John Henry Deffell

Major absentee slave-owner in Jamaica, son of John Deffell (q.v.). Reportedly a suicide, in 'a very extraordinary manner', in 1847. His suicide, if indicative of financial pressure, might call into question whether the legacies under his will were ever paid.

1.  Married Elizabeth Mackenzie 'of this parish' 18/04/1805 St George's Bloomsbury. Death registered Q4 1847 East London (died 28/10/1847).

2. Sale of J.H. Deffell's interests in Swansea Brown's Hall, Brown's Town (St John) and Hayes Penn and Browne's Pasture (St Dorothy) in 1856 as result of Scott v Deffell.

3. Death on the 28th ult. (October 1847) John Henry Deffell Esq., of 38 Upper Harley Street aged 70.

4. John Henry Deffell's son George Hibbert Deffell (1819-1895) has an entry in the Australian Dictionary of National Biography as 'judge'. John Henry Deffell's grand-daughter Georgina Harriet, 'daughter of Mr John Deffell an East India merchant', married Sir Frederick Pollock 'the eminent jurist' in August 1873 and died aged 89 in 1935. Pollock's own obituary in 1937 describes her as daughter of John Deffell of Calcutta.

5. University of Hull Archives has papers of Crust Todd And Mills Solicitors of Beverley dealing with sale of John Henry [sic] Deffell's estate in Jamaica after his death c.1805.

6. Will of John Henry Deffell of Upper Harley Street [made in 1843] proved 12/11/1847. He left £23,000 to his children (£4000 to five of them and £3000 to John Deffell). He had not, he said, made any provision for his son John Henry Deffell who had in 1841 received £4088 8s 2d 31/2% annuities and £347 13s cash from his business connection with Francis Henry Mitchell, for which connection he was indebted to his father the testator. He identified his estates as Swansea and Salt Spring.

Bury and Norwich Post Suffolk, England 3 Nov 1847 'COMMERCIAL INTELLIGENCE.'

1. Ancestry.com, London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 [database online] St George Bloomsbury 1805; FreeUKGen, England and Wales Free BMD Database, Deaths, 1837-1983 [database online]. Charlotte, Francis and George Hibbert Deffell from Ancestry.com, London, England Births and Baptisms 1813-1906 [database online]. John (Letitia Hill) and Henry Deffell (Harriet Susannah Green) are shown separately as marrying in 1843 and 1842 respectively, both giving John Henry Deffell as father [London, England Marriages and Banns 1754-1921]. A John Henry Deffell is shown born about 1809, dying aged 70 1879 Croydon [England and Wales FreeBMD Death Index 1837-1915] but this may be a confusion. John Deffell merchant died 03/06/1861 in Calcutta, leaving widow Letitia of 65 Schadow Strasse Dusseldorf Prussia, effects under £8000 [National Probate Calendar 1862]. Henry Deffell formerly of 17 Queen Anne Street Cavendish Square but late of Truro Tudor-road Upper Norwood died 06/02/1879 , personal estate under £3000, Harriet Susanna Deffell of Truro widow. Date of death of John Henry Deffell shown in London Gazette, Issue 20879, 21/07/1848, p. 2737 in context of Chancery suit Scott v Deffell.

2. London Gazette, Issue 21946, 02/12/1856, p. 4095.

3. Times 01/11/1847 p. 7.

4. http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/deffell-george-hibbert-3386 [accessed 07/10/2017]; Times 01/04/1935 p. 9 Obituaries 'Lady Pollock a Victorian hostess'. Times 19/01/1937 p. 14 Issue Obituaries Sir Frederick Pollock K.C. 'The "Old Broad Culture"'.

5. University of Hull Archives, DDCV/198/1-DDCV/198/7; DDCV/25/28.

6. PROB 11/2064/301.