Ag and Pat

 My grandparents, Agnes Elizabeth Sullivan and Patrick Nicholas Maher, married at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Ballarat, in Feb. 1907, Both were aged 27. They had probably known each other as children, for Pat was born and lived all his life at Minyip, and Ag had lived there as a child with her parents – her two younger brothers were born there.

According to my Aunt Eileen, they met again as adults when Pat had sheep agisted near Ballarat, and before long they were married. It’s a beautiful dress, isn’t it? Perhaps made by Ag’s sister Kit, who was a tailoress…

Pat had a farm just out of Minyip, and their house was called “Looranna”. A few years later, in 1911, Ag’s older sister Millie married Pat’s brother, Michael Maher, who had a farm just across the road.

(According to Mum, another Maher brother, Jack, was keen on Ag’s younger sister Belle, but she turned him down. Mum also thought Ag had been engaged to someone else before she married Pat.)

Ag and Pat had four children. The first was my mother, Annie Agnes Maher, born in Ballarat in 1908. Then came Eileen Mary, b. 1910, and Kathleen Theresa, b. 1911 – all born in Ballarat – apparently Ag went home for each birth. The youngest, John Patrick, was born at Minyip in 1912.

They had a happy marriage, by all accounts - when they were at home on the farm, Ag would always go everywhere with Pat, even just for a drive down the paddock in the buggy. She said her husband was more important, and household tasks could wait. 
Ag’s health was ‘delicate’ though no-one seems to know exactly what was wrong with her. She was apparently prone to bronchitis, (no antibiotics in those days) and it seems that all the coughing weakened her heart. Mum said she always had help in the house when her children were young.

Perhaps this goes some way to explaining why the children were all sent to boarding school at an early age. Mum was just six years old when she was sent to board with the Brigidine nuns at Wangaratta. Presumable this was chosen because Pat’s sister Anne (Sister Philomena) was there, and would keep an eye on the little girl.

At the time, many Catholic families sent their children away to school, because there were no Catholic schools in the smaller towns. Annie, understandably, hated it; she said she used to cry herself to sleep every night. A couple of years later she was joined at Wangaratta by her sister Eileen, and then the youngest sister Kathleen. Their brother Jack would in his turn be sent to St. Pat’s in Ballarat for his education. At least he had family in Ballarat, and could presumably go to them on weekends. The three little girls in Wangaratta weren’t so lucky – they only went home once a year, for the summer holidays.

Kathleen Maher

This arrangement intensified the tragedy when the youngest girl, Kathleen, died at boarding school, aged just nine. She apparently had Bright’s disease, which would now be called acute nephritis – inflammation of the kidneys. There was no treatment then, and by the time the nuns realised that she was very ill and contacted her parents, it was too late. Kathleen died in May, 1920, and is buried beside her parents at the Minyip Cemetery.

I have never been able to understand how any parents could send their children away like that, but I suppose it was considered normal then. It had a profound effect on my mother, who always found it hard to show affection – she was not a ‘huggy’ person.

The two older girls did not return to Wangaratta, finishing their schooling in Ballarat, where they boarded with their Grandmother Sulllivan, and Aunties Kit and Rose.

Ag’s health worsened, and Pat installed a share farmer and moved to Ballarat for five years, so she could escape the heat of the Minyip summers. Ag had a dreadful cough, and TB was suspected, but no doctor could ever find any trace of it. They must have gone back to Minyip, for Ag died there on the farm on October 17^th, 1927. 

Annie had already moved home to Minyip to look after her mother, and remained there to keep house for her father and brother Jack, while Eileen stayed in Ballarat.

The farm was eventually passed to Jack, and Pat divided his time between visits to various family members. I remember him staying with us at Lubeck, a quietly spoken man, with endless patience for small girls. Sometimes I would sit on Granddad’s knee and play with his pocket watch, and occasionally I was even allowed to help fill his pipe! The plug of tobacco was kept in a small tin, and Granddad would shave bits of tobacco off with his pocket knife, which then had to be carefully packed into the bowl of the pipe – “but not too firmly dear, or it won’t draw”… Pat died in 1949, while on a visit to his sister  Jane in Sydney.

Friday favourites

Orange cake (butter sponge)
This is a lovely light, fine-grained cake. It's not a real sponge cake (I'm not very good at those) but it's easy to make, especially if you have an electric beater. A hand beater will do the job, just takes a bit more muscle power.
Preheat oven to 180C, grease and paper a 20cm round or square pan.

Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup SR flour
3 eggs
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons melted butter
grated rind of 1 orange
Method
Mix sugar and sifted flour in a basin, add eggs, then milk, orange rind, and lastly melted butter. Beat well for 3 minutes (mixture should get lighter in colour) Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, turn out onto a wire cooler.
Orange icing
Icing sugar, 1 tsp butter, rind and juice of  1 orange. Mandarin segments make a nice decoration.

Variations 
1. flavour with 1 tsp vanilla essence, ice with chocolate icing, sprinkle with coconut.
2. Spice cake - add 2 tsps cocoa, 1/2 tsp cinnamon. 1/2 tsp nutmeg (sifted with flour).
3. Add one or two passionfruit to cake mixture, and also to the icing.


You can also split the cake (slice it horizontally) and fill with whipped cream.
When I had lots of people to feed, I used to make double the quantity, and bake it in a baking dish (roasting pan).

