Freedom and Marriage

Shortly after James began work at Brown’s River a young Irish woman, Catherine McCarthy, arrived on Sir William Fenwick Williams on 2 December 1856. We are not sure how Catherine McCarthy travelled from Boherbue but it seems likely that the Irish immigrants were collected in Dublin before crossing to Liverpool. She was described an 18 year old illiterate general servant from County Cork and ‘sent out by Florence McCarthy’. Catherine McCarthy was baptised on 2 January 1838 in town of Boherbue, County Cork, with father Florence McCarthy and mother Mary Minihan. The sponsors were Jeremiah Minihan, apparently Mary’s brother, and Honora Ring. Boherbue, or Boherbee, was then a village in the parish of Kilmeen, in the barony of Duhallow, and is located five miles west of Kanturk. A Roman Catholic parochial chapel had been recently erected: it has now been replaced by a new church. The parish register records that the McCarthy’s lived in the townland of Umarabee five miles west of Boherbue. It is now in the parish of Kiskeam. Florence and Mary McCarthy had no other children.

The Tithe Aplotment Book for 1834 records that a Florence McCarthy paid tithes of for three parcels of land in Umarabee totalling 68 acres with a total value of £16.8.5. The land was designated ‘misamble (sic)’, meadow and pasture. There is no Florence McCarthy mentioned in the Griffith Valuation for this townland. McCarthy is a particularly common name in the County of Cork: Cormac McCarthy was King of Munster in the 12th Century. Florence is a common Christian name for McCarthy males. Three Florence McCarthys appear in the Griffith Valuation for the parish of Kilmeen but none of these is likely to be Catherine’s father. Jeremiah Minihan is recorded as owning a house valued at 5 shillings in the townland of Loumanagh North, of the same parish.

‘The clipper ship Sir William Fenwick Williams arrived here yesterday after a splendid run from Liverpool in 81 days. … Fine weather, easterly winds since 23 November when the ship was 800 miles from Hobart Town. This splendid ship is one of the Black Ball Line belonging to James Baines of Liverpool.’ (Tasmanian Daily News 3 December 1856).

Catherine arrived in Tasmania on the momentous day in the colony’s history for it was the day on which the Legislative Council, the colony’s parliament, met for the first time. Later in the week the citizens of Hobart Town celebrated the town’s foundation with the Hobart Regatta.

The Sir William Fenwick Williams of 869 tons left Liverpool on 11 September carrying cargo and as passengers Mr J G Williams and Dr Hardy and 335 bounty immigrants in steerage. There were 90 adults and 51 children under 12 years of age from England, 34 adults and 10 children from Scotland and 117 adults and 23 children from Ireland. there was one birth and six deaths on the voyage. The eighty one single women were under the supervision of the ship’s matron, Elizabeth Cook. Thirty six of these young women were domestic servants and fifteen were farm or dairy maids. The sixty nine single men were predominantly farm labourers.

‘All the passengers in good health, which in no doubt, in a great measure, owing to roomy and well ventilated ‘tween decks of this vessel.’ (Daily News) The ship’s surgeon confirmed the good health of the passengers. On the day the ship arrived six of the passengers wrote a public letter to the master Captain Rees and paid for it to be published in the Daily News on December 13.

No one was allowed on board the Sir W F Williams for three days whilst the Immigration Board carried out its checks. In order to claim the bounty payment from the Government the ship was required to bring the emigrants specified and to treat them well in accordance with published Regulations. The sponsors/employers had already paid £3 towards the cost of the bounty and some of the new arrivals were required to repay that amount from their wages. The new arrivals pledged to remain in the colony for four years or be liable for the repayment of their fare.

The ship was required to accommodate on board the new settlers until December 12. This was no problem for the ship did not plan to return to Liverpool with a cargo of wool until late in January. On 9 December The Hobart Town Courier published a list of 106 ‘applicants’ under the Bounty Ticket system advising them that their immigrants had arrived. Included in the list was ‘Florence McCarthy’.

When Catherine arrived she was met by her father who was then working as a tailor and lived in Liverpool Street, Hobart Town. He was born around 1817 in County Cork and had been convicted in Cork on 14 March 1848 of stealing a sheep belonging to David Bride. He pleaded guilty and, as it was his first offence, was sentenced to seven years transportation.

