James Hortopp (c.1752- ) was found guilty on 20 March 1786 at Exeter, Devon, of stealing a canvas bag and other goods valued at 6 shillings. He had been charged and acquitted in March 1784 of other charges. His death sentence was commuted to 7 years transportation on 13 April 1786. He was sent to the Dunkirk hulk, where he remained until he embarked for New South Wales on the Charlotte in March 1787, arriving in Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.
Hortopp's presence in the colony at Port Jackson in 1788 is the only record of his time in New South Wales.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 179
'Hortopp, James (c. 1752–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/hortopp-james-31312/text38706, accessed 29 May 2025.