The Sullivan family

On April 5^th 1874, Mary Ann Hannigan married James Edward Sullivan, at St Francis Catholic church, Melbourne – the same church where her parents had married. Sadly, her father, Thomas Hannigan, died on May 23rd, just a few weeks after the wedding.

James Sullivan was born in 1843 in Co. Cavan, Ireland, but his family moved to Scotland when he was one year old. James emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 21, and later to Australia. For most of his life in Australia, James worked as a ganger on the railways, and was known as the only Irish ganger with a Scots accent.

 Gangers on hand-operated trolleys. Safe rail travel depends on well maintained lines. Steel rails were fastened to wooden ‘sleepers’, supported on ballast – coarsely broken stones.

 The gangers travelled up and down the railway lines checking for loose fastenings, and replacing broken sleepers and warped rails.

 James and Mary Ann had seven children, five girls and two boys.

Their first child, Amelia, was born at Yan Yean, just north of Melbourne, in 1875. James couldn’t have been employed with the Railways then, as the line was not extended to Yan Yean until 1889. The family moved to the Western district, where the next four children were born, at Hamilton, Branxholme, and Condah. Then James worked on construction of the rail line from Murtoa to Warracknabeal, and they lived at Minyip, where their two sons were born.

It must have been hard to pack up furniture, bedding, clothes and kids, and move to another small town. It is said that on one occasion, set down beside an isolated railhead with no house ready for them to live in, Mary Ann sat down and wept. And who could blame her? A newcomer with another new home to set up in primitive circumstances, little money, no kith or kin apart from her own small family, and great isolation.

Mary Ann was able to earn some extra income by working as a crossing keeper, opening and shutting the gates at the level crossings.

Throughout their travels, the Sullivans remained strong in their Catholic faith, and when they finally settled in Ballarat the girls attended Loreto Convent. The family made their home at 801 Armstrong Street, Ballarat North, where they were to remain for many years. Their house (no longer there) was called “Cavan” in memory of James’s Irish origins. James died in Ballarat on the 6^th of December, 1918.

The Sullivan girls had beautiful names - Amelia Mary (Millie), Rose Ann, Agnes Elizabeth (Ag), Catherine Alicia (Kit), and Isabella Margaret (Belle). The boys were  James Edward (Jim) and William John (Will). Agnes was my grandmother, and I remember several of the others from my childhood – Auntie Rose, Auntie Kit, Uncle Jim and Uncle Will. It was Millie who wrote the letter to my mother, mentioned in this post.

 Some years ago a couple of glass photo negatives were discovered and developed. One shows Mary Ann, a little wizened lady in black, with her eldest daughter Millie and grand-daughter Molly. She had lived to see one of her sons, Jim, return safely from France in WW1, and she had nine grandchildren.

What changes she must have seen during her lifetime – from bullock train to steam train to motor car, from uncertain mail delivery to the telephone and radio, and from the wild country of her birthplace to the bustle of working-class South Yarra.

The other photo is of my grandmother, Agnes Sullivan, who married Patrick Maher. (Her sister Millie would marry Pat’s brother Michael a few years later). Both Millie and Ag were married at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Ballarat.

When their father died, there wasn’t much money, and several of the girls went out to work – Ag was a teacher, and Kit trained as a tailoress. They had a busy social life too. Millie kept a diary for 12 months, (she had a bet with one of her sisters), and wrote of going to dances, parties, and visits to friends. They had no car, relying on the trams to get around, and sometimes walking home after the last tram had gone. This diary also records the birth of my mother, on a hot January day in 1908. 

The birth took place at the Sullivan family home, the temperature climbed to 105F, and wet sheets were hung around the room to combat the heat. The diary is now held by the Minyip Historical Society.

Jim Sullivan served in France during WW1, and was badly affected by mustard gas, but returned home safely. He later worked for the railways, and never married, sharing a house in South Yarra with his sister Kit. It was here that Mary Ann died in 1932, aged around 80.

An Irish orphan

In Ireland, the period between 1845 – 1852 was the time of the Irish Potato Famine.

potato blight

Potatoes were the only food that the poor could afford, and their crops were destroyed by an outbreak of phytophthera infestans, or Potato Blight. The Irish called it an Gorta Mor – the Great Hunger. You can read more about it here.

During the famine, over 1 million people died from starvation and disease. Even today, over 150 years later, people still argue about the famine, it’s causes and effects. Some call it genocide. Everyone agrees on two facts:

      1. Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, under the administration of the British Government.

             2. The Government response to the crisis was so inadequate that over 1 million people died.

deserted famine village

Many of those who escaped death were forced to live in overcrowded Workhouses, places of harsh discipline and inadequate food. Thousands died in the workhouses too.

Another million survivors of the famine emigrated to the Americas and Australia.

During the Famine there were more than twice as many able-bodied females as males in Irish workhouses. These girls had very limited employment and marriage prospects and local ratepayers who supported the workhouse foresaw years of expensive payments for their support and those of the children they might produce.

In Australia, on the other hand, white males outnumbered white females by at least two to one and by eight to one in some districts. Earl Grey, the British Secretary of State for the colonies (a member of Lord John Russell's Whig government) thought he could solve Australia's problems of a shortage of labour and an imbalance of the sexes, by alleviating the overcrowding in Ireland's famine filled workhouses. As part of Earl Grey's Pauper Immigration Scheme, over 4,000 female orphans arrived in Australia from Irish workhouses between October 1848 and August 1850. You can read more about the Irish Orphan Girls here.

