M is for Arrival in Melbourne of the Persian in 1854

Western End of Queens Wharf Melbourne 1854 by S.T. Gill retrieved from MossGreen auctioneers

Ellen Murray (1837 - 1901) and Margaret Smyth (1834 - 1897), two of my husband's great grandmothers, sailed from England to Melbourne, Victoria, on the Persian, arriving on 9 April 1854. Ellen's sister Bridget and an infant surnamed Smyth traveled with them.

The Persian left Southampton on 2 January 1854 with 448 government immigrants, of whom 200 were single women. Eight people died on the 97 day voyage and five babies were born. The Croesus, which sailed from Southampton more than a week after the Persian, arrived the same day.

PORT PHILLIP HEADS. (1854, April 11). Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (Vic. : 1851 - 1856), p. 4 Edition: DAILY. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91932661

The Persian collided with another ship, the Cheshire Witch, in Port Phillip.

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE. (1854, April 11). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4805696

From the passenger list of the Persian, Margaret Smyth and infant are at the bottom of the screenshot , record retrieved through ancestry.com (click to enlarge)

Margaret Smyth was recorded as having given birth on board. She was from Cavan; her religion was Church of England; she could read and write; and she was 20 years old. She did not find a job immediately on landing, but went to stay with her cousin. His name on the record appears to be 'John Hunter', though the surname is not clearly legible.

I know nothing more about this cousin, nor have I have discovered anything more about Margaret's baby. There seems to be no death certificate, but the baby may have died without its death registered, for in 1854 civil registration of deaths was not yet in force in Victoria.

From the passenger list disposal summary Margaret Smyth and infant went to her cousin.

On 19 November 1855 Margaret Smyth, dressmaker from Cavan, aged 22, married John Plowright, also 22, a gold digger. Their wedding was held at the residence of John Plowright, Magpie, Ballarat. On the certificate Margaret's parents are given as William Smyth, farmer, and Mary nee Cox.

1855 marriage certificate of John Plowright and Margaret Smyth (click to enlarge)

Passenger list from the Persian showing Bridget and Ellen Murray at the bottom of the image. Retrieved through ancestry.com (click to enlarge).

Bridget and Ellen Murray were both from Dublin. Their religion was Catholic; both could read and Ellen could also write; Bridget was 24 and Ellen 18. Both found jobs on 15 April, within a week of their arrival. Bridget was engaged by S. Marcus of Prahran for a term of 1 month with a wage of 28 shillings and rations. Ellen was similarly employed by Mrs Ireland of St Kilda, with a wage of 30 shillings.

I have not been able to find anything more about Bridget Murray.

On 28 March 1856, two years after her arrival in the colony, Ellen Murray married James Cross, a gold digger, at Buninyong . Their wedding was at the residence of John Plowright, Black Lead Buninyong, in the presence of John and Margaret Plowright. Ellen gave her residence as Buninyong and her occupation as dressmaker. She was born in Dublin, aged 21, and her parents were George Murray, glass blower, and Ellen nee Dory.

1856 marriage certificate for James Cross and Ellen Murray (click to enlarge)

It seems that Margaret Smyth and Ellen Murray, who had emigrated to Victoria on the same ship, remained friends. Later the son of Ellen Cross nee Murray, Frederick James Cross, married Ann Jane Plowright, the daughter of Margaret Plowright nee Smyth.

Hunter Smyth connection?

I think I have found a connection between the Hunter and Smyth families but I can't link Margaret Smyth to it, at least not yet.

On other certificates Margaret Smyth states she was born in Bailieborough, County Cavan. I found a John Hunter associated with Bailieborough.

I have not been able to find a death of this John Hunter.

Family Notices (1866, December 27). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 4. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5782047

I ordered the marriage certificate and discovered Elizabeth Grace Hunter, age 27 had been born in Bailieborough. Her parents were John Hunter and Eliza Hunter nee Carmichael.

I ordered her 1897 death certificate and found Elizabeth had been in the colony 34 years. The informant on her death certificate was Charles Smyth, nephew, of Albury, New South Wales.

