Patrick John Dunne
His date of birth is not known for sure. Although he was reported to be aged 20 when he arrived in New South Wales in 1835, other information suggests he was born in February 1819. It is thought that Patrick was from Dublin. Information on his death certificate is not completely accurate (see below) but is one of the few available primary sources. From information on Patrick's death certificate, his mother's name is unknown but his father was Simon Peter Dunne whose occupation was "in Imperial Army".
While the name Patrick Dunne is not rare in Ireland, the name Simon is much less common and offers the best clue in tracing Patrick's origins. One can never know what is in records that have not been found. However the records that are available show only one person named Patrick Dunne with a father named Simon Dunne, in the Dublin area in the relevant years. While we cannot be certain that this is the person described below, there is a strong probability but confirmation could come only if a futher corroborating source could be located. The one record shows that Patrick Dunne was baptised on 27 February 1819 in Blanchardstown, in County Dublin. It is thought to have been traditional to baptise infants shortly after birth, so it is probable that the infant was born only a day or two prior to the baptismal date. The chuch baptismal record shows that the father was Simon Dunne and the mother's name was Anne but her maiden name not recorded. The baptismal sponsors were Anthony Dunne and Margaret MacCoy.
Blanchardstown is located about 10km northwest of Dublin. In the latter part of the 20th century, the fields were turned into suburban housing estates and the shopping centre was reported to be one of the largest in Ireland. However in the early 19th century, Blanchardstown was a village of just over 300 residents. The village sat aside the Royal Canal which provided water transport between Dublin and the west of Ireland. Patrick's occupation as a young man was described as "boat boy", which would be consistent with being raised near a major water transportation route.
There was some doubt regarding Patrick's middle name; it was either "Joseph" or "John". Two sources (the death certificate of his son, Peter Augustus Dunne, and the burial records at Sandgate Cemetery) record Patrick's name as "Patrick Joseph Dunne". Patrick's own death certificate, records his name as "Patrick John Dunne". Further, on the death certificates of his daughters Mary Theresa Makins and Jane Dunne, his middle name is given as John. He was living close to where daughters were living and died; and furthermore he, himself, was the informant for the death of Jane. Therefore it is concluded that he, himself, had given his own middle name as "John".
On 10 June 1835, he was convicted in Dublin of stealing, and was sentenced to be transported to New South Wales for 7 years. Further information, below, shows that the offence was stealing clothing but it is not known whether it was a single item or whole consignments. However, according to information noted below on his arrival in New South Wales, he had a prior conviction. Further, the Dublin newspaper reports refer to him and other convicted men as "notorious" and name Patrick first of the four, possibly implying that he had a leadership role among the group.
Ireland was a police state in those days. The Irish Landowners had been dispossessed of their property which had been handed over to Cromwell’s soldiers (and their descendants) to compensate them for the wars on the Irish. Successive “famines” i.e. ethnic cleansing exercises had decimated the population with millions starving or emigrating. (It is impossible to imagine the fertile lands of Ireland, now a major food exporting country failing to produce sufficient food for its people) but English Landlords were paid their rents in food which left the Irish starving. A network of informers was put in place by the English Government and among their functions were not just to report on simmering rebellion among the Irish but to mis-use the English court system to populate English colonies by bringing trumped-up charges against anyone suspected of being anti-Establishment. It is likely, in fact that Dunne, if referred to as “notorious” may have been involved in politics. The fact that he subsequently showed himself to be an honest and upright citizen during the many years of his adult life in Australia would suggest that he did not have criminal tendencies.
The
Dublin Evening Post. Thursday June 11, 1835. page 3. |
Two days later, the Dublin Observer, published the following paragraph :
The Dublin Observer. Saturday June 13, 1835. page 284. |
The only difference in the articles is the spelling of the name Traynor and the second item identifies the court house, which still stands in Green Street, Dublin (shown above). It was one of Patrick Dunne's last places in Dublin.
