James was an educated Irishman from Kilmurry, County Clare who was in the English army serving as a clerk (likely not voluntarily) in maybe 1816. I found him shipped off to India at 26 in 1822 (on "The Thames" ) where he swapped sides in 1826 and took shots at the English from the ramparts of the Bhurtpore citadel. He was lucky in that he received the sentence of 14years transportation to Australia as his friend and co-deserter was hanged.
When he first arrived in Maitland, NSW 1827, James was given the office of Clerk to the Magistrate of Maitland and in later years embarked on a career as a Constable and Watch House Keeper in the Gaol system of Maitland and Newcastle.
Within a year of her arrival James met convict dairy maid Mary Cremin and they had a child and then another. In 1834 they finally married after numerous attempts at gaining permission as the records showed that Mary was still married so they may have paid off, or found some witnesses, to her first husband’s death back in Ireland.
The couple had eight children in total in 12 years.
Their seven surviving children; James, Ellen, Frances, Mary, Ann, William and Thomas, were educated with their sons going on to start businesses and farms. His eldest, James (Jnr), seemed to be some sort of an Irish activist, William; a prominent farmer in Braidwood and his youngest Thomas owning two Sawmills in Kempsey.
Their daughters married carriers and ‘postmen’ mostly. Their 3rd child Frances is my 3x Great Grandmother. Frances' husband Harry went overland but the other daughters seemed to have had a taste for the sea. Their husbands were sea captains and daughter Mary eventually becoming the great grandmother to Errol Flynn.
In 1846 at the age of 43 Mary found herself a widow with 6 children under the age of 14 when James died at age 50.
He is buried Roman Catholic Section, East Maitland Cemetery. Not surprisingly Mary remarried Charles Kennedy (her 3rd husband) and settled in Sydney to be a support to her daughters over the years. Charles eventually died in an asylum in 1864.
Five years later Mary was one of the first to be buried at Rookwood cemetery and some of her children were later buried near her.
When he first arrived in Maitland, NSW 1827, James was given the office of Clerk to the Magistrate of Maitland and in later years embarked on a career as a Constable and Watch House Keeper in the Gaol system of Maitland and Newcastle.
Within a year of her arrival James met convict dairy maid Mary Cremin and they had a child and then another. In 1834 they finally married after numerous attempts at gaining permission as the records showed that Mary was still married so they may have paid off, or found some witnesses, to her first husband’s death back in Ireland.
The couple had eight children in total in 12 years.
Their seven surviving children; James, Ellen, Frances, Mary, Ann, William and Thomas, were educated with their sons going on to start businesses and farms. His eldest, James (Jnr), seemed to be some sort of an Irish activist, William; a prominent farmer in Braidwood and his youngest Thomas owning two Sawmills in Kempsey.
Their daughters married carriers and ‘postmen’ mostly. Their 3rd child Frances is my 3x Great Grandmother. Frances' husband Harry went overland but the other daughters seemed to have had a taste for the sea. Their husbands were sea captains and daughter Mary eventually becoming the great grandmother to Errol Flynn.
In 1846 at the age of 43 Mary found herself a widow with 6 children under the age of 14 when James died at age 50.
He is buried Roman Catholic Section, East Maitland Cemetery. Not surprisingly Mary remarried Charles Kennedy (her 3rd husband) and settled in Sydney to be a support to her daughters over the years. Charles eventually died in an asylum in 1864.
Five years later Mary was one of the first to be buried at Rookwood cemetery and some of her children were later buried near her.
James was an educated Irishman from Kilmurry, County Clare who was in the English army serving as a clerk (likely not voluntarily) in maybe 1816. I found him shipped off to India at 26 in 1822 (on "The Thames" ) where he swapped sides in 1826 and took shots at the English from the ramparts of the Bhurtpore citadel. He was lucky in that he received the sentence of 14years transportation to Australia as his friend and co-deserter was hanged.
When he first arrived in Maitland, NSW 1827, James was given the office of Clerk to the Magistrate of Maitland and in later years embarked on a career as a Constable and Watch House Keeper in the Gaol system of Maitland and Newcastle.
Within a year of her arrival James met convict dairy maid Mary Cremin and they had a child and then another. In 1834 they finally married after numerous attempts at gaining permission as the records showed that Mary was still married so they may have paid off, or found some witnesses, to her first husband’s death back in Ireland.
The couple had eight children in total in 12 years.
Their seven surviving children; James, Ellen, Frances, Mary, Ann, William and Thomas, were educated with their sons going on to start businesses and farms. His eldest, James (Jnr), seemed to be some sort of an Irish activist, William; a prominent farmer in Braidwood and his youngest Thomas owning two Sawmills in Kempsey.
Their daughters married carriers and ‘postmen’ mostly. Their 3rd child Frances is my 3x Great Grandmother. Frances' husband Harry went overland but the other daughters seemed to have had a taste for the sea. Their husbands were sea captains and daughter Mary eventually becoming the great grandmother to Errol Flynn.
In 1846 at the age of 43 Mary found herself a widow with 6 children under the age of 14 when James died at age 50.
He is buried Roman Catholic Section, East Maitland Cemetery. Not surprisingly Mary remarried Charles Kennedy (her 3rd husband) and settled in Sydney to be a support to her daughters over the years. Charles eventually died in an asylum in 1864.
Five years later Mary was one of the first to be buried at Rookwood cemetery and some of her children were later buried near her.
When he first arrived in Maitland, NSW 1827, James was given the office of Clerk to the Magistrate of Maitland and in later years embarked on a career as a Constable and Watch House Keeper in the Gaol system of Maitland and Newcastle.
Within a year of her arrival James met convict dairy maid Mary Cremin and they had a child and then another. In 1834 they finally married after numerous attempts at gaining permission as the records showed that Mary was still married so they may have paid off, or found some witnesses, to her first husband’s death back in Ireland.
The couple had eight children in total in 12 years.
Their seven surviving children; James, Ellen, Frances, Mary, Ann, William and Thomas, were educated with their sons going on to start businesses and farms. His eldest, James (Jnr), seemed to be some sort of an Irish activist, William; a prominent farmer in Braidwood and his youngest Thomas owning two Sawmills in Kempsey.
Their daughters married carriers and ‘postmen’ mostly. Their 3rd child Frances is my 3x Great Grandmother. Frances' husband Harry went overland but the other daughters seemed to have had a taste for the sea. Their husbands were sea captains and daughter Mary eventually becoming the great grandmother to Errol Flynn.
In 1846 at the age of 43 Mary found herself a widow with 6 children under the age of 14 when James died at age 50.
He is buried Roman Catholic Section, East Maitland Cemetery. Not surprisingly Mary remarried Charles Kennedy (her 3rd husband) and settled in Sydney to be a support to her daughters over the years. Charles eventually died in an asylum in 1864.
Five years later Mary was one of the first to be buried at Rookwood cemetery and some of her children were later buried near her.
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