Catherine most probably arrived in 1840, and married Michael and Maria’s son, John Fairfield Moore, who had been born in the colony in 1835.
A lot is known about the circumstances of Maria’s arrival, rather less about Catherine’s.
A lot is known about the circumstances of Maria’s arrival, rather less about Catherine’s.
 |
| Emigration in search of a husband. 1833 poster by J Kendrick (State Lib of NSW) |
Emigration in Search of a Husband
What are you going to Sidney for, pray ma'am
Vy they says as how theres lots of good husbands to be had cheap there
whereas the brutes in England can't see no charms in a woman unless she's got plenty
of money to keep 'em in idlenefs.
Maria Ring (3rd great grandmother)
Maria was one of the sturdy and brave young women who came to Australia on the Red Rover, which sailed from Cork on 10 April 1832, and arrived in Port Jackson on 10 August that year. We know she was from Kinsale, in County Cork, born about 1808, and her death certificate states that her father, John Ring was a lieutenant in the army.
 |
| Kinsale, 1843. Drawn by W. Willes, engraved by Evans |
The Red Rover
The information which follows is from a book Fair Game: Australia’s first immigrant women by Elizabeth Rushen and Perry McIntyre, Anchor Books 2010.
“Thousands of women migrated to the Australian colonies from Great Britain and Ireland during the nineteenth century. This mass movement of women commenced with the processes devised by the Emigration Commission of 1831-1832…the British government provided funding through various schemes to encourage women to emigrate. …
“The Emigration Commissioner facilitated the payment of a government bounty to women and girls, as well as skilled mechanics and their families, many of whom took up passages in convict ships….Due to the unprecedented demand from eligible women to establish new lives in the colonies, the Commissioners organised the departure of two ships for women only: the Red Rover from Cork to Sydney and the Princess Royal from London to Hobart.
The cartoon shown here E-migration or A Flight of Fair Game is by Alfred Ducôte. It was produced in 1832 and “…shows the plight of the women who emigrated on these ships. He represents the women as colourful butterflies willingly flying through the skies to the shores of Van Diemen’s Land. Eagery waiting to trap them when they land are men holding nets and crying out ‘I spies mine’ or ‘I see a prime one, get ready Clargyman [sic]’. To the left of the cartoon Ducôte provides a further commnetary on female migration by depicting the women who were left behind in England. They are shown in front of workhouses, expressing the dichotomous views of the English public: one favours female migration, standing with hands on hips stating “I’d be a butterfly’. The second woman, obviously disapproving, wields a broom crying out ‘Varmines’ [vermin] to the departing flock.
“…[it] pithily encapsulates the opportunities and constraints of the government’s emigration policy, while amusing the British public with its satirical depiction of the female partcipants. In presenting the women as attractive butterflies and the men in the colonies as hunters, he decodes the women’s voluntary decision to emigrate. He highlights the snares awaiting them and their vulnerability - both as colonial workers and in the marriage market.
“…by 1830 the population of the Australian colonies was chiefly male, with a strong military presence. Five out of six convicts were men, the considerable number of soldiers brought only a few wives to the colonies and all the administrators were male. In the 1820s, migration mainly consisted of self-funded ‘gentlemen capitalists’ who speculated on potential enrichment in the fledgling colonies. Due to this over-representation of men, it was imperative for the British government to boost the numbers of women. This would enable the process of colonisation….The aim was to balance the sexes while providing female labour and marriage partners for the overwhelming number of single men…..The women on the Emigration Commission’s ships were the first wave of assisted migration to Australia.
“From the time of their arrival, the women on the Commissioner’s two ships were denigrated as unsuitable. They were called ‘Rovers’ or ‘Royals’ after their ships of arrival and any indiscretions, whether real or imagined, were reported with avidity in contemporary newspapers. From the time of the arrival of these pioneering women, immigrant women have occupied an ambiguous position in colonial society. Encouraged to migrate for the skills they brought to the colonies and to provide virtuous homes as wives and mothers, they were expected to be of good moral character and conform to colonial expectations. Yet these women wrre willing to risk leaving their homes for an unknown future on the other side of the world. The act of travelling without a male protector, combined with the fact that the needed to work in order to survive in the colonies rendered them as dissolute and unsuitable recipients of government bounty in the eyes of many colonists. Poems, songs and ditties lampooned these newly-arrived women and presented an image of them as immoral, depraved and ‘fair game’.
