farms at the Hawkesbury and 300 acres (121 ha) at the Cowpastures, with a variety of real estate in Sydney itself including his comfortable house and extensive stores. He also had 40 horned cattle, 9 horses and 40 pigs. His business reputation seems to have been dubious, for he was regarded with distrust by Governor King and with active hostility by Governor William Bligh who thought him and his partners fraudulent and had them imprisoned for a month and fined each £100 for sending him a letter 'couched in improper terms'. It is certain that Kable played no part in public life comparable with Lord's multifarious activities. His commercial career in Sydney seems to have ended soon after Lord & Co. broke up, for as early as February 1810 he announced that his son Henry had taken over the entire management of his Sydney affairs.

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In 1811 Kable moved to Windsor where he operated a store and brewery, the latter in association with a partner, Richard Woodbury, and his Sydney warehouse was let to Michael Hayes. In 1812 he was sending wheat down the Hawkesbury consigned to Robert Campbell junior, perhaps partly his own growth, partly the fruits of barter for his beer. He was never again a prominent businessman, although he signed a petition in distinguished commercial company for the granting of an auctioneer's licence to William Baker of Windsor in 1821. Evidence collected by Commissioner John Thomas Bigge in 1820 shows that, while he had once owned 700 acres (283 ha) by grant and a further 250 (101 ha) by purchase, he then held only ninety acres (36 ha) and a further thirty acres (12 ha) as a tenant.

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Kable's commercial career cannot really be considered separately from James Underwood's, and it was of little significance compared with Simeon Lord's. In combination with these two, Kable did much to pioneer sealing and shipbuilding in New South Wales, but it was Lord who marketed the skins and Underwood who built the ships; yet Kable's achievements were remarkable for a man who could barely sign his name and had no other claim to literacy than his ability to add a column of figures.

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Kable, in his own words, 'reared ten children'. At least two of them, Henry junior and James, were mariners, commanding vessels owned wholly or in part by their father. James was murdered by Malay pirates in the Straits of Malacca on a return voyage from China about 1810, but Henry remained prominent in Sydney mercantile circles for some time after his father withdrew to Windsor. There are some signs that the elder Kable may have transferred much of his property to his eldest son to avoid having to pay a judgment of £12,000 awarded to Lord in 1811. The property probably included the schooner Geordy which Henry junior owned jointly with William Gaudry who had married Kable's daughter in 1809, and the schooner Endeavour, of which Henry junior was sole owner, and which he employed in the Tahitian pork trade in 1812. A third son, John, known as 'Young Kable', was a prominent pugilist of the 1820s.

 

Susannah Kable died on 8 November 1825, aged 63, but Henry, who was described as a farmer at Pitt Town in the 1828 census, survived her for twenty-one years and died on 16 March 1846 at the age of 84.

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Australian Direction of Biography

Biography - Susannah Kable - People Australia

Susannah Holmes (c.1763-1825) was found guilty on 19 March 1784 at Thetford, Norfolk, of the theft of a quantity of clothing, silver spoons and household linen. Her death sentence was commuted to 14 years transportation. She was sent to Norfolk County Gaol at Nowich Castle and met fellow convict Henry Kable there. Their son was born in the prison in 1786.

Holmes and her son embarked on the Friendship for New South Wales in March 1787; they were transferred to the Charlotte at the Cape of Good Hope, arriving in the colony in January 788 as part of the First Fleet.

Holmes married Henry Kable on 10 February 1788 at Port Jackson; the couple were to have 11 children.  She died on 8 November 1825; her age was given as 63. She was buried at St Matthew's, Windsor.

* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 178

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Kable family papers - State Library of NSW

Henry Kable (1763-1846), businessman, was convicted of burglary at Thetford, Norfolk, England, on 1 February 1783 and sentenced to death. This was commuted to transportation for fourteen years to America, but he remained in prison until he embarked in the transport Friendship, in which he sailed in the First Fleet to New South Wales.
On 10 February 1788 he married Susannah Holmes, a convict from the same village, who had already borne him a son. This was the third marriage (of a group of five) of the new colony.
In 1791 Kable was made a constable and nightwatchman, and a further three years service saw him elevated to chief constable. He was dismissed in 1802 for misbehaviour, after being convicted for breaches of the port regulations and illegally buying and importing pigs from a visiting ship.
Like Simeon Lord and other early Sydney entrepreneurs, Kable always had a substantial landholding. He had been granted farms at Petersham Hill in 1794 and 1795, and in the latter year bought out four near-by grantees within a week of their grants being signed. In 1807 he owned at least four farms of about 170 acres (69 ha); in 1809 in addition he held five farms at the Hawkesbury and 300 acres (121 ha) at the Cowpastures, with a variety of real estate in Sydney itself including his comfortable house and extensive stores.
In 1811 Kable moved to Windsor where he operated a store and brewery, the latter in association with a partner, Richard Woodbury, and his Sydney warehouse was let to Michael Hayes. He was never again a prominent businessman, although he signed a petition in distinguished commercial company for the granting of an auctioneer's licence to William Baker of Windsor in 1821.
Henry and Susannah had ten children. At least two of them, Henry junior and James, were mariners, commanding vessels owned wholly or in part by their father. James was murdered by Malay pirates in the Straits of Malacca on a return voyage from China about 1810, but Henry remained prominent in Sydney mercantile circles for some time after his father withdrew to Windsor. There are some signs that the elder Kable may have transferred much of his property to his eldest son to avoid having to pay a judgment of £12,000 awarded to Lord in 1811. The property probably included the schooner Geordy which Henry junior owned jointly with William Gaudry who had married Kable's daughter in 1809, and the schooner Endeavour, of which Henry junior was sole owner, and which he employed in the Tahitian pork trade in 1812. A third son, John, known as 'Young Kable', was a prominent pugilist of the 1820s. Susannah Kable died on 8 November 1825, aged 63, but Henry, who was described as a farmer at Pitt Town in the 1828 census, survived her for twenty-one years and died on 16 March 1846 at the age of 84.

