A chance find led me to the story of Andrew and Eleanor (Ellen) Conway born in Offaly in the late 1790s. Looking for local records in the National Archives of Ireland I found a letter written to Mrs Eleanor Conway of Ferbane, King’s County. It was from her husband, Andrew Conway, a transported convict in New South Wales, Australia. Andrew wrote to Eleanor telling her of his life in Australia and how she and their child might petition to join him there.[1] He gives a very interesting account of his life in the colony, the prices of goods there, and his hopes for the future. He ends with a request to be remembered to family and friends.
The letter was addressed to:
Mrs Eleanor Conway
Ferbane
Kings County
Care of Edmd Armstrong Esqr.[2]
Gillan Kings County
Ireland
and appears to have been penned by Andrew himself.
It was written from:
Kirkham, the Estate of the Surveyor General of New South Wales, April 1st, 1822
where Andrew was assigned to work after his arrival in New South Wales.
My Dear Wife,
I have arrived safe here, and am now in the Service of John Oxley Esq the Surveyor General of the Colony. I am allowed meal, Drink & lodging and Ten Pounds a year. I like the Country very well, and should feel very happy if you would come out here. The Governor is permitting every person that has a wife to come out to their Husbands. If you would apply to the nearest Clergyman, or Magistrate to you, he will direct you where to make application for liberty to come or probably will himself have the goodness to take the trouble of interfering for you. It is only necessary for a person of respectability to make application to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, & you will receive permission to some out free of cost and after your arrival here I will possess the means of making you comfortable. Where I am situate is 40 miles in the Country from where you will Land, but my Master lives in Sydney, the town where the Shipping arrive, so that if you should come, you can go direct to him & inform him you are the wife of one of his men, & he will forward you up to his Estate where I am. As soon as you receive this let me hear from you and know how you are going on, how is the child and all friends.
This is a fine country, the weather much finer and more temperate than Ireland. We never have any snow, or scarcely any Frost in Winter, and Summer tho sometimes very warm is not intolerable. When my time is expired I will be allowed 50 acres of ground and assistance from Government to fale the timber and cultivate it free of Rent or Taxes. Wheat is now 8/- Bushell, Indian Corn 6/-, Beef 9d, Mutton 9d, Fish 10d lb, Eggs 3/- a Dozen, Butter 2/6 a lb, Cheese 2/-, a Good Cow £12, a Horse £35, a Heifer £8. I hope you will loose no time no time in making application to come out you will find this a better country than Ireland in its present state.
I will be looking out every ship that comes after I think you receive this for you, or a Letter from you. Remember me to Anne Birmingham, Michl Egan, my Mother Brother and all my other Friends, & Believe me to be My Dear Ellen,
Your affectionate Husband
Andrew Conway
This is a very good Country for Tradesmen of all occupations.
Eleanor seems to have given the letter to the local Church of Ireland clergyman, the Rev. F. Guy Fitzgerald, who forwarded it to the Chief Secretary’s Office at Dublin Castle, and this is how it has survived in the Chief Secretary’s Office Registered Papers at the National Archives.
To
A. Mangan Esqr
Castle
Dublin
Ferbane
Feby 11th 1823
Sir,
The enclosed letter I hope will apologize for the liberty I take in troubling with this, to let me know can anything be done in order to send out this woman Conway to her husband (to New South Wales) who was transported about two years ago, if it can be done I will feel obliged by letting me know through what means.
I have the honor to reman Sir yr obt. Servant,
FG FitzGerald, Minister of the parish of Ferbane[3]
Written on the front of this letter is:
10 Apl
request Doctor Trevor Donaldson to answer this.
Included in the file is the official response:
No Prisoners relative is permitted to go to the Colony unless recommended by the Gov of the Colony which recommendation grounds from the good conduct of the Prisoner, and the woman shd. write to her Husband accordingly.[4]
Presumably Eleanor did so because Andrew’s formal petition to the Governor in 1824 survives in the records in New South Wales[5]:
To His Excellency Sir Thomas Brisbane K.C.B. Captain General Governor and Commander-in-Chief &c. &c. &c.
