Arthur Christopher Kelly on Minstrel 2

Hi

Have you checked the immigration records in Australia? Generally, more information was given at the port of arrival rather than the port of departure. The University of Woolongong has produced, on microfiche, a complete index and transcript of all information concerning immigrants of Irish origin recorded on ships' passenger lists between 1848 and 1867. These are useful for finding out an exact place of origin as well as parents' names. The Public Record Office of Victoria has good online databases of settlers at www.prov.vic.gov.au Otherwise, other records may be found in the Colonial Office Papers of the UK National Archives, class reference CO 201. This class contains a wide variety of records, including petitions for assisted passages, emigrants' lists, records of emigrants on board ship, petitions from settlers for financial assistance and much more.

(AUSTRALIA) Transportation from Ireland for crimes committed in Ireland, lasted from 1791 to 1853, ending 15 years earlier than transportation from England. The records of the Chief Secretary's Office, which had responsibility for the Penal system, are the major Irish source of information on transportees. Not all of the relevant records have survived, particularly for the period before 1836, but what does exist can provide a wealth of information. The records were formerly housed in the State Paper Office in Dublin Castle, which is now part of the National Archives of Ireland (NAI).

The principal classes of relevant records are as follows:

Prisoners' Petitions and Cases, 1788-1836: these consist of petitions to the Lord Lieutenant for commutation or remission of sentence, and record the crime, trial, sentence, place of origin and family circumstances.

State Prisoners' Petitions: these specifically concern those arrested for participation in the 1798 rebellion, and record the same information as the main series of petitions.

Convict Reference Files, from 1836: these continue the earlier petitions series and can include a wide range of additional material.

Transportation Registers, from 1836: these record all the names of those sentenced to death or transportation, giving the name of the transport ship or the place of detention, are sometimes given as well.

Male Convict Register, 1842-1847: in addition to the information supplied by the Transportation Registers, this volume also gives physical descriptions of the convicts.

Register of Convicts on Convict Ships, 1851-1853: this gives the names, dates and counties of trial of those transported to Van Dieman's land and Western Australia for the period covered.

Free Settlers' Papers, 1828-1852: after serving a minimum of four years, male convicts had the right to request a free passage for their wife and family to join them. The Papers contain lists of those making such a request, along with transportation details and the names and addresses of the wives. A number of petitions from husbands and wives, and prisoners' letters, are also included.

These records were microfilmed and a database was presented to the Australian government and can now be found in many State archives. The NAI retains copies and the database, in particular, can save a great deal of time and effort. www.nationalarchives.ie Early convict arrivals records, making up some of the gaps in the NAI material, are also online at www.pcug.org.au/~ppmay/convicts.htm (Irish Convicts to Australia 1791-1815).

Remember to post as much information as you can with regard to the people you are researching. The more information you post, the more likely it is that one of our volunteers will be able to advise or assist you. Also include information concerning which sources you may have already used so others may further your search.

Please be patient - as our programme has only begun to rollout across the island of Ireland and volunteers in some areas may not yet be organized.

Kind regards,                    

Genealogy Support 

This is what I know:

Arthur Christopher KELLY

Born in 1805 in Belfast, County Antrim, Ireland[1] to Christopher and Grace KELLY nee MCDOUGALL[2].  On 24 August 1824 he was tried for burglary in Carlisle and was sentenced to life[3] which was later commuted to transportation[4].

Arthur was transported on the 422 ton Minstrel.  The Minstrel left London on 10 April 1825 and left Portsmouth on 17 April 1825 with 121 male convicts, 56 crew and a contingent of the 57th under the command of lieutenant Chadforth.  The Minstrel was under the command of Captain Arkcoll and the medical superintendent was Dr Walker RN[5].  Arthur was one of 10 Irish convicts on board.

Arthur was described as “groom” and appeared as No. 20 on the ships muster role.  He was 19 years of age and described as being 5 foot 5 inches tall with brown hair, blue eyes and very freckled.

The Minstrel was ordered on 19 November 1805 for the Royal Navy and launched in 25 March 1807 and built by Nicholas Bools & William Good, Bridport.  It was a Cormorant class sloop and unlike the first group of Cormorant class sloops which were armed with 16 cannon, the Minstrel was armed with sixteen 24-pdr carronades and eight 12-pdr carronades.  It was sold on 6 March 1817.

Previously the Minstrel transported 127 female convicts to Sydney in 1812.

The Minstrel landed in Sydney on 22 August 1825 after 127 days at sea.  Upon arrival Arthur was assigned to a Clearing Party and was described as being “very well”.  When Arthur arrived in Sydney, Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane was Governor, the colony was having problems with bushrangers around Bathurst and the NSW Legislative Assembly had just been established starting the colony down the road to independence.

By the time of the 1828 census, the 23 year old Arthur was in the service of John Dulahunty of Parramatta.

Arthur was granted his Ticket of Leave on 29 May 1839, for the district of Evan, on recommendation of the Penrith Bench but was cancelled due to his absence from the district, upon Arthur's explanation, his Ticket of Leave was re-issued on 10 January 1843 for the Parramatta district.

Arthur Kelly and Margaret Abraham sought the Governor's consent on 2 August 1839 to marry, this was granted and they married on 26 August 1839 under the religion of the Church of England, at Castlereach, Cumberland, performed by Henry Fulton.  Arthur and Margaret were married by Banns, Margaret was a 25 year old bond servant, while Arthur was a 33 year old and had his Ticket of Leave, they both signed with their mark. Robert Thorn and Mary Thorn, both from Castlereagh were the witnesses.

Arthur died on Whyenbah just off the Narline Road in Queensland on 19 July 1865 for what was described as “Decay of Nature”.  He was 60 years of age.  Whyenbah is a homestead about 480km west-southwest of Brisbane.  Whyenbah is at an altitude of approximately 180m above sea level. Whyenbah is one of the southernmost homesteads in Queensland. The nearest sea is the Coral Sea which is part of the South Pacific Ocean about 480km east-northeast of Whyenbah.

Arthur married Margaret ABRAHAM (CONVICT)  daughter of Griffiths ABRAHAM and Margaret MATHEWS on 26 Aug 1839 in C of E Church, Castlereagh Parish, County of Cumberland. Margaret was born on 16 May 1813 in Swansea, West Glamorgan Wales. She was christened on 6 Jun 1813 in St. Marys Swansea, Glamorgan Wales. She died on 16 Jun 1886 in Abbeygreen, Narrabri, NSW Australia. She was buried on 18 Jun 1886 in Narrabri Cemetery..

Margaret was a convict, and was sentenced to 14 YEARS on  17 March 1835 at the Devon Assizers

and  was transported on the "Henry Wellesley" 7 February 1836.  Margaret was single, 22 years, a

protestant that could neither read or write, employed as a house maid and was convicted of "man

robbery"  (stealing from a person).Margaret had had no prior convictions,  was 5 feet 01/2",  dark

complexion, brown hair with brown eyes, with TN upper right arm (not sure what this is, is it a tattoo?

) blue ring, fourth finger of left hand.

Permission to marry  ARTHUR KELLY, convict, was granted 30 July 1839  by the Govenor, they

were married 26 August 1839.  (source Gail Kelly)

Has no visable headstone in Narrabri Cemetery. (source Gail Kelly) Margaret died of Affection

(Affliction) of the Heart ,  suddenly at the age of 70 years, her son E.J. Kelly was the informant, lising

7 brothers and sisters, not 12 as was wrongly recorded on Authur's Death Certificate.  Parents were

recorded as Griffiths Abraham, Wharf labourer and Margaret ? and her occupation was a Nurse.

(source Gail Kelly)