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Love at Norwich Castle: A Tale of Three Couples – Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery

Couple number three: Henry and Susannah Kable. 1784. The royal palace is now a gaol. Henry Kable and Susannah Holmes, still teenagers, meet and fall desperately and wonderfully in love at Norwich Castle Gaol. Both had been found guilty of their crimes, and initially both were sentenced to death. Their sentences were commuted to transportation to a prison colony. Gaols were a very different place from our prison system today: women and men could, at that time, mix. As a result, in February 1786, we see the birth of their son, Henry Junior, born in the gaol itself.

In 1787, Susannah was due to go on the now famous First Fleet – the first prisoners sent to the new penal colony at Botany Bay, Australia. The Captain refused to take Henry and their son, as neither names were on his list. I can’t imagine the terror of losing your family in such a helpless way. The young couple must have been devastated. As prisoners, their lives, their families, their futures were not their own. Fortunately, it wasn’t only me, 200-odd years later, who could see this. People with power heard their story, heartstrings were pulled, and the decision was made for the couple and their young son to all go together onboard the Friendship to Australia. In February of 1788, they were married. It was a group wedding and the first ceremony of its kind in the new colony.

Their story doesn’t end there. But this blog must. Henry and Susannah really deserve their own Netflix series about their tale. It is moving, fun, poignant and, most of all, it is human. They were the start of a dynasty of proud Kables who still take the pilgrimage across the world to lay hands on the crumbling keep walls where it all began. I’m pleased that we’re a part of their story. It really is romantic. Yes, I know it’s got nothing to do with medieval knights, but it seems right that the real love stories of Norwich Castle aren’t the ones with the kings, but with the rascals.

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Selected excerpts

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02 Sep 1927 - Eastwood Descendant of First Man to Land in Australia - Trove

Eastwood Descendant of First Man to Land in Australia

Mr. H. Teale, of Eastwood, is a descendant of the first couple to be married in Australia. They were Susanna Holmes and Henry Kable.

The wedding ceremony was performed in Sydney by Rev. Richard Johnson in 1788. Other descendants of the family are scattered throughout the Commonwealth.

Henry Kable and Susannah Holmes came to Australia as free settlers in Governor Phillip's first fleet in 1788.

When rowing ashore the boat grounded on the sand, and Kable, taking Governor Phillip on his shoulders, carried him ashore at Sydney Cove.

Not long after the official landing of the first fleet in Australia, Kable, who was the first man of Governor Phillip's party to set foot on Australian soil in the name of the British Government, was appointed chief constable of the settlement.

When the settlement grew, he started a store on the present site of the George Street North police station.

Susanna Kable died on November 6, 1826, and Henry Kable died on March 16, 1864. They were buried side by side with other members of the family in the old vault at Windsor.

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23 Sep 1927 - HENRY KABLE - Trove

HENRY KABLE

(To the Editor)

Sir,—I was highly amused by the false and ridiculous statements made by Mr. H. Teale, of Eastwood, in your issue of 9th September, concerning the origin of his pioneer ancestors, the Kable couple. As I have

so plainly authentically shown in my uncompleted series of articles—of which there are still some ten chapters yet to appear— "Sidelights from Hawkesbury History," both Henry Kable and his wife (nee Susannah Holmes) came in bond by the First Fleet as convicts, each under transportation for the term of seven years, to New South Wales.

Like many other parvenu descendants of "bond colonists" Mr. Teale attempts to make it appear that the Kables came as free settlers. Nothing could be further from the truth. No doubt, Henry Kable himself

shortly after his arrival at Port Jackson, was ashamed of his origin, and like many other Australian descendants of "bond colonists" the pioneer changed the spelling of his surname from "Cable" to "Kable." Perhaps he thought that he would thus be able to hide his identity and origin in that way.