In theory, girls aged 14 to 18 would volunteer to emigrate to Australia on an organised and supervised scheme. In practice, they didn’t have much choice.

The girls were inspected by a Government official, who selected those he considered healthy-looking and well-behaved. The Poor Law Union had to supply each chosen girl with a large box containing a generous set of requirements for the long voyage.

The girls, with their new possessions, set off under supervision in horse transport for the nearest Irish port from where they sailed to Plymouth on the south coast of England, and thence to Australia - a voyage of several weeks by sailing ship.

Twenty ships arrived between 1848-50, most went to Sydney, six to Melbourne, and three to Adelaide. The girls were soon recruited as domestic servants and snapped up as wives.

On board the New Liverpool, which arrived in Melbourne on August 9^th, 1849, were two sisters, Biddy and Mary McDermott. Biddy was 19, Mary 18. Both claimed to be able to read and write. The girls had come from the workhouse in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, and were described as orphans. They would have had plenty of familiar faces on the voyage out – 24 other girls from Clonmel were on the same ship.

Mary was employed by Edward Fannonsey(?) of Melbourne, and Biddy went to work for John Wright of Goulburn, her wages to be $10 for 6 months. (it seems likely that Biddy went, not to the town of Golbourn, in NSW, but to a property on the Goulburn river, near Yea in Victoria.)

On December 27^th, 1849, Biddy married Thomas Hannigan junior at St. Francis church, Melbourne. St. Francis was the first Catholic church built in Victoria, and the only place for Catholics to be married at that time. The young couple would have had to travel to Melbourne from the Goulburn, a journey of several days by wagon. Did Biddy have a chance to see her sister Mary while she was in Melbourne.?

King Parrot Creek

Thomas and Biddy spent their married life in the Yea district, at least some of it at King Parrot Creek. They had twelve children –

 1. Mary Ann b.1 October 1850 - 30 August 1932, born at Yea
2. Thomas b.1851 - 20 March 1875 aged 23 died at Alexandra
3. Catherine b. 1853 - 1 April 1860 aged 7 years died of Diptheria
4. Bridget b. 1855 - 1935
5. Margaret b. 1856 - 18 April 1860 aged 4 years died of Diptheria
6. Joseph b. 1858 - 17 April 1860 aged 2 years died of Diptheria
7. Elizabeth b. 4 May 1860
8. Josephine b. 31 January 1862 born at King Parrot Creek
9. Catherine b.4 January 1864 born at Muddy Creek, Yea
10. John b. 2 June 1866
11. Elisha (Lena/Eleanor) b.1869 - 1902 aged 33
12. Frances b.1872

Their first child, Mary Ann, was my great-grandmother, and family legend is that she was the first white child born in the district. This birth was never registered, so there was no birth certificate for her.

 Another family story, however, was not passed down – the story of Thomas’s convict parents. He may have told Biddy, but I doubt if their children knew, and certainly my mother and grandmother had no idea of their convict heritage. It was only in the 1990s that family research by a descendant, Brian Sullivan, uncovered the secret.

Did Biddy remember her lost homeland with sadness, or was she simply grateful that she and her sister had escaped the horrors of the famine, and were able to build a new life in Australia? There was tragedy even here, when the three little ones died of diptheria – perhaps the birth of Elizabeth just a few weeks later gave her some solace?

Tom Hannigan died in 1874, aged 48. The youngest child was only 2 years old then, so how did Biddy manage alone? I have not been able to find a record of Biddy’s death, so it is possible that she remarried after Tom died, and thus her death is recorded under a different name. If she lived to old age, there may not have been anyone in the family who knew her birthplace, or her maiden name.

Several of Tom and Biddy’s daughters married, and there are now many descendants from this couple. Their family names, for anyone who is researching, are – Sullivan, Gardner, Jones, Nickle, and Grimwood.

Taking a closer look Part 2

Continuing the story of Thomas Hannigan (senior) and his wife, Bridget Brown.

The early years of the new settlement at Launceston would have been very busy. Everything needed to sustain life had to be provided by the occupants, or brought in by ship. Buildings had to be erected, and land cleared for growing food.

By the time Governor Macquarie visited the settlement in 1821, he found various government buildings, erected and occupied since his first visit ten years earlier, including military barracks, commandant’s residence, lime kilns, blacksmith’s shop, stores, watch house and gaol, and a chaplain’s dwelling. The Rev. John Youl, an Anglican minister, had been appointed the first chaplain in 1819. On his arrival, he toured the district for three weeks, marrying 41 couples and baptising 64 children, some of the latter belonging to newlyweds, who had been waiting for an opportunity to be legally married.

On arrival in the colony, convicts were either set to work for the Government, constructing roads and buildings, or assigned to civilian employers. It seems likely that Thomas Hannigan was among the latter, and travelled to Van Diemen's Land as a servant to the free settler in Paterson's party. How he came to be a sailor is a mystery. There is no mention in his records of a conditional pardon, and it would have been many years before he would have been allowed the freedom of going to sea. He must have been fairly well-behaved in the colony, as he attracted no attention until the transgression of 1837.

By 1820, Thomas was married to a convict woman, Bridget Brown. There is no mention in Thomas's records of "permission to marry" and being Catholic, he would not have accepted an Anglican ceremony; so probably Bridget was a 'common law' wife.

I have very little information about her, apart from an entry in the book "Notorious Strumpets and Dangerous Girls" by Phillip Tardif. (This is a history of over 1600 female convicts who were sent to Tasmania between 1803 - 1829.) It makes fascinating reading.

