Today's Stories from our Past
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Today's Stories from our Past
E04 –Bound for South Australia – The Nantes Family
Join us as we explore the fascinating life of Heinrich Wilhelm Nantez.
A man whose journey from Bremen, Germany to London illustrates both the opportunities and pitfalls of 18th century Europe. Embracing a new English identity as Henry Nantes, he navigates the complex English mercantile society with the help of his influential ally, Richard Muilman Trench Chiswell. Their friendship helped Henry become a British citizen, even as his ventures tied him to the contentious world of sugar plantations and the transatlantic slave trade. This episode paints a vivid picture of Henry's ascent and eventual downfall amidst slave revolts and economic ruin.
But the story doesn’t end there. We follow Charles Nantes, Henry’s son, who seeks solace and a fresh start far away in South Australia. As one of thirteen children left with an infamous legacy and little else, Charles's story of resilience against a backdrop of societal rejection and financial collapse offers a poignant look at the challenges faced by descendants of controversial legacies. Discover how the Nantes family's saga continues to unfold with hope and determination, leaving us to ponder the lasting impact of history on future generations.
Contact us at todaysstories101@gmail.com.
So Henry Nantes was a slave trader, the owner of pirate ships, an embezzler, a massive bankrupt hiding from his creditors, a man who, over time, had three wives and a mistress and was the father of 13 kids, but apart from that he was an all-round good fella.
Speaker 2:Yeah, apart from all that, G'day, I'm Peter.
Speaker 1:G'day I'm.
Speaker 2:Greg, welcome to Today's Stories from Our Past, a podcast about a history of Australia from about 1800 onwards. The story is told through the experiences of those who lived it.
Speaker 1:We'll tell you stories about Australia that you probably haven't heard before.
Speaker 2:This is the fourth episode in a season that we've called Bound for South Australia. If you haven't listened to this season from episode one, we'd suggest that you stop listening now and go back to the beginning. So in the last episode we talked about the staggered First Fleet and how it travelled to South Australia, as well as the backstories of Colonel Light, george Kingston and my ancestor, william Henry Neill. I believe that William Henry Neill went to South Australia to escape the clutches of the debtors court. He owed a fortune 6,000 pounds, that's about 1.8 million Australian dollars today. William had been in jail and was threatened with more jail by going to South Australia. I suspect that he was skipping town to avoid the clutches of the law.
Speaker 1:Yeah, South Australia in 1836 is a long way to go to chase a felon on the run for bad debts. So what are we going to talk about today?
Speaker 2:My other ancestor who came out on the staggered First Fleet. He was Charles Nanties. At only 19 years of age he came out to the colony alone. He had secured a position as a clerk to Robert Gugia, the colonial secretary. As with William Henry Neill, I was intrigued to find out why he came out to Oz. But Charles's motives can only be understood by looking at the life story of his father and a part of the British economy that had fuelled the success of England over the previous 100 years but at that time was under threat. Fair enough.
Speaker 1:What do you know about Charles's father?
Speaker 2:Charles's father was Henry William Nantes, but he was not born with that name. He was born Heinrich Wilhelm Nantes. He was born on 29 March 1764 in Bremen, germany, to Dorothy Abrant and Hermann Nantes. Bremen is now part of Germany, but at that time it was a free city as an autonomous republic, the oldest in Germany. It joined the German Confederation in 1815 and the reconstituted German Empire in 1871.
Speaker 2:Bremen was known as a trading centre and Heinrich's father, hermann, owned and captained sailing ships. Unfortunately for young Heinrich, his father, hermann, died in December 1778 off the coast of Suriname. Hermann was just 44 years old. He drowned at sea when his ship went down with all hands. Herman was the captain and the sole owner. Heinrich was only 14 years old when his father died.
