Anne (Love) McDonald (abt. 1834 - 1897)

Biography

Anne Love was born about 1834, in County Cork, Ireland, based on her listed age in 1851, when she was among 20 or so girls from the Cork Workhouse that sailed from Penrose Quay, Cork, over to Portsmouth, England.^[1] Once in Portsmouth, the Cork girls, almost all of whom were registered as being 17 years of age, along with some 130 workhouse girls from other Irish Counties, boarded the Calcutta heading for Van Diemen's Land; a journey which lasted from the 15th July 1851 until the 2nd November1851. ^[2]

It is not known if Anne, or, indeed, any of the girls, were ever asked, or if she, and they, were simply told she would be going to Van Diemen's Land, but she was one of about 300 or more females, mostly orphans, who travelled on two ships departing Portsmouth and heading a long way south, as a response to the government initiated "Female Immigration Society", a scheme established to address the shortage of young, marriageable-age, non-work-shy females in Van Diemen's Land.

Erin Weeps.

(Those in authority in Van Diemen's Land seemingly felt they had been short-changed by the cessation of the Earl Grey Orphan Scheme, so called, whereby some 4000 females of a similar age group had been shipped off to mainland Australia over the previous two or three years.)

At the end of the voyage, Anne was to be employed, and paid £7 per year, by Isaac Eynon Chapman of Warwick Street, Hobart.^[3]

Not quite a full eight years later Anne (who had somehow grown younger by two years) and James McDonald (a 24 year old a free emigrant) were married on the 30th May 1859, in the Church of St. Patrick, Jerusalem, Richmond, according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Holy Catholic Church, by License, in the presence of James Casey and Aime Casey.^[4] Anne was registered as a nurse-maid and James McDonald as a farm labourer. She could write; he made his X mark. James Casey, it seems, made the one X mark for himself and for Aime (presumably his wife, but possibly mother or sister). The officiating priest was E. I. (we think) Marum (we think).

A descendent of Anne and James claims that there were six McDonald children, four daughters and two sons, but only three of the daughters have so far been found (even using variations on spelling for the last name): Margaret (19 Jan 1862), Mary Ann (23 May 1864), and Ann (13 Sep 1867).

Anne passed away on the 2nd August 1897, at 129 Campbell Street, Hobart. She was recorded as 58 years, the wife of a labourer, from England. The cause of death was paralysis, bed sores and exhaustion. Dr E L Crowther attended.^[5]

What is interesting is that the passenger list has her as born about 1834 (which would have her age at death being 46 years), her marriage record as born about 1836, which would have made her 15 years old when she came to Tasmania, and her death record as born about 1839. What is even more interesting is the mention that she was from England. A sad statement of how much the anti-Roman Catholic and anti-Irish sentiment had affected so many over the years, to where they denied their own birthright.

No mention, so far, has been found of where Anne was buried, but her husband, James, who outlived her by only ten years, is buried in section CC, number 240 of the Roman Catholic portion of the Cornelian Bay Cemetery.^[6] It is to be hoped she lies there with him.

Sources

1. ↑ Birth year as calculated from the age as stated on the arrival document in 1851.
2. ↑ Tasmania Government immigration passenger list "Calcutta" 1851 Name: Love, Anne; Record Type: Arrivals; Arrival date: 04 Nov 1851; Ship: Calcutta; Remarks: age 17; Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1471905; Resource: CB7/13/1/1 p33
3. ↑ Page 40 of the same link for arrivals.
4. ↑ Tasmanian Government Libraries Tasmania Online search: Name: Love, Anne; Record Type: Marriages; Gender: Female; Age: 23; Spouse: Mcdonald, James; Gender: Male; Age: 24; Date of marriage: 30 May 1859; Registered: Richmond; Registration year: 1859; Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:860444; Resource: RGD37/1/18 no 627
5. ↑ Tasmanian Government Libraries Tasmania Online search: Name: Mcdonald, Ann; Record Type: Deaths; Gender: Female; Age: 58; Date of death: 02 Aug 1897; Registered: Hobart; Registration year: 1897; Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1142031; Resource: RGD35/1/15 no 1449
6. ↑ Tasmanian Government Libraries Tasmania Online search: Name: Mcdonald, James; Record Type: Deaths; Age: 77; Description: Last known residence: Moonah; Property: Cornelian Bay Cemetery; Date of burial: 30 Jun 1907; File number: BU 15679; Record ID: NAME_INDEXES:1557855; Resource: AF35-1-2 (BU 15679) AF70-1-30 (BU 15679)

• BDM registrations.