Brown, Bridget (or Wilson)

Convicted at Dublin City, November 1815. Transported for stealing apparel - 7 years.

Trade, servant. Age 24 (1817)

Colonial experience

1817: 27 August arrived at the Derwent from sydney aboard the Elizabeth Henrietta

1820 & 1821 Musters: wife of Thomas Hannigan, Port Dalrymple

1820: 28 December Assaulting Mary Harman. Bound over to keep the peace.

1825: 19 October Wife of Hannigan. Breaking open  box and stealing sundry articles of wearing apparel therefrom, the propert of Mrs. Maxey. Charge dismissed.

1826: 29 March Launceston. Assaulting Isabella Whittingham. Bound over to keep the peace for 3 months.

1827: 8 March. Drunk and disorderly. To find sureties for her good behaviour for 3 months.

1829: 21 October. Being drunk and disorderly. Reprimanded.

1830: 15 November. Using threatening language to Mary Beard and gross language before the Magistrates. To sit in the stocks 4 hours and find sureties to keep the peace.

1836: 29 March. Drunk and disorderly. fined 5 shillings.

1836: 12 October. Drunk and disorderly. Fined 5 shillings.

1837: 21 April. Being drunk. Fined 5 shillings.

We can surmise something about Bridget's life from the record. The second surname, Wilson, may indicate that she was married, or at least living with someone, at the time of her conviction. Did she have children? She was 23 at the time of her trial, so it's quite possible.
If she did, she never saw them again.
Notice the dates of her court appearances - almost always in October or March. Did she celebrate the birthdays of those lost children, perhaps? (All pure speculation, of course).

Returning to the Cornwall Chronicle report of her death, we can perhaps read between the lines:
“It came out in evidence, that deceased ... resided with a man named Thomas Henshaw, upon Mr. Lawrence’s sheep run, about five miles from Launceston. On Thursday evening she was taken unwell; on Friday she became worse, ... on Saturday, about one p.m., as she was gradually sinking, Henshaw went for a Mrs. Smith to attend her, and then made the best of his way to Launceston for a doctor; Mrs. Smith, on her arrival, gave deceased some gruel, and then some tea, upon which she almost instantly expired, in which state she was found by Dr. Grant upon his arrival....”

Reading this report, I am struck by the care Bridget received in her illness. Henshaw "went for a Mrs Smith to attend her" and Mrs. Smith did her best to minister to the dying woman. Henshaw "made the best of his way to Launceston for a doctor" a distance of 5 miles - perhaps he had a horse? The doctor attended, so Henshaw or his employer must have been prepared to pay for his services.
So even in her last moments, Bridget was loved and cared for. That's good to know.

Thomas and Bridget had at least five children, but only two, or possibly three, survived. When Bridget died, their daughter Mary was in gaol, and their son Thomas was about 14 years old.
At that time, only the children of the well-to-do were educated. Poor children went to work as soon as they were old enough to be useful. Thomas may have been employed on the property where Bridget was living with Thomas Henshaw, or he may have already followed in his father's footsteps, and become a sailor.

Friday favourites

Drop scones

Also known as pikelets, these are a handy thing to know about if you've run out of bread, or have to feed a hungry horde at short notice.
A little lower on the culinary scale than Proper Scones (which are an Art Form, whereas any dill can make drop scones) they still make an excellent vehicle for jam and cream, or butter and honey, or whatever else you fancy. This is the recipe I've always used, from the old Aerophos cookbook, c.1953.

Ingredients
2 cups SR flour (I used one each of white and wholemeal flour)
1/4 tsp salt, 1 level tablespoon sugar
2 eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk, 2 tablespoons melted butter (or 1 tab. oil)

Method

Mix flour, salt and sugar in a basin.
Beat eggs, add milk.
Make a well in the flour, add milk/egg mixture, stirring to blend.
Lastly stir in butter or oil.
You'll probably need more milk if you use wholemeal flour.
Drop spoonfuls (a soup spoon is good) on a heated, ungreased (non-stick) pan. I used an electric frypan set at 180C.
Turn with a spatula when bubbles form on the surface and start to break.
Remove when done, and repeat.
 This quantity makes about 3 dozen drop scones, depending on size.
Towards the end, I added a grated apple to the batter, and ate the first one sprinkled with sugar, and a little cream added. Delicious!

A slight problem about these Friday recipe posts is being overcome by the urge to actually make whatever you're writing about, like today (and last week) It's a habit the Resident Grandson thoroughly approves of...

Pancakes are related to drop scones, beginning with a batter, and cooked in a frypan. But pancakes, apart from being larger, should be thin and delicate and tender. For this you need a different recipe, and a slightly different method. This recipe comes from one of the Moosewood books, and is pretty much foolproof.
I use a 20 cm nonstick pan for these, over a moderate flame.

Ingredients

1 cup plain flour, 1 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 tab oil, 1/4 tsp salt.

Beat everything in a blender until smooth.
No blender? follow the instructions for drop scones, but beat very well, then allow mixture to stand for 1/2 an hour.
(You may need to add more milk or water to thin it down again)
Heat a few drops of oil in the pan, pour in about 1/4 cup of batter, swirl it around in the pan.
When the top is just about set, flip over and brown the other side. Repeat.
You may need to experiment a little to get just the right temperature; the first one or two pancakes may not be quite perfect.
Sprinkle with castor sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice, roll and enjoy.

