Please forgive the delay. I’ve been caught up with a few family matters. Let me put up the missing photographs that I’ve been able to find. I seem not to have those of Margaret De(h)ee or Dea (n) (e) c.1836-1920, per Inconstant to Port Adelaide, my photo of the headstone of Ellen Fox (1833-1896) per Inchinnan to Port Jackson, nor the pic for Bridget Maria Flynn c.1831-1916, from Clonmel, Tipperary, per New Liverpool to Port Phillip. I’ll keep looking.
If you remember from the previous post I had reached as far as Margaret Ward. Here are the pages again, pp.156-9.
and
The first one on p.157 is of Sarah Arbuckle (c. 1834-1908), one of the three Arbuckle sisters from Tyrone, per Derwent to Port Phillip. My thanks to Len Swindley.
Next is Jane (c.1835-96), one of two Bing, or Byng, sisters From Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, per Diadem to Port Phillip. Thanks to Michaela Smart.
Then there’s Catherine Crowley (c. 1834-1909) from Bandon, in County Cork, per John Knox to Port Jackson. Thanks to Patrick St. George.
And the last one on page 157, Catherine Fox (1830-1920) from Armagh, per Earl Grey to Port Jackson. Thanks to Gwen Etherington.
The last photo i have to hand is of Eliza Barrett, nee Greenwood (1830-96) from Moy, County Tyrone, per Earl Grey to Port Jackson. Thanks to Linda Collett.
I’ll keep looking for the other three.
Re Notes, endnotes or footnotes…
There are some brief notes at the very end of the 2021 version of Barefoot (pp.511-12) which tell you where the documents came from, and basically, how some of the “Belfast Girls” were identified. Not all of the young women sent to Maitland and Moreton Bay are identified in the documents. But if you go to the Register list for the Earl Grey you will find many of the others. Beside their name is a notation, “sent to Maitland” or “sent to Moreton Bay”. There are a few anomalies that will pose an interesting problem for some family historians. Eliza McCready from Downpatrick is not mentioned in any of these documents, yet she soon turns up in Moreton Bay. What exactly happened to the Earl Grey women in the first few years? How many on board that ship were sent to Moreton Bay by 1850? I am sure Ray Debnam’s CD , The Feisty Colleens will have some suggestions.
Early in 2017 I made an attempt to add some notes, when i put into my blog a copy of my Preface, and Introduction to the 1991 edition. See for example, https://wp.me/p4SlVj-Zg You will need to scroll down to the end.
More was added in the posts that followed. See https://wp.me/p4SlVj-106
One of the problems was that my reference numbers were out of date. Yet such is the magnificent progress made by our archivists, i’ve successfully searched online for the current numbers.
Thus, for example, starting with the references i had regarding Board of Immigration reports for vessel arrivals, e.g. AONSW (Archives Office New South Wales) 4/4699 Microfilm reel 2852, i went to https://mhnsw.au/collections/state-archives-collection/ and was able to find NRS-5255, NRS-5256 and NRS-5257. These are, respectively,
‘Reports by the Immigration Agent on the condition of immigrants and ships on their arrival 1837-1895‘;
‘Reports by Surgeons on the health of immigrants during their passage (Medical Journals) 1838-86‘;
and ‘Reports by the Immigration Board on complaints of immigrants about their passage 1838-87‘.
I assume it is here we would find information about the scandals, mentioned at the bottom of page 19 of the 2021 version of Barefoot..?, regarding the Hyderabad and Fairlie, maybe of the Subraon too. That’s the vessel that arrived in Port Jackson just a few months before the Earl Grey.
Frustratingly, I have a copy of the Report on the Subraon but the precise reference eludes me. Was it in the collection of Reports and other papers at AONSW 9/6298? Although what i have is obviously printed from a negative microfilm.
That’s the one detailing how the young women from a Dublin Foundling Hospital were abused by crew members. Young Dolly Newman was hoisted up the mast, and was later to die from a miscarriage(?).
On page 35 of the 2021 version of Barefoot it is mentioned that prospective employers of the young orphans had to apply formally, and be approved by the Sydney Orphan Committee/Board of Guardians. What i have in my old notes is the reference, AONSW 4/4715-7 “Registers and indexes of applications for orphans 1848-51“. Would a reader like to take up the challenge, and find the current State Records number? Here’s an example to tempt you,
These are the names of individuals applying for an orphan to become their servant. On the example above, at the top of the page, 24 August 1849, John Armstrong, a Surveyor of Macquarie Street, Sydney is applying for an orphan female as a general house servant under an Indenture. And in the last column on the right of the page under result of the application, he is ‘approved for an apprentice’. But there is sometimes much more than this. Further down that page at number 816, there is something about the elusive Mary Littlewood per Earl Grey.
In those early days, one of the most fruitful sources i used at State Archives was the nineteen volumes of Immigration Correspondence (AONSW 4634-52), covering the years 1838-64. For the orphans i concentrated on the years 1847-51. The correspondence coming out of the Immigration Agent’s office, mostly from F.L.S. Merewether, was especially helpful. It is in those volumes, for example, one can trace the story of young Margaret Devlin from Keady, County Armagh. See pages 36-37 of the 2021 Barefoot version.
In effect, from an early date, I was trying to do what every family historian does instinctively, that is, link as many different sources as possible to find information about a particular family member. This “record linkage” will be familiar to many readers. And the great thing is, more and more is discovered all the time.
Using http://mhnsw.au I found that AONSW 4/4635 was now NRS-5247 or rather, Reel 3114. Entering Margaret’s name into the Index search box, I was given the reference to exactly where she appears in reel 3114 and 3115.
Bitten once more by the bug, I delved into the collection of Colonial Secretary papers. I went to the very useful Index to Colonial Secretary Letters Received 1826-96, created by Joan Reese, Linda Bowman and Aileen Trinder. And there i was alerted to two letters relating to young Margaret Devlin in 1850 and 1851, which i don’t think I’ve seen before. It’s easy to see the attraction for family historians, and others. It is all a very different experience nowadays for researchers. My big hearty congratulations to all our archivists who have made this possible.
That seems to be a good place to stop for now.
May i finish by drawing your attention to this year’s Melbourne Bloomsday celebrations? Exiles by James Joyce looks well worth seeing. It’s on 15th to 25th June. Best check the dates.
trevo's Irish famine orphans 