Arrival of Jeremiah & Letitia O’Brien

Jeremiah (age 31) and Letitia O’Brien (age 30) and their 4 daughters departed Cork, Ireland 7 December 1838 on the ship Aliquis, a total of 296 emigrants on board, destination Sydney, NSW. Our direct ancestor, Fanny O’Brien was just 5 years old when she arrived in Sydney on Saturday 16 March 1839 with her parents Jeremiah and Letitia, and sisters Maria (age 12), Bridget (age 6) and little Letitia (age 3).  They were among the 58 000 assisted or bounty immigrants (the government and/or employers paid all or part of their passage) arriving in NSW between 1837 and 1850, to boost the labour force, to correct the gender imbalance and to dilute the perceived convict ‘stain’ in the Colony. The Sydney Herald (Mon 18 March 1839, p3) reported that during this voyage on the Aliquis, there was some mutinous behaviour due to a disagreement between the first and second mates and ‘’had it not been for the good conduct of the emigrants, the consequences would probably have been serious’’.  Another report – see below (The Colonist, Wed 20 Mar 1839, p2) refers to the good health of all of the emigrants on arrival notwithstanding their affliction with ophthalmia (inflammation of the eyes/conjunctivitis) during the passage.  

Unfortunately for Jeremiah and Letitia O’Brien and family, they arrived in Sydney at a time of food scarcity, drought and unemployment. The Colony of NSW had been unable to grow enough wheat and corn for the colony’s consumption and due to the Government’s anti free trade stance, conditions were fast approaching famine status. The Government was forced to import emergency food supplies. On May 3 1839, the Aliquis took up a Government tender to bring back rice and flour from Calcutta but was wrecked on the way, in the Torres Straits. The Captain and crew were all saved and taken on to Calcutta. (Commercial Journal and Advertiser , Sat 10 Aug, 1839, p2).

The Assisted Immigrants Shipping list for the Aliquis provides more information about the O’Brien family.  Unfortunately, the list doesn’t tell us anything about Jeremiah O’Brien’s employment prospects in NSW. Many immigrants on the Aliquis had jobs lined up and their employers’ names and terms of employment were documented in NSW immigration records. Jeremiah may have had employment lined up but his prospects are recorded as ‘unknown’. Jeremiah, an illiterate Catholic farm servant (his father John was a farmer) arrived in Sydney age 31, (born approx 1808) in good health, native to Killaloe, County Clare. His wife Letitia, a needlewoman and day servant was also noted as being in ‘very good health’, Roman Catholic, and able to read and write.  According to these same records, Letitia was a native of Vaucluse, County Limerick, daughter to Nicholas Roche of the same place (Architect). We know very little about what happened to Jeremiah after his arrival in Sydney apart from the fact that Jeremiah and Letitia had 2 more children – Anna Matilda in 1842 and Edward in 1845. There are many Jeremiah O’Briens in NSW. I have searched exhaustively in Trove Australian Newspapers and the NSW, QLD and Victorian BDM index to try and match up or eliminate the various Jeremiah O’Briens according to age and family relationships. We know he had a nick name ‘Darby’ like many Jeremiahs in Ireland (from Diarmaid) because he is called ‘Darby O’Brien’ on his daughter Fanny’s Baptism record. What happened to Jeremiah/Darby O’Brien after his arrival in Australia?