The Humble Memorial of a Andrew Conway –
Sheweth
That your Memorialist came to the Colony in the Ship Lord Sydmouth Muddle master, in February 1821. Was tried at Philipstown in the King’s County, at the Summer Assizes 1820. Left a wife Eleanor and one child (residing at the time that the Memorialist left his native country) at Farbane parish of Weery in the King’s County. Was married in the year 1818 by the Revd. Mr McHugh of the aforesaid parish of Weery since deceased, and succeeded by the Revd Mr O’Farrel, to whom and to Counsellor Armstrong of Gillan in said parish and County aforesaid, Memorialist most respectfully buys leave to refer for the truth of what he here states, –
Submissively prays your Excellency may be graciously pleased, to grant that Memorialist’s wife and child may be sent out to him to this Colony as he can support them, without any expence to the Crown,
And your Memorialist as in duty bound will ever pray
The statement of m? is, in my opinion, correct
14th May 1824 John Joseph T? ?
Eleanor and her daughter were given permission to emigrate to Australia. They arrived as settlers in Sydney on the Sir Joseph Banks on 7 Oct 1828. They had set sail from Cork and appear on the ship’s passenger list as “Eleanor Conway & girl under 12”. The ship carried many families of transported convicts.
Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 8 Oct 1828, online at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2191156.
Conviction
What did Andrew Conway do to be transported?
Many transportation records survive in Australian and Irish archives. Convicts were always associated with their ships in administrative records so Andrew is easy to find. A summary of some of his records exists at the Convict Records website.[6] Andrew was a general labourer, born about 1797. According to the summary he was convicted in King’s County about 1820 and sentenced to seven years transportation. He was transported on the Lord Sidmouth leaving in Nov 1820 and arrived in New South Wales in 1821.
The transportation records themselves contain more details.[7] Andrew was convicted at the Philipstown Assizes in July 1820. His crime was “Assaulting a Dwelling House” and he was sentenced to Transportation for Life. He was among the 160 convicts transported on the Lord Sidmouth, departing Cork on 4 Nov 1820 and arriving at Sydney on 19 Feb 1821.
Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 24 Feb 1821, online at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2180105?searchTerm=lord%20sidmouth.
The Lord Sidmouth carried 160 convicts from Cork to Sydney, including twelve men convicted in King’s County. Another four of them were also convicted of “Assaulting a Dwelling House” but it’s not clear if they were involved in the same incident as Andrew Conway. The other four men were Denis Rosney, William Broughall, Michael Condron and Thomas Muldoon. The five men were transported for Life according to this record.
New South Wales. Correctional Institution Records 1817–1844, Offaly Convicts on the Lord Sidmouth, Cork to Sydney, arriving 1821, image online at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSVR-TQN6-N?lang=en&i=187.
Transcription of the record above: [8]
| King’s County | ||||
| Names | Age | Crime | When Tried | Term of Transptn. |
| Thos Ward | 21 | Burglary | July 1820 | Life |
| Denis Rosney | 21 | Assaulting a Dwelling House | July 1820 | Life |
| William Broughall | 19 | Assaulting a Dwelling House | July 1820 | Life |
| Michl Condron | 35 | Assaulting a Dwelling House | July 1820 | Life |
| Thos Muldoon | 20 | Assaulting a Dwelling House | July 1820 | Life |
| Andrew Conway | 24 | Assaulting a Dwelling House | July 1820 | Life |
| John Keeffes | 30 | Cow Stealing | July 1820 | Seven years |
| Michl Lynch | 17 | Pig Stealing | July 1820 | Seven years |
| John Walsh | 50 | Felony of Goods | July 1820 | Seven years |
| Michl Scally | 21 | Felony of Goods | July 1820 | Seven years |
| Patrick Hogarty | 31 | Vagrancy | March 1820 | Seven years |
| Martin McKnight | 32 | Vagrancy | March 1820 | Seven years |
Andrew Conway was convicted at the Philipstown Summer Assizes. This newspaper article may refer to the trial:
Saunders’s News-Letter, 29 Jul 1820, online at www.findmypast.com.
