Eliza Tully

343

Maureen Withey on 31st March 2024

Convicts. The under-named convicts passed through Belfast on Monday from Carrickfergus gaol, on their route for the hulk at Kingstown gaol, and the females for Cork ; they were all clean, in good spirits, and neatly dressed: — ... Transported for seven years :— Eliza Gaffney, Susan Thompson, Sarah Tully, Mary Anne M'Cann, Mary Anne Donaldson, Jane Jennings, Mary Reid, Elizabeth Tully. Belfast Commercial Chronicle, 1 June 1836.

54

Phil Hands on 7th March 2017

The first definite record of Eliza Tully is from the 28th January 1834 edition of the 'Belfast Newsletter'. In report of the quarter sessions, there is mention of two little children, Elizabeth Tully and John Clarke being found not guilty of stealing boiled beef from the property of Hugh Hogan in Belfast on 20 December. Elizabeth and sister, Sarah, are mentioned in various Irish newspaper articles between 1829 and 1835, accused of theft. In spite of this, they both were able to gain employment as house maids. On 14th September 1835, Eliza stole a cotton gown and a silk gown from a James McCullough. She pleaded guilty and because she was "an old offender", she was sentenced to 7 years transportation. A short time later, on 24th November 1835, Sarah Tully and John Clarke were found guilty of steeling two pieces of calico from a James McConkey in Belfast. Sarah was sentenced to 7 years transportation, again as "an old offender", and John was sentenced to 6 months hard labour. Whether by luck or with some sympathy from the authorities, Eliza and Sarah were sent to Australia on the same convict ship, the 'Pyramus', leaving in August 1836, two teenagers setting off together on the adventure of their lives. They arrived in Australia in December 1836. Within two years of arriving in Australia, both girls had applied for and been given permission to marry, as convicts were required to. Eliza Tully married William Jenkins, a convict from Warwickshire, 2 October 1838. Sarah married William Murray, a free settler, also in 1838. So rather than spending a life split between petty crime and stints in prison in Belfast, the girls found respectable lives as wives and mothers in New South Wales. Eliza Tully and William Jenkins had 14 children between 1839 and 1862. Their first two children were born in Sydney. Around 1840, the small family moved to an area called "The Oaks" near Camden, where they and many of their descendants stayed. Eliza lost her husband William Jenkins in 1875 to a carriage accident. She survived him by nearly 30 years, dying in 1902. Her sister Sarah died a few years later in 1906.

10

Rachel Parker on 21st January 2016

Worked for Mrs Carr from around 14-15 years old. Parents were William Tuly and Anne Tully nee McGregor. Older sister Sarah Tully also became a convict and travelled on the same ship. While on board,, eliza became lady-in-waiting to mrs Paling the wife of William henry Paling who founded Palings Music store. Eliza married convict William Jenkins.