In October 1813 Robert Owen began his legal career as a clerk of William Webster of North Shields. The document detailing the agreement was between William Webster, Attorney of the King’s Bench and Common Pleas at Westminster, Samuel Hall the elder, Sarah Owen widow, and her son Robert Owen.1 Samuel Hall the elder was probably Sarah’s father. Robert was the son of sea captain Robert Owen and his wife Sarah Hall.
By 1824 Robert Owen was a solicitor and living at Newcastle on Tyne where he married Jessy Threipland2 on 14 February 1824.3 Four children were born:
- Stuart Moncrieff Owen born 7 December 1824 at Newcastle on Tyne. He probably died young as no further mention of him has been located.
- Florence Sarah Imlac[k] Owen 15 November 1826 – 17 April 1850
- Percy Owen 7 September 1828 – 18 June 1915
- Robert Hall Owen 10 January 1830 – 24 August 1874
Both of the older children were baptised shortly after their births – Stuart Moncrieff Owen was baptised on 29 December 1824 at Christ Church, Northumberland4 and Florence Sarah Imlack Owen was baptised on 7 March 1827 at St Leonard, Shoreditch, Middlesex.5 Percy and Robert Hall Owen were both baptised on 28 December 1836 at St Leonard, Shoreditch, Middlesex.6 Why there was a delay in their baptism is odd but all might not have been well in the Owen household.
At the Central Criminal court in Middlesex on 17 June 1839 Jessy Owen was found guilty of stealing some linen from a lodging house where she was staying and was sentenced to one month in Newgate prison.7 This was a very light sentence; others had longer sentences or were transported for far less.
Perhaps as a consequence of that event Robert Owen bought a small vessel and sailed to Australia. His biographies8 state that he came to Australia with his two sons but he probably also had his daughter Florence with him as she was not with her mother in the 1841 Census and is not listed on any immigration records. Florence married Jules Joubert in Sydney 1848.
Jessy Threipland returned to Fingask Castle by 1841 where is listed with her sisters Eliza and Catherine. They are all aged 40 years… Jessy was to remain at Fingask as a ‘spinster’ for the rest of her life. She died in 1871 and was buried in the Kinnaird Parish Churchyard.
Back in Australia Robert Owen married for a second time. His bride was Mary Catherine Hogan and they were married according to the rites of the Catholic Church in 1854. Robert was 55 years old but Mary was only 23 years old and they did not waste any time starting a family. Five children were born:
- Alfred Owen 11 September 1854 – 1933
- Amelia Owen 1856 –
- Alice Owen 1858 -1929
- Henry Percy Owen 1860 – 1936
- Mary I Owen 1862 –
Robert Owen died on 25 November 1878 and was buried in the legal section of Rookwood cemetery. Just seven years later his son Henry Percy was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1885. Mary Catherine who was now known as Kathleen Mary died on 31 May 1904 and was buried in Waverly cemetery.
See also:
Parliamentary service – Parliament of New South Wales Robert Owen
Owen family – military timeline
1. ↑ The National Archives of the UK (TNA); Kew, Surrey, England; Court of King’s Bench: Plea Side: Affidavits of Due Execution of Articles of Clerkship, Series I; Class: KB 105; Piece: 24
2. ↑ Jessy’s name at baptism was Janet Threipland. She was born on 2 February 1793 to Patrick Budge Murray Threipland and his wife Janet (Jessie) Murray Scott. “Scotland Births and Baptisms, 1564-1950”, database, FamilySearch. Sir Patrick Murray Threipland (1762–1837) was the 4th Baronet of Fingask.
3. ↑ Durham University. Marriage licence Bonds and Allegations DDR/EJ/MLA/1/1824/56. Transcript online https://n2t.durham.ac.uk/ark:/32150/s1cv43nw82p.xml
4. ↑ Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Christening Index, 1530-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2008.
5. ↑ Shoreditch St Leonard, Bishop’s transcript.
6. ↑ Shoreditch St Leonard, parish register, baptisms 1836, p. 257.
7. ↑ Home Office: Criminal Registers, Middlesex and Home Office: Criminal Registers, England and Wales; Class: HO 26; Piece: 45; Page: 166
8. ↑ H. T. E. Holt, ‘Owen, Robert (1799–1878)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/owen-robert-4351/text7067, published first in hardcopy 1974,; Parliament of New South Wales, Mr Robert Owen. https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/members/formermembers/Pages/former-member-details.aspx?pk=274; Wikipedia contributors. “Robert Owen (Australian politician).” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
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