An update to the Offaly convicts was recorded which gives us more information about their appearance etc. In it we learn that Andrew Conway was 5’ 7 ¾” in height, had a florid complexion, brown hair and grey eyes.
| Names | When | Term | Native Place | Calling | Age | Height | Complexn | Hair | Eyes | Note |
| Thos Ward | July 1820 | Life | Kings Co. | Servant | 21 | 5’ 2” | fair | brown | grey | |
| Denis Rosney | July 1820 | Life | Kings Co. | Laborer | 21 | 5’ 6” | florid | brown | haz | |
| William Broughall | July 1820 | Life | Kings Co. | Laborer | 19 | 5’ 2” | florid freckled | brown | haz | |
| Michl Condron | July 1820 | Life | Kings Co. | Laborer | 35 | 5’ 7 ½” | fresh | brown | haz | |
| Thos Muldoone | July 1820 | Life | Kings Co. | Laborer | 20 | 5’ 10 ½” | fair | brown | grey | Mitigated to Seven Years vide Earl Bathursts’s Despatch No 7 Dated 19 Feb 1827 |
| Andrew Conway | July 1820 | Life | King’s Co. | Laborer | 24 | 5’ 7 ¾” | florid | brown | grey | |
| John Keefis | July 1820 | Seven Years | Athlone | Tailor | 30 | 5’ 2 ¼” | fair | brown | grey | |
| Michl Lynch | July 1820 | Seven Years | Kings Co. | Farmg Man | 17 | 5’ 4 ¾” | florid freckled | red | grey | Hanged in Sydney 21 Nov 1830 |
| John Walsh | July 1820 | Seven Years | Queen’s Co. | Laborer | 50 | 5’ 3 ½” | florid pockpitt | sandy | haz. | |
| Michl Scally | July 1820 | Seven Years | Westmeath | Sweep | 21 | 5’ 4” | dark | brown | dark | 2 years Bench W?? Plains 16 Feb 1827 |
| Patrick Flagarty | March 1820 | Seven Years | Co. Cork | Servant | 31 | 5’ 3 ¼” | dk sal. | brown | haz. | |
| Martin McKnight | March 1820 | Seven Years | Limerick City | Laborer | 32 | 5’ 4 ½” | dark | brown | dark |
“Lord Sidmouth (2)”, Indents 1788-1842 (Nrs 12188), Australia Convict Ships 1786-1849, State Records Authority of New South Wales, online at https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=ANZ%2FAUSCONVICTSHIPS%2F00114661&tab=this.
Timeline
Andrew was convicted in July 1820. He arrived in Sydney in February 1821 and wrote the letter home to Ellen in April 1822. This letter was forwarded to the Chief Secretary’s Office in February 1823 and dealt with there in April 1823. Andrew directly petitioned the Governor in May 1824. Ellen and her daughter were granted free passage on the Sir Joseph Banks and left Cork in May 1828, landing in Sydney in October of that year.
Andrew was granted a Ticket of Leave after Ellen’s arrival, and their intended place of residence was the Liverpool district of Sydney.[9]
The family (Andrew, Ellen and daughter Bridget) was living together in Market St, Sydney in November 1828 according to the Census of the Colony. Andrew was working as a labourer for John Kair:
| No. | Name | Age | Free or Cond. | Ship | Year | Sentenced | Religion | Employment | Residence |
| 2173 | Conway, Andrew | 31 | G.S. | Lord Sidmouth | 1821 | Life | Cat | Labourer John Kair | Market Street Sydney |
| 2174 | Conway, Ellen | 30 | C.F. | Sir Jos Banks | 1828 | “ | |||
| 2175 | Conway, Bridget | 8 | “ | Do. | 1828 | “ |
Conway Family, 1828 Census: Alphabetical Return; New South Wales, Series Number: NRS 1272; Reel: 2554, State Records Authority of New South Wales; Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia, online at www.ancestry.com.
Andrew seems to have been in trouble again in 1830. On 28 Dec 1830 he was sentenced to twelve months in prison, the crime is described as “Penal Settlement”.[10] It is possible this was a cancellation of his Ticket of Leave for living outside of his district.[11]
Sydney Correctional Institution Records 1825-1832, Sydney Gaol, 28 Dec 1830, image online at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSK7-GQ6D-8?view=fullText&lang=en&groupId=TH-909-71272-119803-98.
