James Hasleby (born 1833, Stamford Lincs UK; died 1903,

Northampton, Western Australia Northampton is a town north of Geraldton, in the Mid West region of Western Australia. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 868.The town contains a National Trust building. The town lies on the North West Coastal Highway. Originally ...

), was an English

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as " prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former conv ...

transported ''Transported'' is an Australian convict melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln. It is considered a lost film. Plot In England, Jessie Grey is about to marry Leonard Lincoln but the evil Harold Hawk tries to force her to marry him and she w ...

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. He was one of only 37 convicts transported to the colony to overcome the

social stigma Social stigma is the disapproval of, or discrimination against, an individual or group based on perceived characteristics that serve to distinguish them from other members of a society. Social stigmas are commonly related to culture, gender, ra ...

of convictism to become school teachers, and one of only four convicts to be elected a member of a local Education Board. Notwithstanding his previous conviction at the Old Bailey, in 1893 he was appointed Clerk of the Local Court at Northampton. Little is known of James Hasleby's early life. Born in 1833, he worked as a clerk. At the Old Bailey in February 1864 he pleaded guilty to three indictments for embezzlement, after a former conviction at Preston in October, 1856 and was sentenced to eight years penal servitude. Hasleby was transported to Western Australia on board the , arriving in July 1867. He received a

ticket of leave A ticket of leave was a document of parole issued to convicts who had shown they could now be trusted with some freedoms. Originally the ticket was issued in Britain and later adapted by the United States, Canada, and Ireland. Jurisdictions ...

in 1868, and taught at the Greenhills School, now Irishtown, near Northam until receiving a Conditional Pardon in 1870, when he resigned from teaching. He received his Certificate of Freedom in 1872. In 1873 he advertised himself as a storekeeper and in October 1873 leased the Avon Bridge Hotel. He employed a number of ticket of leave convicts in his businesses. In 1873 he married Eliza Barlow, with whom he would have seven children. Hasleby served as Honorary Secretary of the Northam Farmers' Club, and in 1874 was elected a member of the local Education Board. A prestigious and respected body, only three other convicts achieved membership of a local Education Board: Daniel Connor,

Malachi Meagher Malachi (; ) is the traditional author of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Nevi'im (Prophets) section of the Tanakh. According to the 1897 ''Easton's Bible Dictionary'', it is possible that Malachi is not a proper name, as it simply mean ...

and

Herman Moll Herman Moll (mid-17th century – 22 September 1732) was a London cartographer, engraver, and publisher. Origin and early life While Moll's exact place and date of birth are unknown, he was probably born in the mid-seventeenth century in G ...

. He also became involved in a venture that intended to establish a second, co-operative, Northam flour mill. Hasleby's leasehold of the Avon Bridge Hotel unfortunately coincided with the rise of the temperance movement in Australia in general, and in Northam in particular, and by December 1875 he became insolvent. With the hotel sold by the owner, he returned to teaching. The new owner was no more successful and in 1881 the hotel was shut down. From 1876 Hasleby taught at

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

, south-east of Toodyay, until 1877 when the school closed. He then took over the Gwalla School at Northampton until his retirement in 1893. He also served as Secretary of the Northampton Roads Board, as clerk to the magistrates and Clerk of the Local Court at Northampton and, in the absence of a clergyman, officiated at local funerals. Hasleby was one of a very small number of convicts in Western Australia to overcome the social stigma of his conviction and obtain a respectable position in society. Although most respectable occupations were closed to ex-convicts, the colony was desperately short of teachers, yet unable to pay a sufficient wage to attract them. Whereas educated people of the "free" class were not attracted to teaching positions, the positions were attractive to educated ex-convicts, for whom the salary was no lower than other vocations open to them, and the job offered a degree of respectability. In total, 39 ex-convicts became school teachers in Western Australia. Erickson (1983) has suggested that the use of ex-convict school teachers played an important role in the gradual breaking down of the social stigma of convictism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasleby, James 1833 births 1903 deaths Convicts transported to Western Australia Settlers of Western Australia Australian schoolteachers