3 December 1841: Jane Feeney arrives in New South Wales with her daughters, Eliza and Ann

Today's one hundred and eighty years since the arrival in Sydney of our many times great-grandmother, Jane Feeney (nee Baker or Bourke), and her older daughters, Eliza and Ann, on board the Columbine.  They where three of the two hundred and sixty three "bounty immigrant" who'd left Liverpool, England on 20 August 1841. 

The bounty reward scheme ran from 1835 to 1841. Immigrants were selected by colonists who paid their passage. When the immigrant arrived, the same or another colonist would employ them. Colonist were then reimbursed by the government for all or part of the cost of the passage. 

Jane and her girls were bought out by Messrs Aspinall, Brown and Company who it appear were heavily involved in bringing immigrants to New South Wales. Their immigration records are attached but the task remains to transcribe their details and find out more about their lives and employment in Sydney.

The three are shown as "unmarried female immigrants" but Jane was almost certainly a widow and older than 29 given that her girls' ages are recorded as 17 and 15. 

Using DNA to reconnect Jane with her five children has been one of the greatest thrills in my family history journey. My AncestryDNA match with a descendants of Jane's son Thomas was the key to unravelling this mystery.  And her name is Elizabeth Anne, my fourth cousin once removed.

You can read more HERE.




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