‘Yes, Mr O’Neil, you can have your pick of the convicts as they are unloaded. Run your eye over them as they come ashore. We will line them all up and just let me know which one you want and I will record it in the register. You’re taking him to Hunters Meadows, I presume.’
‘Yes, the farm is getting bigger and Barney and I are not getting any younger. Given the hardships we have suffered we are both a little worse for wear.’
‘Yes, I can see that,’ replied the officer, a smile playing on his face as he looked over Tommy.
‘I guess I asked for that!’
O’Neil turned his gaze to the men coming ashore, while holding Anastasia’s hand. He knew how they would feel arriving in this land far from their birth. Most had sorrow written all over their faces. They had low expectations and expected more hardships. A few had their faces upturned, taking in their new environment. Tommy did not want a man whose first instinct was to take off into the bush, as some of them did. He was also thinking about the young women in his care. Not wanting someone who would abuse them, also not wanting someone with whom they would fall in love.
Tommy and Barney wanted someone who could be a contributor and who would see an opportunity in being indentured at Hunters Meadows.
In the end there were two or three men Tommy liked the look of and he finally settled on a man named Thomas Pender. He was an Irishman from County Wexford, in southern Ireland. Following a brief discussion with Pender he confirmed he was indeed an agricultural worker. Tommy could see even with the recent hardship of prison and transportation he was a fundamentally fit and strong individual. He was just the man they needed, a skilled worker.
Tommy outlined to Pender his expectations of him and the work he was to undertake at Hunters Meadows. He also explained that he had arrived in the colony in similar circumstances and intended to treat him as an equal. Pender recognised this as a very lucky break.
Following the completion of the necessary paperwork with the officer they departed. On the trip back to Hunters Meadows, Pender explained he had received a seven-year transportation sentence and was very pleased to have the opportunity to start a new life away from the difficulties of Ireland. Tommy looked at Pender and remembered vividly his own arrival and early days in the colony a quarter of a century earlier. Pender had no knowledge of small boats and was very uncomfortable on the trip across the harbour. However, once on land, and after he had settled in at the farm, he became a good contributor and was an honest and reliable person.
Another month went by at Hunters Meadows and again Tommy started to make the journey to the island to check on arrivals. It was not a long walk but he was increasingly finding it harder to walk in the soft sand.
As the month of June 1823 advanced towards July he became increasingly concerned.
The ship was late.
Tommy was aware that many events on such a long voyage could delay a ship’s arrival. Late departures, unplanned stopovers, lack of wind were some of the common ones. But he also knew there were events he did not even want to contemplate: piracy, mutiny, seizure by foreign ships, and shipwrecks – while none of these were major possibilities, a ship had been wrecked on its way to Sydney only the previous year. Before he would let those thoughts dominate his thinking he would keep a positive mind on the matter. So each morning he continued to venture past the island to look towards the Heads.
Finally one chilly morning, O’Neil was looking east into the rising sun and noticed a ship with its sails raised making its way through the Heads. It was a two-deck ship just as the Master of the Brampton had described. This must be the Woodman, he thought. At last!
O’Neil gathered his womenfolk together and off they rushed to town. While the morning breeze was light it was aft of the ship. Tommy quickly realised the ship was going to be in Port Jackson before he could get there this time.
When they arrived, the ship was riding on the gentle movement of the tide in Sydney Cove. But was it the Woodman, they wondered? As they rowed past the stern they raised their eyes with eager anticipation to the space above the window of the master’s cabin to read the name of the ship.
‘It is the Woodman!’ yelled Anastasia in excitement.
And so it was. The name Woodman was emblazoned on the stern for all to see. The confirmation that this was the ship encouraged Tommy to increase the stroke of his rowing and reach the shoreline as promptly as possible. Now he just had to be right that this was the ship his daughters were on.
Many of the Woodman passengers had already disembarked onto the shoreline; however, more passengers were beginning to emerge with their baggage onto the main deck. The convicted women, as was the custom, were still being held below deck in order that the passengers could disembark hassle free.
