Nathaniel "Nate" Blackburn

Early Life and Family Origins

Nathaniel "Nate" Blackburn was born on 14th September 1796 in the industrial heart of Birmingham, Warwickshire, to Joseph and Mary (née Thornton) Blackburn. The second of four children, Nate grew up in the cramped terraces of Deritend district, where the constant din of metalwork provided the soundtrack to his childhood. His father, Joseph Blackburn (1769-1824), was a respected journeyman blacksmith who maintained a small forge on Alcester Street, whilst his mother Mary (1772-1819) took in washing to supplement the family income. His elder brother William (b. 1794) showed early promise as a clerk, securing employment with Boulton & Watt's manufactory, whilst his younger sisters Elizabeth (b. 1798) and Sarah (b. 1801) both entered domestic service at young ages.

The Blackburn household was one of rigid discipline tempered by economic necessity. Joseph, scarred by his own harsh apprenticeship under Master Smith Edmund Coleridge, believed that only through iron discipline could a working man rise above his station. Young Nate, however, possessed a volatile temperament that chafed against such constraints. From age seven, he was required to work in his father's forge before and after attending the charity school at St Martin's Church, where he received rudimentary education until age eleven.

Apprenticeship and Early Troubles

In 1808, at age twelve, Nate formally began his apprenticeship under his father's tutelage, demonstrating exceptional skill in metalwork despite his rebellious nature. By fourteen, he could forge complex agricultural implements and decorative ironwork that drew praise from Birmingham's established smiths. However, his talent was matched by a growing reputation for violence. Between 1811 and 1815, he was involved in numerous altercations, including a particularly vicious brawl at The Crown and Anchor tavern that left Thomas Whitfield, a rival apprentice, with permanent facial scarring.

The catalyst for his downfall came on the evening of 15th March 1815. Following a dispute over wages with master smith Robert Henley, for whom he occasionally undertook piecework, Nate encountered Henley's nephew, James Henley, aged twenty-two, at The Bull's Head public house on High Street. Witnesses later testified that Nate, intoxicated on gin, accused James of cheating at cards. The ensuing fight spilt into the street, where Nate struck James with an iron bar, fracturing his skull and leaving him unconscious for three days. Though James survived, he suffered permanent impairment to his speech and movement.

Trial and Transportation

Nate's trial at the Warwick Assizes commenced on 12th July 1815, before Justice Sir William Garrow. The prosecution, led by Mr Frederick Ashworth, presented five witnesses who testified to Nate's history of violence and the premeditated nature of the assault. Despite defence counsel Mr Samuel Pritchard's arguments regarding provocation, the jury deliberated for merely forty minutes before returning a guilty verdict. Given Nate's prior offences and the severity of James Henley's injuries, Justice Garrow sentenced him to transportation for fourteen years to Van Diemen's Land.

Following his conviction, Nate spent four months in the notorious hulk HMS Retribution, moored at Woolwich, where conditions were so appalling that three men died of gaol fever in his holding bay alone. On 8th November 1815, he was transferred to the transport ship Mariner, which departed Portsmouth on 2nd December 1815 with 198 male convicts aboard. The voyage, under Captain George Birnie, was relatively uneventful save for an attempted mutiny near the Cape of Good Hope, which Nate notably refused to join despite pressure from fellow convicts.

Arrival and Assignment to Jeffries Manor

The Mariner arrived in Hobart Town on 23rd April 1816, after a voyage of 142 days. Upon disembarkation, Nate underwent assessment at the Prisoners' Barracks, where Lieutenant-Governor Thomas Davey's administration recorded his skills as a blacksmith. This designation proved fortunate, as skilled tradesmen were in desperately short supply in the colony. Within a fortnight, he was assigned to William Jeffries Sr.'s estate, Jeffries Manor, located near Granton, approximately twenty miles north of Hobart Town.