Florence arrived in Tasmania on the convict transport Hydrabad (2) on 26 February 1849. His record indicates that he was 31 years old and an illiterate Roman Catholic tailor from County Cork. He was tall (5ft 5 ins.) of sallow complexion with an oval head, dark brown hair a medium forehead and hazel eyes. He had a tattoo of a woman on his right forearm. It appears likely that his father had died but his mother Ellen, was alive and he had a brother McOwen? And a sister Julia Catherine. He admitted that he was married and had one child. Although his proper name was Florence the British convict system decided that he would be referred to as Thomas McCarthy, No 21938.

Florence was a model convict with just one entry on his record — one month of hard labour in September 1849 for ‘not proceeding in accordance with his pass’. He probably had much of this remitted for he obtained a ticket of leave on 29 November 1849 eighteen months after his conviction and just nine months after arriving in Hobart Town. (He collected his certificate of freedom on the day his seven year sentence expired - 14 March 1855.)

It seems that word of Mary’s death reached Florence in Hobart for in July 1851 he sought and received permission to marry a convict named Mary Connell. Mary Connell was also from County Cork. When she was 26 years old she was convicted in Cork City on 17 November 1848 of stealing a coat and also received seven years transportation. Mary may have been a good looking woman. She was 4ft 11in tall, with a fresh complexion, black hair, oval head, long visage, small mouth and short nose, high forehead and light hazel eyes. Mary was probably and orphan but she had a sister Joanna Peggy in Cork and had lived with a man called Carey for the past two years. She took her twelve month old child James Carey on board the transport Australasia with her. The Australasia left Dublin with Mary and her son and almost 200 other women, arrived in Hobart a month after the Hydrabad. Mary probably did not know or care that her ship was commanded by James Connell!

Mary Connell was classed as a ‘good’ convict on the Australasia and had only one misdemeanour on her record in Tasmania. In July 1850 she was sentenced to two months hard labour at the female factory in South Hobart for being absent. The wedding took place at St Joseph’s 28 July 1851 and was celebrated by Father George Hunter and witnessed by Patrick and Mary Sullivan. Florence was married as Thomas McCarthy and indicated that he was a widower. She was married as a pass holder and did not get a ticket of leave until 10 August 1852. She was recommended for a conditional pardon in July 1853 and received it on 10 May 1854. She collected her certificate of freedom on 14 December 1855.

Prior to the seeking approval to marry Mary placed the three old James Carey in the Hobart Infant School (Orpanage). He stayed there until Boxing Day 1851 when he was retrieved by his mother. Florence and Mary had a child of their own on 5 June 1852, a daughter, Hannah,. She was born at Liverpool St. and registered by her father who still referred to himself as a tailor. Hannah was on 2 July 1852 by Father Ball at St. Joseph’s. Catherine Fitzpatrick was the witness. They also had a son, registered by Mary as Eugene, born 10 October 1855, but he was baptised as Owen by Father Charles Woods at St. Joseph’s on 16 November of that year. Here the witnesses were Owen Moriaty and Julia McCarthy.

When Catherine arrived her father and stepmother had Hannah aged 4 and Owen aged 14 months. (Mary’s son James Carey presumably lived with them and he was then 9 years old.) Catherine would have been of help in the house. On 15 September 1857 James Harrison was assigned to a businessman, 'Mr. Patterson of Liverpool St.' Patterson actually operated a small brewery at 192 Liverpool some fourteen houses away from the McCarthys. Hence we have a plausible explanation of how James and Catherine met. They married two years later. As Catherine settled in with her father and his new family James’ good behaviour faltered. A conviction for assault at Kingston on July 2 earned him three months hard labour; back he went to the Prisoners Barracks spending time grinding wheat on the treadmill. A short taste of the old punishment cycle was enough to put him back on the straight and narrow and his sentenced was remitted in order that he could be assigned to Mr. Patterson of Liverpool St. on 15 September 1857. His reformation was confirmed when he was granted his Ticket-of-Leave on 1 December of that year. The Ticket-of-Leave was the fourth and last degrees in the convict system it entitled the holder to work for his own benefit and acquire property but was still subject to convict law could not change his residence without permission and had to attend muster and church parades.

