James Mapps was born in 1777 in Woolaston where he worked as a labourer. He married Elizabeth Parry in February 1802 and had six children. On 14 Oct 1828, he was sentenced to three months in prison for stealing oak timber. On July 1834, at the age of 57, he was sentenced to be transported for seven years for Theft of hay from a rick. After a spell on a hulk, he was transferred to the Lyton which set sail for Van Diemen’s Land on 29 Aug 1835. He became very ill on the voyage and died while still at sea on 24 October 1835