Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Gerrald, Joseph
GERRALD, JOSEPH (1763–1796), political reformer, was born on 9 Feb. 1763, at St. Christopher, West Indies, where his father, the descendant of an old Irish family, had settled as a planter. When a child he was brought to England by his parents and passed from a boarding-school at Hammersmith to the care of Samuel Parr at Stanmore. Parr conceived the highest opinion of his abilities, but was nevertheless obliged to expel him for ‘extreme indiscretion.’ At twelve years of age he was left an orphan, and on his majority he succeeded to a fortune embarrassed by his father's extravagance, and to be still further wasted by his own improvidence. Having returned to the West Indies he married—according to one account ‘rashly’—a lady of St. Christopher, who soon afterwards died leaving him with two children. Reduced to comparative poverty, he went to America, where for four years he practised at the bar in Pennsylvania. In 1788 he came to England to prosecute a lawsuit in connection with his property. From this time he engaged in politics, taking a prominent part in the agitation for parliamentary reform. He renewed his acquaintance with Dr. Parr in a grateful letter.
In 1793 he was sent along with Maurice Margarot as a delegate from the London Corresponding Society to the ‘British Convention of the Delegates of the People’ assembled at Edinburgh. The avowed object of the convention was to obtain universal suffrage and annual parliaments. It had ‘secret committees’ and ‘conventions of emergency,’ its members addressed each other as ‘citizens,’ and generally adopted the language of the French revolutionists. Gerrald was received at Edinburgh with enthusiasm; he was an eloquent speaker, his morning levée at the Black Bull inn was crowded with admiring worshippers, and every night he was attended by a numerous train when he visited and harangued the different ‘sections.’ On 5 Dec. 1793 he and Margarot were arrested for sedition, but admitted to bail. He returned to London, and prepared to wait his trial. Meantime Margarot and the secretary of the convention, William Skirving [q. v.], with other political reformers, had received sentences of transportation; Gerrald's friends, especially Parr, entreated him to insure his safety by flight.
Gerrald considered that he was in honour pledged to surrender himself, but he was under no illusion as to the consequences. In a letter to the home secretary, Henry Dundas [q. v.], he said that he was starting not to take his trial, ‘for trial implies candid examination,’ but to receive his sentence of transportation for fourteen years, to which Margarot had already been condemned. The trial took place on 3, 10, 13, and 14 March 1794, the presiding judge being Lord Braxfield [see Macqueen, Robert], to whose presence on the bench Gerrald made the formal objection, which was overruled, that he had already prejudged the case. While assisted by counsel appointed by the court, Gerrald defended himself in a forcible address to the jury. He was convicted and sentenced to fourteen years' transportation (Howell, State Trials, xxiii. 947–98).
The prosecutions of Gerrald and his fellow agitators excited great indignation, and formed the subject of several debates in parliament. Gerrald remained in prison in London for upwards of twelve months, having for companion his young daughter; during this time he was visited by many friends. In May 1795 he was suddenly shipped to Botany Bay, without being allowed time to make any preparations for the voyage. Parr addressed an indignant letter on the subject to Windham, then secretary at war, and, assisted by others, sent after Gerrald money, books, and personal necessaries; he also took under his protection Gerrald's son. Touching letters written at this period bear witness to the affection which existed between Parr and his former pupil (Parr, Works, i. 453–5).
Gerrald reached Sydney, New South Wales, on 5 Nov. 1795, in very weak health, and was received by friends who had suffered in the same cause. Among these was Margarot, against whom accusations had been made by his companions, and from whom Gerrald soon separated. He was permitted by the governor of the settlement to purchase a small house and garden. Five months after his arrival (16 March 1796) he died of consumption, aged 33. Gerrald's name appears on the obelisk (‘The Martyrs' Monument’) erected on Calton Hill, Edinburgh, in 1844, to commemorate the struggle for parliamentary reform.
[Howell's State Trials, xxiii. 803–1011, 1411–1414; Parl. Hist. xxx. 1298, 1449, 1486, xxxi. 54, 263, xxxiii. 617; Adolphus's History, v. 532–41; Lives and Trials of the Reformers, 1836, pt. i.; Memoirs and Trials of the Political Martyrs of Scotland persecuted during 1793 and 1794, Edinburgh, 1837; An Examination of the Trials for sedition which have hitherto occurred in Scotland, by the late Lord Cockburn (posthumously published 1888); Johnstone's Memoir of Dr. Parr prefixed to his Works, i. 448–57; Rogers's Monuments and Monumental Inscriptions, i. 92.]