Speaker 2:The Nantes trading activities connected them to many parts of the world, including countries that are now known as Suriname and Haiti. They own sugar plantations there in both countries. Suriname is a small country on the northern end of South America. It was originally known as Dutch Guiana and had British Guiana on one side and French Guiana on the other. Before his father's death, when Heinrich was just 10 years old, that's in 1774, heinrich moved to London with his uncle, daniel. It was very usual in the 18th century for German merchant houses to set up branches in London century for German merchant houses to set up branches in London. London had become the capital of world trade and that was a business that the Nantes family knew very well.
Speaker 1:Okay, that sounds like a good move. What happens in London?
Speaker 2:Firstly, heinrich Nantes became Henry Nantes. The German names were no longer used. Interestingly, our family has always pronounced the surname Nantes as Nantes the German version, not the French pronunciation of the port city Nantes. Henry and Uncle Daniel became a part of English society by the end of the 18th century. They were members of a community of German merchants trading out of London To further become part of English business society. Henry and Daniel became Freemasons in 1786. Somehow, henry becomes friends with an English nobleman called Richard Muehlmann. Muehlmann was the son of Peter Muehlmann, a Dutch merchant and banker who had settled in Bishopsgate in 1722, close to London's Dutch church. Richard's father, peter Muehlmann, had married Mary Chiswell in 1734. Mary owned Kirby Hall, essex, near Great Yeldam. Subsequently, richard assumed the extra surnames of Trench and Chiswell by royal license on 28 November 1772, after the death of his mother's brother, richard Chiswell. At that time he inherited a fortune of 120,000 pounds, that's about 40 million Australian dollars as of today, as well as Debton Hall, uttersford in Essex.
Speaker 1:Sounds like Richard Muleman Tranch Chiswell was someone worth being friends with.
Speaker 2:Chiswell was someone who was worth being friends with. Yeah, in 1790, two newspaper articles about him said that his net worth at that time was over £1 million, that's over £300 million in today's currency.
Speaker 3:One article said Mr Muleman Chiswell, the late elected member for Aldborough in Yorkshire, is known to be one of the richest commoners in the world and to be worth not less than a million and a half of money. By the death of Mr Muleman of Amsterdam, which we lately announced, he received an addition of £500,000. To this immense property. The children of Sir F Vincent, who married Mr Chiswell's daughter, will succeed.
Speaker 2:Subsequently, Henry convinced Richard Muleman to sponsor a bill in the House of Lords that would become an act naturalising Henry. The bill received royal assent on 24 June 1789. 24-year-old Heinrich officially became Henry William Nanties, a British citizen. Soon after Henry went into partnership with Muleman, they had a number of different business entities, including Richard Muleman Co and Muleman Nanties.
Speaker 1:Sounds like life's going pretty well for young Henry.
Speaker 2:Yep. Then he takes another step forward. On 2 August 1793, Henry married Marianne Vogel of Battersea. She was a German merchant's daughter. The wedding was held at St Mary's at Battersea and his uncle, Daniel, was a witness. At this time Henry lived at 46 Old Broad Street in London. That's quite near the Bank of England in the city. They had a son, Daniel, born on 16 October 1795, and a daughter, Christina Adelaide, born in 1797. Then another son, Henry Vogel, was born in 1798. Henry was also engaged in acts of philanthropy, as was customary at the time for a person of certain means. He's listed as a benefactor of the Magdalen Hospital in London. He was also a subscriber to the publication of books, effectively funding their whole publication. One book was A History of the German States Life sounds great for Henry.
Speaker 2:What's up? Henry and the family then moved into a mansion on the Thames River at Battersea called Sherwood House.
Speaker 4:The description is as follows Description of Sherwood House on the banks of the Thames, battersea is as follows pleasure ground disposed with infinite taste and an opening from the elegant suite of apartments into a conservatory, fruiting house, billiard room, etc. Etc. Excellent kitchen garden with lofty walls richly clothed with choice fruit trees, beautiful lawn with rich plantations. The residence and property of mr henry nantes, delightfully situated on an elevated bank of the River Thames and commanding picturesque views of great beauty, richness and extent. The house is formed on a most approved plan and finished in a distinguished style of taste and elegance, and is in the most perfect state.