As Tommy squinted, the number of passengers emerging up on deck continued to grow. He had counted twenty and they were still coming up. The number gradually rose to thirty. Then they stopped appearing and Tommy assumed that was the total complement. The passengers made their way to mid-ships.
‘Daddy!’ Anastasia’s voice interrupted his thoughts. ‘Look, there are two women now on deck talking to each other. Could they be them? They have a young boy with them.’
O’Neil stared at where Anastasia was pointing. ‘Yes, Hannah, I see them now. Those two are a possibility but I do not know about the young boy. Let’s go and greet the arrival craft to see whether it is them.’
‘It’s them!’ said Catherine O’Neil.
They walked over to where the arrival craft was docking to unload the settlers. As the ladies and the young boy disembarked and got onto dry land, Tommy introduced himself.
‘Good morning and welcome to Sydney. Would you, by any chance, be the O’Neil girls, my daughters?’
Tommy did not know what to expect. He was apprehensive. Would he meet their expectations of a father they had really never had? Would they be bitter towards him for not being present during their childhood? He would soon find out.
Meanwhile Catherine was hugging one of the women. Both were in great excitement.
‘Daddy!’ one the girls yelled out. ‘I bet you do not recognise us!’ It was Eliza O’Neil.
The young boy looked up at Tommy, wondering who he was. Why was his mother so excited?
Tommy’s fears were washed away as his two daughters grasped and hugged him. All three O’Neil women were by now yelling and whooping. They had longed for this meeting for the last eight years since Catherine had been convicted, and even longer, to reunite with their father.
Eliza instigated the introductions, ‘I’m Eliza and this is Mary Ann Bridget and the little boy here is my son, Thomas Arthur O’Neil. We’ve been so looking forward to meeting you but did not know what to expect.’
‘Likewise,’ replied Tommy. ‘With me is your youngest sister, Anastasia, who we call Hannah.’ The other three women, not wanting to leave Anastasia out of the embrace pulled her into the mix of bodies. There were smiles and tears all round. ‘My, my, Eliza, you do have a fine looking boy here,’ Tommy continued. ‘I am a granddaddy!’
Once normality had returned and it took some time, they all headed off to an ale house to celebrate the reunion before returning to Hunters Meadows. Over a few quenching drops of ale, Tommy outlined his plan to hire rooms in town for both Eliza and Mary Ann Bridget but that, in the first instance, he suggested they should all come and stay at his home at Hunters Meadows. Mary Ann Bridget and Eliza both enthusiastically agreed.
It was now a tight squeeze at Hunters Meadows. The house had not been built to house five adults – Tommy, Catherine, the two daughters and Pender – as well as a teenager and a child.
Margaret prepared a meal to celebrate the new arrivals.
‘How was the trip?’ asked Barney.
‘I’ll get in first before Eliza says her piece,’ said Mary Ann Bridget. ‘The Woodman was delayed in Cork. We boarded on 22 December but did not sail until about a month later. I do not know the reason but it might be explained by
the high level of sickness amongst the convicts.’
‘Yes,’ replied Tommy, ‘I recall we had the same problem. The prisons were terrible places. Catherine could confirm that.’ Catherine nodded her head.
Mary Ann Bridget continued. ‘For the whole of the voyage there was an ongoing feud between the surgeon, George Fairfowl, and the ship’s master, Henry Ford.’
‘That’s serious,’ commented Margaret.
‘When we arrived in the tropics the surgeon became extremely concerned for the health of the convict women. They were suffering greatly from the heat. We were lucky to be upstairs. Fairfowl wanted to proceed directly to the Cape to reach cooler climes but the Master insisted instead on stopping at Rio de Janeiro.’
Each of them revelled in the story as they all, apart from Anastasia, had made a similar huge journey.
‘The Woodman stayed in Rio for some three weeks. Fortunately we had the opportunity to go ashore. It was a really beautiful place and we had the chance to eat some of the local fruits. Those poor convicts downstairs were restricted to only coming up on deck.’