In Paris, street vendors cook your pancakes while you wait, huge, paper-thin ones, spread with apricot jam, or Nutella, and wrapped in a twist of white paper. Mmmmm!

Taking a closer look

NOTE: this post is about Thomas Hannigan senior.  Wouldn't want you to get confused :-)

A family historian is like a detective, examining the available clues, following up leads, making deductions – and sometimes, educated guesses. The more you know about the general history and events of your ancestor’s era, the more likely it is that his or her activities will make sense to you (and your audience).

Genealogical research is getting easier all the time, due to the increasing amount of material available online – Googling key places and names will often provide more information.

Sometimes you have very little basic, authentic information about an ancestor. In the case of Thomas Hannigan, I have the transcript of his trial in London in 1800, a brief record of his conviction in Tasmania in 1837, and a newspaper paragraph of the same date.

The London trial records, though entertaining, don’t tell us what happened to Thomas in Australia. For that I must rely on a photocopy of an entry in the Tasmanian convict records:

Port Arthur ruins

Name – Hanneghan, Thomas.

Height 5’2”. Age 59. 

Occupation - ??nailor Not a sailor as I originally thought, but perhaps a nail-maker?

Tried at Launceston, Oct. 5^th, 1837. 

Sentence 14 years. 

Birthplace - London. 

Religion RC. 

Read and write – neither. 

Relatives – 1 son, 1 daughter, & wife, in Launceston. 

Ships – Earl Cornwallis and Francis. 

Offence – Receiving.

A further note in the records says: “Transported for receiving part of 2 promissory notes value 3 pounds… monies the property of Wm. King….. 3 years Port Arthur, conducted to be reported.”

Directly above this entry is the record for Thomas’s daughter, Mary Ann, tried on the same day for Larceny, and sentenced to 7 years. From this we learn that Mary Ann was aged 16, and 4’11” tall. Also illiterate, she was employed as a Laundress & House Servant. She was Native-born. Mary Ann’s family consisted of a mother, sister and brother in Launceston.

Inside Port Arthur

 The newspaper article adds little: “Mary Haneghan, convicted of stealing one pair of trousers, value 5 shillings, and various monies, the property of Wm. King. Sentence, 7 years. Thos Hanagan, Hugh McGlocken, and Rebecca Barton, severally convicted of receiving part of this said property. Sentence, 14 years, and the prisoners Thos Hanagan and Hugh McGlocken, be sent to Port Arthur.”

Little enough to go on…but the records do tell us quite a lot about Thomas and his family, and of course, raise questions.

His birthplace is given as London. Was he really born there, or was it just his place of residence when he stole those sheep?

He was a little short bloke, his daughter even tinier. Seems this may have been genetic, not merely the result of a poor diet – my own mother was not much taller than Thomas.

Both father and daughter claimed to be Roman Catholic, despite a lack of Catholic clergy in Van Diemen’s Land at that date. Both were illiterate, (which argues that Thomas Junior was, also).

The family details are interesting, with a discrepancy between the two accounts. Were there 2 Hannigan daughters, or only the one, Mary Ann? The son is presumably Thomas junior.

There is a published passenger list for Earl Cornwallis which list Thomas as one of the convicts on board, along with his co-accused from London, Richard Coleman. I haven’t found any further information for Coleman.

The Francis  is the most interesting, and leads us to a new view of Thomas’s colonial history.

A schooner of 41 tons, the Francis was assembled in Sydney from frames sent out in the Pitt which arrived on 14 February 1792. Launched on 24 July 1793, she departed  Sydney on her first voyage, 8 September, to Dusky Bay, New Zealand.
A little later, in 1801, the Francis accompanied the Lady Nelson on a voyage to Newcastle, collecting 75 tons of coal which were exchanged for nails and iron in Sydney with the master of the ship Earl Cornwallis, Capt. James Tennant. (note the connection with Thomas’s convict transport.)

We next hear of the Francis in 1804, when she formed part of an expedition to Van Diemen’s Land.

Initially the British authorities were uncertain if Van Diemen’s Land was connected to the mainland, or a separate island. The matter was settled by an expedition conducted by Bass and Flinders in 1798, when they explored Bass Strait, and sailed right around the island in the Norfolk. The Tamar River was entered and mapped, and the mouth was named Port Dalrymple. They were followed in 1802 by Freycinet and Faure from the Naturaliste and 1804 by William Collins in the Lady Nelson.

Fear of French settlement led to the Governor of NSW sending an expedition under Lieut. Colonel William Paterson to establish a settlement at Port Dalrymple (in addition to the southern outpost at Risdon, the fore-runner of Hobart).

On November 4th 1804, Lieutenant Colonel William Paterson, and a fleet of ships HMS Buffalo, the HMS Lady Nelson, the Francis and the Integrity, entered the Tamar heads on the north coast of Van Diemen's Land, with a party of 181 including 74 convicts, soldiers, one free settler, and a doctor.  Thomas Hannigan was thus one of the very earliest white settlers in Tasmania!

An outer cove on the eastern side of the Tamar (George Town), was chosen temporarily and the settlers made camp there. George Town is now considered the oldest town in Australia (1804). Only the cities of Sydney and Hobart are older. In fact John Batman sailed from George Town to settle Melbourne.