“The conventional image of female immigrants has paralleled that of female convicts….Madgwick in 1937 in his book Immigration into Eastern Australia, 1788-1851…emphasised the unsuitability of the women, as perceived by the colonists. Madgwick was particularly critical of the women on the Red Rover and Princess Royal claiming that these ships were ‘largely filled with paupers.’ He futher claimed that the practice of loading female emigrant ships with paupers ‘was continued year after year despite constant complaints from the colonies.’ He denigrated the female emigrants but complimented the work of the Commissioners whose achievements, he declared, ‘were not insignificant.’ “ (Rushen and McIntyre pages 1-3)
“The women of the Red Rover faced a double-whammy as their Irishness and the large number of Roman Catholic women on board contrasted with the largely Anglo-Saxon Protestant establishment represented in the elite sectors of colonial society. “ (p4)
Reasons for encouraging emigration, and funding the costs of passage
As well as the shortage of women in the colonies, “by the beginning of the 1830s, an added impetus to emigration was the growing distress across parts of England and throughout Ireland. The number of unemployed and destitute women was of particular concern to the authorities and the Brtish government began to investigate ways in which impoverished women could be encouraged to migrate to the Australian colonies. There was a clear willingness on the part of some destitute women, but the price of passage and the associated costs of relocation were very high. This issue became a major impediment….
“For most emigrants, particularly people who belonged to the agrarian underclass…even the minimum payment for a family passage was out of reach, and some additional capital was required to get to the port of embarkation and provide an outfit for the voyage. The authorities believed that the lower cost of passages to North America meant parishes would prefer to encourage migration for this closer destination unless a way could be found to supplement the increased expenses resulting from a longer voyage. Several ideas…were considered, including a tax on the labour of convicts, advances to free settlers and utilising the revenue from the sale of land.
“It was quickly realised that a tax on convict labour would be grossly unpopular with settlers.
“The government considered a proposal to give immigrants land grants, but this plan was also rejected.
“In 1829 Edward Gibbon Wakefield suggested a scheme based on the funding of passages …by the sale of colonial crown lands….It was apparent that previous indiscriminate land grants had not encouraged agricultural labourers and their families to emigrate in sufficient numbers, so in January 1831, Goderich (in charge of the Colonial Office) abolished the granting of Crown land within the settled counties, and replaced it with auction sales at a minimum amount of five shillings an acre….free land grants ceased …and the revenue raised was used to offset the cost of passages for selected immigrants.” (Rushen and McIntyre p 11-12)
Conditions in Ireland
“In pre-famine Ireland, some families were reasonably well-off compared to agrarian workers in other parts of Europe, however, many were subsistence farmers whose livelihood varied with the seasonal fluctuations of crops.
“The beginning of the 19th century was a time of rapid population growth in Ireland, rising from five million in 1800 to seven million in 1821, and reached over eight and a half million by the time of the Great Famine in 1845. The rapid increase in population, combined with periodic food shortages, was exacerbated by a reliance on the potato as the main crop. Poor harvests - one productive year in every two or three - put extra stresses on the already marginal and impoverished population. Partial potato scarcities regularly occurred on a regional basis but the years 1800-01, 1816-18, 1822 and 1831 were particularly crucial times of food shortages….”
As well, there was increased unemployment and a regular series of infections and fevers. Land ownership shifted from small holdings to larger pastoral properties. (Rushen and McIntyre p 14-15)
Selection of women
“The Emigration Commission decreed that the women eligible to receive government support to emigrate were to be aged between 14 and 24. Committees in Cork and Dublin would choose women who were healthy and able to contribute to the economies of the colonies.