On 20 June 1835, just ten days after his conviction, he was Indent No 268 among 305 convicts consigned to New South Wales in the ship Lady McNaughton also recorded as Lady McNaghton and Lady MacNaghten. Irish transportation registers for the years 1790 to 1835 were destroyed in the fire at the Public Record Office in the Four Courts in Dublin in 1922. Information here was obtained from sources in New South Wales. New South Wales records of Irish origin (apparently known as "Irish Indents") show :
By the Lord Lieutenant General and General Governor of Ireland ..... Whereas the several Persons .. in the amended List have been convicted of Offences against the Laws of Ireland and have been ordered to be Transported for the Term annexed to their ..... And whereas the said several Persons have been put on board the "Lady McNaghton" in order to their being Transported to His Majesty's Colony of New South Wales. We do hereby in pursuance of the Authority vested in Us by Law, transfer the Services of the several Persons to His Majesty's Governor of His Majesty's said Colony of New South Wales and his .. , for the Terms for which they have been respectively ordered to be Transported. Given at His Majesty's Castle of Dublin, the Twentieth Day of June 1835. By His Excellency's Command .. (signature illegible).
The writing in the Irish document is difficult to read, but it appears to record our Patrick Dunne as being sentenced for the crime of "Felony Wearing apparel & other activities". He was recorded as being 5 feet and 9½ inches tall, grey eyes, brown hair, brown complexion.
By coincidence there were two convicts named Patrick Dunne on the Lady McNaughton on that voyage, both stated to be age 20 (the other one was from Queen's County and had received a life sentenced for a firearms offence in Kildare). However, if the Dublin Patrick was born in February 1819, then he was just 16 years old when convicted in the Dublin court. As noted below, he was a tall young man and it would not have been difficult for him to be mistaken for a person a few years older.
The following excerpt from Michael Cannon's book Who's Master? Who's Man? Australia in the Victorian Age. Thomas Nelson (Australia) Ltd., 1971. pages 128-129, relates the nature of sea travel to New South Wales for migrants, but it suggests the conditions which convicts would have faced. The excerpt also mentions the Lady McNaughten which had brought convicts to the colony in 1835 and, in the following year, was apparently converted for carrying free migrants.
Sanitary facilities were usually so disgusting that infections spread like wildfire. The former convict ship John Barry, for example, boasted one bath tub and two privies to cater for its normal complement of 300 felons. When it was 'converted' in 1834 to carry migrants, the facilities remained the same but nearly 400 people were packed on board. Thirty of them died of 'fever' on the voyage from Dundee. A tragedy with even worse repercussions struck John Marshall's ship David Scott, which was filled with 350 emigrants at Gravesend in 1834 and departed under the most favourable auspices. Samples of the ship's bread, beef and pork were served out to members of the Emigration Committee, and 'several noblemen and gentlemen, visitors, who witnessed the embarkation, pronounced the food excellent.' The same report noted that a Mrs Hill had taken an invalid child aboard with her. This was possibly the cause of a measles epidemic which soon spread through the ship. When it arrived in Sydney on 25 October 1834, many of the children on board had died from the bronicho-pneumonia which usually followed measles in those days. Australia's first recorded measles epidemic spread rapidly through Sydney and Hobart, and was almost certainly transmitted by a whaling vessel to New Zealand, where thousands of Maoris died from the disease.
Another John Marshall ship, the Lady McNaghten, sailed from Cork in a deplorable state. This 500-ton vessel, originally designed to carry 300 convicts, was converted in 1836 to take more than 400 emigrants on each voyage from Ireland. Fifty bunks were built in one small area, into which were packed 120 men and young boys. Sodomy, voluntary and forced, was rampant. Conditions on board were filthy, many emigrants being permitted to embark without a single change of clothing. The female compartment consisted of 106 small berths and six 'hospital berths'. These had to accommodate 185 women, described by the Sydney Herald as 'gutter sweepings' and 'prostitutes', and an unknown number of children. Women and children were ordered to their bunks at 5 p.m. each day, being driven below by seamen wielding rattan canes. They were not allowed to emerge until eight o'clock next morning, when many were dragged from the pestilential atmosphere in a fainting condition. No washing was permitted, and 300 tons of cargo consigned to the wealthy Sydney merchant Richard Jones, which had been crammed into every passageway and spare corner of the tiny ship, made it impossible for the decks to be swabbed down. Disease spread rapidly. Soon fifty-six children were dead of measles and whooping-cough, fifty migrants and seamen were dead of typhus, and supplies of food, water and medicine were practically exhausted. Governor Bourke, sailing southwards on his visit to the new settlement at Port Phillip, sighted the Lady McNaghten flying distress signals off Cape Howe and sent his surgeon and medicine chest aboard. When the ship arrived in Sydney after its four-months' voyage, a further eighty people lay dying in their bunks and Captain Hustwick and Surgeon Hawkins were too dangerously ill to be moved.
