Irish famine orphan

Ann MURPHY (O2) was born in Co. Meath, Ireland, about 1833.   Surviving the great famine, Ann migrated to Australia in 1850, later telling the Sydney Benevolent Asylum she arrived per the John Knox.   Ann was apparently one of a ship load of young female orphans, arriving in Sydney on 29 April 1850, but I have been unable to identify her on the list of immigrants aboard the John Knox.   The orphans were taken off ship to Hyde Park Barracks from whence they went into employment, mostly as house servants.
Between 1848 and 1850 over 4,000 adolescent female orphans emigrated from Irish workhouses to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide on the other side of the world. Their emigration has become known as the 'Earl Grey scheme' after its principal architect, Earl Grey, Secretary of State for the Colonies in Lord John Russell's Whig government at the time of the Great Irish Famine….They came from among the genuinely destitute class in Irish society, those whose world had been torn apart by the tragedy of the Great Irish Famine. Inmates of recently constructed workhouses, orphaned by the Famine, though about a quarter of them had one parent still alive, most were between 14 and 20 years of age, ready and willing to grasp the opportunity of a new life in the Antipodes….The Irish orphan 'girls' were soon maligned in the Australian metropolitan press as immoral dregs of the workhouse, ignorant of the skills required of domestic servants. There were some notable exceptions: the welcome given the Thomas Arbuthnot women in 1850 as they made their way southward from Sydney is the best known. The Surgeon on board the Thomas Arbuthnot, Charles Strutt, even accompanied some of the young women through the hinterland of New South Wales finding them suitable employers. Generally, however, opposition to the female orphan scheme was so strong that it ended within two years. The last vessel to arrive was the Tippoo Saib 30 July 1850: Trevor McClaughlin, August 2006, see the Irish Famine Memorial

Somehow, Ann has ended up in Wollongong.   Probably her employer resided there. Ann married Joseph ALDINGTON in St. Michael's Church, Wollongong, on 31 August 1852.   Joseph signed his name, but Ann made her mark.   Witnesses were William CROFT, of Burelli St, and John COPES, of Crown St., Wollongong (perhaps one of these was her employer).   The couple were married by Banns, with the consent of the Governor.   The Governor's consent may have been required because Ann was about 19 years old, although it may also have been required because Joseph was a convict holding a ticket of leave for the District of Illawarra.

Joseph ALDINGTON was born between 1825 and 1829, in England.   Joseph was convicted at Gloucester Quarter Sessions on 23 March 1847, charged with stealing fowls.   He was sentenced to transportation for 7 years.   Joseph was sent to NSW as one of the exiles aboard the Hashemy, which sailed from Portsmouth 2 December 1848, and arrived in Sydney 9 June 1849.   There was considerable opposition to the resumption of transportation to NSW (transportation to NSW had ceased in 1840), and most of those exiles that were landed in Sydney were quickly sent to the country districts and given tickets of leave.

Joseph was brought before the Police Court in Wollongong on 10 July 1851, charged with disobedience of orders and gross insolence to his mistress.   His employer was, coincidentally, a member of the Bench, so no surprise that Joseph was sentenced to two months imprisonment in Darlinghurst Gaol, then to be returned to the District.  He had been previously convicted more than once for similar offences (Sydney Morning Herald, 14 July 1851, p.2).   The Gaol Description and Entrance Books (NSW) give his description as 5 ft 7 inches tall, of stout make and fresh complexion, with brown hair and dark grey eyes .

After their marriage in 1852, the couple were living in Crown Street, Wollongong, when Ann's first child was born 7 April 1853.   Sarah Anne ALDINGTON was christened 15 May 1853.   Joseph's occupation was shown as a miller.

Wollongong was a small town at this time.   The Wollongong town plan was gazetted in 1834 and the first regular steamship service to Sydney began that year.  Convict labour was used to cut a path down Mt Keira in 1835-36 and to carve a safe harbour out between 1837 and 1844 so that passengers could step rather than wade ashore.  Dairying developed in the region in the 1840s as cedar supplies were trailing off.  The first government school opened in 1851 and the newspaper the Illawarra Mercury was established in 1855….By 1856 Wollongong had a population of 864….The Bulli Pass route, investigated in 1844, was opened to wheeled traffic in 1868.  The railway arrived in 1887.
(see Wiki's Wollongong History.)

Joseph's 7 year sentence would have expired in March 1854, removing the restriction to stay in the Illawarra District.   From now on they would go by the name HOLDINGTON, perhaps to hide the convict stain, and moved to Sydney, residing in George Street when their next child, Joseph HOLDINGTON (Jnr), was born on 22 November 1854.   The baptism register gives the mother's name as Anne MARTIN, although it is evident from later events that this is Ann MURPHY's child.

