The Coffey family

James Carphy and as Val McGrath puts it "this is probably a rendition of his pronounciation". The ship brought the following imports: I box, M. Andrew; I parcel books, A. B, Spark; I parcel books, G. W. Evans; I entire horse, C. Cunningham; I case, H. E. Ewer; 107 deals, W. Walker and Co.; 3 cases perfumery, order; sandry surplus emigrants stores.

The Herald of 18 August 1841 notes of the immigrants aboard the Pearl: these consist chiefly of single men and women from various districts of Ireland and will be found a most useful body of people for the wants of the set tiers, being all accustomed to country work The commander and surgeon superintendent give them the highest character for propriety of conduct mid the state of cleanliness in which the ship is reflects credit on the discipline maintained during the voyage. Application for the services of the immigrants must be made on board the ship lying off Dawes Point, but parties cannot be admitted till after the examination has been made by the board, which will be finished by two o clock, pm. There are 32 married couples, 77 single women 56 single men and not more than a dozen children at the expense of the colonial fund.

An advertisement in the same edition highlights the soon to be opened new Southern Coast Road opening up Argyle, the County in which the Coffey’s and Ryan’s moved to. Of James Coffey his state of bodily health, strength and probable usefulness was very good. He was a Roman Catholic yet no one certified his baptism or his character, he was illiterate and had no complaints! His sister travelled under his protection, she gave her surname as Coffy her age as twenty and her calling House Maid. His sister’s first name can’t be deciphered at the moment, she could read which probably accounts for the spelling of her surname her other details are the same as her brother’s. [Per Val McGrath]Honora, the daughter of John Ryan and Margaret Hafey was born in 1821 in Clonulty Tipperary Ireland (although her death certificate states birthplace as Limerick). At the age of just 20 she left her homeland to journey to England and board the Glenswilly departing Plymouth on 26nov1840 arriving in Australia on 11 Mar 1841, some five months ahead of James. She did not travel alone for on board was her sister Margaret Ryan and Maragret's husband to be John Reardon. For the moment their whereabouts and occupations during this time is unknown. But Westmeath and Clonulty are not too close geographically - at least not for the 1840's so it is unlikely that James and Honora knew each other before they departed Ireland.

Within eight months of his arrival at Botany Bay James had met Honora. James would have arrived in the midst of winter and Honora at the end of summer. The climate and landscape would have been totally alien to that of Ireland. The town of Sydney they arrived in was a flourishing city. The settlement of Sydney was established in 1788 as a convict colony ruled by British Governors. But by the 1840s, convict transportation had virtually ended and the colonists wanted more control over their affairs. An Imperial Act of 1842 created a new Legislative Council, of which one third was nominated and two thirds elected by property holders. Also in 1842 Sydney was incorporated as a city. The Sydney Herald which commenced publication in 1831 became a daily in 1840 and was renamed the Sydney Morning Herald in 1842.

Sydney had grown from a town perched on the harbour at the eastern edge of the Sydney basin, to one that spread quickly to the more fertile areas south and west along the rivers, across the flatter lands to the west, and eventually north across the harbour. Early in the 19th century, the population of the agricultural settlements of Parramatta, Windsor, Liverpool, Richmond and Pitt Town exceeded that of the main settlement around Sydney Cove. Development continued on the flatter, more fertile terrain on the south side of the harbour which also allowed easier road construction. By the middle of the 19th century, 'Sydney' extended to the municipalities of Glebe, Randwick, Waverley, Woollahra, and Marrickville, Newtown, Paddington and Balmain and had a population of 100,000, which was still only approximately a quarter of the State population. These suburbs were linked to the city centre by the emerging tram network. [Source: http://www.metrostrategy.nsw.gov.au/dev/uploads/paper/introduction/BACKGROUND%20ANALYSIS-8.html]

It would therefore not seem incongruous that James and Honora fled the city to tie the knot in a church wedding in the township of Goulburn in the County of Argyle on 4th April 1842.

Goulburn as a township quickly grew, and after the settlement of the Highlands (County Camden) it became the administrative and judicial centre of the new County Argyle which covered then most of the SW of NSW. Goulburn, being on the "crossroads" between Sydney, and Braidwood to the south, Crookwell and Taralga to the north, and Yass to the west, service industries (hostelries, retailers, blacksmiths, brewers, millers) soon flourished and by 1841 Goulburn had a population of some 1200 people - a courthouse, police barracks, churches, hospital and post office and was the centre of a great sheep and farming area. Prosperity came with the discovery of gold in various parts of the County in the 1850s and by 1859 Goulburn had been declared a vigorous municipality, to be named the first inland 'city' in Australia some 4 years later by Royal Letters Patent (the last such grant given in the Empire).

Boorowa/ Burrowa which is some 130klms Northwest of Goulburn was to become home to the Coffeys. The wills of James and Honora indicate that they have made a better life for themselves, certainly than they would have if they had stayed in Ireland. And they were certainly helped it would seem, by their association with bushranger Ben Hall in 1863.

The village of Boorowa was surveyed around a main crossing of the Boorowa River and gazetted in 1850. On Crown Land and with sections reserved for the infrastructure of a town - court house (originally 1860 - present building 1884 - closed 1988), post office (first 1856 - today's 1876) , and pound, it replaced earlier private towns. In 1851 the first allotments in the town were offered at auction and soon rough houses, a hotel, flour mill and other businesses were established to serve the surrounding farms. Within decades the early slab huts were replaced by more substantial buildings (a local brick kiln contributing to this development). Many of the fine colonial buildings of the 19th century, in fine condition, still adorn the streetscape of modern Boorowa. J.F. Mann, the Government Surveyor, when he surveyed the new town in 1850, left aside a large tract of land in the centre of the town around Ryans Creek as a public reserve. The main occupation of Boorowa settlers was wool. There were already tens of thousands of sheep in the district by 1840. With fencing and improved tecchniques Boorowa flourished as a prime sheep growing region - shipping wool, meat and (in the 1990s) live ship to world markets. In the early days Boorowa was notorious for crime and lawlessness. Robberies, assault and stock stealing were rife - fuelled by ex-convicts, poor immigrants from the U.K. with little respect for authority, and of course, bushrangers. The earliest of the latter appeared in 1828, including the notorious Thomas Witton who held up a store at Boorowa and then went on to kill John Hume at Gunning. The gold fields attracted more later and they infested the Boorowa district: Frank Gardiner, Ben Hall, local John Gilbert and others. Early offenders (convicts) were dealt with by magistrates at Yass, and a station for police troopers was established at Binalong. [Source: http://www.argylecounty.com.au/towns/boorowa.html]

Children of the marriage