Tasmania was now 'free' but the discovery of gold in New South Wales and Victoria began to drain the colony of workers and depress the economy. On January 8 1858 James had sought permission from the Comptroller-of-Convicts to marry another ex-convict Mary Anne Hanley but this was refused. Perhaps this event signalled a change in his outlook for two months later further 'meritorious service at a fire' was rewarded with a one year deduction from the time he still had to serve before receiving a pardon. In July his second application to marry was approved and on 9 August 1858 he married Catherine McCarthy at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church. St. Joseph’s was the first Catholic church in Tasmania and had been completed in 1844. The marriage was celebrated by Rev. Charles Woods an Irish priest who arrived in Hobart in 1851 and seems to have been the family's religious advisor as he also baptised eight of their eleven children. Woods was well educated and studied at All Hallows College Dublin and served in Hobart for forty five years until his death in 1896. The vows were witnessed by David and Mary Virtue who attested their marks to the certificate. Comparing the handwriting on the certificate with the signature on later birth registers suggests that it was completely filled out by James (except for the the signature of Father Woods.) James declared his age to be 28 but in that case he would have had to be transported at age twelve, most unlikely. Catherine was then 20.

David Virtue was never a convict in Tasmania and is recorded as a free man when Ann Crafton (or Crofton) requested permission to marry him in July 1854. She was a 'housemaid' transported for seven years in 1852 on the Duchess of Northumberland and arriving in Hobart on April 21 1853.The Duchess of Northumberland carried 219 female convicts on what was the second last convict voyage to Tasmania. Ann Crafton was 26 years old when tried in Perth Scotland for stealing £60 in Dundee. She was also said to have three convictions for drinking and 'had been on the town for twelve months.' The surgeon reported her conduct as good and she was pardoned in July 1856. David and Ann Virtue had five children Christina (b. 6 Aug. 1856 in Hobart), Mary Ann (b. 10 Jan. 1860 in Brighton), James (b. 10 May 1865 in Longford), David (b. 17 April 1867 in Longford), Ellen (b. 16 Nov. 1868 in Longford). David Virtue died in Longford in 1887 aged 64.

James was now almost thirty and although still on Ticket-of-Leave, could look forward to a life of freedom in Tasmania. Although a misdemeanour (absent from work in mid March 1859) resulted in his Ticket-of-Leave being revoked for almost four months in 1859 he was granted his full pardon on 24 May 1859 sixteen years after leaving England. (He did not take up the pardon until later the next year.)

James and Catherine had eleven children in the sixteen years after their marriage six boys and five girls. Their first child Elizabeth was born on 7 June 1859 and a second Margaret followed less than a year later.

The birth of an unnamed male child of James and Catherine Harrison was registered on April 19 1862 but there is no record of his baptism at St. Joseph's. Perhaps this boy died at birth.

Florence continued to use the name Thomas whilst he lived in Hobart. In 1860 he lived in a house with stables at 228 Liverpool Street owned by William Berry. By 1862 he had moved to Colebrook (then known as Jerusalem) where he rented a house and shop. He continued to live at Colebrook but seems to have given up the shop. Later in his life Florence appeared to run into trouble. On 23 November 1869 he and Mary was acquitted in the Supreme Court in Hobart of a charge of burglary. The report in the Mercury the next day explains the circumstances.

On October 24 Margaret Fuller reported that a dress, a pair of blankets, a rug, and some bags of feathers had disappeared from her house. The inference is that she and the McCarthy’s lived some 300 yards apart in Colebrook, but she does not appear in the valuation roll. Two days later Thomas Sparke , aged 12, found the skirt of the dress in a house where he and Mrs Fuller’s daughter worked. Mary Fuller identified it as her mother’s. Ellen Moran gave evidence that she saw Mary McCarthy in a similar skirt in her shop. Moran told Mary’s son Owen McCarthy ‘there was a look out for’ his mother and later Moran saw Mary minus the skirt.

