This is the fourth installment in our on-going series about Robert Austin Shearn - A Criminal in the Family.
In Part One - Troubled: A Criminal in the Family we provided a short introduction to Robert Austin Shearn (1877-1940). He lived a troubled life and got into quite a bit of mischief. In that post, I wrote that Robert’s mother, Arabella Cowley, was Robert’s father, Charles Hall Shearn’s, first wife. She was Charles’ second wife. His first wife, Matilda Hart, gave Charles two sons, Charles James Hall Shearn (1858-1933) and James Parfitt Shearn (1862-1877).* Matilda died in early 1875. Charles and Arabella married on 27 April 1876.
For Part Two - 1877: A Fateful Year we looked in-depth at the year 1877 when Robert was born, his mother died, and his brother died.
For Part Three - British Army Service we examined Robert's British Army Service record.
Part Four - Leaving the UK
In our last A Criminal in the Family post we went over Robert Austin Shearn’s UK military record. He signed up for a six year term but only served about nine months. His service term was "Purchased." That happened on 17 June 1987. On 16 October 1897 he was on a ship headed for Australia. Last time we asked, Why? And did this have anything to do with his father removing him from his will on 12 March 1898?
As we searched for answers we started with the question, Why was his service purchased? We looked for a criminal record in the UK or anything in the military record that would indicate bad behavior. Online criminal records for the period are a bit limited, but we did find a dozen Shearns in a collection called "England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935" at findmypast.co.uk. However, none of the records were our Robert Austin. We searched the same collection for Macfarlane because we know that at some point Robert used that name as an alias. The surname turned up thirty-four results none of which was our Robert. So there is no known military disciplinary action nor any known criminal record or court case indicating that Robert may have committed an offense that had him removed from the military. Of course, it is possible that any record was quashed.
Robert’s father, Charles Hall Shearn, worked for the Marquis of Lansdowne who may have had power and the inclination to negotiate a deal that left no record. For that matter, Charles may have had some pull or known the right people to prevent a record from being created. Because his service was cut short and listed as purchased, coupled with his father’s position, it is possible that Robert committed some offense in the military or elsewhere during his service, and somehow he was not tried. Add to this that Robert soon after the purchase left the country, was struck from his father’s will, and later lived a life of small time crime in New Zealand and Australia, we are left with some implication that he had done something bad. Of course, this is all down to supposition and speculation.
A brief look back shows that Robert spent some time with his mother’s family. Of course we do not know how much, but recall that his mother died due to complications from childbirth. Robert never knew his mother. In 1891 he was found in the census with his Uncle Robert and Aunt Jane (nee Plaster) Cowley in Bampton, Oxfordshire. The way the UK census was done Robert Austin Shearn could have just happened to be visiting, or he could have been living there. It is not made clear. He was not with his father on census day in 1891. Charles and his last wife Eliza were together in Mayfair along with their son Albert Henry and their four servants. Perhaps it was his mother’s family that prompted Robert to leave England.
Records indicate that Robert boarded the Ophir in Plymouth on 16 October 1897. He was listed as Shearn, Robert A., Clerk, 20 years old, destination Sydney. Why did he choose to go to Australia? It may have been that his Uncle Ebenezer, his mother’s brother, and his Aunt Jane Wilson were there. Many of Robert’s aunts and uncles moved to South Africa over the years, but Ebenezer and Janet lived in Queensland for many years. At times, it appears that Robert was close to them. In fact, Janet’s middle name was Macfarlane. Certainly that is where Robert pulled his alias.
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