Captain Hustwick has also been the ship's master on the journey which had brought Patrick Dunne to New South Wales in 1835.
On page 121 of his book, Cannon describes John Marshall as the chief operator of the bounty system for migrants; he was a London ship charterer who represented himself as being the official agent of colonial governments. His business ethics appear to have been dubious.
The List of Male Convicts arrived on the ship Lady McNaughten, arrived from Ireland, October 30, 1835, shows George Hustwich as Master of the ship and George Forman as Surgeon-Superintendent. The records show Patrick Dunne as convict number 35-2646, apparently the 2646th convict to arrive in that year.
It is reported that there was a heatwave in Sydney at the time of the arrival of the Lady MacNaughton and Patrick Dunne must have longed dearly for the cool air of Dublin. (from www.blaxland.com/ozships/events/16/1557.htm#64525 no longer accessible).
The record of convict arrivals shows that, like most of the convicts on the ship, Patrick was of Roman Catholic religion and marital status was single. His trade or calling is listed as boat boy, and he was reported to have had a former conviction, stated to have been one year. His description was now recorded as 5 feet 8¾ inches tall, ruddy complexion, brown hair and bluish eyes. He had a scar on the centre of his forehead, a mole under his left ear, and a scar on the forefinger of his right hand. While many of the convicts could read and a few could both read and write, it is recorded that Patrick could do neither. He was, however, among the taller men on that voyage.
On the Lady McNaughton, there were five young men, ages stated to have been 17 to 21 and who were all from Dublin City, all convicted of stealing clothes, all sentenced on the same day, all sentenced to 7 years, and all transported together to New South Wales.
When reading the details of the 305 men sentenced to transportation on that ship, there is a crime of manslaughter and a couple of rape convictions, but most are for stealing, and most were young men. A number of teenage boys, including a couple of thirteen-year-olds, fourteen-year-olds, etc. were transported for stealing handkerchiefs or clothing. And if Patrick was really only 16, not 20, it is likely that some of the others may have been younger than officially recorded.
One can wonder what kind of young man was Patrick Dunne, and the boys and men who were transported with him. After being convicted, he was shipped from Ireland just ten days later, never again to see the city and country of his origin. Did he get to say farewell to family? Did a mother weep knowing she might never see her son again? Was he a bad lad? Did he steal clothes because he needed clothing to wear? Did he steal to buy food? Did he steal at all? Even if he did, it was in his juvenile years and it was behaviour inconsistent with the character he was to display as an adult.
Ireland's loss was certainly Australia's gain. The Irish influence, healthy scepticism about ruling classes, and a healthy disrespect for bad laws continue to characterise Australians, especially New South Welshmen, many of whom have Irish blood coursing their veins.
Charles Bateson in The Convict Ships 1787-1868(A.H.&A.W.Reed, Sydney, 1959) records that Lady MacNaghton was one of 26 convict ships in 1835; of these ships 10 went to Hobart, 15 (including Lady MacNaghton) arrived in Sydney and one sank in Bass Strait, with only 6 of 151 female convicts surviving to reach Sydney. The Lady MacNaghton is described as a 558 ton ship built in Calcutta in 1825; according to this record, the ship sailed from Dublin on 23 June 1835 and arrived in Sydney on 26 October of that year, taking 125 days to complete the journey (note that these dates are slightly at variance with dates reported above). The Lady MacNaghton is reported as being of "A1 class" (other classes were AE1 & E1; significance uncertain) and embarking 305 convicts, all male, of whom 5 were "relanded" (presumably prior to leaving Dublin) and 2 died. In the 1830s many ships travelled directly to Sydney, while some travelled via Teneriffe, Tristan D'Acunha, Rio De Janiero or the Cape of Good Hope; the route of the Lady MacNaghton is not stated, and the 1835 journey appears to have been its only journey as a convict ship. This author also records the ship's surgeon on the Lady MacNaughton was also the surgeon on two other convict transports including the last ship to bring convicts to New South Wales (in late 1840). Hustwick is recorded as master of one previous convict transport, that one going to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) in 1832.