Speaker 1:Wow, a mansion on the banks of the Thames in London sounds flesh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then he does some work on it. As well as enlarging the house, henry extended the grounds to the north, where he demolished two houses in a row called Seven Houses. Henry also built banks along the foreshore, reclaiming a broad strip up to 27 feet deep. For those who know London, the location of where the house and grounds were located is just upstream of Wandsworth Bridge, on the southern side of the river.
Speaker 1:OK, things are going great for young Henry Wife children. Super-rich business partner. Benefactor of charities. Swank mansion.
Speaker 2:That's pretty good. Well, no, all is not what it seems. Charles Dickens may well have written books about the plight of the poor and impoverished in England at the time and advocated for change there, but as far as I can work out, he didn't write any books about how many of the wealthy families in Britain made their fortunes. Henry's real business was the slave trade and associated activities. There was a dark side to this business and significant risks. I've discovered that Henry and his partner Richard owned several slave ships. Slave ships sailed a circuit of three legs. One was from West Africa to the Caribbean or other parts of the Americas. The second leg took Caribbean goods, sugar etc. Back to England and the third leg returned the ships to Africa. I found the voyage records of a couple of their ships. One was called the Sugar Cane. The owners were listed as Henry Nanties and a Mr Turner. Here are some details about the voyage of the Sugar Cane. On 18 July 1794, john Marmon, captain, received a letter of mark for the Sugar Cane.
Speaker 1:Hang on, hang on. What's a letter of marque?
Speaker 2:Ah, a letter of marque was a government licence in the Age of Sail that authorised a private person known as a privateer or a corsair to attack and capture vessels of a nation at war with the country that issued the licence. Hence British ships could legally attack, for example, french ships. After capture, the privateers could bring a case before their own Admiralty Court for condemnation and transfer of ownership of the booty to the privateer. A letter of marque and reprisal would include permission to cross international borders to conduct these reprisals. The Letter of Mark authorised the sugar cane to engage in offensive action against French shipping should the opportunity arise.
Speaker 1:So, in other words, the Letter of Mark has legalised piracy. Ahoy there, matey.
Speaker 2:Absolutely right. Marmon sailed the sugar cane from London on 29 July 1795, bound for the Gold Coast. He arrived at Cape Coast Castle on 21 September. Cape Coast Castle is one of about 40 slave castles or large commercial forts built along the Gold Coast of West Africa large commercial forts built along the Gold Coast of West Africa, now Ghana and other countries by European traders. Marmon gathered a load of slaves there and set sail for South America. He arrived on 5 January 1796 at Monte Gaveo in the River de la Plata. The sugar cane had loaded 249 slaves and unloaded 228 for a loss rate of 8.4%. The sugar cane arrived back in London on 10 June.
Speaker 1:It's interesting that they report a loss rate amongst slaves as if they were just another form of cargo.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was fairly inhuman and gruesome business. Anyhow, marmon received a second letter of Mark on 1 July 1796. Sugarcane, with Marmon as master, then sailed to the Gold Coast again to gather slaves. The Sugarcane arrived at Cape Coast Castle on 30 September 1796. On her way, the sugar cane recaptured the harlequin which the French had captured from the British as she was sailing from Liverpool to Africa. Sugar cane sent harlequin into the Cape Coast. Shortly thereafter the French captured the sugarcane as she was sailing from Africa to Barbados. The sugarcane had loaded 359 slaves and her captors unloaded 328 for a loss rate of 8.6%. In 1797, lloyd's Register still showed the sugar cane, with Manning as master, still trading between Liverpool and Africa. Another slave ship that they owned was the Port-au-Prince. The Port-au-Prince first appeared in Lloyd's Register in 1794, with the notes that she was built in 1790 and she was a French prize. Her captain's name was Henry Hayne, her owner's name was Millman and her home port was Portsmouth. Henry Hayne received a letter of marque for the Port-au-Prince on 5 March 1794.