I found H. Hunter on the death indexes. He was Henry Hunter who died 1875. Henry was Elizabeth's brother, also the son of John Hunter and Eliza Carmichael.

I hope further research will uncover the connection and I can learn more about Margaret Smyth's family.

Deaths at sea

This week's Sepia Saturday prompt is the sea. In fact, the prompt picture of Bondi Beach inspires thoughts of holidays by the beach, but I have recently been researching several members of my family who died at sea and I was reminded that the sea is not always benign.

The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault painted 1818-1819 and now hanging in the Louvre. The Méduse was wrecked off the coast of Africa in 1816. Of the 400 on board only 15 survived.

Arthur Branthwayt (1776-1808) was the second husband of my 5th great grandmother Elizabeth née Phipps (1774-1836). He died at sea in a shipwreck. He was travelling to Gothenburg and the Crescent, a frigate with 36 guns, which was lost off the coast of Jutland. 220 of the 280 aboard her died. A raft was constructed, similar to the Méduse's. Arthur Branthwayt's wife, eight-month-old daughter and four step-children were not travelling with him.

Hampshire Chronicle 6 February 1809

Kentish Gazette 30 December 1808

Morning Post (London) 17 January 1809

Arthur Branthwayt's grandson, Arthur Branthwayt Toker (1834 - 1866), my first cousin five times removed, is doubly related to me as his mother married her half-sister's nephew by marriage, the son of Clarissa Champion de Crespigny (1776 - 1836). Young Arthur died at sea of typhoid fever while returning to England from New Zealand. He had been an officer in the 65th Regiment (later the York and Lancaster Regiment) and fought in the Maori Wars. He was unmarried.

from William Francis Robert Gordon's album "Some "Soldiers of the Queen" who served in the Maori Wars and Other Notable Persons Connected Herewith". Retrieved from the collection of Puke Ariki, New Plymouth, New Zealand

Wellington Independent 27 March 1866

In 1814 another shipwreck took the lives of Henry Gore Wade, his wife and children. Wade was the brother-in law of my fourth great uncle Philip Champion de Crespigny (1765 - 1851).  The Wade family were returning to England from India and died when the John Palmer was wrecked.

Morning Post (London) 31 March 1814

Morning Post (London) 1 April 1814

Gordon Skelly, who died in 1771, was my 6th great grandfather. His granddaughter Sophia née Duff (1790 - 1824) married Rowland Mainwaring (1783 - 1862). Skelly was the captain of the Royal Navy sloop Lynx stationed at Shields Yorkshire. He was drowned when his ship's long boat, ,crossing the bar of the harbour, was overturned by breakers. At the time of his death his two children were aged four and three.

Leeds Intelligencer 2 July 1771

Entrance to Shields Harbour from The Ports, Harbours, Watering-places and Picturesque Scenery of Great Britain Vol. 1 by William Findon retrieved from Project Gutenberg

When I checked my family tree I found a number of others who died at sea:

• Charles Patrick Dana (1784 - 1816), my 4th great grand uncle, who died while travelling from the East Indies to England on the Sir Stephen Lushington.
• Michael Hickey (1812 - 1840), the brother of my 3rd great grandmother died on the voyage to South Australia from Cork, Ireland,  on the Birman.
• Kenneth Budge (1813 - 1852), my 3rd great grandfather, died of cholera while sailing near Elsinore, Denmark.
• Walter Wilkes Plaisted (1836 - 1871), my 3rd great grand uncle, who died of phthsis (tuberculosis) on board the SS Geelong during the passage from Singapore to Melbourne. His probate file, held by the Public Records Office of Victoria, includes an inventory of his effects, a fascinating insight into his possessions.

My great great grandfather, James Francis Cudmore (1837 - 1912) was born at sea aboard the Siren off the coast of Kangaroo Island. His mother, Mary née Nihill (1811 -1893) was travelling from Launceston to the very new colony of Adelaide to join her husband Daniel Michael Paul Cudmore (1811 - 1891). 