[It was] announced that the government [wanted] ‘the selection of 100 poor well-conducted young females’ from Cork, [chosen] from the House of Industry and ….the Foundling Hospital and other public institutions. When the Red Rover sailed, eighty women from the House of Industry were on board:
Many of them orphan children of soldiers who fell in this city when embarking for a foreign land…. “ (Rushen and McIntyre p 40)
As we have Maria Ring’s Death Certificate stating that her father, John was a “lieutenant in the army”, was she one of these women?
The Voyage
After several delays, “finally on 10 April, in a variable wind, the Red Rover sailed from the Cove of Cork….A notice in the Hampshire Telegraph and Sussex Chronicle emphasised the opportunity provided to the women by their emigration:
“New Wives for New South Wales - A vessel, we believe the Red Rover, has been taken up by government, for the purpose of conveying 200 free female emigrants from Cork to New South Wales, who are to be provided with situations or husbands, as chance may offer, on their arrival.”
Two letters written by Captain Chrystie describe the passage.
Letter 1, dated 30 April was printed in the Cork Constitution on 28 June 1832.
“ In hopes that I might meet with some homeward bound ship, previous to crossing the line, I now address you. We have had as yet a full and quick run since leaving Cove; the first two days, as may be expected the girls were very sea-sick, but began to recover on the third; , and with a few exceptions, have all been well ever since….
‘ I consider that all the passengers look better than they did on coming on board; we have had prayers regularly on Sundays and Good Friday - the Protestants in one part of the ship the Catholics in another. They are all in good spirits, and well conducted industrious girls. They are constantly working or reading, and in the evening sing a good deal. The bugle sounds at eight at night to prepare for retiring, and at half past eight all go off the deck.
‘ On entering the Tropics I took down a part of the lattice work round the hatches (every other bar being removed) which added much to their comfort at night. I hope in ten days more to be through the hot weather, and I must remark that I never came so far to the southward with so little hot weather; we have certainly, as yet, had a most delightful passage. I send this on the 12th May, lat. 1 deg. 18 min south, strong SE Trade - all quite well to this day. I expect to be in Sidney [sic] in ten weeks.’
The second letter was dated 10 September 1832, after the ship had arrived safely. It was printed in the Cork Constitution on 12 March 1833.
‘ The passage was happily concluded on the 10th of last month. The behaviour of the women whilst on board was generally good, and the passage passed off without the least accident, though with so many persons on board and mostly females. The surgeon unfortunately died on the 30th June, after lingering for a long time, therefore, all physicing &c devolved on me; fortunately there was no serious sickness; had there been the least appearance of it, off the Cape, I should have put in there for help.’
(Rushen and McIntyre p 48-49)
Arrival of the Red Rover
The second letter was dated 10 September 1832, after the ship had arrived safely. It was printed in the Cork Constitution on 12 March 1833.
‘ The passage was happily concluded on the 10th of last month. The behaviour of the women whilst on board was generally good, and the passage passed off without the least accident, though with so many persons on board and mostly females. The surgeon unfortunately died on the 30th June, after lingering for a long time, therefore, all physicing &c devolved on me; fortunately there was no serious sickness; had there been the least appearance of it, off the Cape, I should have put in there for help.’
(Rushen and McIntyre p 48-49)
Arrival of the Red Rover
Each woman was provided with a certificate attesting to their voluntary emigration, in order to distinguish them from convicts. It stated:
‘ You are assisted in removing to a distant settlement fr your own advantage, and not in consequence of any offence or misconduct. It is hoped that you will prosper - that you will always feel the value of good character, and learn to respect yourself - that you will cultivate and cherish every honest principle and good sentiment - and that you will so perform the duties of your station as to bring upon yourself the favour of those with whom you may have to live and the never failing mercy and protection of Almighty God'
(Rushen and McIntyre p 67)After arrival, “ The women spent five days preparing theselves to land while the usual customs and quarantine procedures were carried out. Colonial Surgeon Mitchell gave the ship a clean bill of health, reporting that there was no sign of cholera. …
“At the end of the voyage, the women were permitted to keep their issue of ‘beds, bolsters, blankets etc’….Provisioning 200 free women was a new experience for the government officials and this process took some time to sort out…
“Governor Bourke took few steps to prepare for the arrival of this special group of women….he had not made any detailed arrangement for the women’s reception…
“They had received notification when the Red Rover was on the point of sailing and knew its approximate date of arrival. Governor Bourke…decided to house the women in temporary accommodation in the lumber yard. Previously used by convicts to process timber, it was located near the quay, on a site bounded by Charlotte Place, Princes Street, the Military Hospital Ground and Kent Street North.