Speaker 1:Well, so your ancestor was a slave trader and he owned pirate ships.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and there's more. Henry also owned slave plantations in the Caribbean, notably on Santo Domingo and in Dutch Guyana. The island of Santo Domingo was also called Hispaniola and is now two countries the western half is Haiti and the eastern half is Dominica. One report noted that in the late 18th century, mulemen and Nantes were running a global trading operation and quote owned property and had assets on the islands of San Domingo and Granada, on Long Island and in South American Demerara and Buenos Aires. Demerara is Dutch Guyana. They traded in sugar, coffee and wheat, as well as trading in the East Indies, north and South America, as well as the Dutch East India Company. Their operations included ownership of slave ships and plantations.
Speaker 1:It sounds like a massive worldwide trading enterprise.
Speaker 2:Yes, but it was all about to come crashing down. What's famous about Santo Domingo is that there was a major slave revolt there in 1791. Was a major slave revolt there in 1791. Toussaint Louverture, who is also known as the Black Napoleon, led the revolt. Newman and Nanties had set up a branch on San Domingo. The revolt was the start of a long end for them. They were now in real financial trouble. They were now in real financial trouble. This is a long story, but as far as Henry is concerned, it meant that a link in the chain had been broken. He couldn't produce sugar and goods on San Domingo, nor could he get them back to England by 1792, he must have known that he was in financial deep water. The writing was on the wall.
Speaker 1:Okay, but the slave revolt happened in 1791, but you have said that they owned slave ships in 1797. What's?
Speaker 2:happening there. Well, his business partner seems to have not been at all aware of what was going on. In 1796, richard Chiswell bought his seat in the House of Lords from the 4th Duke of Newcastle's trustees. He and his partner Nadis subscribed £30,000 to the loyalty loan in 1797. This was a loan to the government to finance a war in Ireland. Newspapers later noted that they really didn't have the funds to do this, for they were on the verge of bankruptcy. One paper noted quote An adventure in East Indian scrip about seven years ago proved a very losing account. It took several years, but eventually the inevitable happened. On 11 February 1797, muleman Co was declared bankrupt owing 450,000 pounds, that's over 145 million Australian dollars today.
Speaker 1:Wow, that is a lot of money. What happened after that?
Speaker 2:Every report of the bankruptcy says the same thing.
Speaker 5:Richard Chiswell's mind became deranged because of unsuccessful speculations in the Indies in which he lost £450,000. He shot himself in his country house on 3rd February 1797. His partner, Henry Nantes, disappeared.
Speaker 1:Well, Henry just disappeared. He can't have died. Well, you wouldn't be here. Do you know what happened to him and what does it mean when he disappeared?
Speaker 2:He did, a Christopher Scase. For those who don't know, scace was an Australian businessman who became one of his country's most wanted fugitives. After his business empire crashed spectacularly, he fled to Mallorca, an island of Spain. By 1989, it became clear that Scase had overextended himself. Scase had begun obtaining and moving money into foreign bank accounts in July 1989. Despite efforts lasting more than a decade, the creditor's trustee was unable to trace much of the missing money. Scase was charged with improperly using his position to obtain management fees, briefly arrested and spent one night in jail. However and I really can't believe this he was later released and allowed to regain his passport. He promptly fled the country. He was eventually tracked down in Mallorca. Despite years of trying, the Australian authorities could never get him back to Oz.
Speaker 1:So you mean that Henry Nantes went off to Mallorca and Spain to hide away?
Speaker 2:Well close. Henry went to the Isle of man. Somehow, the authorities never seemed to have tracked him down there. In the meantime, the authorities auctioned off his mansion on the Thames. Sherwood House was sold. The sale was reported thus Sherwood House late.
