Thomas Cavanagh (1797-1852) From Convict to Police Constable.

Thomas Cavanagh, (c1797-1852) was born in County Sligo, Ireland in about 1797 and died in Singleton, New South Wales, Australia in 1852.

The spelling of his surname varied, and has been included as it appeared on the records referenced in this summary.

Thomas Keveny was convicted at the March 1821 Assizes in Sligo for the crime of house robbery, and a sentence of 7 years transportation was handed down.

Thomas was aged 25, and was 5 feet 5 inches tall, with a fair and freckled complexion, brown hair and blue eyes. His occupation was a reaper. The inferred birth year was 1795.

He boarded the vessel “Southworth” on 24^th October 1821 at the Cove of Cork, and it departed on 18^th November for Australia. Thomas spent 9 days in the ship’s hospital with a fever, from 8^th -17^th November, when he was released as a convalescent. The treatment may have been worse than the complaint - with purging, head shaving and various medical remedies prescribed. The ship surgeon's report noted that Thomas then suffered with severe seasickness for several weeks.

After a stop in Tenerife for water and provisions, the ship arrived at Sydney Cove on 9^th March 1822. Only one of the 200 convict passengers and none of the crew died during the voyage.

Thomas Keeveny is recorded on a list of convicts dated 14 March 1822, landed from the "Southworth" and forwarded to Airds for distribution. Airds was the district for Campbelltown, which is now a suburb of Sydney, about 53km west of the central CBD.

He was reported on 30 March 1822 as having been "victualled" (provided with food) by Thomas Reddall for two days from 16 March 1822. Thomas Reddall had arrived in NSW in 1820, and was the first Anglican clergyman and magistrate for the district of Airds.

In the Convict Muster of September 1822, Thomas Cavenor was in the employment of John Warby, in Sydney. In 1825, he was recorded as Thomas Cavanagh, still employed by Warby, at Campbelltown.

Warby was a convict, then a constable, and later a guide and assistant to various exploration parties. He was born in about 1774, convicted at Hertford, England in 1791 of stealing two asses, and sentenced to transportation for seven years. He arrived in Sydney on the "Pitt" in 1792. 260 acres of land at Campbelltown had been granted to him in 1816, where he died in 1851. By 1826 he had eight convict servants and 800 acres of land in several locations. Although it isn't known how he treated his "convict servants," Warby was known to have a favourable relationship with the Aboriginal tribes of the Sydney region.

Thomas Cavanagh’s wife Mary and a child are listed in a despatch in 1823, which recommended specific convicts wives be sent to NSW at government expense, and the recommendation was made by Rev. J. J. Therry. Mary Cavanagh was then living in the parish of Emlaghfad near Ballymote, in Sligo. No further records have been found for Mary and the child in Sligo, and there are is no evidence to indicate that they joined Thomas in Australia.

Rev. John Joseph Therry made the same recommendation for a number of convicts. Therry was born in Cork, Ireland in 1790 and arrived in NSW in 1820. He was the only Catholic priest on the mainland between 1821 and 1826 and was known as an advocate for Irish communities in Sydney and Parramatta and surrounds. He worked to develop schools and parishes, including St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, where he was recognised as an Archpriest in 1858.

Thomas Kaveney received a ticket of leave on 1st April 1826, which allowed him to reside and find employment in the district of Sydney. His description at that date was - complexion ruddy, hair brown, eyes blue and 5 feet and 6 inches tall, with year of birth as 1800. He appears to be an inch taller since his conviction and his appearance has gone from fair and freckled, to ruddy.

A Certificate of Freedom was issued on 17 March 1828, under the name Thomas Keveny. The description was the same as in 1826, but the year of birth was recorded as 1797.

Thomas's brother had arrived on the “Sir Godfrey Webster” in January 1826, under the name Francis Keveney. Francis was convicted, aged 20, at Sligo on 15 March 1825 of "stealing heifers" and sentenced to 7 years transportation.

On 1^st April 1828, Thomas applied to have his brother (named as Francis Kaveney) assigned to him. The application stated that Thomas Kaveney was then a free man, a “housekeeper” in Sydney, of number 6 Market Street, having “the means of support and employment for an assigned servant.” The request was not granted.

Thomas Cavanagh was appointed as an ordinary constable to the Police Force at Parramatta on 7th April 1830. He was noted as "free", and appointed in the room of Morris MacArty, who was dismissed for Drunkenness and neglect of duty. Thomas held the position until he resigned on the 1^st November 1836. His brother Francis was also a Constable at Parramatta from 30th November 1830.

On 25 February 1833, Thomas Keveny, a constable belonging to the Police at Parramatta, gave a deposition - "that he arrived a Prisoner for seven years in this Colony in the ship Southworth in the year 1822, that he was tried at Sligo County in the month of March 1821, that the individual now present, who it appears is in the indent as Patrick Lehany, is not Lehany, but is James Commens, who was tried at the same assizes and on the same day as this Deponent was tried..." Thomas signed the deposition with his mark (X), indicating that he was unable to write.

Although no marriage record has been found, eleven children were born to Thomas Cavanagh and Mary Jane Coleman between 1830 and about 1850. Mary had arrived in Sydney with her mother and three sisters on 7 October 1828, to join their husband and father, James Coleman. James was convicted in Sligo of burglary and robbery in 1822, and arrived in NSW on the "Earl St Vincent" in 1823.

There may be gaps in the available Catholic records for marriages in early NSW, or perhaps Thomas and Mary Jane did not formally marry. Rev. Therry knew that Thomas was married when he arrived, which may have made a wedding difficult to arrange.

