EARL GREY SCHEME Irish Female Migrants to Australia

[yt2]

On 15 February 1849 the INCONSTANT commanded by Captain Patrick Culliton, sailed from Plymouth for Adelaide in South Australia. On board were 209 Irish female migrants including my Great Great Grandmother Margaret WALSH.  The Inconstant arrived in Adelaide on 7 June 1849

Margaret WALSH's name is  on the Database at the IRISH FAMINE MEMORIAL Sydney, but unlike many of the records, nothing beyond Margaret's name, ship & date is recorded. Working backwards from my Australian records, Margaret was born c1831.

The Inconstant was one of the ships that moved orphan girls from Irish workhouses to Australia under the Earl Grey Scheme. While it is an incomplete listing, the girls on the Inconstant came from Newcastle 18, Mullingar 40, Tullamore 18, Mountmellick 22, Parsontown 30, Limerick 24, Tipperary 22, North Dublin 12 (Total 186).

I have worked myself dizzy trying to find something on the Internet that might tell me where Margaret Walsh came from in Ireland .... but failed. I know (with some reservations) what happened to Margaret once she arrived in Australia but would love to know where in Ireland she originated.

Anyone have any ideas about where I go next?

Whitey
Merimbula NSW Australia

[kingskerswell]

Hi, Whitey,
               It will be difficult to find out where your ancestor came from but not impossible. I have followed the fortunes of nine girls taken from the workhouse in Limavady and found that they sailed from Dublin to Plymouth and left England on board the ROMAN EMPOROR in July 1848, the second ship to sail and the first to South Australia. In the public Record Office in Belfast I found the records of Limavady Workhouse which contained the details of the girls' selection by Lieutenant Henry of the Royal Navy, who travelled all over Ireland selecting suitable girls, and also the detailed arrangements made to get the girls to Plymouth in the south of England. The records also show which electoral district in the Limavady Poor Law Union the girls came from. All the girls, except one, were from the Limavady area but one was from outside the area and the records do not state where.
                The Records Office in Dublin should have similar records for all of your workhouses so it is just a long slog and you may be lucky and find the area where she came from.

Regards

[muckjack]

Hi Whitey,

"In their own words: The Famine in North Connacht 1845-1849" is a book of letters, documents etc. compiled by Liam Swords. There is mention of the female orphan emigrants scheme to Australia. From the extracts in the book on the scheme the following sources CSORP O.4203 CSORP O.7152 CSORP O.4674 CSORP O.3081 are given, they're held in the National Archives in Dublin.

This site gives information about Chief Secretary's Office Registered Papers

http://www.csorp.nationalarchives.ie/index.html

I can't say I understand the indexing to the CSORP papers and you might be in for a wait before they get to 1849 on the site above, but it might be a step in the right direction.

[yt2]

Thanks folks ... looks like I might need to be patient with this one.

 

[lostredsock]

Found this link to a pdf file:
The Inconstant Girls: The Migration Experience of Nearly 200 Irish
Orphan Girls and Young Women sent to Adelaide in 1849 Aboard
the Barque Inconstant

Author: Mark Staniforth

https://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/archaeology/department/publications/staniforth/2002e.pdf

[Katharine75]

Is there no county or birthplace listed on Margaret's death certificate, or the birth certificates of her children?

[Katharine75]

Have you located an obituary in newspaper for her? It may give a clue. I also have an ancestor who came out through that scheme.
Have you had contact with Sydney historians, Perry McIntyre, and Elizabeth Rushen, as they have a lot to do with the Irish Famine Memorial and early female immigration to Australia?

[MarilynL]

Hello, yt2, I came across your post. There is a site https://bound-for-south-australia.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/1849Inconstant.htm

It might be of interest but South Australia Records should have a list of ships with passenger names and details. On NSW records there is a list for ships by year with passenger names and beside names it indicates where they are from - mine in 1850 had her age, religion, was from Co Tipperary and gave her town name and whether she could read or write.

If you haven't already check with State Records of South Australia or even the National Library of Australia.

MarilynL

[Wexflyer]

The minutes of the Wexford (Poor Law) Union contain the names of the women suited out and provided for at public expense for emigration to what IIRC was the Antipodes. The minute books are online at the Wexford County Archives.
https://wexfordcountyarchive.com/our-collections/digital-collections/poor-law-union-minute-books-wexford-union/