Speaker 4:The property of Mr Nante, partner in the house of Mr Muleman and co, was sold on Monday for 16 to 60 guinea. Considering Mr Christie's fanciful description of it, the fee certainly sold cheap. He says in his catalogue that the villa is situated on an elevated bank of the Thames whose silver surface reflects the simple and elegant elevation of the building. The approach to the eating room is through folding doors into a conservatory 40 feet by 16, imparting to the dwelling all the genial warmth of the oriental or occidental climates and diffusing at pleasure through the apartments the perfume of the most odoriferous plants. This description must convince Mr Sheridan how little he knew of the art of puffing when he wrote the Critic.
Speaker 2:It is reported that Henry moved to a smaller riverside house, the Pavilion at Nine Elms, with support from his merchant uncle, daniel Nades. In reality he was elsewhere. Henry had fled to the Isle of man Soon after a ship owned by Muleman Co was auctioned. This was the start of debtors trying to reclaim some of their funds. Stories of the fall of Muleman Nanties filled the British newspapers.
Speaker 1:Things aren't going so well for the high-flying Henry.
Speaker 2:No, and it got worse. Soon after there were some family tragedies, his wife Marianne passed away in January 1800 in Ramsgate, kent. Soon after there were some family tragedies, his wife Marianne passed away in January 1800 in Ramsgate, kent, at the age of 27. They'd been married for six years.
Speaker 1:Then his son Henry, Vogel passed away on 22 May 1800, when he was only one year old. Some tough times for.
Speaker 2:Henry. Yeah, now I can't work out where Henry was when his wife dies. It could have been London or the Isle of man. I suspect that he already fled to man because the next event in his life is another marriage. Henry William Nantes married Elizabeth Corlett in Braddon on the Isle of man on 29 October 1800, when he was 36 years old. That's only five months after his son, henry Fogle, died. Braddon is one of the 17 parishes on the Isle of man. It's where the births and marriages were registered, but I found out that Henry and family lived in a village called Balasala.
Speaker 5:An 1837 description of the village went Balasala is a village of proposing and respectable appearance, consisting of about 100 houses. It is situated in the parish of Malu, nearly two miles north of Castletown, at the point where the Peel and Douglas roads separate. This is the largest and most English-looking village in their island. The roads in the vicinity are generally lined with neatly cut hedgerows, and the country around being well sheltered with wood and varied by gently swelling eminences. The prospects, though not very extensive, are pleasing.
Speaker 2:Soon Henry and wife number two start a family. Their son, henry Nantes Jr, was privately baptised on 4 March 1804.
Speaker 1:Okay, but wasn't Henry still a fugitive?
Speaker 2:Yeah, meanwhile, back in London, the bankruptcy proceedings continue, but in court documents Henry's residence is still officially listed as being in London.
Speaker 1:How can this happen? What's going on here?
Speaker 2:I can't really work it out, but today the Isle of man is a self-governing British Crown dependency. It's actually not part of the United Kingdom. Perhaps the law at the time prevented British courts from catching up with Henry there, I don't know. Anyhow, it takes many years for the bankruptcy proceedings to be settled, and at no time do they seem to work out where Henry is, even though his name appears in newspapers on the Isle of man on several occasions. Even though his name appears in newspapers on the Isle of man on several occasions. Such was the scale and complexity of the failed business that it took 64 years before the administration was finally wound up Amazing.
Speaker 1:How does Henry get away with this and how can he afford to live on the Isle of man?
Speaker 2:I don't know for sure, but I think this again is a little bit like Christopher's case. Henry must have embezzled funds from Muleman Co when he worked out that they were in trouble and then transferred considerable funds to the Isle of man. It's obvious that he lives in comfort on man.
Speaker 1:Your ancestor seems to be a scoundrel of the highest order.
Speaker 2:Can't disagree with you there. Then another death. His wife, elizabeth, passed away in December 1808 in Braddon at the age of 32. They'd been married for eight years, but another child soon followed. Henry has a daughter to his dead wife's sister. His daughter, elizabeth, was born on 18 March 1810.