“ One newspaper reported the arrival…in the following terms:
‘The female emigrants from Ireland, per Red Rover, were landed yesterday (15 August) and conducted to the lumber yard which has been fitted up for their temporary accommodation. Several of them have been delivered to responsible inhabitants, who had made application for them, according to orders previously issued. It is to be hoped that these young women who presented as they passed along a street a neat and respectable appearance, will be treated by the families who apply for them, as to effect that important amelioration in the moral condition of our working population which the measure is intended to accomplish.’ (Rushen and McIntyre p 68-69)“Viscount Goodrich had instructed Governor Bourke to ‘receive [the women], and furnish them with information as to the opportunities of engaging themselves as servants’. Bourke had already been instructed to compile a list ‘of the names and addresses of settlers in want of female servants as well as the terms which they are willing to offer.’ In other words, the only employment assistance he was to give the women was to provide them with a list of names of suitable employers so that they could take up these positions ‘as chance may offer.’
“ Goderich cautioned Bourke that ‘I need scarcely observe that these females must be treated entirely as free agents, having their own choice of service and being in no respect required to enter into any other bonds or engagements that they ight have done had they gone out from the country at their own expence [sic].’ While stating that the matrons accompanying the women would be in the best position to advise them on their employment opportunities, Goderich suggested that a ladies committee might ‘tend to secure a successful issue.’ “ (Rushen and McIntyre p 70)
“…some of the women found positions very quickly but the employment of most of the women was determined by the ladies of Sydney who formed a reception committee.” They were “…selected from among the wive and daughters of leading colonists.” (Rushen and McIntyre p 72).
“Eliza Darling, wife of the former governor…published a booklet entitled Advice to Free Females arriving in the Colony. Printed in 1832, Darling’s booklet of homilies was handed to the Red Rover women on their arrival at Sydney. Several times she stated the importance of ‘good behaviour’ recommending that the women avoid drinking, idleness and ‘gadding about.’ The consequences of bad behaviour were clearly stated:
‘Remember that while you behave well, you will be able to support yourself; but if you once fall, the Government which has been so kind in bringing you to the colony…will then cast you off as unworthy of further countenance; whereas, if you beave yourselves as virtuous and good members of society, and if you marry sober and industrious men…you may expect that the circumstances of your arrival, will not be forgotten by the Governor when called to His Excellency’s recollection.’
Portrait of Eliza Darling by John Linnell.
“Darling also encouraged the women to remain at their places of employment as ‘shifting about from place to place, is not reputable, and is full of danger’. Darling recommended that they only leave if their employers were dishonest and they certainly were not to receive their wages in liquor. She recognised that the women would encounter ‘irksome disagreeables’ in any employment, but she reminded them that there would be no guarantee that their next place of employment would be any better. Darling encouraged the women to save in the colonial bank and explained the concepts of interest and withdrawals, but cautioned the women not to spend ‘all your wages in dress’. Finally, hearing that some of the women were reluctant to go into the lesser-settled areas of the colony, Darling encouraged them to take up employment in the country:
‘Your apprehensions are quite groundless. The houses of respectable families in the country are as good as the houses in Sydney; their gardens and grounds are infinitely more pleasant and healthy; the people up the country of your class are less immoral than those in Sydney; they are more sober, and there are no receivers of stolen goods; they can provide for you as wives better and more comfortably than the people of Sydney can, and they are more in want of you, both as wives and servants, than the people of Sydney.’ “ (Rushen and McIntyre p 72-74).