The General Return of Convicts in New South Wales in 1837 ("Convict Muster") records Patrick Dunn (sic), age 23, having been assigned to William Guize of Gundaroo. A number of other convicts were assigned to William Guise of Gundaroo, and it would appear to be a different spelling of the same name. On a modern day map of New South Wales, if one draws a triangle linking Goulburn, Yass and Canberra, then the settlement of Gundaroo is inside that triangle.
The Guise family homestead was "Bywong" just north of the village of Sutton, and William Guise expanded his holdings to cover a significant part of the areas now known as Bywong and Sutton. see http://www.bywongcommunity.org.au/id22.htm. The area shown in the above photograph would originally have been covered in trees. It is probable that convict workers including Patrick Dunne helped to de-forest much of this land. In the early 21st century, the area is a short distance off the Federal Highway, just after leaving Canberra to travel towards Sydney.
The Guise family holdings in the Gundaroo area included Bywong, Springfield, Cunningdroo, and Jerrabiggery (a long block of 1920 acres on the west bank of the Yass River immediately north of the modern village of Sutton) (sources Errol Lea-Scarlett's book Gundaroo published by the Roebuck Society, Canberra 1972 and http://www.gundaroo.info/gundaroo/gundaro1.htm
Gundaroo is close to the famous Lake George which periodically dries up almost completely. Lea-Scarlett (ibid., p19) reports that it was a "grand and magnificent sheet of water" when viewed by Governor Macquarie in 1820. The 1830s were a time of drought. By 1835 the eccentric superintendent of Duntroon station rode his horse across the lake with water never above his saddle flaps. By 1837 the lake was a level plain with mobs of cattle grazing across it, including herds from the Guise properties. It is therefore probable that Patrick Dunne walked the lake floor at a time when it was completely dry.
This photograph taken in October 2003 after a substantial drought when the lake had been dry and recent rain had permitted the grass to green but only a small pool of water collected in the lake. After substantial rain, the whole lake would be covered in water.
The Yass Archives (located in the Memorial hall, Comur Street, Yass) assisted with information about two court appearances by Patrick in Yass. Patrick Dunn (spelled without the final "e") appears in the Bench books for the Yass Court House in 1837 on a charge of assault. The court record for 7th March 1837 appears to show that a number of men (some names illegible) including William Johnson, Patrick Dunn and John Mullen (other names appear to be James Tocher? or Docker? or similar, and Thomas Regan? or Logan? or similar) appeared together. The court record describes the victim saying " ... took me out of my bed sometime in December and tied me to a log .. the named men assaulted ... flogged me with a hand saw (?) ... till I fainted (?)." The court record proceeds to record " ... Prisoners admit the assault. Guilty - 50 lashes." His second appearance in 1846 is described beow.
Patrick could neither read nor write and would have depended on others to write his name; in later years the "Dunn" variant occurs a number of times.
In 1840, after serving five years of the seven year sentence, Patrick Dunne was given ticket of leave 40/1340; this was a type of parole system. Caroline Dunne reports that holders of tickets of leave had to remain in the same district and could relocate only with permission of a magistrate. A ticket of leave holder had to attend musters at least once a month and Divine Service every Sunday. They were subject to a strict curfew and had to be home from 10pm until break of day, and their tickets could be revoked for misconduct. At the end of his seven year sentence Patrick was granted certificate of freedom 42/2200. Caroline Dunne reports that in October 1840 Patrick made application to marry, stating that he was age 26 and his bride 21. (Available information now suggests that he was 21 and she was 24). He married Jane Murphy on 16 November 1840 in Yass, New South Wales, where they settled.
