UNDER THE LASH
GALLAGHERS SENT TO AUSTRALIA AS CONVICTS
By Merle O’Donnell
“Some of the convicts, indeed a good many of them”, wrote Mark Twain, “were very bad people, even for that day; but the most of them were probably not noticeably worse than the average of the people they left behind at home. We must believe this; we cannot avoid it. We are obliged to believe that a nation that could look on, unmoved, and see starving or freezing women hanged for stealing twenty-six cents’ worth of bacon or rags, and boys snatched from their mothers, and men from their families, and sent to the other side of the world for long terms of years for similar trifling offences, was a nation to whom the word “civilised” could not in any large way be applied…
If we look into the characters and conduct of the officers and gentlemen who had charge of the convicts and attend to their backs and stomachs, we must grant again that as between the convict and his masters…and the nation at home, there was quite a monotony of sameness.”
A convict’s life was neither easy or pleasant and in many cases downright unendurable. On arrival they were assigned to chain gangs to build roads and clear land, or given over to property owners as farm labourers. In the early days the few animals in the Colony were too prized to be used for heavy haulage, so the task fell to the convicts. If they were skilled carpenters or stonemasons they were put to work erecting public buildings and homes for settlers. The work was hard, the accommodation rough and ready, the food unpalatable and strictly rationed. Discipline was brutal. It was not uncommon for a man to die at work, having been forced to stay there until the last moment or while being carried to a hospital. Fifty lashes were meted out for the slightest offence. Sometimes a psychopathic officer would up it fifty and fifty again for as long as the convict could endure the torture and live. Convicts who reoffended in the new Colony were likely to be sent off to a place of secondary punishment, such as Coal River, NSW, or Port Macquarie, Moreton Bay, Darlington, Norfolk Island or Port Arthur. These terrible, isolated places were designed to “reform” prisoners by dispensing upon them the most brutal punishments imaginable.
Women were the underclass, subjected to varying degrees of humiliation and degradation. The ships they were transported on inevitably became floating brothels. In 1817 a British judge acknowledged that it was accepted that the younger women be taken to the cabins of the officers each night, or thrown in with the crew. For many years, females were in short supply in the Colonies and the arrival of a shipload generated a near hysteria among the settlers. On their arrival in the Colony, it was the custom for the male inhabitants to select a woman, and not necessarily as a servant. The remainder were brought on shore and placed in the female factory (gaol). Conditions steadily improved in the 1820’s and prostitution on board ship appears to have been abolished, though not entirely.
In time, convicts earned a form of freedom by Ticket of Leave until they were granted a Certificate of Freedom, Emancipation or Pardon and their sentence was at an end. Even then, many could not return home, even if they wished to. Only those who received an Absolute Pardon were permitted to return to England or Ireland.
They came in chains as unwilling convicts in crowded transport ships. They toiled as slaves and endured unimaginable hardship, bought land and prospered in the new country.
The first Gallagher to arrive in Australia (as far as I can ascertain) was a woman by the name of Elizabeth Gallagher, alias Golluker. In 1801 Elizabeth stood trial in Dublin. She was sentenced to 7 years transportation and arrived in New South Wales in 1801 on board the ship Anne I. Little is know of her but hopefully, more of her story will emerge as time allows. We are well acquainted with the brutality of the Convict transportation system, the distress and injustices of a hard and callous age when many were driven to commit crime, the plight of individuals subjected to malignant laws and famine. They gave the work of their hands and often their lives. It does matter if they are forgotten.
Below are lists taken from various State Records containing the names of Gallaghers who came to Australia as convicts.
Convicts are the easiest to research because of the wealth of documentation on them. Each was identified not only by name but by the ship he/she was transported on. Sometimes a convict used an alias (possibly to protect the family name) but these are usually listed along with the original surname. So, as long as you have the name of the ship and the year it arrived, it’s a safe bet this person can be traced. This is a project in progress and will be added to as time and research permits.
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GALLAGHERS TRANSPORTED AS CONVICTS TO AUSTRALIA
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Name
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DOB/Status
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Native Place
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Occupation
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Trial Place/Year
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Crime
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Time
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Vessel
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Arr Yr
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GALLAGHER
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Anne
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1820
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Tyrone Co.
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Kitchenmaid
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1839
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Whitby
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1839
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Note: Age at Trial 19 yrs.
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Ann
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1809/M
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Donegal
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Dairy Maid
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Minerva
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1839
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Note: Married, 1 son.
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Charles
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1809/S
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Errand Boy
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Donegal/1826
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House Stealing
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Life
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Regalia
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1826
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Christopher
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1877
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Fermanagh
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Trumpeter
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Roscommon/1818
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7yrs
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Daphne
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1819
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Note: Certificate of Freedom, 4 July, 1825. See Additional Information, below.