View of South Esk river

Paterson continued to explore the Tamar for a better area, on findng two good streams of fresh water he named the area York Town (Beaconsfield) and would transfer all the settlers here before Christmas. The following day November 12th 1804, a large group of Aboriginals approached Paterson's camp, appearing to be quite friendly. They attacked a Marine guard and were fired on with muskets by the Marines. One native was killed and another was wounded.

Despite the hostility of the natives, Paterson continued to explore the area without further incident. Good pasture land and thick forests were found at the head of the Tamar (Launceston). Paterson also discovered and named the North Esk and the South Esk Rivers, and he was most impressed with the Cataract he discovered in a gorge of the South Esk river. Choosing to stay at the York Town settlement, Lieutenant Paterson moved the small settlement to a more fertile area he named Patersonia, (Launceston) in March 1806.

Tomatoes in pyjamas

We've all heard of Bananas in Pyjamas, but I have Tomatoes in Pyjamas!

There's very little topsoil in my garden, so veggies must be grown in containers. I planted these four tomatoes a couple of weeks ago - 2 Romas, and 2 bush Cherry. We can get frosts here almost up to Christmas, so they need to be protected at night. Easy enough when they were tiny, but now that I've staked them, it's a bit more problematic.



So I cut up an old doona cover (3$ at the op shop) and made individual bags to put over them on frosty nights.
Voila - tomatoes in pyjamas!
They look kinda spooky, don't they? Just imagine them on a moonlit night...

The strawberries planted in old tyres are flourishing, lots of flowers already.
I planted rhubarb, silver beet and sugar peas in the styrene boxes.

Really, this is more of a fruit garden if you think about it - tomatoes, strawberries, rhubarb...

Something has been munching on the lower leaves of the sugar peas, so the other day I mixed up some Nicotine Tea (cigarette butts soaked in water - eww!). It makes a nasty-looking brown brew, which I poured around the peas, and on the lower leaves - hopefully that will fix the problem!

Thomas Hannigan Junior

When Bridget Hannigan died in 1840, her son Thomas was effectively alone in the world. His father, Thomas Hannigan Snr., had been sent to Port Arthur, his older sister Mary was serving 7 years for theft. 

Thomas Jr, born in 1826, would have been 14 years old.

 According to researcher Brian Sullivan, Thomas went to sea, working on ships that sailed up and down the east coast of Australia, from Sydney to the new settlement at Port Philip, and on down to Launceston and Hobart. The shipping lanes were busy, as schooners and sloops carried timber, livestock, passengers and mail. There were new settlers and their (mostly convict) employees, intent on making the most of the new land being opened up. Thomas would have watched as horses, cattle and sheep were offloaded for the pastoral runs of Port Phillip. He would have heard talk of fortunes made and lost, and business opportunities aplenty for those who weren’t afraid to work.

He would also have discovered that convicts, and their descendants, were held in much greater contempt in the mainland states.

In the early years of Van Diemen’s Land, convicts at first outnumbered free settlers, and even in 1846, 75% of the adult males were, or had been, convicts.

Most had gained a measure of freedom, those who could find a wife had married and settled down to a measure of working class respectability. Many had started a small business, and were often successful and well-accepted members of the community.

It is important to remember that few of the convicts were actual criminals, as we understand the term today.

Most were ordinary working class people, who had been caught “helping themselves” to something that didn’t belong to them – a few sheep, some game, a pair of trousers – in an effort to make ends meet. The overwhelming majority of those transported to Australia were convicted of fairly minor thefts, and most did not offend again. The really bad offenders – murderers, arsonists, and the like, were summarily executed.

So the residents of Van Diemen’s Land were very willing to live and let live; it simply wasn’t done to enquire too closely into another fellow’s past, for fear of what you might find.

Not so in the other states. NSW had received about the same number of convicts, but had far more free settlers, and there was consequently more freedom for suspicion as to the other fellow’s history. Convicts and their offspring were thought of as belonging, without possibility of redemption, to the “criminal classes” , and thus to be shunned by all right-minded people.

Port Phillip, which would become the colony of Victoria in 1851, prided itself on being free of the convict taint, and the new Government tried to stop ex-convicts from settling there, even passing a law to that effect. They were too late, of course; thousands of former convicts had already moved there, though probably few admitted to their origins.

Thomas was a sensible young man. When he abandoned the sea, sometime in the late 1840's, he too kept his origins to himself.

He began working as a carrier, taking goods from the Port of Melbourne up to the Goulburn river district, and carrying farm produce down to the city. Presumably, at least at first, he was employed by one of the squatters who had settled along the Goulburn. And here he would meet his wife.

Friday favorites

Potato Boston bun

This keeps fresh for a couple of days, and is far nicer that the commercial kind.

But it is very sweet - I can't eat a lot of it.

Preheat oven to 180C and grease and paper two loaf pans, or two 18-20cm round tins.

 Ingredients
small packet of instant mashed potato (100-125g)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup mixed fruit
1 cup milk
2 cups SR flour

Method
In a large saucepan, make up mashed potato according to directions on packet. Stir in sugar and salt.
The mixture will liquefy (fascinating). Add mixed fruit and milk, then flour. You should have a fairly stiff, sticky dough - adjust quantities of flour and milk as needed.

Divide between two tins, and bake for about 40-45 mins, or until a straw or skewer comes out clean. Wait five minutes or so, then turn out onto a wire rack. When cold, ice with pink icing and a sprinkle of coconut. Serve sliced and buttered.

