To summarize:
Thomas Brown on Joseph Soames 1847
On 9 Jan.1846 James McCarty, an Irish youth, was tried at Birmingham Quarter Sessions for stealing an apple pie. He was sentenced to 7 years ‘exile’ in the Australian colonies.
On the same day, at the same place, a Thomas Brown, 15 years, received a 10 year sentence for ‘stealing from the person’ (picking pockets).
They were both received at Millbank prison on 20 Jan, and spent about 17 months there. Then they were among a group of youths transported to Cowes, Isle of Wight, where they boarded the ‘Joseph Soames’, joining a consignment of other youths from two London prisons. They arrived at Port Henry (Geelong) on 24 September 1847.
McCarty’s four brothers eventually migrated to Australia. One of them, Malachi, married and gave his place of birth as Ballymore, Westmeath.
My great grandfather was a Thomas Brown from Westmeath. I checked all the arrivals of that name and age, but excluded all from England. The only possible one was the Thomas Brown on the Jos.Soames. No country of birth was given. If he was Irish, then what was he doing in England ? I looked for other Irish ‘exiles’ and after going through the posts on rootschat again, found James McCarty, who turns out to have been from Westmeath.
Perhaps it was a coincidence, or perhaps they knew each other. They may even have come to England together, but if so, they obviously developed different ‘survival skills’.
They would have been hungry and desperate in England. It was the beginning of the potato famine, and thousands of Irish people were fleeing to England (no passport needed !)
I wonder how many more Irish youths were sentenced that day, and whether they kept in contact after arriving in Australia.
Any comments ?