St Augustine's Catholic Chapel in Yass, which still exists as the convent chapel, was not completed until 1844 and the marriage probably occurred in the court house (since replaced) or the Catholic presbytery (priest's residence) which was built at around that time and still stands; it is oldest continually occupied building still standing in Yass. A certificate of marriage issued recently records that Patrick entered his "X" mark in the register. According to their eldest son, they had a family of 17 children. |
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Europeans first entered the Yass area in 1821 and settlement started a few years after the Hume and Hovel expedition of 1824. Cooma cottage was built in 1835 and this cottage was bought by Hume in 1839. The post office was opened in 1835 and the town was gazetted in 1837. The area became of the centre of one of Australia's most important industries, fine wool growing.
In 1848, Yass had fifty five houses and two hundred and seventy four inhabitants.
It is noted above that Patrick's initial appearance in Yass Court House in 1837 earned him 50 lashes. His name appears again in the Bench books for the Yass Court House some years later, in 1846, when a more respectable Patrick apprehended one William Daley who was drunk during Divine Service in the Catholic Chapel. The record for 6th October 1846 documents the evidence of Patrick Dunn (again spelled without the final "e"). "I was in the Roman Catholic Chapple on Sunday last, the prisoner came in. He was in liqour / to the best of my opinion / he made a noise, and was going up towards the alter when I went to him and turned him out." This written statement is followed by Patrick's "X" mark as he was unable to sign his name. The court record then states "Prisoner admits charge and throws himself on mercy of the court. Fined five shillings.
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Caroline Dunne reports that Patrick Dunne was involved in the building of St Clement's Church of England in Yass. Designed by famous colonial architect Edmund Blacket, the original structure was completed in 1850. There has been a subsequent expansion to the building with widening of the church and addition of a tower in later years, however the original structure remains and the church is now a protected building. Perhaps it was as a convict and/or after that Patrick learned the building trade. |
A document held by NSW State Records (Reel No. 1122), section 49/11970 carries the reference A. No. 48/283 from the "Revenue Branch, Colonial Treasury, Sydney, 24 October 1848 is addressed to "The Honorable, The Colonial Secretary" in regard to "Dunn Patk." and states
"Referring to my letter of 14th Ultimo, A. No. 48/261 transmitting a Report of the Sale of Town Alotments that day and to Lot 9 of that Report which states Patrick Dunn of Yass to be the purchaser Deed executed 30th November 1848, Despatched 25th January 1849. 30 perches £ 3.10.0 Lot containing thirty perches in the town of Yass for the sum of three pounds ten shillings which amount he has paid. I have the honor to request that you will please cause a Deed of Grant in his favour of the allotment abovementioned, to be prepared and transmitted to me through the usual channel as early as convenient. I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient Servant, (signature) Colonial Treasurer."
An accompanying document titled "Deed prepared in favor of Patrick Dunn" states "Thirty perches commencing at the northern angle formed by the junction of Meehan and Dutton Streets and bounded on the North West by Meehan Street bearing South West two chains to the Northern boundary of H.Hume's 957 acres, on the South by part of said H.Hume's boundary being a line East, two chains 85 links to the South West side of Dutton Street & on the North East by that street bearing North West two chains to the commencing point. Proposed upset Price, £8 per acre." Much of page has lines across it, suggesting the document was cancelled or not finalised.
(Those who were educated in Australian primary schools until about the 1960s may recall being taught measurements including rods or roods, poles, perches, yards, chains, links, furlongs, miles, acres etcetera. There were 4 roods or 160 perches to the acre. One chain was 22 yards which is approximately 20 metres and a link was a fraction over 20 centimetres. A perch was just over 25 m2 so that the original request for a town allotment of 30 perches would have been approximately 750 square metres or less than one-fifth of an acre i.e. a housing block. The intersection of Meehan and Dutton Streets can be seen today; the Mount Carmel Catholic school is on the northern corner and the Dunn block was diagonally opposite on the southern corner of the intersection and is adjacent to a dis-used railway goods yard. "H.Hume" who owned the adjacent property was the well-known explorer Hamilton Hume, after whom is named the main highway linking Australia's two largest cities.)
As noted above, the page recording the deed had lines across it and it is unclear what happened. It may be that the granting of the land was never finalised. The family left Yass in approximately 1850.
now select here for Patrick John Dunne's later years