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Christopher
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1775
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Labourer
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Naas, Kildare/ 1803
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7yrs
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Tellichery
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1806
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Granted Cert of Freedom 9 Jan, 1810. Certificate of Emancipation 1 June, 1810.
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Dennis
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1817
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Labourer
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Dublin/1835
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Lady McNaughten
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1835
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Edmund
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c1816/S
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Kerry Co.
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Farm Lab.
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1834
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Blenheim
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1834
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Edward
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1773
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Rosscommon
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Shepherd
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Rosscommon/1821
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Stealing Sheep
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7yrs
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Earl St. Vincent
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1823
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Edward
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1812/S
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Dublin
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Painter
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Dublin City/1830
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Stealing Cloak
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7yrs
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Hercules II
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1832
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Note: I previous conviction
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Eleanor
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1803/M
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Mayo Co.
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Laundress
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1839
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Minerva
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1839
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Note: Age at Trial 36 yrs. Married with 1 son.
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Elizabeth
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Dublin/1801
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7yrs
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Anne I
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1801
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Alias Golluker
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Felix
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1803/S
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Tyrone
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Farm Servant
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Tyrone/1827
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Manslaughter
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Life
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Mangles
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1828
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Note: On Convict Absconders List NSW. 1830.
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Fergus
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1768
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Stock Keeper
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Lifford, Donegal/1792
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Stealing Sheep
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Life
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Boddingtons
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1793
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Alias Ganlicar.
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Francis
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1789/S
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Mayo
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Farm Labourer
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Mayo Co./1826
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Stealing Sheep
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7yrs
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Boyne
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1826
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Francis
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1803/S
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Tyrone
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Labourer
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Tyrone/1827
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Manslaughter
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7yrs
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Mangles
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1828
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Francis
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1796
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Mayo Co.
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Labourer
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Mayo/1817
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Life
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Minerva I
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1818
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Granted Conditional Pardon 31 December, 1847.
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George
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1816
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Armagh Co.
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Labourer
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1838
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William Jardine
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1838
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Note: Age at Trial 22 yrs.
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Hugh
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1817/S
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Glasgow
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Cowboy
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Donegal/1828
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Fergusson
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1829
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Note: 2 former convictions.
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Hugh
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1791
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Sligo
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Servant
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Sligo/1819
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Life
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Daphne
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1819
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Hugh
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1817
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Tyrone Co.
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Labourer
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1838
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Westmoreland
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1838
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Note: Age at Trial 21 yrs.
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James
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1798/S
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Donegal
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Reaper
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Donegal Co./1821
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7yrs
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Isabella I
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1822
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Alias Callaghan
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James
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1804/S
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Donegal
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Farm Labourer
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Leitrim/1825
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Stealing Cows
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7yrs
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Regalia
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1826
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Alias Gollogher
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James
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1801
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Armagh
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Butter Maker
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Dundalk, Louth/1824
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7yrs
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Ann & Amelia
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1825
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Note: Other occupations listed: Ploughman, Shearer
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James
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1804
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Mayo Co.
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Reaper, Thrasher
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Galway/1824
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Asia I
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1825
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James
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1798
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Clare Co.
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Weaver
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Ennis/1823
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7yrs
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Isabella I
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1823
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James
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1786
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Roscomm. Co.
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Shepherd
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Rosscommon/1820
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7yrs
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Lord Sidmouth
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1821
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James
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1779
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Mayo Co.
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Labourer
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Mayo/1818
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7yrs
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Minerva I
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1819
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James
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1779
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Wexford
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Ploughman
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Lancaster. Engl./1824
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Life
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Minstrel
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1825
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Note: Granted Conditional Pardon 10 April, 1847.
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Jane
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c1819/S
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Chelsea
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Housemaid
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Surrey
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1840
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Note: Age at Trial c21 yrs.
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John
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1794
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King’s Co.
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Ploughman
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Kildare Co./1822
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Life
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Countess of Harcourt
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1822
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Note: Granted Conditional Pardon 1 January, 1842.
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John
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1796
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Meath Co.
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Labourer
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Meath Co./1819
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7yrs
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Hadlow
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1820
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John
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1781/M 2 ch
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Tipperary
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Fisherman
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Trim, Meath/1828
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Robbed House
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7yrs
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Fergusson
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1829
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John
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1793
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Tyrone Co.
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Farm Lab.
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Tyrone/1825
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Robbed House
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7yrs
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Phoenix III
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1826
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Note: Shot in the act of setting fire to hulk in Kingston, Dublin
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John
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1800/S
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Limerick
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Limerick/1828
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Stealing Quilt
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7yrs
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Sophia
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1829
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Note: Labourer assigned to Thomas McAffrey of Salt Pan Creek, Herne Bay, now Riverland, Sydney NSW.
