A Waterloo Veteran

Joseph James (1797-1852)

The last person on this line I would like to write about is my 3x great-grandfather and father of Mary James from my last post. Joseph James was baptised in Taunton, Somerset on 25 December 1797. He joined the army (40th Regiment of Foot) in 1811 at the age of 13. 

I haven’t seen Joseph’s military record (if such a thing exists from that time) but the regimental history indicates his first battle experience would have been the Peninsula War, during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1815 he was involved in the Battle of Waterloo. Many years later, as a publican in the Blue Mountains of NSW, he proudly displayed his Battle of Waterloo military medal behind the bar of the Welcome Inn, Valley Heights and no doubt told anyone who noticed it how he single-handedly defeated Napoleon. Joseph was discharged from the 40th Regiment of Foot due to injury on 20 October 1820. 

In 1825 Governor Lachlan Macquarie disbanded the NSW Rum Corps. It was decided that three new Veteran Companies would be raised for general policing duties as superintendents and overseers in NSW and Tasmania. Pay was generous, service was limited to two years and land grants were promised upon discharge. 

Married men were allowed to bring their families which would have been attractive to Joseph James as he had married Ann Bury/Berry/Buray in 1818. Joseph enlisted in the NSW 2nd Veteran Company Regiment of Foot on 9 January 1826 and he and Mary arrived in Sydney aboard the “Orpheus” on 12 September 1826.

I have few details of Joseph’s service in the 2nd Veteran Company other than he was garrisoned at Windsor Barracks for part of his service and he was not discharged until 30 September 1831 after five years service. 

Ann James had three children during Joseph’s time in the 2nd Veteran Company:

Alexander James (1826-1900)

Mary James (1829-1918) (my 2x great-grandmother)

William James (1831-1908)

After his discharge Joseph James worked on a farm called the Governors Arms, north of Parramatta, but did not receive his land grant until 1839. I don’t know all the circumstances of this delay, but it seems to tied up in public protests about common land being given as Veterans’ Allotments. Joseph’s allotment, Governors Arms, is shown on a modern map of the North Rocks area:

Joseph and Ann had another three children during the period they farmed at North Rocks:

Jane James (1833-1835

Jane James (1836-1875)

Joseph Samuel James (1840-1892)

Anecdotal records suggest the Field of Mars area was used by sly grog distillers. I have no firm evidence that Joseph James was involved but in 1843 he became licensee of the Pilgrim Inn at Blaxland on the Blue Mountains. This is where Mary James was born in 1929 so it is clear he had a long association with the lower Blue Mountains area. Three years later Joseph bought the Welcome Inn at Valley Heights where he worked until his death in 1852.

The three youngest James children were born while Joseph was publican of the Welcome Inn:

Jessie Elizabeth James (1844-1916)

Lydia James (b.1846)

Frances Mary James (1848-1852)