Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Joseph Kearns was transported on the Sugar Cane, departing 12th Apr 1792 and arriving 17th Sep 1793 with 102 passengers.
Sugar Cane, was a 403 burthen ton merchantman and convict ship that was dispatched in 1793 from Ireland to Australia. She was launched in 1786 upon the Thames River. Under the command of Thomas Musgrave, she sailed from Cork, Ireland, on 12 April 1793, with 110 male and 50 female convicts. During the voyage a mutiny by the convicts was put down and a convict executed. She arrived at Port Jackson, New South Wales on the 17 September 1793. The Sugar Cane left Port Jackson for Bengal in late 1793.
Sugar Cane (generic)References
| Primary Source | Mayberry, Peter; Irish Convicts to NSW 1788-1849. Sainty & Johnson 1828 Census of New South Wales. |
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Convict Notes
This is an updated list of the children: Francis b. abt 1817 Matthew b.1819 in Minto district - d.1820 Sydney Joseph b. 1821 Ann b.1823 Matthew b.1825 Mary b.1828 The family were living in the Minto district when son Matthew was born in 1819. I was incorrect about the 1811 muster: Mary Kearns was not his wife, she was a female convict who also came out in the Sugar Cane
We know from later records that Joseph was born in Dublin in 1774. His death record has not been found and he may have died in or after 1840. The following comes from the Dublin Evening Post 17 November 1792: ‘Trials at Kilhainham, Saturday November 3 ..... Joseph Kearns, for stealing, on the 22d of October, out of the bleach-yard of John Anderson, at Love-lane, 50 yards of printed cotton, value 2l. the goods of Mr Anderson, against the statute. The larceny was clearly proved; but the statute being confined to linen and hempen cloth, and silent as to cotton cloth, the prisoner was allowed his clergy - to be transported.’ He was transported aboard the ship 'Sugar Cane' which left Cork 12 April 1793 and arrived Sydney 17 September 1793. In the convict indent, he was described as Joseph 'Kerns' age 18, with a 7 year sentence of transportation Joseph appears to have had a de facto relationship with Mary Lodge who was also a convict on the 'Sugar Cane' and similarly had been convicted for stealing material. In the 1806 muster she is described as his wife and they are both free by servitude, working for Mr Cox. In the 1811 muster, they are listed as Joseph Kearns and Mary Kearns. However they have separated by 1813 when he married Elizabeth Ready. Marriage 28 June 1813 at St Phillips church Sydney: "Joseph Kerns, labourer, a Batchelor and Elizabeth Ready, a spinster, both of Concord" by banns by William Cowper. Joseph signed, Elizabeth marked, witnesses Hector McNeal, Mary Thorp, both marked. Elizabeth Ready was a convict transported in the ship 'Minstrel', in 1812, with a sentence of 7 years transportation. Joseph and Elizabeth had the following children: Matthew b.1819 - d.1820 Francis Joseph Ann In the 1816 muster he is a labourer at Liverpool. In 1820 August 9 he was appointed constable in place of Denis Connolly suspended. However on October 19 he was suspended from his position of constable on account of drunkenness. [colonial secretary records] He was reinstated and in the 1822 muster, he is a constable at Sydney, with children Joseph 5 and John 1½. His wife is listed as 'Ruddy', Elizabeth, wife of J Kearns. In the 1825 muster he is Joseph Kearns, free by servitude, Sugar Cane 1793, 7 years, constable at Sydney; with his wife Ready, Elizabeth, free by servitude, Minstrel, 1812; and their children Joseph, 4 ; Francis, 8, Ann, 3. However by the time of the 1828 census, he was no longer working as a constable. In the census they are living at Harrington Street Sydney: he is Joseph Kearns, 50, labourer working for John Ewings, Harrington Street; his wife is Elizabeth Kearns, 39, free by servitude, and their children are Francis 10, Joseph Jr. 7, Ann 5, Matthew, 3 (all Roman Catholic) By 1833 he was working as a boatman. We know this from gaol records when he was imprisoned for theft. On 25 Apr 1833 the Sydney Herald reported: 'On Friday, a man, named Joseph Kearns, who arrived in this Colony 40 years ago, in the Sugar Cane, went into the house of Mr. Dye, in Cumberland-street, and seizing a jacket, bolted with it. He was pursued, and captured.' Sydney Gaol records have the following: Date of Admission: 22 Apr 1833, Police Court Trial 3 May and 4 May. Sentenced to hard labour 1 month, discharged 4 June. The gaol records also inform us that he was a boatman and his place of birth is County Dublin. In 1837 he was in trouble again. The Australian, Tuesday 25 July 1837 reports: 'An elderly man named Joseph Kearnes, and his son Francis, about twenty-five years of age, both apparently in great indigence, were brought up