Rushen and McIntyre’s book explores the employment arrangements, and difficulties in more detail. The experiences of the women varied enormously.
Maria Ring’s employment
Maria was employed initially by James Alderson in King St, at £15 - quite a high wage compared to some others.
A search of men named James Alderson shows that he was employed at the Colonial Auditor - General’s office. In 1832 he was 26 years old, married to Anne Gamble, and they had three children (Ann Martha 1829-1906; Maria Isabella 1830-1892 and James Barry (1832-1832). Seven more children followed. James Alderson died on 18 March 1842, age 34, at Parramatta. His wife remarried George Huff (no children) and died 29 Jan 1875 at the home of her son, in Liverpool. She was described in newspaper reports of her marriage to Huff, and death as ‘relict of the late Mr James Alderson.
Maria was probably engaged as a house servant or nursemaid.
Marriage to Michael MooreMaria married Michael Moore on 16 March 1834, 1 year and 7 months after her arrival. We do not know how they met. The wedding took place at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney. Michael’s mother, Mary was a witness along with a William Carter and Patrick Garrigan.
Catherine Byrne (2nd great grandmother) and John and Sarah Byrne (3rd great grandparents)
Catherine was Maria Ring's daughter-in-law, having married Michael and Maria's son John Fairfield Moore. They had eight children together.
Tracking down Catherine's origins relies on various certificates and records lining up.
She was born in Ardriston, Tullow, Ireland in July1833. Baptism records show that she was baptised in the Tullow Parish on 1 Aug 1833. This accords with other biographical information available from other sources. One of the sponsors was Mary Doyle, probably the sister of her mother, Sarah (aka Sally).
From her death certificate (1914), we know that she was born in Ireland in about 1833. Her age was given as 80 in April 1914. She was married on 29 January 1855, and her death certificate said she was married at about 20 years of age, putting her birth again at about 1833/4.
The death certificate said that she had been in the colony for “about 76 years”, putting her arrival at approximately 1838.
A witness at her wedding was John Byrne, and her father, named on her death certificate was John Byrne, profession farmer.
A family of Roman Catholic bounty immigrants, named Byrne, arrived in Sydney on 12 November 1840, aboard the Argyleshire departed from Liverpool on 16 June 1840.
They were John Byrne, a farm labourer aged 36, his wife Sarah (nee Doyle), aged 37, a house servant, and children Bridget, 11; Mary 9; Catherine 7 and Thomas 4.
John Bryne’s native place was named as Carlow, which is about 84 kms southwest of Dublin.
The shipping record shows that John Byrne could read and write. On Catherine and John Moore’s marriage certificate, Maria Moore (John’s mother) signed with Her X mark, however John Byrne did not, meaning he was literate.
John Byrne and family were brought out by Mesr A.B Smith & Co of Sydney, as bounty immigrants and included in “The List of Immigrants, British Subjects, introduced into the Colony of New South Wales by Mesr A.B Smith & Co of Sydney in pursuance of the Authority granted to them in the Colonia Secretary’s letter dated the 20th April 1839 and who arrived in Port Jackson on 12th November 1840 by the ship Argyleshire from Liverpool.”
A B Smith & Co of 805 Sussex St, Sydney imported labourers, domestic servants, and tradesmen to Sydney and Melbourne, offering emigrants free passage for themselves and their families in return for providing their services to those already in the colonies for a particular period of time. Those who employed these immigrants paid A B Smith & Co the cost of passage to Australia. The length of time to be served depended upon the cost of their passage to Australia. For instance, a single young person
might only be required to work for 3-6 months, whereas a family might be required to work for a year or more. The bounty for John and Sarah was £19 each, and for the children £5 for Thomas and £10 for each of the girls.