John Griffith, the Superintendent of Police at Richmond, gave evidence that he saw Mary McCarthy in a brown skirt near where Tom Sparke had found it and later saw her when she had shed it. Acting on this ‘evidence’ he searched the McCarthy’s house and found a bag which Mrs Fuller identified as one of her’s. No evidence whatsoever linked Florence with the crime nevertheless Griffith took them both into custody and held them there for a month until the case was heard.

Mary’s daughter, Anna, (Hannah) and son Owen lived with their parents. Anna gave evidence that her mother had a brown windsor skirt like the own said to belong to Mrs Fuller. Owen said his parents had not left home on the night in question. Other witnesses gave evidence of the strict honesty of the McCarthys. Mr. Moriaty appeared for the accused and they were prosecuted by the Solicitor-General.

The Judge Sir Francis Smith saw very little in the case against them. Even the Solicitor-General admitted that there was virtually nothing against Florence. The jury aquitted them. Why Mary took off her skirt when Ellen Moran told Owen of the police enquiry, and walked about in a petticoat, is a mystery. Perhaps she feared the police would remind the court of the offence for which she was transported twenty years ago. She need not have worried for the system recorded the charge against Florence’s on his convict record but did not link her to her past. Florence was not so lucky when he next clashed with the law and on 27 November 1877 he was convicted of larceny at Richmond and served 6 months in gaol. Florence was sixty years old when he went to gaol for the second time.

Around 1871 Florence bought 60 acres of land with an annual value of £8.10.0 at Spring Hill Bottom. This hamlet is about 4 km south west of Colebrook tucked into the hills. He is recorded as occupying this land until 1880 and paying rates the Richmond Council. He died at Jerusalem on 18 April 1882 aged 68. An inquest was held into this death and concluded that Florence died of heart disease and there ‘not by any violent means whatever’. This suggests that he did not die at home. The entry in the BDM refers to him as a hawker perhaps he died near his home whilst travelling.

It is known that the family lived at 27 Barrack Street in a house rented from Nicholas Ray in 1860.They may have lived at 46 Goulburn Street, West Hobart from 1862 and the end of 1867 (the entry is ‘John Harrison’). The last official record of James was made at this time, an admission to hospital with a broken left arm in January 1862. From 1868 to the middle of 1872 they lived in nearby Melbourne St. at number 22, and in 1872 they were back at Ray’s house in Barrack St. but now it numbered 29. They stayed there until at least 1877.

A Russian naval officer Lt V M Linden, described Hobart in 1869. 'The climate of Tasmania was always distinguished for its salubriousness. The town evoked memories of Geneva – ‘the Derwent takes the place of lake Leman and Mount Wellington does duty for Saleve….Liverpool St is the Nevesky Prospect (the main artery of St Petersburg) It catches the eye with shops and signs and is animated by the bustle of commerce, by carriages, even by loungers’. He recorded that the population of Tasmania was 101,592 and growing slowly by 245 persons a year. ‘Tasmania is very short of labour. A day labourer earns from 3 to 5 shillings a day, craftsman 5 to10 shillings. James worked as a labourer. When he registered the birth of the unnamed boy in April 1862 he indicated that his occupation was ‘quarryman’, and with Flurance in September of the next year when he described himself as ‘brewer’. He signed both registrations but apparently did not notice that Flurance was registered as a girl. Catherine registered the births of the last six children affixing her mark to the register. She reported James to be a labourer. In 1879 the family moved back to Goulburn Street at number 86 in a dwelling called Hill’s Rents owned by John Cassidy. They shared this address with John Davis, William Knight, James Smith and Samuel Adam.

We don’t know how long Mary McCarthy lived at Colebrook. A woman of the same name resided at 133 Melville Street in 1893. She died of ‘debility’ at the New Town Institution for the aged poor on 26 August 1894 her death certificate says she was 66 years old. If this was Florence’s widow she was really 71. She was buried in a pauper’s grave at Cornelian Bay. The children of the marriage appear to have scattered. There is no record of Hannah, or Anna, nor of Mary Ann. (On 22 November 1879 at Deloraine a 26 year old called Owen McCarthy married Georgina White. But he is a different person.)

Another Owen McCarthy was a convict who obtained his freedom in 1848. In July 1851 he sought approval to bring his wife and child to Tasmania and was advised that he would have to put up half the cost.