Researchers who have claimed this convict
There are currently 2 researchers who have claimed James Dridge
- Researcher (9182)
- Researcher (Edward Dridge)
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Biographies
Baptised 28 June 1788 at Chalton, Hants, England.
Son of Edward Dridge and Ann White
Married Sarah (Sally) Miller, born 1781 Westbourne, Sussex in 1797.She died at Emsworth in 1842 aged 60.
Served as a seaman/marine 1804 -1816 as was customary for men from this fishing community.
At least 9 children born to the marriage but only first 3 seemed to have survived. There was a large gap between 3 and 4 - service away or syphilis?
Eldest son Edward born 1798 had 8 surviving children with wife Martha Randall at Emsworth, Hants, England.
Submitted by Researcher (9182) on 9 April 2018
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James DRIDGE was born in June 1778 in the rural parish of Chalton, Hampshire, England, and was baptised on 28 June 1778 at St. Michael and All Angels Church, recorded as the son of Edward DRIDGE and Anne (née WHITE). The DRIDGE family had modest roots in the Hampshire-Sussex border region, largely working as fisher folk. As a young man, he moved to Sussex, where on 29 December 1797 he married Sarah "Sally" MILLER at St. John the Baptist Church in Westbourne. Over the following two decades, James and Sarah established their family in the Westbourne and Emsworth area, welcoming at least seven children: Edward, William, Lucy, Sarah, Eliza, Elizabeth, and Mary Ann, their names reflecting traditional English naming patterns of the era. Sadly, several of these children died young (for example, infant daughter Sarah in 1810 and baby Mary Ann in 1818), though others survived to adulthood.
This period of family life was abruptly ended by a desperate criminal act in early 1818. James, alongside an accomplice named William STONEHAGE, was committed to Horsham Gaol on 2 February 1818, accused of burgling the dwelling-house of a Mr. CRASWELLER on Thorney Island. At the Sussex Spring Assizes later that year, he was found guilty of burglary, a capital offence, and was sentenced to death. In a common practice for property crimes, his sentence was commuted to transportation for life. He was transferred to Portsmouth, likely held on a prison hulk, and on 31 August 1818, embarked on the convict ship Globe as one of 140 male convicts. After a four-month voyage, with one convict death en route, he arrived in Sydney, New South Wales, on 8 January 1819, forever separated from his family.
James's life in the colony began as a convict under a life sentence. Early musters indicate he was in the Sydney area from 1822 to 1824. A tantalizing, though ambiguous, reference in a December 1819 Government Order mentions an "James EDRIDGE" being appointed a constable in the Cowpastures district, which may be a misspelling and refer to James DRIDGE, suggesting he quickly gained a measure of trust. By the time of the 1828 Census of New South Wales, he was recorded as a 45-year-old convict residing in the Bathurst district, a frontier settlement west of the Blue Mountains. His demonstrated good conduct was formally recognized on 20 July 1829, when he was granted a Ticket of Leave for the Bathurst district, allowing him to live and work for himself within that district.
A decade later, James achieved a significant milestone towards freedom. In April 1839, he was granted a Conditional Pardon, which absolved him of the remainder of his life sentence on the condition that he not depart the Australian colonies. From this point, he was a legally free man. The documentary record for his later years becomes sparse; he did not remarry and had no further known children. He was confirmed to be alive as late as 21 February 1848. The exact date and place of his death in New South Wales remain unconfirmed, with no official death or burial record located, though it is believed he died in the late 1840s or early 1850s.
Throughout James's three-decade ordeal in Australia, his family remained in England. His wife, Sarah "Sally" DRIDGE, never joined him and died in North Street, Emsworth, in 1842, a poignant end to their long separation. Their children grew to adulthood in England, facing the stigma and economic hardship of being a convict's family. None are known to have travelled to Australia during James's lifetime, and the English DRIDGE lineage continued through them, while James's own line in Australia likely ended with him. His story is a profound narrative of early 19th-century life, encompassing humble beginnings, a large family, a fateful crime, and eventual redemption through transportation, permanent exile, and a hard-won freedom on the colonial frontier.
Submitted by Researcher (Edward Dridge) on 31 October 2025
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Disclaimer: The information has not been verified by Claim a Convict. As this information is contributed, it is the responsibility of those who use the data to verify its accuracy. Research notes
There are currently no research notes attached to this convict. Sources
- The National Archives (TNA) : HO 11/3, p.100
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