Library Forum

For quite some time now the Digital Shipping Lists of Assisted Immigrants have been available on the New South Wales State Archives website. The NSW State Archives is one of a rapidly diminishing number of agencies that offer free access to their records. With this in mind I decided to extract from this dataset all the assisted immigrants with Co Clare origins. In spite of having doubts about my sanity for taking on such an enterprise, I persisted, and eventually got through it.
So now the resultant spreadsheet files have been posted by Clare Library and may be accessed via Donated Material/Emigration Records, or through the What's New box.
A more complete description of the data is provided on the cover page. Hopefully the transcripts may be helpful to those researchers trying to locate a relative that disappeared into the Antipodes.

Hi Murf

Congratulations on that great achievement. I tested to see if 5 people I had researched were there, and they were there and that was so pleasing.

You have done a great job.

Sheila

Thanks Murf
You have reminded everyone of the great free Aussie on line data bases we are fortunate to have ,not just for New South Wales but other states.
Though you may have to pay a small fee, 19th Australian death certificates can be "gold" in terms of parents names occupations, and if you are really lucky you may get a townland!

moranding

Thanks again Murf for this comprehensive work
I am following up on all the King families on the list
Two children of an Irish convict Patrick King arrive in 1857
Their place of origin is written as Kilmiskydwyer-.I presume this was written down by the agent in Sydney from the pronunciation of Michael and Mary King
Can you or anyone else have a stab at where this might be?
Thanks Moranding

Hi moranding

I'm afraid I can't figure out what townland "Kilmiskydwyer" corresponds to. I've been looking at the list of townlands (http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... wnland.htm) and also looking at transcriptions of baptism registers (http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... ex_bmd.htm), but have failed to find any kind of match.

Are you sure that the Kings came from Co. Clare?

Sheila

Hi moranding
I assume that you are refering to the Michael and Mary King that arrived in Sydney on the Admiral Lyons on 15 Sep 1857.
The digital shipping list just notes their origin as "Clare".
Where did you get the reference to Kilmiskydwyer? Was it the Depositors Journal, which I don't have ready access to. It would be nice to see an image of the written entry.
At this stage I don't have any suggestions on its meaning, except perhaps that "dwyer" may be a landlord.
murf

Hi Murph and Sheila
I appreciate the time you took to respond to my query
Kilmiskydwyer is the Ancestry transcription- when I look more closely at the original document it is Kilmacduane
Thanks
Moranding

Hi Moranding

It’s good that you have located “Kilmiskydwyre” and found that it is Kilmacduane.
There is a lot of information on Kilmacduane here: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... cduane.htm

As you will see, from this transcription of the Tithe Aplottment Books, a Patrick King lived in Dangannanelly – he may be related in some way to Michael: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... ne_tab.htm
Here is the original entry made in 1825: http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarc ... _00050.pdf

And the transcription of Griffith’s Valuation shows that Patrick King is still in Dangananella, West, and there’s also a Michael King in Kilmacduane, West, Cooraclare Village: http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... cduane.htm
Griffith’s Valuation was drawn up about 1856, so it’s just possible that this entry is for Michael. But Michael is such a common name in Ireland, it’s impossible to be sure if one has the right Michael. Anyway, you can see the entry in Griffith’s Valuation for the Michael who lived in Cooraclare village in Kilmacduane, West, townland (one of the townlands in Kilmacduane parish); go to http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclar ... e_west.htm And scroll down to the “External Links” and click on “List of occupants, map and original page of Griffith’s Valuation for Cooraclare, Village (from askaboutireland.ie)".
There you will find a list of 43 tenants living in the village of Cooraclare and Michael King is No. 23.

Sheila

Thanks Sheila
Patrick King, the convict father of Michael and Mary was convicted at the Summer Assizes in July 1837 , with a 7yr sentence for manslaughter
By December that same year he is in New South Wales
His Certificate of Freedom is dated as 1843, and his now grown children arrive in Sydney 1857.

It is of course possible that the family came from Dangananella townland .

Many of the families of convicts came to the colonies- later, but how the wives and children survived in Ireland in the meantime, and the mechanism for communication and the reconncection of the exiles with their families in Ireland is intriguing

Moranding

Hi Moranding

I don't know much on this subject, but I think some wives petitioned the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland to be allowed join their husbands. This does not mean that they wrote the letter themselves - they would have requested someone in a position of authority or influence to write it.

Hoping you get some suggestions from someone who has more information on how communication was maintained over such a huge distance.

Sheila