Beautiful Shores

  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...

  Way back in May 1994- I spent 4 days driving around Ireland.  A day in the town of Ballymote was included, based upon a clue as to the origins of my 3 rd  great grandfather, Thomas Cavanagh. Thomas was tried at Sligo in March 1821 under the name of "Thomas Kaveny", and sentenced to 7 years for the crime of “house robbery.” He was a native of Sligo, his calling was a reaper, and he was described as aged 25, 5’ 6” tall, with brown hair, blue eyes and a fair and freckled complexion.  Thomas arrived in Sydney on the 15 March 1822, on the ship “Southworth”. Just prior to a planned visit to the UK, a distant cousin had told me in a brief phone conversation that she had found a request for Thomas to have his wife Mary, who was from a place called Emlaghfad, to be sent to join him in Australia.   Emlaghfad and Kilmorgan was a Roman Catholic parish in Sligo, and the parish has been re-named as Ballymote since my visit there.  Ballymote is an ancient market to...