Sarah (Dwyer) Byrne (1774 - 1872)

Born 1774 in Dublin, Ireland

Wife of Hugh Vesty Byrne — married 26 May 1799 in St Nicholas Dublin, Ireland

Descendants

Died 2 Jan 1872 at about age 98 in Campbelltown, New South Wales, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Rhonda Scoullar [send private message], Kerry Foley [send private message], Edwina Cowdery [send private message], and Evie Farrell [send private message]

Biography

Sarah Dwyer, daughter of Phillip Dwyer and Mary ^[1] was probably born around 1778 ^[2] or possibly later.

She arrived in NSW in 1806, with her husband Hugh, cousin of the 'Wicklow Chief', Michael Dwyer and four children. ^[3]

Sarah was aged 50 at the time of the 1828 census in NSW, when she was living at Airds with her husband Hugh, also aged 50, and children Charles, 19, Bridget 17, Mary 15, James 10, Silvester 5, Winifred 5, Elizabeth 4 and Rose, aged 2. ^[2]

She died on 2 Jan 1872 at Campbelltown. ^{[1] [4]}

Transcript of Obituary Freeman's Journal , Saturday 20 January 1872, page 6
DEATH OF A VERY OLD COLONIST. On the 2nd instant a very old and respected resident of Campbelltown departed this life in her 98th year.

Mrs. Sarah Byrne who emigrated to this colony with her husband Mr. Hugh Byrne in the year 1802, during the ad-ministration of Governor King ; being at that time twenty- eight years of age and a mother four children, born in Ireland. Mrs. Byrne, it will be manifest, was not behind hand in obeying the Divine injunction, for she succeeded in rearing a large family consisting of five sons and nine daughters, the latter of whom were well and respectably married. The old lady had the satisfaction of seeing her grand children of the fourth generation before she exchanged a terrestrial for a more perfect and spiritual existence. Her great- great grand children are eight in number.

The writer of this notice had been for many years a near neighbour of Mrs. Byrne, and therefore had numerous opportunities of conversing with her on various subjects, but more particularly on those eventful and exciting in-cidents that occurred during the period antece-dents her departure from her nativeland. Up to a short time previous to her death her faculties were in full vigour ; her memory remarkably tenacious, relating remote events which came within her own experience while in Ireland with a freshness and accuracy as to names and dates wonderful in a person of her advanced period of life. The wrongs of Ireland were her chief and most deeply sympathising with her country people, her mind was entirely free from, and uncontaminated by, any unreasonable feeling of animosity towards Englishmen. She led a pious, useful life. Some time before her death, she received the full rights of her church. Her mortal remains were interred in the family vault at St. John's Church Campbelltown, and her funeral, which was a very large one, comprised persons of various denominations.

Research Notes

An alternative date of birth of 1774 is based on her obituary, which states she was aged 28 in 1802, and 98 when she died, however this is likely not to be correct as her youngest child was baptised in 1826, also other sources say that she arrived in Australia in 1806.

The date of birth based on her age at the 1828 census, may still only be approximate as both Sarah and her husband were supposedly aged 50, and he was probably older than that.

No more info is currently available for Sara Dwyer. Can you add to her biography?

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} NSW Death Index. BYRNE Sarah 3586/1872 F=Philip M=Mary Campbelltown. Accessed at NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Ancestry.com. 1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (TNA Copy) [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Sarah Byrne
3. ↑ Wikipedia Article Michael Dwyer
4. ↑ Australia Trove. Freeman's Journal. 20 Jan 1872. Obituary - Mrs Sarah Byrne

WikiTree profile Dwyer-87 created through the import of Scoullar Family Tree dec07.ged on Jul 10, 2011 by Rhonda Scoullar. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Rhonda and others.