On 20 April 1858, Joseph, under the name HOLDINGTON, appeared before the Central Police Court, Sydney.   He had been given into custody for having been found illegally upon the premises of Mr. R T Ford, at Balmain.   From the evidence there was reason to doubt his sanity, and Dr. Rutter's examination having confirmed that suspicion, he was required to enter into recognizances, with two sureties, to be of good behaviour for one month, or otherwise to be imprisoned until the Quarter Sessions (Sydney Morning Herald, 21 April 1858, p.5).  However, Joseph was committed to Darlinghurst Gaol in default of bail to be of good behaviour, where he was warranted as insane on 26 April 1858, and ordered to be removed to the Asylum at Tarban Creek.   The Gaol's Visiting surgeon stated:

He has been violent and obliged to be put under restraint here. His wife says that about three weeks before admission he first showed symptoms of being out of his mind, talking incoherently and leaving his work to wander about. His maternal uncle is supposed to have been insane according to this man's wife's account. His child a girl is silly and driveling when admitted had a scar over left eyebrow and several bruises and contusions on right and left shins. Talks about £ 1,000 that's coming to him and all his other money. G.W. West, Visiting Surgeon, H.M. Gaol, Darlinghurst. (Return of Persons Transferred from Darlinghurst Gaol to the Lunatic Asylum at Tarban Creek: NSW Records Office ref: 3/6737)

Joseph was admitted to Tarban Creek Insane Asylum (Gladesville) on 28 April 1858, under the name Joseph HOLDINGTON (a.k.a. OLDRINGTON).  After being treated for some time he was treated as cured on 10 October 1858.  The Asylum's Medical Register recorded the following:

TARBAN CREEK MEDICAL REGISTER: Vol.11, folio 39 & Vol.11, folio 265 (NSW Records Office ref. 4/8139 & 4/8140). Joseph Holdrington Age 26.
  • HISTORY – SYMPTOMS etc.
  • 28 April 1858: Admitted.
  • 30 April 1858: This man is a native of England, married, a Blacksmith by trade, admitted from Darlinghurst gaol for mania of an hereditary kind and general nature. He is a man of average size and good proportions moderately strong in confirmation; the temperament sanguine nervous; complexion fair countenance pale; eyes.
  • PRESENT CONDITION AND HISTORY OF THE CASE: The report from Darlinghurst where he has been confined from the 20th till the 28th inst. states that he has … [repeats Police Report extracted above]. A report from the Police Surgeon says his mind is affected (sic) slightly a potu (sic). It appears that he has been insane for about three weeks; he is quiet and inoffensive here; takes his food and sleeps without either giving annoyance or deing disturbed. The heart's action is moderate and regular organization.
  • TREATMENT: The Case to be healed according to symptoms.
  • DIET: Usual.
  • 3 May 1858: [various medications prescribed].
  • 6 May 1858: No change has occurred in him. He is in general inoffensive but has sudden impulses in which he violently assaults any body near him and howls fearfully when overpowered.
  • 13 May 1858: He has ringworm on the neck.
  • 14 May 1858: Bowels confined.
  • 31 May 1858: The case remains stationary.
  • 29 June 1858: He had purging and griping.
  • 20 June 1858: He has become more manageable but is not otherwise amended.
  • 10 July 1858: He complained of sore throat and his stomach was deranged.
  • 12 July 1858: The cold though better has not yet left him.
  • 18 July 1858: The cold is well but the bowels are confined.
  • 23 July 1858: He has caught fresh cold.
  • 31 July 1858: The case seems to improve: he is however very weak minded.
  • 31 August 1858: He has continued to improve.
  • 17 September 1858: There appears nothing like insanity in him at present, and he has passed through one of the most critical tests of sanity; that is he has written a perfectly reasonable letter to his wife.
  • 22 September 1858: His progress has been slow and gradual without a step backwards. I believe him to be perfectly restored to his former condition of healthy thought.
  • 30 September 1858: He has passed satisfactorily before the Board.
  • 10 October 1858: Discharged as cured.

    • With her husband in Tarban Creek and being heavily pregnant, Ann was forced to have her two eldest children, Sarah and Joseph (also recorded as Stephen Joseph), admitted to the Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children on 13 May 1858.  The reason stated in the Admission Book was “Father in Tarban Creek, Mother resides in Sydney is unable to maintain her children” (NSW Records Office ref. Series 13362; Registers of Inmates).   The Asylum normally admitted children aged between the ages of three and ten years. Every child admitted (including voluntary admissions) was to remain the responsibility of the Institution until aged 19 or, in the case of a female marrying earlier, until her marriage.   The Randwick site included a farm where the boys learnt farming skills (see NSW Records Office web site, and search “Randwick Asylum” for more detail).

