Whilst researching Butcombe I stumbled across the story of Henry Savery. I hope you enjoy reading this little piece of history.
The Bitter Bread of Banishment - The Extraordinary Story of Henry Savery
Henry Savery was born in 1791 at Butcombe Court (posted coordinates), an 18th-century grade II listed manor house and went on to become Australia's first ever novellist.
Born into a well-to-do family, his father was a city banker, however it was their ancestors that provided them with every acre of Butcombe Court. An ancient relative, Thomas Savery, succeeded in inventing the world's first steam engine and Servington Savery, Henry's great grandfather, was also an inventor, concocting the first artificial magnet.
However it was Henry's life that was the most extraordinary and not just because he was the author of the first ever novel written on Australian soil. His story was an eventful and remarkable one, albeit rather tragic. Henry has been described as a man who lived many lives and as ‘a man whose own story is as picaresque as anything inside the covers of a novel’.
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Henry Savery had an upbringing reported as rich in material comforts as it was devoid of parental affection. He was sometimes referred to as Quintus, meaning fifth child. From an early age he developed a passion for literature and was viewed as the smart child. His head was filled with the illustrious deeds of his ancestors and he soon began to feel pressured to become a success by his father. Then, when one of the bank's biggest creditors collapsed leaving the family's finances in peril, he was sent to boarding school to obtain a solid commercial education so he would succeed in business.
Savery thrived at school, becoming the top scholar and captain. His early manhood was spent in London where he met his wife, Eliza Oliver. They moved to Stapleton in Bristol in 1815 and a year later their son, Henry Oliver was born. It was around this time that things started to wrong for Savery.
Records indicate that from 1817 Savery, in conjunction with a partner named Bigg, carried on the business of sugar-refining—or, as it was called then, sugar-baking. This shortly ran into trouble, and in 1819 Savery was declared bankrupt at Bristol's Commerical Rooms. Suspicions begin to arise when Savery's next few ventures ended in a similar fate. Reports suggest that he had grandiose ideas, and over-extended the capacity of each firm that was unlucky enough to have him as its guiding spirit.
It was in the year 1824 whilst working again in the sugar-baking business with a partner, Mr Saward, that Henry was to commit the crowning folly of his life. He had again, without the knowledge of his partner, committed the firm beyond its resources. His vanity, would not allow him to confess this indebtedness, as he had for about two years been negotiating bills with fictitious names and addresses.
Savery's initial charge was that he had feloniously and falsely made, forged, and counterfeited a note for the sum of £500. Alarmed by the recent execution of the famous forger Henry Fauntleroy (more on him later), Savery decided to decamp. He had already reached London when an irregularity in one of the fraudulent bills happened to be noted in Bristol. This caused his partner Saward to look into the affairs of the company, and to discover that a large stock of sugar invoiced to a creditor had been taken from the warehouse and sold to another merchant for a draft of £1500, which Savery had exchanged for a credit. Saward set out forthwith in pursuit of his absconding partner.
Saward met Savery's wife in Bath, who had been abandoned, as her route to Savery would be traced and his ruin effected. Savery's wife falsely claimed Savery had already departed for America. Saward and the authorities still hopefully continued the pursuit. At the start of December 1824 whilst in London, Saward received information that led him to suspect Savery had not yet gone, but was a passenger on the Hudson, soon to sail from Cowes. The end of the chase was now in sight. Saward engaged a constable at Cowes, and they rowed out to the Hudson, now only thirty minutes from its hour of sailing. From its deck the fugitive, passing under the name of Servinton, watched their approach with trepidation. They boarded the vessel, and Savery threw himself into the sea. He was rescued, and in agony of mind dashed his head against the walls of the ship repeatedly. They restrained his violence and took him ashore.
From then until his committal Savery was on the verge of insanity. Two peace-officers constantly attended him to prevent further acts of self-violence. He was taken back to Bristol by coach, at one time in the depths of despondency, at another singing light songs in an access of elation. They reached Bristol on December 15 and Savery was brought up before the Mayor and the Magistrates at the Guildhall. His incoherence was such that several postponements took place until he was at last, on December 23, committed for trial at the next Assizes.
It transpired that the monies that Savery procured amounted in the end to £40,000, and his firm only had assets covering about two-thirds of the sum. Savery pleaded guilty hoping that such a plea would gain mercy. He was also not aware that issuing fictitious signatures was subject to the same sentence as forgery. In fact, it seems certain that he had earlier been advised to plead guilty with the assurance that this would save his life. His plea had the opposite effect and the judge was recorded as saying "...it is my painful duty to pronounce that you, Henry Savery, be taken from hence to the place from whence you came, and thence to the place of execution, and there to be hanged by the neck until you are dead."
The day of execution was later appointed as Friday, April 22, 1825. Matters, of course, did not rest there. Savery fortunately had some powerful friends and representations were speedily made to the Home Department. The argument that he had been induced to plead guilty, with the certainty of imprisonment instead of a death sentence, was the chief point in his favour and Savery's friends were certain that the magistrates decision would be overturned.
The days dragged on with no definite news, and Savery must have resigned himself to death despite the reassurances of friends. At last, however, on Thursday, April 21, less than twenty-four hours before the time appointed for the execution, Savery was informed that his life had been spared and his sentence was commuted to transportation.
Savery was seen at the time seen as very fortunate to get a reprieve. His case was closely preceded by that of Henry Fauntleroy, the most notorious forger of his generation, who is thought to have forged notes to the tune of a quarter of a million pounds in his startling career. After an elaborate trial Fauntleroy was executed at Newgate on November 30, 1824, at the age of forty, in the presence, according to reports, of 100,000 spectators. So there was good precedent for Savery's suffering the same fate.
Sometime in August Savery departed England for the last time on the ship Medway with 171 other convicts. A fresh start in Tasmania, Australia was not to be however and he was soon up to his old devious ways. In December 1825 he was employed as a clerk in the colonial secretary's office and then in the colonial treasurer's office, which given his fraudulent history, raised a fair few eyebrows. Savery played the people around him and within a month he had procured a certificate of his ability to support his wife and son, which would ensure that they were to be brought out to Tasmania at the public expense. While waiting for his family's arrival he continued to over-extend himself and ended up in considerable debt once more.
Savery's wife sadly believed his letters which wildly exaggerated his position and wealth in the colony. Early in 1828 Henry's wife and son arrived at Hobart to find Savery still a convict and threatened by a writ for debt. To make matters worse Savery's distress was heightened by rumours of his wife's conduct with Algeron Monatgu, the attorney-general, to whose care her parents had entrusted her on the 18-week voyage to Australia.
A week after his wife's arrival, Savery attempted suicide. Luckily for him, a doctor was on hand and Savery's life was preserved. His recovery was not the end of his troubles. Savery was imprisoned for debt and his wife and son left Australia a few months later in mid-February 1829, never to return.
While in prison Savery starting writing using the pseudonym Simon Stukeley. His works formed the first volume of Australian essays; published in Hobart in 1829. After his release Savery wrote the first Australian novel and it was published in 1831. Both works are now extremely rare, only four or five copies of each being known to exist.
In his final years, Savery engaged in agriculture, was granted a conditional pardon early in 1838, and even had one or two assigned servants. Then, falling into debt, he once again forged bills, was arrested, and in October 1840 was condemned by his wife's former protector, Montagu. Savery was sent to Port Arthur prison, where he died on 6 February 1842.
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The two words in Italics above are all you need for the checker. You can read Savery's story in his own words in the attached images in the cache gallery.