William Jeffries Sr., recognising the value of a skilled blacksmith, initially treated Nate with measured fairness, providing him with separate quarters adjacent to the manor's forge—a significant privilege for a convict. However, this arrangement soon soured as Nate's defiant nature clashed with Jeffries's increasingly autocratic management style. The forge, whilst offering respite from field labour, became a crucible for Nate's growing resentment.

Life at Jeffries Manor (1816-1821)

During his first years at the manor, Nate established himself as an unofficial leader amongst the convict population. His literacy, unusual for a convict of his class, enabled him to read and write letters for fellow prisoners. He organised clandestine gatherings in the stables where he would read from smuggled copies of Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man" and other radical texts obtained through a sympathetic overseer, Michael O'Brien, who was later dismissed under mysterious circumstances in 1819.

Nate's relationship with William Jeffries Sr. deteriorated markedly following the death of his mother in 1819, news of which reached him six months late through a letter from his sister Elizabeth. Jeffries had withheld the correspondence, claiming it would "unsettle" him during a crucial period of estate expansion. This betrayal transformed Nate's simmering resentment into barely concealed hatred. Kitchen maid Sarah Parsons later testified that she frequently heard Nate muttering threats whilst working at his forge, particularly after receiving punishments for minor infractions.

By early 1821, tensions at the manor had reached breaking point. Nate had organised what he termed "The Brotherhood of the Forge," a secret society of convicts who engaged in deliberate work slowdowns and minor acts of sabotage. His final confrontation with William Jeffries Sr. occurred on 7th August 1821, two days before the latter's disappearance, when Jeffries accused him of stealing iron stock to fashion weapons for a potential uprising.

The Disappearance and Its Aftermath

Following William Jeffries Sr.'s mysterious disappearance on 9th August 1821, Nate immediately fell under suspicion. Constable John Broadmoor's interrogation on 12th August 1821 was particularly brutal, lasting over six hours. Despite the intense questioning and physical duress—Broadmoor's men employed "enhanced interrogation techniques" common to the period—Nate maintained his innocence. He claimed to have been in his quarters reading a letter from his brother William (later verified) at the time of the disappearance.

The investigation's failure to produce concrete evidence against Nate left him in limbo. Whilst never formally charged, he remained under constant surveillance, confined to the manor grounds with additional chains. This period saw him increasingly isolated from his fellow convicts, who feared association with him would bring retribution. Only Thomas Barrett, an Irish political prisoner, maintained contact, smuggling food and books to Nate's increasingly sparse quarters.

Later Years and Conditional Freedom (1821-1830)

In 1823, Nate received his ticket of leave, two years early, a decision that surprised many given the suspicions surrounding him. The new owner of Jeffries Manor, Madelyn Jeffries, proved more pragmatic than her husband. Recognising Nate's valuable skills and perhaps seeking to distance the estate from the scandal, she employed Nate as a free worker, paying him wages for the first time in seven years.

During this period, Nate formed an unlikely relationship with Margaret O'Sullivan (1804-1871), an Irish convict servant who arrived in 1822. Margaret, transported for theft, worked in the manor's kitchens and shared Nate's love of reading. Their courtship, conducted largely through notes hidden in the forge, culminated in marriage on 24th December 1824, officiated by Reverend Charles Wilmot at St. Luke's Church, Richmond. The ceremony was witnessed by only two people: Thomas Barrett and Mrs Eleanor Jeffries, William Jr.'s wife, who had taken pity on the couple.

Business Ventures and Respectability (1830-1845)

Upon receiving his certificate of freedom in 1830, Nate established his own smithy in New Norfolk, approximately fifteen miles from Jeffries Manor. The venture, initially funded by a surprising loan of £50 from William Jeffries Jr., prospered as the region developed. Nate's reputation for quality work, particularly in agricultural implements and decorative ironwork, gradually overshadowed his convict past. By 1835, he employed three apprentices, including James Morrison, a fellow former convict whom he trained to become one of Tasmania's finest blacksmiths.

