Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
Mathew Renahan was transported on the Chapman, departing 25th Mar 1817 and arriving 26th Jul 1817 with 202 passengers.
The Chapman ship was built at Whitby, England in 1777, rebuilt in 1811 and refurbed in 1815. Tonnage: 558 The 1817 voyage from Ireland to New South Wales, Australia is not yet fully recorded on this web site - currently being updated. A mutiny occurred on this voyage with 7 men killed and many others wounded. (200 male convicts embarked) 1824 voyage from England to Van Diemen's Land (180 male convicts). 1826 voyage from England to Van Diemen's Land (100 male convicts, 2 escaped). Royal Staff guards & 19 private passengers.
Chapman (generic)References
| Primary Source | New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1790-1849; 1817 Chapman |
Claims
No one has claimed Mathew Renahan yet.
Photos
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Convict Notes


23/5/1850: From the Launceston Examiner, p8: Mathew Renaghan per Chapman and Jupiter is on a list of recipients of Tickets of Leave (received 21/5/1850). 27/6/1854: He was granted a Pardon (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON35-1-1$init=CON35-1-1p470). --0-- 25/11/1854: Matthew Renaghan died in hospital at Ross, and was recorded as aged 64 (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON35-1-1$init=CON35-1-1p470; Tasmania, Australia, Convict Court and Selected Records, 1800-1899; Register; Registers of convict deaths, 1845-1874).


1835: By this time, he was at Port Arthur where he was frequently punished for "infringements", including trafficking a pair of trousers and having tobacco (5 days' solitary confinement). 24/5/1844: He was granted a Ticket of Leave (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON35-1-1$init=CON35-1-1p470). 12/2/1847: He was found guilty of larceny under £5 -- stealing 6 eggs, and recommended to be deprived of his ToL. 19/2/1847: Ticket of Leave revoked. --0--


8/4/1834: From the Colonist and Van Diemen's Land Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser, p2: "SUPREME COURT -- The Criminal Sessions of this Court commenced on Tuesday last, before Mr Justice Montagu... Yesterday, Matthew Renegan, was found guilty of sheep-stealing, and sentence of Death was recorded against him." and From the Colonial Times, p7: "Monday, April 7th: Matthew Ranigan was placed at the bar, charged with stealing on the night of the 21st of January last 80 ewes and 80 wethers, the property of Mr. James Pillinger, of Kitty's Rivulet [in Cornwallis Parish; Police district of Oatlands]. Guilty. Sentence of death recorded." --0--


IN VDL: 1817: On arrival in VDL, he was listed as Matthew Renaghan, per Chapman and Jupiter, sentenced in Galway in March 1815 to 7 years' penal servitude (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON31-1-34$init=CON31-1-34p238). In another document, he was described as 5'5½" tall with light brown hair, light grey eyes and a crippled right arm; 40 years old and a butcher from Kings County, he had been tried in Galloway [sic] in March 1816 (https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON23-1-3$init=CON23-1-3-p117j2k). 26/4/1825: Mathew Renaghan (Free, per Chapman) was appointed a Constable for the District of Lennox (https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1090723). --0--


IN NSW: 1817: On arrival in NSW, Mathew Renahan was listed as 39 years old (New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1790-1849; 1817). On the Irish Convicts database, he is called Matthew Rowen, born in 1777, and a soldier whose native place was Banagher, Kings County (http://members.pcug.org.au/~ppmay/cgi-bin/irish/irish.cgi). 9/8/1817: He was one of 70 convicts (69 from the Chapman and one from the Pilot) who were forwarded to VDL per the brig Jupiter. --0--


IN IRELAND: Spring 1815/1816: Matthew Renahan was tried at the Spring Assizes in County Galway and convicted of stealing sheep. [Note: Two different years for his trial appear in various records, so both are listed here.] He was sentenced to be transported for 7 years. While awaiting transportation, he was held finally at Newgate jail in Green Street, on Dublin's north side, and was sent from there to board the Chapman. --0--


HIS NAME: Various spellings of his last name are given across different records. Matthew and Mathew are also interchanged across records. The variations are used here as they occur.