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Thomas Callaghan (1804 – 1879)
Guilty.
This was the verdict returned by the jury at Waterford Assizes, Ireland as Thomas Callaghan stood trial for the assault of Mary Flynn, his stepdaughter. Mary had given an account of an incident that had happened at dusk as the pair were returning from Dungarvan. Her account was corroborated by two men she had met shortly after. Her injuries were verified by the priest she told of the occurrence a day later and a doctor who examined her three days later.
Thomas was sentenced to transportation for a term of 7 years. He was initially detained at Cork on 21 March 1837 and then incarcerated in Kilmainham Prison, Dublin on 9 April 1837. He left for Australia on board the prison ship, Calcutta 11, nine days later. The Irish Prison Registers describe Thomas as being 28 years old, 5’9 ½ “, with grey eyes and a fair complexion.
Following their arrival in Sydney, the prisoners were mustered on board on Friday 11 August.
The indent papers describe Thomas Callaghan as a 25-year-old Roman Catholic from County Waterford. He was married. In the earlier court proceedings, it was stated he had no children with his wife. He was a labourer, described as 5’10” tall, with brown hair, hazel eyes and a dark ruddy complexion. This description is slightly at odds with the fair complexion given in the Irish Prison Register. One can only assume that exposure to sun over the three months of the voyage darkened his complexion. He was also missing a front upper tooth. Further distinguishing marks included scars on his upper lip and chin and a mole on his left thumb. Thomas could read but not write. This is further evidenced by his later marriage certificate (1869) to Jane Dunford when he signed his name with a mark.
Thomas was assigned to Archibald Mosman, a wealthy merchant and pastoralist, who owned land around the Williams River near Dungog. He may have only spent a couple of years in the Dungog area. The 1840 Gaol Description and Entrance books have a record of Thos. Callaghan at Darlinghurst Gaol. Details such as the ship, date of arrival, native place, religion and calling, help confirm this man as the same Thomas Callaghan.
He was charged with assaulting a constable and on 29 April 1840, given a 12-month sentence to the Iron’d Gangs and Road Parties based at Woolloomooloo.
Four years later Thomas was granted his Ticket of Leave, then, on 14 March 1845 his Certificate of Freedom.
I can find no record that Thomas’ Irish wife followed him to Sydney. When Thomas married Jane Dunford in North Sydney on 6 June 1869, his conjugal status was listed as widower. However, at this stage, Thomas and Jane had eight children between them. Another two children were born after their marriage.
Jane’s first child, Mary Ann, was born on 22 April 1853. The next child, Catherine (or Kate as she was known), my great grandmother, was born on 18 March 1855 on Sydney’s North Shore.
Further children were born; John (24 August 1857), Ellen (3 September 1860), Thomas (1863), twins Patrick John and Frances Jane (1866), Lucy Marie (1868), William Bede (1871) and Gertrude Clara (1873).
In 1857 newspaper reports document Thomas Callaghan, a tall powerful looking Irishman, had been charged with assault and later been the victim of a threat. This dispute with a neighbour was ongoing over several years.
Thomas and Jane lived in West St, St Leonards, Sydney. A letter, written in 1870, stated that they were “respectable and in comfortable circumstances according to their circumstances in life”. Thomas is described as “a rough carpenter and the owner of the house in which he resides”.
Thomas, my great great grandfather died, aged 75, on 26 September 1879 of “old age and an ulcer”. He’d been ill for about six weeks. On the death certificate, his occupation was given as a fencer. A funeral notice was placed in the Sydney Morning Herald the next day and he was buried at Lane Cove Catholic Cemetery.
Submitted by Researcher (17280) on 18 March 2024
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