Bridget O'Neill 1829 : Short Biography

Bridget O'Neill 1829

County Tyrone

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Place of migration

Migrated to/Born in Australia

Bridget O'NEILL was born about 1829 in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, the daughter of Hannah (unverified) and Daniel. At an early age the family relocated to Glasgow, Scotland, and it was in Glasgow that Bridget was convicted of housebreaking in 1842, and sentenced to seven years transportation. Bridget sailed from London in Septenber 1843 onboard the "Woodbridge", arriving in Hobart on 23rd December 1843, and assigned to masters in the Launceston area, She married Hugh HOLMYARD on the 30th July 1849 in St Andrew's Church Evandale and they had two children together. Following the birth of Hugh Arnold Holmyard on the 10th April 1865, the relationship between Hugh and Bridget appears to have been in trouble for reasons unknown, and Bridget reverted to her maiden name and became involved with another ex convict William Wright. William was employed as a labourer on the property of "Ridgeside" which is located north west of Evandale. Bridget had two daughters with William WRIGHT, the first, Elizabeth Mabel Wright was born 2nd November 1867 and the second, Eleanor on the 18th Sept 1870. She died in in about 1884 in the Hamilton area, Tasmania, at the age of 57. No definitive date or gravesite has yet been identified ( as at June 2021)

Additional Information
Date of Birth	1st Jan 1829 (circa)
Date of Death	1st Jan 1885 (circa)
Townland born	Tyrone, Northern Ireland
New Type	Nothing is known of Bridget's date or place of birth, or the identity of parents. Australian Convict Records state her native place as Tyrone, but it could be the wider area. Any assistance please.

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Hello,I would be interested to hear from you as we are researching families who left Killeeshil Parish in the 19th century, Eileen

Around the Heather's Edge

Monday 18th October 2021 11:10PM

Hi Eileen, Thank you for making contact, unfortunately the information I have on Bridget's Irish roots is very limited. I cannot confirm if the O'Neill family left Killeeshil Parish, although I note that it is a Roman Catholic Parish and the O'Neill's were Roman Catholic.

The earliest record I have is the Scotish Census of 1841 which records Bridget (12) and her brother Bernard (12) living with their parents Daniel and Hannah in Gorbals, Glasgow. Bridget was convicted of larceny in 1842 and the court records refer only to her place of birth as Tyrone, Ireland.

Bridget aged 13 was sentenced to 7 years transportation and sent to Tasmania.

Dont know whether this helps in your research, but if you have any potential information on O'Neill's in the Killeeshill parish that may have immigrated to Scotland around circa 1830 it would be appreciated

Kind regards

David