Andrew and Ellen had five more children between 1829 and 1837:
Mary Elizabeth 1829
Andrew Jr 1830
Eleanor 1832
Laurence Paul 1835
Edward 1837
Eleanor Conway died in Sydney on 7 Jul 1844.[12] She is buried in the Catholic Burial Ground at Devonshire Street Cemetery in Section M Row 25.[13] Her headstone describes her as
Mrs. Elleanor Conway
Age 45
Erected by Mr. Andrew Conway for his wife.
Leaving him & 6 children.
None of the online records I accessed included Eleanor’s maiden name. Family trees at Ancestry.com variously name her as Elenor Shalles/Challis/Shelley/Sholtone.
In the grave beside Eleanor is her grandson Robert Conway aged two years and seven months who died in 1854.[14] He was the son of Andrew Conway Jr and his wife Caroline Hollingdale.
Andrew Conway Sr died on 25 Mar 1860 and is buried with his wife Eleanor in Devonshire Street Cemetery.[15]
Funeral notice of Andrew Conway, Sydney Morning Herald, 26 Mar 1860, image online at https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13038327.
Conway Ferbane
As Andrew Conway mentioned his mother and brother in his letter to Ellen I looked for the extended Conway family in Ferbane. There are mentions of John Conway but it is not certain if this man was related to Andrew.
The Tithe Applotments mention a John Conway in the Parish of Wheery (Ferbane).
John Conway, Tithe Applotments, Ferbane Town Plots, Wheery, King’s County, 1830, image online at https://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/reels/tab//004625730/004625730_00074.pdf.
Later a John Conway lived on the Ballycumber Road according to Griffith’s Valuation in 1854. He rented a house, office (outbuilding) and yard from Rev. Henry King.
John Conway, Lot 13 Ballycumber Road, Ferbane, King’s County, Griffith’s Valuation, 1854, image online at https://www.askaboutireland.ie/griffith-valuation/index.xml?action=doNameSearch&Submit.x=43&Submit.y=9&familyname=conway&firstname=john&baronyname=&countyname=KING%27S&unionname=&parishname=WHEERY.
This earlier Valuation House Book dates from 1845:
John Conway, House Book, Valuation Office, 1845, image online at https://census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/vob/IRE_CENSUS_1821-51_007246900_00814.pdf.
[1] Letter from Andrew Conway to Eleanor Conway, Ferbane, 1822, CSO/RP/1823/599, National Archives of Ireland.
[2] Edmund Armstrong was the owner of the Gallen Estate near Ferbane.
[3] Letter from Rev. F. Guy FitzGerald to A. Mangan, 1823, CSO/RP/1823/599/1, National Archives of Ireland.
[4] Response to Conway request, 1823, CSO/RP/1823/599/2, National Archives of Ireland.
[5] New South Wales, Australia, Colonial Secretary’s Papers, 1788-1825, online at www.ancestry.com.
[6] Andrew Conway, Convict Records, online at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/conway/andrew/143518.
[7] They are included in several online databases including FamilySearch, FindMyPast and Ancestry.
[8] Lord Sidmouth Passenger List, 1820, Musters And Other Papers Relating To Convict Ships 1790-1849 (Nrs 1155), State Records Authority of New South Wales., online at www.findmypast.ie.
[9] Andrew Conway, Ticket of Leave, 31 Oct 1828, Registers Of Tickets Of Leave 1824-1833 (Nrs 12200) , State Records Authority of New South Wales, image online at https://www.findmypast.com/transcript?id=ANZ%2FAUSTICKETSOFLEAVE%2F00003637&tab=this.
[10] Andrew Conway, Sydney Correctional Institution Records 1825-1832, Sydney Gaol, 28 Dec 1830, image online at https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSK7-GQ6D-8?view=fullText&lang=en&groupId=TH-909-71272-119803-98.
[11] Andrew Conway, Convisct Summary, online at https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/conway/andrew/143518.
[12] Ellen Conway, Name Ellen Conway, Death Date 1844. Death Place Sydney, New South Wales, Registration Date 1844, Registration Place Sydney, Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985, online at www.findmypast.com.
[13] Elleanor Conway, Transcriptions New South Wales, Rookwood Cemetery, online at www.findmypast.com; https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/270809169/elleanor-conway.
[14] Robert Conway, Transcriptions New South Wales, Rookwood Cemetery, online at www.findmypast.com.
[15] Andrew Conway, Transcriptions New South Wales, Rookwood Cemetery, online at www.findmypast.com.
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