Seeking ancestors of Mary and Eliza Plunkett

Hi Valerie,

I've been having a look for the elusive Plunkett women.

I searched a site called rootsireland.ie for births/baptisms for Mary P 1817 and got 5 matches; 1816 got 3 matches.

A search for Eliza 1810 + or - 10 got 20 matches!

I googled William Speed married Mary Plunkett 1834 Tasmania and got a page about the Speed family  which said Mary died in Bacchus Marsh in 1846. I checked the record on Victorian BDM but it doesn't give birth place or parents' names!

There are a couple of deaths of Eliza Plunkett in Victoria - 1878 & 1890 but they don't have details of parents or birthplace either!

I couldn't find a searcable database of Bacchus Marsh graveyards but as luck would have it, my daughter lives there and I'll be going there next weekend for a week to see my new grandson so will see if I can find Mary's gravestone.

Cheers

Col Cafferky

Hi again,

I had a rethink and checked the passenger list on ancestry.

Mary's place of conviction was Dublin so I checked on irelandreachingout.ie for Dublin only births/baptisms and found there were 2 entries for Mary (attached) 1816 =/- 2 years and two for Eliza(beth) 1810 +/- 10 years.

So if you were to purchase one of the Mary entries and got parents' names you could then search for the same parents for Eliza(beth).

Cheers

Col

Hi Valerie,

I had a look at the old graveyard in Bacchus Marsh but didn't find Mary.

I went to the local family history centre and they said she was buried in Melbourne.

I went to the state library and looked at the old records for Melbourne but couldn't find her there either so the hope that her county or parish of birth might be mentioned on her head-stone was not realised!

Best Regards

Col Cafferky

Hi Col,

Many thanks for your efforts on my behalf. The sad thing is that Mary Plunkett seems to have sunk into oblivion, not remembered by her family and dying too early for proper records of that event.  I do know that the record I found of her death is take from the register at St James Old Cathedral in Melbourne, but there is no additional information. She is probably buried in the original Melbourne Cemetery now under the Vic Market.

My Mary Pluynkett is not the Mary who came out as a convict. I have already made contact with that family.

My hope is that I may be able to pick up the trail in Ireland. I have been able to establish that this is where she came from, travelling on the Edwrd Coulson wiht her sister Eliza, and under a chaperone with 12 to 20 other girls, arriving in Hobart Town in 1833.

So I remain eternally hopeful!

 Kind regards,

Valerie Muller

Hi Valerie, My 4 x great grandmother came out to Australia on the Edward Coulston as well. I thought you might be interested in this advertisement I found online last year 

http://corkgen.org/publicgenealogy/cork/potpourri/corkancestors.com/Cor…

There were a group of females who came out voluntarily when they saw the advert. They were indeed assigned to an employer. I have a document that lists their employers and yearly income (one newspaoer columnist thought the amount they were paid (12 pound a year) was way to extravagant;  I will locate it among my files and see if it mentions your ancestor.

Cheers Tracy

Hi Tracey.  Thank you for the information.  I had not visited the site which you sent me.  I would be interested in the list of occupations that the girls had if you are able to find the information.  Was your great x 4 grandmother an orphan, or did she just decide to come out for a better life?  And was she from Cork?  I can't find any baptisms for my girls frim Cork, but have located a possible family from Dublin.

Cheers, Valerie

Hi Valerie, the list I have is not exactly their occupations just who they were assigned to for employment.

Your girls were as follows:

Eliza Plunkett to Hugh Rofs? (possibly Ross)   Hobart Town £12 per year

Mary Plunkett to Mr Clark (Butcher) Hobart Town £12 per year. 

Click this link to view original document on my blog Edward Coulston (just has a bit of information I have found here and there on the Ship)

I don't know anything about my ancestor's life except the ship she came over on. I got information from LDS/Ancestry re her baptism in Boherbue Cork but I have had no information to confirmed as yet, but it is the only lead I have. A lot of Cork records have been destroyed I believe I am trying to locate information re the organisers of the voyage Mr E. Walkinshaw, Rumford Buildings, Liverpool.

The girls on the scheme were accommodated at Kings Orphange when they got to Hobart until they were assigned positions, I don't know that they were orphans,  they were all over 18. I would say they came over for a better life as £12 a year was a good income. 

If I find any more I will let you know

Cheers Tracy