    A month later, on 15 June 1858 (while her husband was still at Tarban Creek), Ann was admitted to the Sydney Benevolent Asylum (near where Central Railway now stands).   The name on admission was spelled HOLDENTON.   Remember that Ann could not write (and most likely could not read either).  Ann gave her age as 24, and that she arrived per the John Knott (later spelled correctly as the John Knox).   Ann's third child was born on 9 July 1858, and both mother and baby were discharged from the Sydney Benevolent Asylum on 20 August 1858 (under spelling HOLDINGTON).   It is evident from later entries that this baby was Catherine (a.k.a. Kate).   Registration Sydney 1858/1305, shows the father as George, but this has to be the one (need a transcript!).

    Ann's son Joseph (now aged 4½) was removed from Randwick Asylum, with the consent of the House Committee, on 20 April 1859.   Her husband was out of Tarban Creek Asylum, and Ann no doubt hoped he would be able to support his family.   Unfortunately, her eldest daughter, Sarah, was not released.   Later, Sarah (now aged 7) was certified as being of unsound mind, and was removed from Randwick to Tarban Creek Asylum on 28 May 1859 (NSW Records Office Ref. 3/6737).

    Sarah was examined at Tarban Creek on 9 June 1859.  By this time her father had been readmitted.

    This child's father is an inmate of this Asylum; and likely to be a frequent visitor even if he should be considered sufficiently sane to be enlarged.  There can be no doubt there that the child's state of mental weakness is from constitutional and transmitted taint.  Much may be done for her notwithstanding in proper hands and in a place supplied with suitable nurses.   In this Establishment the poor infant is out of her place from the means to manage her and treat her mind and keep it in a healthy course till something like sound habits of thinking be established; for she is not an idiot; but weak minded, so to speak; her extreme youth affords strong grounds for believing that she is teachable and capable of comprehending right from wrong or in other words of exercising correct judgment.   She was sent here by one of the usual perversions of reason which guides Masters of the various Asylums in this Colony, instead of being kept in the institution for destitute children and trained there with perseverance diligence and goodwill till the operations of the mind become normal; which is quite possible.(Ref.4/8141)

    Sarah was accordingly removed to Parramatta Mental Hospital 28 June 1859 with the consent of the House Committee.  It seems Sarah remained there until she died in 1867, aged 14.  Only limited records survive for Parramatta Mental Hospital 1858-1868 (NSW Records Office Ref. 4/8256), and I found no reference to Sarah.   One can only speculate on her life there.

    Joseph (Senior) was readmitted to Tarban Creek 3 June 1859, this time under the name Stephen Joseph HOLDINGTON.

    Tarban Creek Medical Register, Vol.12, folio 22 (NSW Records Office ref. 4/8141). Stephen Joseph Holdrington Age 27.
  • 3 June 1859: Admitted. This man was discharged cured the 10th October 1858. He is again admitted under the same mental condition and according to report from the cause intemperance. He is covered with bruises; has a black eye and the left arm has sustained very serious injury in or about the elbow joint. It is greatly inflamed and very painful; and the swelling prevents any certain diagnosis to be formed. His general health is very indifferent; his constitution appears impaired. For first admission see R x Fol 265. (extracted above)
  • 5 June 1859: He has severe inflammation of the elbow. The result of is supposed of a fall before his admission into Darlinghurst.
  • 15 June 1859: He is evidently sinking.
  • 30 June 1859: He died this day at 2pm. The autopsy discovered the dura mater very vascular and blood effused between it and the pia mater. The brain itself was in a state of atrophy and did not fill the cavity of the cranium it was generally soft and particularly at the base.

    • Six months pregnant, Ann was again left to fend for herself and her family when her husband was readmitted in June 1859, then died.   Joseph (now 4¾) was readmitted to Randwick by Authority of the House Committee.   There he remained until apprenticed to the Rev. AMBRUSTER of Maitland at the age of 13 on 3 October 1867.   I assume his apprenticeship would have ended at age 19 in 1873.   Louis AMBRUSTER was known as an industrious and successful vigneron, and owned the vineyard at Mount Pleasant, Hinton in 1881 (Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser, 15 July 1880, p.5 & 10 March 1881, p.8), but about that time moved to Richmond River and bought a sugar cane farm .  I don't know whether the boy stayed on after his apprenticeship.   Perhaps he made contact with his mother when he grew up, but I've found nothing to indicate this.  I think he died in 1906 at Waterloo in Sydney.

    Ann was again admitted to Sydney Benevolent Asylum on 28 November 1859, this time giving her age as 22, and the ship of arrival as the John Knox.   Ann had her toddler, Kate, with her (aged 1y 6m), and a new baby, Ellen, aged 2 months (this is Selina, a.k.a. Lena, I think, born about September 1859, although I haven't been able to find her birth registration yet).   The three were discharged shortly after, on 3 December 1859.

