Details Page

Participant Info

First Name

Mary

Surname

Barnes

Native Place

Ballinare [Ballina], Mayo

Age On Arrival

17

Parents

Matthew & Catherine (both dead)

Religion

Roman Catholic

Ship Name

Panama (Sydney 12 Jan 1850)

Details

Shipping: house servant cannot read or write, no relatives in colony.Empl. W Lowe, William River, £8, 12 months; Im. Cor. 50/37, 17 Jan 1850 Maitland. Had fits - surgeons report 4/1149.1, 50/1331 - was in Ballina workhouse 12 months, entered aged 18. SRNSW 4/1149.1, Memo 9769, Dublin 18 Sep 1850 & reported in 'Ballina Chronicle', 4 Sep 1850: 'Poor Law Commission Office, Dublin, 24 Aug 1850 that she was 'afflicted with fits' and 'the Surgeon Superintendent states that one of the girls sent out from the above Union, named Mary Burnes [sic], is afflicted with fits, which, he is convinced, she has been subject to for years, if not from her birth, and he observes that he feels assured that she will never be able to obtain a living'. The Commissioners have addressed the Medical Officer of the Workhouse on the subject, in reference to his examination and certificate as to this girl who entered Ballina Workhouse on 13 Sep 1848, left for Sydney on 20 Sep 1849... never aware she suffered fits.rn

Story