by warrant, before the Police Bench, on Friday last, charged with having violently assaulted an assigned servant of Mr. Edward Flood, the Builder, on the previous afternoon. It appeared that the defendants, with another person, supposed to be also a son of Joseph Kearnes, and all in a state of beastly inebriety, passed the new watch-house, near Miller's Point, on which the complainant and three other work men were employed at the time ; when Francis Kearnes came up to the building, and challenged to fight any of the party. He then made several blows at the complainant, who placed himself In an attitude of defence, but he was immediately felled to the ground by a violent blow from a stone, which Joseph Kearnes threw at his head, inflicting a severe wound near his left temple. The defendants urged in their defence, that the workmen first insulted them, but this was most positively contradicted on the other side. They were severally fined in the sum of £3, and costs 4s. 6d. In default of payment of which, they were ordered to be imprisoned in Sydney Gaol for six weeks each. A complaint of a similar nature, preferred by another of the same parties, is still in abeyance against another son of Joseph Kearnes, and his daughter Ann, a child of apparently not more than ten or eleven years of age; for whose appearance when called on, her father's personal recognizance in the sum of £10, was taken by the Bench.' Gaol records provide us with a description of Joseph Kearns: Sugar Cane 1793 born 1774 5ft 6in, stout, fresh, grey hair, grey eyes. His son Francis: native of the colony born 1820 Cowpastures, 5ft 10in, slender, fresh, grey eyes. His daughter Ann was not sentenced until a year later, according to Sydney Gaol Entrance book: Anne Kearns, Born In Colony, servant, Date of Admission: 29 Aug 1838, 3 weeks labour. A colleague of Joseph's, William Hubbard who like Joseph had been a constable and a boatman and lived at Harrington Street, may have suggested that Ann go to live with William Hubbard's daughter Harriett and her husband William Cook in the Castlereagh area. Ann will later become William Cook's wife and have 13 children. On 10 August 1840 he was admitted to Parramatta Gaol: Joseph Kearnes 'Sugar Cane' 1793, laborer, sentenced to cells 24 hours, discharged 11 Aug 1840. What happened to Joseph Kearnes? I have not found his death record. The only one that comes close is the man recorded as 'John Keenan' age 70 abode "Asylum" buried 7 Sep 1842 Sydney by Rev Hogan. [KEENAN JOHN V1842856 114, AGE 70] There is a death of 'John Kerns' buried 11 May 1839 Age 60 abode Phillip Street in the St Marys Sydney RC register but this is before his admission to Parramatta Gaol in 1849. [KERNS JOHN 278/1839 V132 AGE 60] Sources Dublin Evening Post 17 November 1792 https://search.findmypast.com.au/bna/viewarticle?id=bl/0000435/17921117/010 1833 'ENGLISH AND AMERICAN VESSELS.', The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842), 25 April, p. 3. , viewed 17 Sep 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12846689 1837, The Australian (Sydney, NSW : 1824 - 1848), 25 July, p. 2. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36854590 Muster, census, colonial secretary, gaol records were found in Ancestry.com scans of records of the State Records of NSW Marriage and possible 1842 burial were found in the NSW BDM index and the actual registration was seen on the reels at the NSW State Library Sydney. Possible 1839 death record obtained through a transcriber
Dublin Evening Post 17 November 1792: 'Trials at Kilhainham Saturday November 3 ... Joseph Kearns, for stealing, on the 22d of October, out of the bleach-yard of John Anderson, at Love-lane, 50 yards of printed cotton, value 2l. the goods of Mr Anderson, against the statute. The larceny was clearly proved; but the statute being confined to linen and hempen cloth, and silent as to cotton cloth, the prisoner was allowed his clergy - to be transported.'
Sainty & Johnson; 1828 Census of New South Wales: [Ref K0119] Kearns, Joseph, 50, free by servitude, Sugar Cane, 1793, 7 years, Catholic, labourer, John Ewings, Harington Street Sydney [Ref 0120] Kearns, Elizabeth, 39, free by servitude, Minstrel, 1812, 7 years, Catholic Kearns, Francis 10 born in the colony, Catholic Kearns, Jos. Jr. 7 born in the colony, Catholic Kearns, Ann 5 born in the colony, Catholic Kearns, Matthew, 3 born in the colony, Catholic
Joseph appears to have had a de facto relationship with Mary Lodge (Convict, Sugar Cane, 1793). This may have started when they were aboard ship but perhaps even before. They were both tried in 1792 in Dublin for stealing cotton and plaid. They had no children and had separated within a short time. Joseph married Elizabeth Ready (Convict, Minstrel, 1812) in 1813 at St Philips, Sydney. They had 5 children.