    Ann was readmitted a few weeks later, on 21 December 1859, giving her age as 25 this time, per ship John Knox.   Ann had the two girls with her, Ellen (2m) and Kate (1y 6m).  Ann and her youngest were discharged 29 February 1860 (the baby was named Selina on discharge).  Kate (Catherine) must have been quite ill, as she remained in the Asylum until her death aged 2 on 6 June 1860.

    On 3 June 1861, Ann, now a widow, married Bernard HAMMELL at St. Mary's RC, Sydney.   Ann declared her maiden name as MURPHY, born County Meath, Ireland.  At the time of her second marriage, her eldest two children were in institutions, Kate (Catherine) had died, and she was caring for Selina (Lena), aged 1¾.   A son to Bernard followed, when Denis was born in 1862, then Mary, William, James and Ada, over the following decade.

    Thursday 19 January 1871,the following notice appeared in the SMH,

    I, CATHERINE KEOGH, of Edward-lane, off Shepherd-street, Darlington, do hereby publicly apologise to Mrs ANN HAMMELL, of Shepherd-street, Darlington, for the false, malicious, and slanderous language made use of by me towards her, and I am very sorry for having spoken such words, and beg to withdraw same as being entirely without truth. CATHERINE her X mark KEOGH. Witness – ALFRED WILLIAM CASTLE.

    I believe this Catherine KEOGH was the sister-in-law of Patrick KEOGH, married to Ann (Nancy HAMMEL), Bernard's sister, and Ann MURPHY's sister in law.

    Ann's misfortune returned when her second husband was killed in an accident in 1872, leaving her destitute, and caring for six children, five under the age of 10.   I can imagine a lot of responsibility for bringing up the youngsters fell on Selina, who would have been 13 years old when her step-father died on 6 November 1872.

    A death notice appeared in the SMH on Saturday 16 November 1872.

    On the 4th instant, BERNARD HAMMELL, accidentally killed in the Mudgee district, aged 44 years, and a native of the colony, leaving a wife and six children to mourn their loss, without any means of support, residing on the Islington Estate, Newtown, Sydney. Requiescat in pace.

    The Sands Directories shows Ann residing at Iredale St, Newtown (situated in the area of the Islington Estate subdivision) for the last decade of her life, sometimes making a living as a laundress.

  • 1877 Mrs Ann HAMMELL residing Iredale St, Newtown (Sands 1877).
  • 1879 HAMMELL residing Iredale St, Newtown (Sands 1879).
  • 1880 Mrs Anne HAMMELL, laundress, residing Iredale St, Newtown (Sands 1880).
  • 1881 Ann HAMMELL, laundress, residing Iredale St, Newtown (Sands 1881).
  • 1882 Ann HAMMELL, laundress, residing Iredale St, Newtown (Sands 1882).
  • 1883 Ann HAMMOND (spelling?), residing Iredale St, Newtown (Sands 1883).
  • 1884 Mrs HAMMELL, seems to have moved down the street to 14 Iredale St, Newtown (Sands 1884), now apparently sharing with Mrs GOLDSMITH.
  • 1885 Mrs HAMMELL, now in 12 Iredale St, with neighbour Mrs. GOLDSMITH next door in 14 Iredale St, Newtown (Sands 1885).
  • 1887 Mrs HAMMELL still at 12 Iredale St, Newtown (Sands 1887).

    Ann's daughter Selina was admitted under the name HOLDINGTON, aged 20, to Sydney Benevolent Asylum again, on 16 February 1881, this time to give birth to her own child.   Blanche HOLDINGTON was born 13 March 1881 (or 31 March, possible typo error).  When discharged on 12 April 1881, Selina's age was shown as 19.   Selina married William Tory DICKSON in 1883 and they resided at Penrith when their child Lena was born in 1885.

    Ann HAMMELL, died of apoplexy on 16 July 1887 at home in Iredale St, Newtown.  Her death certificate says she was aged 58 (although earlier documents support a younger age of 54), and that her parents were unknown to the informant, W T Dickson, her son-in-law, spouse of Selena (a.k.a. Lena and a.k.a. Ellen), residing at High Street, Penrith.   Ann was buried at Rookwood on 17 July 1887.   Witnesses were Lena and Ada.   Children still alive were Lena (28), Denis (26), Mary (23), William (21), James (18) and Ada (17).   The death certificate said she was born in Ireland, and been in the colonies 30 years.   Ann is buried on her own in an unmarked grave (Catholic Cemetery; Section EE Mort; Grave 200).

    In 1918 an In Memoriam notice appeared in the SMH Tuesday 16 July 1918, inserted by her sons. James and William.

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