JAMES PAULL

It seems that the Paull family originated in France, possibly in Flanders.  The family is alleged to be descended from the Conte' De St. Pol of Soissons.  They are likely to have been one of the many families who fled to England during the Huguenot persecutions of the 17th Century.  Some of these families, wool carders by trade, came to Taunton in Somersetshire.  By the 1780s James Paull and his wife Joan Davy were living in this region of Somerset.  They were married in the parish of Chillington in 1781. Their eldest son William (married Martha Chick) was baptised in the nearby village of Kingstone the following year.  A second son James (married Elizabeth ?) was baptised a few years later at Dowlish Wake.  Thereafter there was a gap, at which point the family could have moved to other parts of Somerset, until a baptism was recorded at Chillington for a son George in 1798.  Another son, Thomas was baptised soon after, however neither it seems, survived to adulthood.  Thomas was buried at Chillington in 1807 and James and Joan baptised a second son named George in about 1803.

Some time, later in life James and Joan appear to have moved once again, this time to Seavington St. Mary in Somerset where James died in 1830, and Joan a few months later in 1831.

WILLIAM PAULL

William Paull and Martha Chick were married at Chillington in 1806.  Their descendants remained mostly in Somerset, but by the late 19th Century, one branch of the family had moved to Monmouth in Wales where their descendants can still be found today.

Within a few years of their marriage they moved to Misterton, Somerset where they are known to have baptised four children:  Martha (married Henry England), James, Lucy and Thomas.

JAMES PAULL

James Jnr. and his wife Elizabeth were married in about 1805, although in which parish is not clear.  Their four eldest children, George (married Lydia Trott), Robert, John (married Anne Charlotte Luce) and Joseph (married Eliza M. ?) were all baptised at Chillington.  James stated his occupation as labourer or blacksmith in each case.

Their four younger children were all baptised in the parish of Kingstone.  They were Mary, Eliza, Charles (married Elizabeth McDonald) and James.  James continued his blacksmithing in Kingstone as he had done in Chillington.

At some point, probably prior to about 1832 James, Elizabeth and their family moved from Somerset to the Channel Islands where they settled at St. Helier on the Island of Jersey.  It is understood that Elizabeth worked as a librarian. 

James died at St. Helier in 1841.  Elizabeth's date of death is unknown, however she was still living in 1844 when two of her sons migrated to Australia.

Of their remaining children, it seems that some at least stayed in the Channel Islands as their descendants remain there to this day.  Their son Joseph appears to have married and raised a family at St. Helier.  He and his family lived at the bakery which he ran.  In 1881 an adult son (William) and three adult daughters (Eliza M., Elizabeth and Edith G.) were still living in the family home.

GEORGE PAULL

It seems that George was already living with his family at St. Helier, Jersey when he returned to Somerset to marry Lydia Trott in 1831.  The ceremony took place in Lydia's parish of Lopen.  Soon after, George and his bride returned to St. Helier where their eldest child James, (married Elizabeth Freebody), was born the following year.  A further seven children followed, all born at St. Helier.  These children were:  Mary Anne, George W., Elizabeth (died as a child), John, Philip, Emma (died as an infant) and Charles William (died as an infant).

The marriage record of George Paull and Lydia Trott from the Lopen Parish Registers.

In 1844, George, Lydia and their children migrated to the Colony of New South Wales as assisted immigrants aboard the "St. Vincent."  Also on the voyage was George's brother John and his family and possibly also their brother Charles.  George soon settled at Pitt Town, near Windsor, New South Wales, where he was employed as a carpenter and wheelwright by Mr. John McDonald also of Pitt Town.

Within a few months of their arrival in the colony, the baby, Charles William died.  Two more children were born to the couple at Pitt Town, they were Alfred (married Catherine Findlay) and Albert (married Mary Ann MacKenzie).

George's own life in the colony was to be cut short when he and his young son Philip died at Pit Town in a drowning accident in 1847, leaving Lydia as a widow with six children to support.

JOHN PAULL

Unlike his older brother, John appears to have married in Jersey.  His wife was Anne Charlotte Luce/Lewis, a native of the island.  The couple were married early in 1838 and their eldest child Mary Anne (married Richard Boxall) was baptised later that year.  In all, thirteen children were born to the couple, four, before they left for Australia.  In addition to Mary Anne there was Henry William (died as an infant) and twins James (married Mary Anne Cox) and John (married Sarah Brown).

After their arrival in Australia per the "St. Vincent" John was employed as a dairyman and labourer in the Illawarra district of New South Wales.  A son Charles (married 1:  Louisa Cox;  married 2:  Clarinda Elsie Warman) was born to the couple at Wollongong within a few months of their arrival, followed by a brother, Edward (married Clara Lowe).  By the time of Edward's birth John and his family had joined his brother George at Pitt Town.  More births followed:  William (died as an infant), Philip (married Charlotte Cox), Jane (married William Bailey), Harriet Elizabeth (married Robert William Short), Thomas (married Mary Ann Moses) and Robert Samuel (died as an infant).  Another son who presumably did not survive infancy may also have been born to the couple.

Sadly for his large family, John died as a result of a gangrenous infection in his arm in 1858.  He was buried at the Pitt Town Cemetery in the same plot as his infant son William.  Anne Charlotte lived a further twenty-four years, dying in Sydney in 1882, where she was buried in the Rookwood Anglican Cemetery.

CHARLES PAULL

Charles is believed to have been about seventeen years of age when he arrived in Australia.  Although his name is not recorded on the shipping records for the "St. Vincent" along with his other family members, it is possible that he travelled in steerage, being too young to qualify for the government assistance scheme.

In 1848 he married Elizabeth McDonald in the Scot's Church in Sydney.  Nine children were born to Charles and Elizabeth.  The births of the eldest children, Elizabeth, Amelia/Emily, Mary and Charles were all registered at Portland Head in the Illawarra district.  Their birth was followed by that of another son, James, then twins Effie and Rose and another infant who did not survive.  The latter three births were all registered at Penrith, whilst the birth of their youngest child, Elspet A. was once again registered at Portland Head.

Charles died at Parramatta in 1884 and was buried at St. Matthew's Church of England Cemetery in Windsor.  Elizabeth died some eighteen years later at Mount Druit.  She was buried at Windsor with Charles.

If you are related to any branch of the Paull family and would like further details or have information to share, I would love to hear from you!

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