All Saints Church – Laxfield

Henry  was born on the 26th of August 1762 in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, England and was the first of nine children of Henry Snr (1742-1783) and Dinah Fuller. Henry’s Baptism on 26/08/1764 in Laxfield Suffolk England is recorded with the spelling of his name as KEABLE.

Little specific information about his early life is known but by the age of 20 in February 1783  his life changed  through events in which he and his father and two others were involved. Whether these events were mitigated by  the death of the father/Grandfather James Keable in  January 1783 will never be known.

Grandfather James (1705-1783) died and was buried on the 27th January and within a week of this event, Henry Snr, our Henry, Abraham Carmen and Abraham Jacobs were found in possession of effects stolen from an Abigail Hambling.
The men received sentence for death and ordered for execution. The execution took place on March 31, 1783.

Our Henry was more fortunate in that, while being found guilty and sentenced to death, a plea for clemency saw his sentence reprieved. Some suggestion that  his age was a factor in the sentence being reprieved.
Subsequently he was sentenced to seven years transportation  to the Americas and forwarded to Norwich Castle gaol to wait transportation.
At the same time a separate set of events were occurring and involved a young girl named Susannah Holmes of Surlingham, Norfolk.