Eliza chimed in. ‘We started out with ninety-seven convicts; three convicts died in transit. Apart from the stop in Rio we sailed directly to Sydney. The total journey took a hundred and fifty-one days.’
‘Well what a great adventure,’ Catherine summed up. ‘At least now we are all here and looking towards a bright future. But tell us how are things in Dublin?’
‘Just awful!’ said Mary Ann Bridget. ‘The English have taken an even tighter rein of the country, if that’s possible. There’s little food. The people are desperate, particularly in the countryside. People are still committing “crimes” just to escape starvation. Little things like Catherine did: such as stealing potatoes, lighting small fires, stealing a piece of cotton and hanging around so they can be captured by the police. At least in prison you get fed and, with some luck, you may be transported.’
‘We have friends who were still in prison when we left. Hopefully they will arrive soon, all being well,’ added Eliza.
‘I cannot imagine how being in prison can be seen as better than being free. That just shows how bad things have got. At least here there is plenty of food these days and life in general is very good,’ said Margaret. ‘Unless you’re one of the poor Aboriginal people who’ve been chased off their land.’
‘Not all of them,’ said Barney, and they told the newcomers about Bungaree and his mob and the farm he’d been allotted.
Tommy turned the conversation back to the opportunities he hoped his daughters would benefit from.
‘Margaret is right. When Barney and I first arrived there were severe food shortages. Now the colony has expanded in all directions. Most of the people are a lot better off than if they had remained in the “old” countries. I think you will enjoy it here. The weather is much better – no snow or sleet and the opportunities endless as long as you take them. Tom Pender has been with us over a month now, so what do you think, Tom?’
‘Oh, I am loathe to say except much better than I thought. To me, you have all found paradise.’
Tommy explained the farm to his daughters, hoping to get them to see how lucky they were to set down roots here. However, he acknowledged it was out of the way and he could not expect them to continue to live there. At this point Anastasia interrupted.
‘Daddy, when Eliza, Mary Ann Bridget and Catherine take lodgings in the town can I go and stay with them? I would like to see what’s going on there. I am almost thirteen years old and I promise I will not get into any trouble.’
Eliza and Mary Ann Bridget looked at each other and Eliza replied, ‘If Daddy gives his approval it is all right by us.’
‘Look, I am not about to argue with my daughters. Hannah, if you do go and stay with them you’ll have to be very careful. It is not a safe place for young girls. As long as you promise to be sensible, you have my approval. However, you must let them settle in first.’
‘Oh thank you, Daddy,’ said Anastasia in delight, jumping up and down. She had worried that the arrival of her much older sisters might change the dynamics of the household for the worse but now she was very pleased they had come. It would give her a chance to see the real world away from the cloistered world of Hunters Meadows.
After a month at Hunters Meadows, Tommy rehoused Catherine, Eliza and Mary Ann Bridget in lodgings in town.
Tommy was concerned about the bad eggs among the population, but that was the same in Dublin. His daughters were more than able and old enough to look after themselves. But the population still had a severe imbalance of males over females so there were a lot of overly eager men looking for wives. That could make a situation extremely dangerous. It continually led to fights and brawls.
Now letting Anastasia go there was another matter.
Once the older daughters had settled in, there began a nightly discussion as to when Anastasia could visit them in town. Tommy kept deferring the decision but it was only a matter of time until he gave permission and that came in October 1823. Tommy took her into town to Mary Ann’s lodgings and made Mary Ann responsible for her.
‘Now, Hanna, I will let you stay a week. Make sure you remain with Mary Ann at all times. No scampering off by yourself, now. There are a lot of undesirables here; you have to be very careful. Do you understand?’
‘Yes, Daddy, I understand.’
‘And, Mary Ann Bridget, is it clear to you what I have just said?’
‘Yes, Daddy, I’ll look after her.’
‘By the way Mary Ann Bridget, where is Eliza? I thought she would be with you.’