Nate and Margaret had four children: Joseph William (1826-1889), who became a successful merchant in Hobart; Mary Elizabeth (1828-1901), who married into the respectable Carthew family; Thomas Edmund (1831-1834), who died of scarlet fever; and Sarah Anne (1833-1912), who became one of Tasmania's first female telegraphers. The family lived in a modest but comfortable cottage on Burnett Street, which Nate gradually expanded to include a library containing over 200 books—remarkable for a former convict.

During the 1840s, Nate became increasingly involved in colonial politics, albeit from the margins. He contributed anonymous articles to the Colonial Times under the pseudonym "Prometheus," advocating for convict reform and workers' rights. His pieces, though radical for the time, demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of political economy gained through years of self-education. Governor John Franklin's administration kept a file on "Prometheus," never discovering the author's true identity.

The Shadow of the Past (1845-1850)

Despite his rehabilitation, Nate could never fully escape the shadow of William Jeffries Sr.'s disappearance. In 1847, the discovery of human remains near the Derwent River briefly renewed suspicions, though forensic examination—primitive as it was—proved inconclusive. Constable Broadmoor, now Chief Constable, interviewed Nate once more, finding him changed but still defiant. "You've hounded me for twenty-six years," Nate reportedly said. "If I had done it, don't you think guilt would have broken me by now?"

The psychological toll of perpetual suspicion manifested in Nate's increasing reclusiveness and periodic bouts of heavy drinking. Margaret later confided to her daughter Mary that Nate would sometimes wake screaming, reliving his interrogation. He developed a morbid fascination with William Jeffries Sr.'s fate, collecting every newspaper article and rumour about the disappearance in a leather-bound journal he titled "The Burden of Accusation."

Final Years and Death (1850-1853)

By 1850, Nate's health had begun to decline, exacerbated by decades of physical labour and the lung damage sustained from years at the forge. He developed what Dr Marcus Thornbury diagnosed as "chronic bronchial affliction," likely pneumoconiosis from inhaling metal particles. Despite his illness, he continued working, training his eldest son Joseph in the craft whilst preparing to hand over the business.

On 15th November 1852, Nate suffered a severe stroke whilst working at his anvil, partially paralysing his left side. The irony of being struck down at the forge was not lost on him. Confined to bed, he spent his final months dictating his memoirs to Sarah Anne, though the manuscript was mysteriously destroyed in a fire shortly after his death. Some suspected William Jeffries Jr.'s involvement, fearing the memoirs might contain damaging revelations about his father.

Nathaniel Blackburn died at 3:47 AM on 23rd February 1853, aged fifty-six. His final words, recorded by Margaret, were: "I've carried their chains longer than they ever held me." The funeral, held at St. Matthew's Church, New Norfolk, was attended by over 200 people, including many former convicts whose lives he had touched. Notably, William Jeffries Jr. sent a wreath with a card reading simply: "A skilled craftsman and a complicated man."

Legacy and Historical Assessment

Nate was buried in the New Norfolk Cemetery, where his headstone, forged by his apprentice James Morrison, bears the inscription: "Nathaniel Blackburn, 1796-1853, From Chains to Freedom, His Spirit Unbowed." Margaret lived another eighteen years, maintaining his smithy with Joseph until her death in 1871. She never remarried and was buried beside him.

In 1923, on the centenary of his ticket of leave, the Tasmanian Historical Society erected a plaque at the site of his smithy, acknowledging him as "A pioneer craftsman who embodied the transformation from convict to citizen." However, the mystery of William Jeffries Sr.'s disappearance ensures that Nate's name remains forever linked to one of colonial Tasmania's most enduring mysteries.

Modern historians have largely exonerated Nate, with Professor Helen Marchant arguing in her 2018 book "Chains of Suspicion" that the evidence points more strongly to William Jeffries Sr.'s involvement in occult practices and potential voluntary disappearance. Yet the question remains: did Nathaniel Blackburn take the truth of that August night in 1821 to his grave, or was he, as he always maintained, merely a convenient scapegoat for forces beyond his understanding?