John Barrington was born about 1804 in Ireland and lived in Bennelsbridge, near Athy, Co Kildare, with his wife and five children. (They possibly lived in Tonlegee House, Athy, from J. Barrington, Ire). John was arrested in February 1837 for stealing "One Ewe Sheep" and tried at Kildare on the 23-3-1837 where he was found guilty and sentenced to transportation for Life. John spent some days in Athy Gaol where he appealed to the Governor of Ireland on the 28th March. (Go to John's Appeal) After that he was moved to Kilmainham Gaol, Co Dublin to wait for his ship, he was 33 years old. John Barrington sailed from Ireland on the 19-4-1837 on the "Calcutta" and arrived in Sydney on the 5-8-1837. He was assigned to Richard Rouse at Parramatta.
The Convict Indent for John Barrington (Indent No 288) says he is 35 year old labourer, can read, Protestant and married with 2 sons, 2 daughters. Native Place is Co. Kildare. He had no previous convictions. He is described as 5' 11" tall, dark sallow complexion, brown hair mixed with grey, hazel eyes. (While the Indent says 2 sons and 2 daughters, his appeal says 5 children. I wonder if Margaret is pregnant with the last child.)
The 1837 Census P26 lists him in the Windsor District. I don't know when he moved to the Mudgee district, but it's there that he received his Ticket of Leave, 16-9-1845 (45/1700), and his received a Conditional Pardon in 1848 (AONSW F834 P213). Mentioned in the NSW Govt Gazette 25-1-1850. I have looked in the Colonial Secretary’s Index hoping for more leads but he is not mentioned!
AONSW fiche no 801 page 158, has John Barrington's application to marry Mary Kearns who came free to the colony. Her maiden name is given as Kelly on Mary Eliza's birth certificate, her father’s name is James Kelly. They were married at St John the Baptist Cof E, Mudgee on the 19-3-1849, both are shown as having lost their previous spouses.
John Barrington died at "Yamble" on the 2-6-1864, aged 60 years. His age on his death certificate and on his daughter's birth certificate both point to 1804 as his date of birth. The death certificate also shows his children of his first marriage.
1) John Barrington b. 1804 Ireland d. 2-6-1864 "Yamble" Mudgee 60 years
mar 1. abt 1827 in Ireland to Margaret Burns (See Below)
mar. 2. Mary Kearns 19-3-1849 Mudgee d. 14-8-1860
As John was a convict, Permission to Marry (Consent of the Governor) was granted 6-3-1849.
John is 46, Mary 33, both state that they are widowed.
Children:
1. Theresa Jane b. 9-4-1851 bap 25-5-1851 (father is shown as a grazier of
"Yamble") mar. Alexander Jones 1872
2. Mary Eliza b. 6-8-1856 d. 1889 Dubbo
mar. 17-5-1878 St Luke's Church Gulgong
Thomas Whitney Weston b. 2-4-1857 Surry Hills d.1929 Gilgandra
Children: (See Weston Family notes for information on
Thomas)
1. Ethel Mary b. 1879 mar. FW Dowdle (See Dowdle Family
notes)
2. Thomas Barrington b. 1880 mar. Louisa H Dalmain 1906 Coonamble
3. Herbet J b. 1883 mar. Emma E Purdy 1904 Coonamble ?mar. 2 Eva P
Collison 1917 Gilgandra
4. Amy T b. 1885
5. Bertha b. 1887
6. Arthur E b. 1890 mar. Helena M Donnelly 1935 Dubbo
7. Lilly b. 1892 mar. Rupert L Edwards 1930 Forbes
8. Frank b. 1894
9. Maud E b. 1896 mar. Wallace J Conran 1923 Gilgandra
10. Alfred W b. 1899
At the moment I'm not sure what happened to his first wife, Margaret Burns or son William. They most probably died, victims of the Famine or the cholera epidemic of the same time which went through the Athy area (and other parts of Ireland). The 4 other children of this marriage came out on the "William Jardine" in 1849. All were Catholic and none could read or write. They went to their father and lived and married in the Mudgee district.
AONSW fiche 837 Wives and Children of Convicts on Bounty Ships
The muster of the "William Jardine", arrived Sydney 24-9-1849.
Barrington, Eliza 22, Jane 18, Maria 12, from Athy, Co Kildare, and Christopher 20, of Spinnersbridge, Co Kildare. The two oldest girls are farm servants, Christopher is a farm labourer. All are Catholic and none could read or write.
Marriages of the children of John Barrington and Margaret Burns
Eliza Barrington b. abt 1827 d. 1885 Gulgong, mar. George Inder 1853 C/E Mudgee (8 children)
Christopher Barrington b. abt 1830 d. 8-3-1862 Mudgee, mar. Sarah Stott, 1858
Mudgee (2 children).
After Christopher died in 1862, Sarah married John Williams in 1864
Jane Barrington b. abt 1831 mar. Isaac McKenna 2-2-1854 C/E Mudgee
"With the consent of the father of the woman." Neither Jane, Maria or Isaac
could sign their names.
No children found so far, nor death of Isaac
Jane Barrington mar. 1878 Gulgong (2nd marriage?) Charles Bird (3 children)
Charles Bird was a chemist in Gulgong, he had a second shop in Home Rule. There is a photo
of him in the Holtermann Collection of photos of Gulgong.
As yet I’m not sure that this Jane is John’s daughter or his niece ie
Christopher’s daughter. I have been contacted by a Bird researcher, it seems Jane
absconded and left Charles with the kids.
Maria Barrington b. abt 1836 mar. John Swords 1855 C/E Mudgee (8 children)
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