John Shea (c.1754-1789) was captain of marines when he arrived in Sydney in January 1788 aboard the Scarborough as part of the First Fleet. He became unwell soon after the fleet left Portsmouth and his death was expected hourly but he had recovered by the time the fleet arrived at Port Jackson.
On 2 February 1789 John Easty recorded that 'this Night att 10 oclock Captain John Shea of Marines Departed this Life after a long illness of a cuncumtion [consumption?]'.
Shea had married Susannah Linzee on 13 July 1780. They had at least four children.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 326
'Shea, John (c. 1754–1789)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/shea-john-30420/text37723, accessed 20 April 2024.
2 February,
1789
(aged ~ 35)
Sydney,
New South Wales,
Australia
Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.