My husband's great great grandmother Margaret née Smyth (1834 - 1897) gave birth to a baby boy as she travelled to Australia from Ireland on the Persian. The baby is recorded on the passenger list but it is not known what happened to him after arrival. He probably died as an infant. His death was before compulsory civil registration.

Beginning to look at my Irish family history

Until this week I had put my Irish research pretty much in the too-hard basket. Yesterday I started a four-week course at the Genealogical Society of Victoria on Irish family history. I have had a bit of a tinker in the past but I thought I would try to come to grips with the area with some guidance from experienced researchers.

Relatives I will be looking at:

• Margaret Smyth, my husband's great great grandmother, born about 1834 in County Cavan. She arrived on the Persian in 1854. 

Her  parents were William Smyth, a farmer, and Mary Cox according to her marriage certificate but Joseph Smyth and Ann according to her death certificate.

Her death certificate states she was born in Bailieborough, a town in the townland of Tanderagee in County Cavan in the province of Ulster and part of the Border Region.

In 1855 Margaret married John Plowright in Victoria. She died in 1897. I have a copy of her marriage and death certificates.

I have done some searching on Roots Ireland for Margaret's parents and family but without success.

When she arrived in Australia, Margaret went to stay with a cousin called John Hente. At least the surname looks like 'Hente' on the Assisted Migrant record; but the writing is hard to read and I have no other information about him.

•  Ellen Murray, my husband's great great grandmother, born 1837 in Dublin Ireland. She also arrived on the Persian in 1854 with Margaret Smyth. It appears that the two became friends. Also on board was Bridget Murray age 24, also from Dublin, perhaps a sister.

Ellen's parents were George Murray, a glass blower, and Ellen Dony (writing hard to transcribe, perhaps Dory).

In 1856 Ellen married James Cross in Victoria. She died in 1901. I have a copy of her marriage and death certificates.

I have done some searching on Roots Ireland for Ellen's family without success. I have not been able to find out what happened to Bridget.

• James Gordon Cavenagh is my third great grandfather. He was born 1766 in Innishannon, County Cork. He died in 1844 in Castle House, Wexford. In fact he lived mostly in Hythe, Kent, England. I have inherited quite a lot of family history information but have never looked at it properly.

• Daniel Michael Paul Cudmore (1811 - 1891) and his wife Mary Cudmore née Nihill (1811 - 1893) were my great great great grandparents.

Daniel and Mary married on 15 January 1835 in County Limerick, not long before embarking for Australia on the John Dennison which left Liverpool on 12 February. Daniel was a Quaker but they married in the Church of Ireland at Drehidtarsna Church, County Limerick, two miles south-west of Adare.


Members of the Nihill family, including Mary's mother, Dymphna Nihill née Gardiner (1790 - 1866), were also aboard the John Dennison. 

Classified Advertising. (1835, June 12). The Hobart Town Courier (Tas. : 1827 - 1839), p. 3. Retrieved December 21, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4180594

Other members of the family emigrated about six months later including Mary's father Daniel James Nihill (1761 - 1846) with three of his daughters. They came on the James Pattison arriving in Sydney 7 February 1836 after a 91 day voyage from Cork, Ireland.. They then sailed on the Integrity which sailed from Sydney on 22 March 1836 and took 15 days to reach Hobart.

I have previously written about the re-interment of Daniel Nihill from the Protestant to the Catholic section of West Terrace cemetery.

The Nihill family came from Rockville House, Adare Parish in County Limerick.

Ritchie, Elsie B. (Elsie Barbara) (2000). For the love of the land : the history of the Cudmore family. E. Ritchie, [Ermington, N.S.W.] Page 54

Other members of the family have researched the Cudmores and the Nihills and most of it is included in the book For the love of the land: the history of the Cudmore family compiled by Elsie Ritchie in 2000. I haven't reviewed and understood the research as it concerns our Irish background.