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John
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1781
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King’s Co.
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Labourer
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Dublin City/1812
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7yrs
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Three Bees
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1814
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John
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1803
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Belfast
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Weaver
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Antrim/1803
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7yrs
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Lord Sidmouth
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1821
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John
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1793
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Donegal
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Tinker
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Monaghan/1817
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Life
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Minerva I
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1818
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John
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1800/M
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Drogheda
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Shoemaker, Lab.
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Dublin/1826
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Stole Clothes
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7yrs
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Phoenix III
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1826
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Alias Gollocher
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John
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1803
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Londonderry
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Whitesmith
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Leitrim Co.
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7yrs
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Recovery
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1823
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John
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c1822
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Mayo Co.
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Labourer
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Pekoe
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1840
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Note: Ship: Age at Trial c18 yrs.
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John
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c1816
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Armagh Co.
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Labourer
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William Jardine
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1838
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Note:Alias Geo Keating. Age at Trial c22 yrs. Ship William Jardine Dep. Dublin 28 November, 1837. Arr. NSW 11 April,
1838.
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John
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c1815/S
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Baker
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14yrs
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William Jardine
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1852
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Note: Alias Johnston, Thomas Adelaide. Age at Trial c37 yrs. Convict No. 1305. Height 5’ 3 ½”, dark brown hair,
Blear grey eyes, oval face, sallow complexion. Slight build. Cut on left eye. Died 11 August, 1888, prison hospital.
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John
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1832/S
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Barber
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Glasgow/1852
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14yrs
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Ramillies
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1854
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Note: Prisoner No. 3202. Swan River Colony, WA. Literate. RC. Known areas, Swan, Perth. Worked for self 1857.
Date of Trial in Glasgow 28 September, 1852.
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Matthew
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1811
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Aka William. Ship: ? Convict absconded 1828. Died 1821 aged 21 yrs.
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Mark
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c1822/M 1ch
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Waggoner
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Birmingham/1852
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Stealing lead
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Clara
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1857
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Note: Age on arrival in Australia 30 yrs? 5 yrs on hulk before transportation? Convict No. 4433. Height 5’ 4”, light
brown hair, grey eyes, long face, fresh complexion, middling stout. Broken left leg, scar under left eye. Died 25 April,
1883, Fremantle Prison Hospital. Cause of death, acute bronchitis.
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Martin
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1806/M
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Galway
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Ploughman
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Galway/1830
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7yrs
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Andromeda II
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1830
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Note: Married with 1 child. Other occupations listed Reaper, Milkman, Shearer, Sower
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Mary
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1787/W
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Donegal Co
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Thorough Servant
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Dublin/1826
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Stealing Note
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7yrs
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Brothers
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1827
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Note: Alias Lipsey. Widow no family.
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Mary Anne
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1812/S
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Dublin
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Nurse Girl
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Dublin/1827
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Stealing Linen
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7yrs
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Edward
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1829
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Single mother here as Judith Gallagher aged 14 or 15 yrs. Assigned servant. Charged with theft at Sydney 1830.
Died Moreton Bay ,1832, aged 20.
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Mary Anne
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1823
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Belfast
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Kitchenmaid
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Dublin Assize/1840
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Margaret
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1840
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Michael
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1818
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Galway Co.
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Labourer
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1838
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Elphinstone
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1838
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Note: Age at Trial 28 yrs.
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Michael
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1799
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Derry Co.
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Weaver, Lab.
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Dumfires, Scotland/1820
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7yrs
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Asia I
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1820
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Note: Also alias Gallochar, Gallaher.
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Michael
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1797/M
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Cork
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Labourer
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Cork/1829
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Stealing Sheep
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7yrs
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Larkins
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1829
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Note: Married with 3 children.
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Oliver
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1811
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Donegal Co
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1837
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Assault
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7yrs
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Calcutta
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1837
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Note: Trial date 18 March, 1837. Detained at Kilmainham Gaol Dublin 3 April, 1837.
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Patrick
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Sligo
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Providence I
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1811
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Patrick
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1794/M 7ch
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Cavan Co.
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1839
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Blenheim
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1839
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Note: Age at Trial 45 yrs. Married, 4 sons and 3 daughters. Died 1842.
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Patrick
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1808/S
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Dublin
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Errand Boy
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Dublin/1824
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7yrs
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Ann & Amelia
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1825
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Patrick
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1813/S
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Down Co.
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Farm Boy
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Armagh/1828
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House Robbery
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7yrs
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Fergusson
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1829
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Patrick
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1768
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Omagh, Tyrone Co/1794
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Burglary,Felony
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Life
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Marquis Cornwallis
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1796
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Note: Trial details, Ireland, available. No record in NSW. Died on voyage?
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