Bridget Hopkins 1833 : Short Biography

Bridget Hopkins was born in the Townland of Glen/Glan in the parish of Kilkerrin, Galway around 1833.  When she was in the Castlerea Workhouse, Co. Roscommon, she was selected for the Earl Grey Irish Famine Orphan Scheme.  She departed Plymouth per the ship Digby on 16 Dec 1848 & arrived Sydney, New South Wales on 4 April 1849.  She married William Carroll on 6 Nov 1850 in Bathurst, NSW, Australia.  (William was born c1811 in Haggardstown, Co. Louth).  Bridget & William had 5 children together, 3 of whom lived to adulthood.  William died 12 Nov 1861 in Bathurst.  4 months later, on 19 March 1862, Bridget married Charles Adolphus Bell in Bathurst and they had three children together.  Charles was convicted of cattle stealing and sentenced to three years gaol.  Bridget was left to bring up her children alone.  Upon release from gaol, Charles left Bridget and established a new family in Dubbo.  Bridget probably supported her children by working as a cook along the railway line being built from Bathurst to Bourke.  She settled in Bourke in outback NSW and died there on 5 September 1915, aged around 82 years .      Attached is a full research note.