Boat People

We hear much of Boat People today, refugees seeking safety and a better life in Australia. I am always reminded that my own ancestors were Boat People too.

 They also sailed in wooden boats across dangerous waters, sustained by hope for a better future.

 In many cases they were unwilling emigrants, virtually exported by their countries of birth - the Irish convicts, the German miners, the Irish orphans. Only a few were free settlers. On arrival in Australia, they often experienced further persecution and bigotry. Not much has changed, it seems.

The convicts were the lowest on the totem pole, leading to concealment of convict origins by later generations, but even the free Irish were not held in high regard. The Irish were used to this, of course, and undaunted by it, continuing a long tradition of rebellion against authority. This resilience stood them in good stead as they made their way, over generations, up the social ladder.

James Scullin

 Many of their descendants would become active in trade unions and politics. James Scullin, the son of Irish Immigrants, became Prime Minister of Australia in 1929.

An Irishman of my acquaintance once remarked that there are two kinds of Irish – “lace curtain Irish” and “bog Irish”.

The former were those who strove to “fit in” and quickly became “respectable” – pillars of the Catholic Church, their children educated by nuns and Brothers – some even becoming priests or nuns themselves.

The latter never quite lost their attitude of irreverence and contempt for authority, and were sometimes described as “agin the government” as the saying went.

Ned Kelly springs to mind.

 Whatever you think of Ned’s exploits, his family undoubtedly suffered discrimination and injustice, and Ned wasn’t going to take it lying down. He is probably the most famous Irishman in Australian history, even today. Less well remembered are the three policemen he killed - Sgt. Kennedy, and Constables Lonigan & Scanlon (all Irish names, you’ll note).

The Germans were more generally respected as hardworking and God-fearing, but they too suffered persecution during the first and second World Wars, though some of their sons served (and died) in both campaigns.

Despite the many difficulties they encountered, my ancestors were undoubtedly better off in their new home – better fed, with opportunites for work, ownership of land (undreamed of in their native countries) and education for their children.

Recently I was asked which group I most identified with – the Germans or the Irish. I plumped for the Germans; I had a German surname, and was raised mostly among family of German descent. They were good people, industrious and law-abiding.

But when I think of feisty little Bridget Hannigan, with the odds all against her, shouting abuse at the magistrate, I hope I’ve inherited some of her spirit too.

Friday favourites

Today's recipe is an old family favourite - Chocbit biscuits. The recipe came from a Fairy margarine promotion, published in the Sun newspaper some time in the 1960s. I used to make dozens of these biscuits to take on our annual beach holidays - though they never lasted the full three weeks! The recipe is as I found it, except for a reduction in the amount of sugar. And of course I never used margarine, always butter. I've always included the sultanas, but purists can omit them.

Chocbit biccies

Preheat oven to 190C, line biscuit trays with baking parchment.

Ingredients:
125g butter,
3/4 cup sugar,
2 eggs,
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
2 rounded cups
SR flour (10 1/2 oz or 330g)
1/2 cup sultanas, 3/4 cup Nestle chocbits

Method:
Cream butter and sugar, beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in sultanas and chocbits, lastly flour. Place level tablespoons of mixture on tray, and bake 15-20 minutes, until lightly coloured, turning trays around as necessary.

I'm adding a bonus recipe today, these were also a holiday favourite. Always popular with lovers of peanut butter, these are sooo good, crisp and crumbly when new baked.

Peanut butter biscuits
Preheat oven to 180c, line trays with baking parchment.

Ingredients:
125g butter, 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tabs peanut butter (any kind -
I like crunchy)
1 egg, 1 heaped tablespoon coconut
large cup SR flour, 1/4 tsp salt.

Method:
Cream butter, sugar and peanut butter, beat in egg.
Stir in coconut and the flour, sifted with salt.
Roll into balls and flatten with a fork. Pace well apart on tray - they spread.
Bake until lightly coloured, watching carefully so they don't burn.

Last time I made these, I added 1/2 cup of sultanas, I think it was an improvement.

HINT: Most biscuit recipes allow a bit of tinkering; mixture too dry? add a little milk. Too sloppy? add a spoonful of flour.
But note: the amount of sugar in both of these recipes has been reduced a little - don't be tempted to cut it further. Sugar is a humectant, and a reasonable amount is needed to maintain the moisture level of baked goods. Just sayin'.

A tale of three sheep

This is the story of my great-great-great grandfather, Thomas Hannigan.

We first meet Thomas at the Old Bailey in London on February 14th, 1800. He and another man, Richard Coleman, are being tried before a judge and jury, accused of stealing 3 ewe sheep, valued at three pounds, from the holding pens at Smithfield Market.

Several witnesses testified that Hannigan and Coleman had been found in possession of said sheep, at around 3 am. The sheep were part of a flock delivered to the market at 10 pm, for sale on the following morning.