I need to follow up the following obituaries that have been indexed by the Limerick City Library from the Limerick Chronicle:

• Nihill Daniel Australia 29/05/1847 late of Barnalickey, near Adare

• Nihill James Rockville, Adare. 29/07/1835

I also need to follow up the following information about Rockville House retrieved from a 2009 posting to an ancestry.com message board concerning the Vokes family:

Barnalick House ... was built shortly after 1784 when a James Nihill leased all 272 acres of "Baurnalicka" from Mary St. Leger. Nihill was a wealthy man who had leases for over 900 acres in Co. Limerick and Co. Clare. He built the house in the shape of a letter "T". He called the house "Rockville House". His eldest son Patrick lived on some family land in Co. Clare with his wife Prudence Dickson and their two daughters, Anne and Jane. Patrick died before his father in 1822 and when James died in 1831 the two daughters became heirs to all the lands including Barnalick. Anne married in 1814 a William Dodd and Jane married in 1829 a Thomas Davenport. Patrick had a younger brother, Daniel, who married in 1810 a Dymphna Gardener. He lived with his father James and no doubt looked after him in his old age. However when James died, Daniel had to move out of Barnalick and he and his family departed to Australia in 1835.
A survey done in 1840 gives an Anthony St. Leger as the owner of Barnalick estate with a Thomas Davenport and a Mrs. Dodd as the leaseholders under a Col. John Dickson as middleman.
Samuel Dickson is the middleman in 1850 in Griffith's Valuation and it must have been Samuel Dickson who employed Simon Vokes as Land Steward and placed Simon in residence in Barnalick House.

Related posts:

• Australia Day: Climbing our family's gum tree
• Trove Tuesday : Nihill v. Fox

52 Weeks of Genealogical Records in 2014 – Week 4 Memorial Cards

Four weeks ago, the archivist and historian Shauna Hicks (http://www.shaunahicks.com.au) started a series of blog posts about genealogical records. There's to be one post each week this year.  I am a bit late to the party, but now I'm joining in.

This week Shauna wrote about Memorial Cards (http://www.shaunahicks.com.au/52-weeks-of-genealogical-records-in-2014-week-4-memorial-cards/).

I have only one Memorial Card, purchased from Lenore Frost's 'Photo Rescue!', a service intended to 're-unite orphaned photos [and cards] with their lost families'. (http://members.optushome.com.au/lenorefrost/prnews.html)

n 1854 Margaret Smyth, who became Margaret Plowright, arrived in Melbourne from Southampton on the Persian. She was twenty years old from County Cavan. During the passage to Australia, she gave birth to a boy, and when she arrived she first stayed with a cousin called John Hente. At least the surname looks like 'Hente' on the Assisted Migrant record; but the writing is hard to read and I have no other information about him. I would be grateful for any suggestions.

Microfiche copy of Register of Assisted Immigrants from United Kingdom 1839 – 1871 - See more at: http://prov.vic.gov.au/provguide-50#sthash.Bo7PJjpY.dpuf

Microfiche copy of Register of Assisted Immigrants from United Kingdom 1839 – 1871 - See more at: http://prov.vic.gov.au/provguide-50#sthash.Bo7PJjpY.dpuf

From Public Record Office of Victoria VPRS 3502 Register of Assisted Migrants from the U.K. 1839 - 1871: 1854 list for the Persian Book 9 page 437

In November 1855 Margaret married John Plowright, a goldminer, at Magpie near Ballarat.  Their  marriage certificate describes her as a 22 year old dressmaker from County Cavan, whose parents were William Smyth, a farmer, and Mary Cox.


Margaret and John had seven children including one adopted child.  I can find no mention of the boy who was born on the Persian.


I have written previously on the marriage and children of Margaret and John.

On 5 March 1872 Margaret was admitted to the Maryborough Hospital.  According to the index of the hospital admission record, she was 37 years old, married, from Homebush, a Wesleyan, and she had arrived in the colony seventeen years previously on the Persian.

In 1897 at the age of 63 Margaret died at Homebush near Avoca. The death certificate has the cause of death as Brights Disease [kidney failure], dropsy [fluid retention] and exhaustion.  She was buried in Avoca cemetery.