The petitioner was tried at Mullingar on the last day of the Spring Assizes before the Honourable Judge Day and found guilty of having a few yards of cotton, which were stolen, found on him, and at the time of passing sentence of transportation on him, the judge in consequence of petitioner’s good character and having a large and helpless family, was pleased to say he would recommend petitioner to mercy and to be pardoned by the Government on condition of his enlisting in His Majesty’s Service, which petitioner accordingly did in gaol of Mullingar, but the gaoler and his wife, having extorted four guineas from the petitioner’s wife, and wanting to extort more which petitioner could not give, petitioner was contrary to the judge’s direction sent off to New Geneva with the other convicts for transportation.
The petitioner’s wife and his six small children walked from their home near Mullingar to Cork, and afterwards to the fort of Duncannon in search of the petitioner, and having found him at New Geneva, applied to General Johnson, who desired her to apply to Your Excellency to extend mercy to petitioner and order him to be liberated on such terms as Your Excellency’s humanity shall seem meet and petitioner and family will pray.
CHAPTER 12: ANNE KENNEDY
There is no record as to how Thomas O’Neil became aware of and interested in developing a farm at Hunters Meadows. The discussion with the sailor at Rosella Marsh’s Tavern is entirely fictitious.
CHAPTER 18: TRAGEDY
The actual cause of Anne Kennedy’s death is unknown.
CHAPTER 19: BARNEY KEARNS RETURNS
It is not clear from historical records when Barney Kearns arrived at Hunters Meadows. Some sources have his return occurring between 1814 and 1820. It is reasonable to assume it cannot have been prior to his marriage to Margaret Robertson. As I have found no record to the contrary I have assumed it was soon after his marriage.
CHAPTER 29: PATERSON’S PLAINS
The Nerneys did move to Paterson’s Plains. The difficulties they had with the police are on record. Their role at Bellevue is circumstantial. As far as is known Nicholas Nerney had no experience in agriculture. Therefore being the manager for William Evans seems like a logical guess.
CHAPTER 38: CHARLES BEILBY AND HUNTERS MEADOWS
Charles Beilby, between 1835 and 1837, accumulated no less than 190 acres of property on Middle Head and Hunters Meadows. Following completion of his two-year sentence in 1840 he went back into business. He erected a house at Middle Head. This house has not survived.
CHAPTER 39: BARNEY KEARNS’ ‘NIECES’ SEEK SHELL COVE ASSETS
Among the transportation petition papers for Barney Kearns there is a petition signed by Michael Kirwin of Killenboy. While Kirwin is not an unusual Irish name, is it pure coincidence that he has the same surname as Catherine and Mary Ann Kirwin, the nieces in this story? While we can’t know for sure, it is possible that he was the brother-in-law of Barney Kearns and the girls were the nieces of Barney Kearns.
Bibliography
Bateson, C., The convict ships, 1787–1868, Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1974.
Boyle, H. F., Gent, L., & Anderson, V. (illustrator), A history of the Paterson River Valley, Paterson Historical Society, Paterson NSW, 2011. Clunde, D. & Turner, K. (eds), The governors of New South Wales, The Federation Press, Sydney, 2009.
Graham, C., McIntyre, P. & Whitaker A. (eds), The voyage of the Friendship from Cork to Botany Bay 1799–1800, PR Ireland, Sydney, 2000.
Hirst, J., Freedom on the fatal shore: Australia’s first colony, Black Inc, Melbourne, 2008.
Hughes, R., The fatal shore: a history of the transportation of convicts to Australia 1787–1868, Vintage, London, 2003.
Walsh, B., European settlement at Paterson River, 1812 to 1822, Paterson Historical Society, Paterson NSW, 2012.
Souter, G., Mosman: a history, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1994.
I am also indebted to the following institutions and online resources:
‘Convict Ship Index’, Free settler or felon, https://www.jenwilletts.com/convict_ships_australia.html.
New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1805–1828:
•1805–06, 1811, Baxter, C. J. (ed), ABGR Project in association with the Society of Australian Genealogists, Sydney, 1987
•1823–25, Baxter, C. J. (ed), ABGR Project in association with the Society of Australian Genealogists, Sydney, 1987
•1828 Census of New South Wales, November 1828, Saintly, M. R. & Johnson, K. A., Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1980.
New South Wales Government State Archives, www.records.nsw.gov.au
New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, www.bdm.nsw.gov.au
Society of Australian Genealogists
Steven, M., ‘Campbell, Robert (1769–1846)’, Australian dictionary of biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/campbell-robert-1876/text2197, published first in hard copy 1966.
The National Archives – Home Office: Domestic Correspondence, George lll. HO 42/62/67 Letters and Papers.
The National Archives – Home Office: Convict Transportation Registers. HO11, pp. 303–313.
Trove, National Library of Australia, https://trove.nla.gov.au/
Acknowledgements
The bedrock of this book is a 25-page research document prepared by fellow family researchers, Pam Lawty, Bernice Martin and Max Jarvis. The document comprises transcribed letters, court papers and other facts and information that provide insight into the thinking of Thomas O’Neil, Barney Kearns, William Foster and others. This document came into my possession via another descendant of Thomas O’Neil.
Over the past ten years or so since I first started my ancestry journey, I have filled out the story from records held by the State Library of New South Wales, the Society of Genealogists and Mosman Library as well as newspaper articles from Trove, the online data base hosted by the National Library of Australia.
To build a picture of the colonial context of my relations’ environment I consulted historical texts such as Charles Bateson’s The Convict Ships, 1787–1868; John Hirst’s Freedom on the Fatal Shore: Australia’s first colony; Robert Hughes’s The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding; Gavin Souter’s Mosman: A History; and David Clunde and Ken Turner’s The Governors of New South Wales: 1788– 2010. The details of the voyage of the Friendship II (Thomas O’Neil) came from the diary of the ship captain’s wife, Mary Reid, who made the journey from Cork to Sydney. Mary Reid was the only woman on board this all-male transport ship. Her diary was published as The Voyage of the Ship Friendship from Cork to Botany Bay 1799–1800.
Of course then there were all the personal connections and information provided by Ancestry®. Principal among these connections were Mrs Helen Saville and Mrs Margaret Hastings, who are relatives I did not know I had until some thirteen years ago when our paths crossed researching our common family history. In addition, Emeritus Professor David Carment read and commented on a draft.
Margaret Hastings and I share Harriet Foster as a common ancestor. We first met at Gore Hill Cemetery searching for Harriet’s tombstone. Since then we have worked closely to tease out records of our common ancestral history and bring together threads of this information and draw conclusions thereon. While I take responsibility for the text, Margaret has painstakingly worked her way through my various drafts, pointing out errors, correcting factual inaccuracies, finding new material, improving my English and overall enhancing the narrative. I owe her a debt of thanks and her contribution has been immense.
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