Smithfield Market, London

Smithfield Market was then on the outskirts of London, and had been a market for hundreds of years. At that time London had a population of around 1 million people, and horses, cattle, sheep and pigs were sold here to meet the needs of the population. In Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens described it thus:

"It was market-morning. The ground was covered, nearly ankle-deep, with filth and mire; a thick steam, perpetually rising from the reeking bodies of the cattle, and mingling with the fog, which seemed to rest upon the chimney-tops, hung heavily above. All the pens in the centre of the large area, and as many temporary pens as could be crowded into the vacant space, were filled with sheep; tied up to posts by the gutter side were long lines of beasts and oxen, three or four deep. Countrymen, butchers, drovers, hawkers, boys, thieves, idlers, and vagabonds of every low grade, were mingled together in a mass; the whistling of drovers, the barking dogs, the bellowing and plunging of the oxen, the bleating of sheep, the grunting and squeaking of pigs, the cries of hawkers, the shouts, oaths, and quarrelling on all sides; the ringing of bells and roar of voices, that issued from every public-house; the crowding, pushing, driving, beating, whooping and yelling; the hideous and discordant dim that resounded from every corner of the market; and the unwashed, unshaven, squalid, and dirty figures constantly running to and fro, and bursting in and out of the throng; rendered it a stunning and bewildering scene, which quite confounded the senses."

Doubtless the scene was quieter at 3 am, and the two accused had hoped to drive their booty home undetected. But the clatter of hooves on cobblestones alerted a watchman, and the lads – and the sheep – were taken to a local watch house.

 The prisoner Hannigan called five witnesses, who gave him a good character. In his defence, Hannigan stated “I saw these three sheep straying down Chick Lane, and I went after them, but having but one leg, I could not get before them before the watchman laid hold of me; I told him I was going to take them back to the market.”

Hannigan and Coleman were both found guilty and sentenced to death, but the Jury recommended the prisoners to His Majesty’s mercy, on account of their youth. Thomas Hannigan was 24, Richard Coleman was 20.

His Majesty must have been merciful, for neither was hanged, their sentences instead commuted to transportation for life.

Sydney in 1802

On November 18^th, 1800, they left England on the ship “Earl Cornwallis,” bound for Australia. Thomas Hannigan arrived at Port Jackson on June 12^th, 1801 – the first of my ancestors to arrive in Australia.

It seems almost certain that Thomas Hannigan was Irish-born, so what was he doing in London? The answer may lie in a major event in Irish history – the Rebellion of 1798. Long in the making, this uprising against British rule cost many lives, and anyone who was involved, and escaped execution afterwards, may have found it prudent to seek the anonymity of London’s sprawling tenements. Perhaps Thomas had been injured in the uprising (which would explain his claim of “having but one leg.”)

One can only speculate – did he have a wooden leg? Surely he couldn’t have been sheep-stealing on crutches? Interestingly, there is no further mention of a missing leg in his convict records. The records tell us he was a small man, at just 5’2”, and he could neither read nor write. He gave his religion as Roman Catholic.

On arrival in the colony, convicts were either set to work for the Government, constructing roads and buildings, or assigned to civilian employers. It seems likely that Thomas was among the latter, for he next moved to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) sometime before 1820. He travelled on the “Francis”, which was not a convict ship, so he was presumably part of a private settlement party. He lived at Port Dalrymple, at the mouth of the Tamar river to the north of Launceston, and married an Irish convict woman, Bridget Brown. Edited to add: later information about his arrival in this post

Bridget Brown (also known as Wilson) had been convicted in Dublin in November 1817 to 7 years transportation for stealing apparel. She arrived in Sydney in 1817, and was then aged 24.  Immediately transferred to Launceston on the “Elizabeth Henrietta”, she arrived there on August 27^th, 1817.

The 1820 and 1821 musters show her as the wife of Thomas Hannigan, of Port Dalrymple (the early name for Launceston)

Bridget came to the attention of the courts on several occasions, usually for being drunk and disorderly. Unlike many convict women, she was never severely punished, being merely fined, or “bound over to keep the peace” – though in 1830 she was in a bit more trouble:  “November 15^th, 1830. Using threatening language to Mary Beard and gross language before the magistrates. To sit in the stocks 4 hours and find sureties to keep the peace.” She must have had a mouth on her, our Bridget!

Nothing further is known of Thomas until 1837, when he was charged with receiving stolen goods and sentenced to 14 years in Port Arthur. Thomas was then around 60 years of age, and presumably died in Port Arthur.

After Thomas’s incarceration, Bridget did not fare very well.

According to the Cornwall Chronicle, October 31^st, 1840: “Another inquest was held on Monday, at Mr. Nevill’s, White Hart, Elizabeth Street, upon the body of Bridget Hannigan. It came out in evidence, that deceased was of very intemperate habits, and resided with a man named Thomas Henshaw, upon Mr. Lawrence’s sheep run, about five miles from Launceston. On Thursday evening she was taken unwell; on Friday she became worse, and took an emetic, which operated powerfully; on Saturday, about one p.m., as she was gradually sinking, Henshaw went for a Mrs. Smith to attend her, and then made the best of his way to Launceston for a doctor; Mrs. Smith, on her arrival, gave deceased some gruel, and then some tea, upon which she almost instantly expired, in which state she was found by Dr. Grant upon his arrival. On a post mortem examination taking place, Dr. G. gave it as his opinion that deceased had come to her death from inflammation of the lungs. Verdict – Died from the visitation of God, from natural causes.”

Thomas and Bridget had at least five children, but only three survived. Their daughter Mary was tried at the same time as her father, for stealing a pair of trousers and some money, the property of Wm. King. She was sentenced to 7 years. Court records show that Mary had 1 brother and 1 sister, plus her mother, living in Launceston. Nothing further has so far been discovered of Thomas and Bridget’s two daughters, but we know quite a lot about their son, Thomas Hannigan junior.

More of this story soon...

I am indebted to Brian Sullivan, another descendant of Thomas and Bridget, for his research into the family, and for sharing the information with me.