It makes one smile to look at the antics cut by some persons who would even falsify the genealogical descent tree for the sake of "unction to their souls," and think by repeating a line long enough in the Syding misstatements often enough in the Sydney Press and through other mediums, that the story will finally be accepted as irrefutable fact. This particularly applies to the descendants of Henry Kable and his wife.

I like to think with the poet philosopher, Robert Burns. I think it was he who wrote "When Adam delved and Eve span, Where was then the gentleman."

The Kables were the third couple married at Port Jackson, not the first couple. No doubt it is true that Henry Kable was appointed Chief Constable at Sydney, but the Historical Records, Vol. 4, Page 771, show

the statement following:—"Henry Kable having misbehaved in the execution of his duty as Chief Constable at Sydney is removed from that situation. (Signed) PHILIP GIDLEY KING."

Let me tell Mr. Teale, for his information and other folks interested in Hawkesbury history, that the dates of deaths of the pioneer Kable couple, as quoted by him, are inaccurate and incorrect. The date on

the Kable vault is wrong. As to the actual date of Mrs. Susannah Kable's death, one cannot always take tombstone dates or history thereon inscribed about deceased persons as being true. The true genealogist and historian always consults other original sources—contemporary write-ups, and church registers. Even the latter are sometimes at fault. The best sources are to be found in the newspapers of the period in which an event occurred. Very well, here is the account taken from the Sydney "Gazette" newspaper of November 10, 1825, of the death of Mrs. Kable:—

"Died on the 6th instant (6th November, 1825, not 1826), in the 62nd year of her age, after a short but severe illness, at her residence at Windsor, Mrs. Susannah Kable, wife of Mr Henry Kable. Mrs. Kable was one of the oldest inhabitants of this colony, having arrived with her husband in the First Fleet. From

Governor Phillip, as well as the officials collectively, but more particularly from the Rev. Mr. Richard Johnson and lady, Mrs. Kable and family received much friendly attention. Her memory will be long

cherished by her friends, and she was very generally and deservedly respected."

Here is the account taken from the "Hawkesbury Courier," Windsor, of Thursday, March 19th, 1846:—

"Died on Monday last (March 16, 1846) rather suddenly, aged 84 years, Mr. Henry Kable, one of the first settlers (sic) in the Colony, who has seen his children and grand children grow up about him in

comfort and respectability. His remains were followed to his grave yesterday afternoon by a great many neighbors and friends."

It will be thus seen that Henry Kable died on the 16th March, 1846, not the year 1864.

I could write a lot more on the Kables and their descendants, but the foregoing will suffice for the present, as true history from the written and published records of the pioneer Kables.

Yours, etc.,

GEORGE G. REEVE.

September 17th, 1927.

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23 Sep 1927 - (To the. Editor) - Trove

(To the Editor)

Sir,—In your issue of the 9th instant there is a short article under the heading "Henry Kable," which, I must say, I read with astonishment, seeing there are so many available sources where the correct information can be had.

No free settlers named Henry Kable or Susannah Holmes came out in the first fleet in 1788, but persons of that name and their child did come who were not free settlers, and these two persons were married on February 10, 1788, by the Rev. Richard Johnson, being the third couple he married, and they both signed the register book (which is now in the Registrar-General's Office) with their "mark x," which is evidence that they could not write. The story of this couple can be found in Bonwick's "Australia's First Preacher" on page 82.

The other statements are hardly worth noticing, but by the time Henry Kable died he had managed to rehabilitate himself to a fair position.

Yours, etc.,

JAMES H. WATSON.

President Royal Australian Historical Society

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Australia's first preacher : the Rev. Richard Johnson, first chaplain of New South Wales - Page 82

You may remember, sir, a circumstance which greatly interested the publick a little before our leaving England. This was respecting the Norwich gaoler and two convicts, Cabel and Holmes, which, with a child, were removed from the Norwich gaol to Plymouth, in order to be sent board one of the transports then bound to New South Wales.

These two persons I married soon after our arrival here. Some persons made charitable contribution for these two persons—collected the sum of £2O, and laid this out in various articles, at the same time requesting I would see these delivered to them upon our arrival here. Unfortu nately these have not been found.

This circumstance has been brought before the Civil Court out here, when a verdict was found in their favour against the captain of the Alexander—am sorry this charitable intention and action had been brought to this disagreeable issue, the more so because the publick seemed to be so much interested in their welfare.

The child is still living, of a weakly con stitution, but a fine boy. Hope, sir, you will excuse my freedom in directing these few lines to you. My chief intention, as I have already mentioned, being to inform you of my health and welfare and that 1 may have the honour of once more subscribing myself, Hon. Sir, Your most Obedient Humble Servant, UICHARD JOHXSOX.” Evan Nepean, Esq. A newspaper of 1813, referring to the incident, records the fact that the father of the little one, so befriended by the humane gaoler and the Chaplain, in 1787, afterwards rose to be a man of wealth and position in New South Wales.

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