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There is currently one researcher who has claimed Darby Shea
Biographies
Darby Shea (c.1736–1836) was tried at Waterford, Ireland, in 1798 and sentenced to Life imprisonment. The year alone suggests he may have been an Irish Rebel, and an historical account published in a newspaper in 1900 states that Darby himself stated that he was exiled from Ireland for "political offences" (see below).
He was transported aboard the ship "Friendship", which sailed from Cork, Ireland, on 24 August 1799, and arrived in New South Wales on 16 February 1800. It should be noted that some researchers, on seeing the name "Friendship", have assumed that it is the same ship as the one which was a member of the First Fleet; but this is not the case. The First Fleet "Friendship" was scuttled on 27 October 1788 at 2°36’ South, 117° East, off the east coast of Borneo. See:
► en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendship_(1784_ship) - First Fleet member
► en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendship_(1793_ship) - Darby Shea's transport
Darby's year of birth is questionable. His headstone records his age as 100 years, and a contemporary Death Notice magnifies the count to "upwards of 100 years". An Archdeacon McEncroe, who met Darby Shea in 1835 (the year before Darby's death) claimed in a lecture he gave 25 years later that Darby had stated his age as 95 years. This account of 1835 verbal advice recounted in 1860 is known to us as mention of it has survived in a newspaper published in 1900 (see below). Thus three sources for his age are all in disagreement.
DEATH NOTICE
On Thursday last, at the farm of Mr. Connolly, at Botany, Darby Shay, upwards of 100 years of age; he retained his faculties to the last.
"The Australian" (Sydney, NSW), Tue 19 Jan 1836, Page 2.
trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/36854418
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE [extract]
ARCHDEACON M'ENCROE ON THE DIM DAWN OF OUR HISTORY.
In about the year 1835 he [Archdeacon McEnroe] had occasion to visit an old colonist named Darby Shea, who resided south of Botany Bay ... Speaking of Darby Shea, he said he was 95 years of age, an upright, religious poor man, one of those exiled from Ireland for political offences in the year '98.
"Freeman's Journal" (Sydney, NSW), Sat 30 Jun 1900, Page 24.
trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/111314065
Darby's remains were buried at the old Devonshire Street Cemetery, which was resumed in 1901 for the construction of Sydney's Central Railway Station. His grave was relocated, and now exists at the Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park in Matraville NSW. Photographs of his grave in its original and current locations may be viewed at:
► www.findagrave.com/memorial/197948917/ (Devonshire Street Cemetery)
► www.findagrave.com/memorial/149856322/ (Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park)
Submitted by Researcher (14564) on 16 July 2023
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