Thomas was employed as a Police Constable at Patrick's Plains (now Singleton) from at least 1841.

The Hunter Valley Directory 1841 has the following entries -
KAVANAGH, Thomas : Minimbah Lockup
KAVANAGH, Mrs Thomas (Mary Colman) : Minimbah Lockup
COLMAN, Mary see : KAVANAGH, Mrs Thomas

The inclusion of Mary's maiden name separately is interesting and I wonder if this was done as a matter of course in the directory, or if it is an acknowledgement of their marital situation.

Thomas died on 3^rd May 1852 and was buried in a family grave at the Catholic Cemetery on Queen Street in Singleton. The headstone records his age as 58. No death certificate is available as the event occurred prior to civil registration in NSW. The burial register for the parish of Whittingham, shows -

Thomas Cavanagh
Age 54 ; Residence- Singleton ; Occupation - Constable
Date of Death : Not recorded ; Burial 3 May 1852
Minister: Rev. John Rigney

Mary Cavanagh, widow of Constable Cavanagh, Patrick's Plains, was paid a sum of £47 16 3 from the Police Reward Fund in the year to 31 December 1853.

Police Reward Fund accruals were generally made for length of service and for entitlements as informers or for services. Penalties for neglect or violation of duty could be deducted.

An application was made to the Supreme Court of NSW on 1st September 1853 for letters of administration for the estate, by a creditor named Hugh Rabbits Craddock. Craddock was a District Councillor in 1850 and a spirits merchant in Singleton in 1852-1855.

Mary Cavanagh held the licence for the “Beehive Inn” in Elizabeth Street in 1861. No details of the claim by Hugh Craddock are available but I wonder if the Inn may have been established earlier. However the debt may have accrued from other commercial transactions - land or livestock are possibilities. A record from 1853 mentions Mrs Cavanagh's allotment in Elizabeth Street which may have been owned or leased, and Pound records indicate that the family owned various horses.

Mary Jane Cavanagh, formerly Coleman, Inn keeper, died at Singleton on 3 December 1867, aged 56 years. Her son Charles was the informant, and the certificate stated -

Married in New South Wales, date and age unknown, Spouse - Thomas Cavanagh.
Children - Bridget (dead), John 28, Francis (dead), Anne (dead), James 25, Thomas 24,

Patrick (dead), Charles 22, Anthony 21, Esther (dead), Matilda (dead).

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The Children of Thomas Cavanagh and Mary Jane Coleman -
Some birth dates are unavailable and are inferred from death records.

Still searching for some baptism, birth, death and other records.

Bridget Agnes               Baptised 9 Feb 1830 or 1831 St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney, by Rev J J Therry.
                                       Parents - Thomas Cavenagh, Mary Coleman. Residence - Sydney
                                       Sponsers- Patrick Gogan and Winifred Coleman (maternal aunt)
                                       Died 18 Sept 1855 SIngleton, aged 20 (inferred birth c1835)

John Frank                  Born c 1831 Parramatta
                                      Died 8 Nov 1919, aged 89 years and 9 months- inferred birth Feb 1830.

Francis                         Born c 1839 Sydney
                                     Died 3 April 1864 at Singleton, aged 24

Anne Amelia                 Born c 1839 Parramatta
                                     Died 16 Nov 1865 aged 26

James Born 4 Feb 1841 Minimbah Lockup, via Singleton

Baptised 31 May 1841 West Maitland RC, by J T Lynch
Parents- Thomas Kavanegh, Mary Colman. Sponsers- Thomas and Elizabeth Crouch

Thomas Henry Born 14 July 1842 Patricks Plains
Baptised 11 Jan 1843 West Maitland RC, by J T Lynch
Parents- Thomas Kaveney, Mary Coleman. Sponsers- Hugh McManus, Elizabeth Toole

Patrick Charles Born 9 Dec 1844 Patricks Plains
Baptised 11 April 1845 West Maitland RC, by J T Lynch
Parents- Thomas Keaveney, Mary Coleman.

Charles Patrick J Born c 1845
Died 28 Feb 1875 aged 29, inferred birth year 1845

Anthony John                Born 29 December 1846 Singleton
                                      Baptised 19 Feb 1847 St Augustus RC, by Michael A Stephens.
                                      Parents- Thomas Kevenagh, constable and Mary Coleman, of Patricks Plains.

Esther or Easter            Born 8 April 1849 "Esther"
                                      Baptised 27 May 1849 Singleton RC, by John Rigney
                                      Parents- Thomas Cavanagh, Mary Jane Cavanagh. Sponsers- Patrick Golden, Emelia Leary
                                      Died 15 June 1850 aged 14 months.
                                      First burial in the family grave, and recorded as "Easter Jane" on the headstone.

Matilda                    Details unknown.
                                      Listed last on mother's death certificate, possibly born after Esther, c1850.

Family Headstone at the Roman Catholic Cemetery, Queen Street, Singleton NSW

Headstone- CAVANAGH Easter 1850, Thomas 1852, Bridget 1855, Francis 1864, Anne 1865, Mary Jane 1867

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Summary of spelling variations of the Cavanagh surname included in the records -

Kaveny, Keveny, Keeveny, Keveney, Keaveney, Kaveney, Kavanagh, Kevenagh, Cavenor, Cavenagh, Cavanagh.

Descendants of Thomas now have the surname Cavanagh, and descendants of Thomas's brother Francis have the family surname of Cavanaugh.

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Thomas Cavanagh (1797-1852) From Convict to Police Constable.

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