‘She has met a man so I do not see her so often as I did. She is very keen. I understand he is from Ireland.’
‘Oh that would be right. And where is Catherine?’
‘She moved out as she also found a man but I am not sure where she is. I hope she is all right.’
With that Tommy withdrew to Hunters Meadows hoping that Anastasia was in a safe pair of hands.
At the end of the week Tommy collected Anastasia from her town holiday. Nothing had gone wrong over the week that Tommy was aware of and he indicated that she could go and visit Mary Ann Bridget on a regular basis. Mary Ann Bridget, having no children, enjoyed Anastasia’s exuberant company now that Eliza was in the company of a man.
25.
The O’Neil Women
SYDNEY TOWN, 1824
Eliza O’Neil was in love. Her beau was a man by the name of Nicholas Nerney.
Nerney had been in the colony just over four years, having arrived on the transport ship Daphne on 21 September 1819. He was from Stokestown in Roscommon, a landlocked county in Ireland’s central north. A shoemaker by trade, he had been convicted of housebreaking and stealing and sentenced to transportation for life. On his immediate arrival he had been assigned to the new Prisoners’ Barracks.
Eliza was very excited. She had known Nerney for five months, having met him soon after her arrival in Sydney. He was Irish and had a good sense of humour and qualities that would make him a good father for her son, Thomas Arthur O’Neil, and the children she hoped to have eventually. Plus he liked him. Nicholas had agreed that Thomas Arthur would adopt Nerney as a surname. Nicholas Nerney was five feet eight and a half inches tall with blond hair and blue eyes.
The fact he was a convict did not worry her. After all, most of the people in the colony were convicts or former convicts. She knew the criminal system in Ireland did not represent justice and the economic environment made people criminals just to survive. Her father was a case in point of the former.
But she would not marry Nicholas without her father’s approval. That would involve taking Nicholas to Hunters Meadows. Tommy’s journeys to town were too sporadic and unpredictable to be relied on so she gathered a few things together and she and Nicholas secured the services of an oarsman.
As they pulled into the beach on the low tide Eliza spotted Anastasia opening oysters on the foreshore rocks. Anastasia looked up to see Eliza, yo
ung Thomas and a man she did not recognise sitting on the back seat of the boat.
‘Eliza! Tommo!’ Anastasia yelled. She sped off to find Tommy.
As the boat ground to a halt on the sandy beach, Nicholas leapt from the boat and lifted Eliza on to the dry sand so she wouldn’t get her feet wet. Together, with Thomas Arthur bringing up the rear, they walked up the beach to be met by Tommy. The man they had contracted to row the boat accompanied them.
‘Eh my girl, what brings you to Hunters Meadows today?’ Tommy asked, already guessing the answer.
‘Daddy, let me first introduce you to Nicholas Nerney.’
After Tommy had shaken Nicholas’s hand, introductions and pleasantries exchanged, they moved up the beach to the house. Following a lunch of oysters and flathead Nicholas drew Tommy aside and asked him for Eliza’s hand in marriage. Tommy looked at his daughter, who had a broad grin on her face, readily agreed and shook Nicholas’s hand, welcoming him to the family.
Tommy wanted to see his daughters married before he passed away. Given his age he did not think his final day was too far away. He felt well. But at seventy he was one of the old men of the colony.
Tommy recognised that Eliza and Nicholas would need financial help if they were to settle in some comfort following their marriage. Therefore he would need to provide them with enough money to afford a home, so he made a significant announcement.
‘Now here. I have been thinking for some time what I would like to give my daughter and future son-in-law as a wedding present. I would like it to be a gift of money as well as something that will grow in value. My proposal is to give you enough money to buy a place in town, together with three acres of my land here at Hunters Meadows.’
‘Daddy,’ Eliza said, ‘that is too generous.’
‘No, Eliza, I want to get you both started in life together. You have at least one young boy to raise and there may be other children. I have saved money for just this type of occasion.’
The Tailor and the Shipwright Page 19