There is no record to hand which shows where the family were located upon arrival, but in 1855 at Catherine’s wedding in Penrith, John Byrne was of Mount Vernan (sic) - most likely Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon takes its name from the land granted in 1820 to Anthony Fenn Kemp (1773-1868), although Kemp was not in NSW at the time the Byrnes arrived.
It was presumably named after Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home in the US. Kemp was one of the key participants in the Rum Rebellion which removed William Bligh. Read more about Kemp here
From her death certificate (1914), we know that she was born in Ireland in about 1833. Her age was given as 80 in April 1914. She was married on 29 January 1855, and her death certificate said she was married at about 20 years of age, putting her birth again at about 1833/4.
The death certificate said that she had been in the colony for “about 76 years”, putting her arrival at approximately 1838.
A witness at her wedding was John Byrne, and her father, named on her death certificate was John Byrne, profession farmer.
A family of Roman Catholic bounty immigrants, named Byrne, arrived in Sydney on 12 November 1840, aboard the Argyleshire departed from Liverpool on 16 June 1840.
They were John Byrne, a farm labourer aged 36, his wife Sarah (nee Doyle), aged 37, a house servant, and children Bridget, 11; Mary 9; Catherine 7 and Thomas 4.
John Bryne’s native place was named as Carlow, which is about 84 kms southwest of Dublin.
The shipping record shows that John Byrne could read and write. On Catherine and John Moore’s marriage certificate, Maria Moore (John’s mother) signed with Her X mark, however John Byrne did not, meaning he was literate.
John Byrne and family were brought out by Mesr A.B Smith & Co of Sydney, as bounty immigrants and included in “The List of Immigrants, British Subjects, introduced into the Colony of New South Wales by Mesr A.B Smith & Co of Sydney in pursuance of the Authority granted to them in the Colonia Secretary’s letter dated the 20th April 1839 and who arrived in Port Jackson on 12th November 1840 by the ship Argyleshire from Liverpool.”
A B Smith & Co of 805 Sussex St, Sydney imported labourers, domestic servants, and tradesmen to Sydney and Melbourne, offering emigrants free passage for themselves and their families in return for providing their services to those already in the colonies for a particular period of time. Those who employed these immigrants paid A B Smith & Co the cost of passage to Australia. The length of time to be served depended upon the cost of their passage to Australia. For instance, a single young person
might only be required to work for 3-6 months, whereas a family might be required to work for a year or more. The bounty for John and Sarah was £19 each, and for the children £5 for Thomas and £10 for each of the girls.
There is no record to hand which shows where the family were located upon arrival, but in 1855 at Catherine’s wedding in Penrith, John Byrne was of Mount Vernan (sic) - most likely Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon takes its name from the land granted in 1820 to Anthony Fenn Kemp (1773-1868), although Kemp was not in NSW at the time the Byrnes arrived.
It was presumably named after Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home in the US. Kemp was one of the key participants in the Rum Rebellion which removed William Bligh. Read more about Kemp here
John Fairfield Moore and Catherine Byrne
John Fairfield Moore was from Mulgoa. His father Michael bought land in Ilford, known then as Keen's Swamp, in 1860, when John was 25. When they were married, Catherine was residing at The Sugar Loaf and John at Mulgoa. Possibly Catherine was a farm servant who became known to John.
They were married on 29 January 1855 at St Nicholas Church, Penrith. John was aged 19 and Catherine 21.
John and Catherine had 8 children, one of whom predeceased Catherine. Their son Thomas “Dadder” Moore (born 1861) was Lynelle and Gary’s great grandfather. He married Frances (Fanny) Weatherley, daughter of George and Sarah Weatherley, who emigrated to Australia in 1857.
John and Catherine had 8 children, one of whom predeceased Catherine. Their son Thomas “Dadder” Moore (born 1861) was Lynelle and Gary’s great grandfather. He married Frances (Fanny) Weatherley, daughter of George and Sarah Weatherley, who emigrated to Australia in 1857.
Catherine died at “Tara”, Ilford on 8th April, 1914, aged 80, and is buried in the Catholic part of Ilford Cemetery.
