Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
Mary Whelan was transported on the Lord Auckland, departing 11th Oct 1848 and arriving 20th Jan 1849 with 118 passengers.
Built 1836 at Calcutta. Wood barque of 628 Tons. 1846 - VOYAGE; August 26 -Brown, master, from Dublin 19th April, Passengers-Dr. Roberts, R. N , Surgeon Supt. Lieut. Gorder ; Ensign Thillwall; 65th Regt j Ensign Despard, 99th Regt., and Mr. Moriarty, with 2 sergeants, 48 rank and file, 6 women, 6 children, 65th Regt., and 176 male convicts.
Lord Auckland (generic)References
| Primary Source | https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON41-1-20$init=CON41-1-20p201. --0-- Ireland, Prison Registers, 1790-1924 for Mary Whelan; Dublin; Grangegorman Female Prison; 1840-1853. |
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Convict Notes
FOOTNOTE: A convict's death at sea usually means there is very little information on official records at the proposed journey's end. In Mary Whelan's case, a record from her time at Grangegorman prison, in Dublin, and while awaiting transportation, gives a few more grains of information about her life. It also speaks volumes about the social challenges for women in Ireland at that time (Ireland, Prison Registers, 1790-1924 for Mary Whelan; Dublin; Grangegorman Female Prison; 1840-1853). Mary's name appears on a page of the Grangegorman register with 18 other women who were sent aboard the Auckland. All but two women are listed as having no trade (Mary included). Those two with a trade are servants. Only 6 of the 19 women could read; none could write (Mary was illiterate). Fifteen were single (including Mary) and one was a widow. They were aged from 17 to 35 years old. The two married women were 30, while the widow was 32. Two women were Protestant (Mary was one of 17 Roman Catholics). --00--
DEATH AT SEA: A fortnight after the ship sailed from Kingstown, Mary Whelan appeared as case #5 in the Medical Journal of the ship's Surgeon Superintendent, John Moody: "Mary Whelan, aged 25, Unmarried; taken ill at sea; sick or hurt, abscess of breast, sea sickness and premature labour; put on sick list 17 October 1848, died 28 October 1848." -- What became of Mary's child? It's not clear from the summary notes of the surgeon's journal if the baby survived or if "safely delivered" refers only to the mother's immediate post-natal condition: "According to the Surgeon the catarrhal complaints were in a great mesure [sic] succeeded by sea sickness, confined state of the bowels and great bodily and mental depression, in one case [case no. 5, Mary Whelan] premature labour came on, in which safely delivered but the irritability of stomach continued and she died in a few days. He also stated that it was no uncommon thing for the Irish convicts to go from ten to sixteen days without having their bowels opened..." (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C11542195) --0--
From the "Ireland-Australia transportation database": Last name: WHELAN First name: MARY Full name: MARY WHELAN Sex: F Age: 25 Trial place: Queen's Co Trial date: 29/06/1848 Crime desc: Larceny Sentence: Transportation 7 yrs Document ref1: TR 8, p 252 (http://findingaids.nationalarchives.ie/). --0--
COMMITTAL & TRIAL: 21 June, 1848: Admitted to Queen’s County prison, Laois, Mary Whelan was prisoner #667, 25 years old, 5'2" tall with a fresh complexion, dark hair and grey eyes. She was single, and illiterate. She had been committed to stand trial on 21 June (Ireland, Prison Registers, 1790-1924 for Mary Whelan; Laois (Queen's) Queen's Co; 1848-1853). 29 June, 1848: Mary Whelan was convicted and sentenced to 7 years' transportation for stealing a gown (Ireland, Prison Registers, 1790-1924 for Mary Whelan; Laois (Queen´s) Queen´s Co; 1848-1853). Entries on her jail record suggest she had three or more previous convictions. 20 July, 1848: Mary Whelan was "transmitted to Dublin" to await transportation from Kingstown (Ireland, Prison Registers, 1790-1924 for Mary Whelan; Laois (Queen´s) Queen´s Co; 1848-1853). --0--