Speaker 1:Wow, this guy's moral compass is really broken.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this birth is quickly followed by another marriage. Henry Nanties married Paddy Eliza Benson in Bratton on 1 June 1810, when he was 46 years old. Patty was from Northern Ireland.
Speaker 1:And this is all a bit troubling.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Then in following years, henry and Patty have four children. They were John Ogle and William Hamilton twins, born on 10 April 1811, louisa Eade, born in 1812, and Jane Henry Etta, born on 30 April 1813. All along, henry is living in comfort on the Isle of man. Then, after 15 years on the Isle of man, henry decides that it's safe to return to England. After 15 years on the Isle of man, henry decided that it's safe to return to England. He removes the whole family to Biddeford, a port town on the north coast of Devon. Henry takes up residence in Kenworth Lodge, which is part of Kenworth Castle. Once at Kenworth he has even more children Frederick Thomas, born in 1815. Charles James, born on 26 January 1817, george Willett, born on 28 February 1818, and Alicia, born on 7 July 1825. Sadly, his son, frederick Thomas, passed away in 1834 at the age of 19.
Speaker 1:I've lost count. How many wives and children does he have?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it is confusing and long, but in the end Henry married three times. His first two wives died and his last wife outlived him. He married Marianne Vogel in 1793, Elizabeth Corlett in 1800, and finally Patty Eliza Benson in 1810. But in addition to his wives he had a child with his second wife's sister. There were 13 surviving children. Finally, henry William Nanties died in 1836 in Stonehouse Devon when he was 72 years old.
Speaker 1:In Stonehouse Devon, when he was 72 years old. Sir Henry Nantes was a slave trader, the owner of pirate ships and a bezler, a massive bankrupt hiding from his creditors, a man who, over time, had three wives and a mistress and was the father of 13 kids, but apart from that he was an all-round good fella yeah apart from that, that's about right.
Speaker 2:I certainly hope that I haven't received too many of his genes. It certainly is a bit surprising to discover that you have an ancestor who was a slave trader. Takes a little while to process that one. Henry was on the Isle of man for 15 years, from 1800 to 1815. A lot happened in the world during that period. The biggest event was the Napoleonic Wars that ran from 1803 to 1815. Napoleon wanted to be emperor, or dictator as we might call it today, of all Europe. There were lots of battles. It's all too complicated to go through them here, except one or two that everybody would have heard of. One was the Battle of Trafalgar, where Admiral Nelson took on the French and Spanish navies in the English Channel. Nelson gave them a fair hiding. Unfortunately for Nelson, he was killed during the engagement, but not before. Nelson sent the famous flag signal. England expects that every man will do his duty. Many more battles followed Eventually. The Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in June 1815. Napoleon was exiled to the island of St Helena where he died six years later.
Speaker 1:Did anything else happen while Henry was on man?
Speaker 2:Yeah, england acquired, if that's the right word, the Elgin Margwalls from Greece. Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice and Beethoven wrote for a release.
Speaker 1:Well, okay, a lot has happened while Henry was hiding out in the Isle of man.
Speaker 2:Yep, I don't know what prompted Henry to return to England, but I do find it interesting that he leaves the Isle of man soon after the defeat of Napoleon.
Speaker 1:So where does young Charles now fit into all this?
Speaker 2:Well, charles was the surviving child, number 11 out of 13. He had few prospects. He wouldn't inherit anything. He couldn't rely on the good name of his father to get a respectable job. By this time there was a movement in England to stop the slave trade. That, coupled with the massive bankruptcy, must have made Charles' father a pariah. Every day Charles would have seen migrant ships leaving the harbour at Biddeford. He must have thought is this the best choice for me? Is this the only way in which I can make something of myself?
Speaker 1:He doesn't seem to have many options, so he's bound to South Australia for young Charles.
Speaker 2:Yes, In the next episode we'll discuss how Charles got to South Australia and how he nearly died in the process.
Speaker 1:OK, well, thanks for listening. So it's goodbye from me, and it's goodbye from me, and it's goodbye from me. You Thank you. Lesson over, off you go.