The policeman went upstairs and examined the bundle, came back and said, ‘Ma’am, you have done the right thing. I believe the bundle in your room is property stolen from a Mr Marr in Castlereagh Street, which we have been looking for. We have captured the culprits and that is why they have not returned to their lodgings. We will need you as a witness in Court.’
The police advised Eliza that she and Nicholas would need to visit the police station to make a formal statement and attend as witnesses at the sitting of the Supreme Criminal Court where the matter of the burglary would be heard. The policeman left with the bundle.
Eliza and Nicholas were relieved they had not been accused of anything to do with the crime. What was not so clear was the outcome for Mr Redmond, who had taken some of the stolen fabrics from the room. The police were to continue to further investigate the matter.
The next morning, the 3 January, Eliza was interested to find the original crime reported in the Australian newspaper:
An extensive robbery was committed on the night of Thursday last upon the house and premises of Mr Marr situate in Castlereagh street. The robber is said to have gained entrance into the house by means of a ladder placed against the first storey window which was not securely fastened at the time. The sash was lifted up and the thieves entered. This is supposed to have occurred between the hours of nine and eleven o’clock at night. About twelve o’clock Marr awoke with a noise overhead; he got up in haste and proceeded to the apartment from whence the noise had issued, but saw no one. However on examining the room, he found that property was carried off to the amount of £210. About £50 worth was subsequently found by the constables in a paddock a short distance from the house. It would appear the thieves made a second visit when they were overheard by Mr Marr.’
Eliza was relieved the article made no mention of her involvement. She decided to monitor the newspapers closely so she would be aware of all the issues that may impinge on her and her family. The story got further play in the Saturday edition of the Sydney Gazette on 6 January 1827:
Five persons, namely Charles Gilliver, James Barlow, John Redmond, Samuel Cooley and Mary Lawrie, have been fully committed to take their trial for the robbery at Mr Marr’s.
The date was set for 5 February. Samuel Cooley was exonerated and did not face trial. Charles Gilliver and James Barlow stood indicted as principals.
A number of witnesses were called, including Elizabeth Nerney, following which the jury retired.
The jury found each of Gilliver and Barlow (alias Yates) guilty. They were sentenced to death by hanging.
John Redmond was tried separately for stealing the piece of calico and muslin from the premises of Elizabeth Nerney. He was found not guilty.
The trial was extremely stressful for the Nerneys. In two years they had been subjected twice to the police and courts. Neither was their fault.
‘Nicholas, I cannot go on living in town any longer,’ said Eliza. ‘We are at the beck and call of events over which we have no control. It is not fair on the girls. In the future we could be arrested at any time. We need to go somewhere safer.’
Shortly after this conversation the opportunity arose to manage Bellevue.
30.
Anastasia and William Tie the Knot
SYDNEY TOWN, 1827
As spring 1827 was turning to summer, William and Anastasia’s daughter Elizabeth was almost two years old. Anastasia was pregnant again and was expecting her second child in April 1828.
Anastasia was now seventeen. While she and William reported themselves as married in the annual musters they had not formally wed. To be unmarried and cohabiting was not in line with the moral attitudes of the times. Sydney was growing up and the nature of relationships in the past would not do in the city of the future. Anastasia and William wanted their children to be accepted into the general society of the town and for them not to be known as bastards. It was time to formalise their relationship.
As Anastasia was not technically an adult they needed her father, Tommy O’Neil, to consent to the marriage. Tommy was only too pleased to see his daughter married but in a Church of England he was not so sure.
Nevertheless, William and Anastasia married at St Philip’s Church of England at Church Hill. The church was located between York, Clarence and Jamison streets, only a short walk from where they lived. All the family and friends attended, including Barney and Margaret Kearns, and George Atherden.
They had chosen as the witnesses to their marriage some friends, William and Bridget Burke. William Burke was an exciseman by occupation whose function it was to assess and collect excise on importations of alcohol. His wife, Bridget Burke, was well known to Anastasia’s two sisters, as she had been a passenger on the same ship, Woodman, to Sydney.
The day of the wedding arrived Monday 1 October 1827. The Chaplain, William Cowper, solemnised the wedding.
31.
Poor Terence Rooney
SYDNEY TOWN, 1828
Terence Rooney and his younger brother Owen arrived in the colony on 12 July 1828. They had been transported from Cork, Ireland, on the Borodino, along with 198 fellow convicts. Terence had been convicted of picking pockets, Owen of vagrancy, and both had received a sentence of seven years’ transportation. On arrival Terence and Owen were respectively twenty-one and fourteen. Terence was placed in Sydney Town, but Owen was sent to one of the harshest places of interment, Norfolk Island. Norfolk Island had been reactivated as a penal colony since the Thompsons had been forced to leave in 1807.
Mary Ann and Thomas Brown had been seeking a servant from the pool of indentured convicts. Terence Rooney was their choice. The terms of indenture required that while the Browns were liable for food and board, they were not liable for wages. As well as Rooney’s free labour, the Browns received an allowance in cash from the government against the cost of keeping Rooney. Terence Rooney, when indentured to the Browns, had relative freedom of movement as long as he carried a pass. His alternative was imprisonment at the Convict Gaol that had been established in 1820.
It was a mid-winter Sunday evening on 17 August 1828. Tommy O’Neil was staying with his daughter and son-in-law, catching up on news and enjoying his granddaughters Sarah, Charlotte and Amelia, who ranged in age from one to three. From Tommy’s perspective the three-year-old was a lot more fun than the younger ones. Terence Rooney’s assistance with the day-to-day chores was taking pressure off the household, and there was time for the family to relax together and enjoy each other’s company.
It was about quarter to six in the evening. It was dark outside with a chill wind blowing from the south. The family had finished their evening meal and Terence had cleaned up and washed the dishes.
‘Terence,’ called Mary Ann.
‘Yes, Ma’am’, replied Terence from his own room.
‘There’s nothing more you need do tonight. Go out and have a bit of fun. Make sure you have your warmest clothes on. It’s very chilly outside. Also be careful of the military, they’re a law unto themselves.’
‘Thank you, ma’am, I’ll take my coat and be careful.’
‘Make sure you are, now. Be on your way and don’t be out too late.’
‘Two hours, ma’am, that’s all.’
With Rooney’s Indenture certificate he was permitted to roam the town as if he were a free man. The last thing he did before he left was check that his certificate was in his pocket.
The family passed the evening playing cards. The children had been put to bed and all was quiet. Mary Ann had packed up her knitting for the night and it was approaching the time for bed.
Mary Ann preferred to stay up until Rooney returned. She liked to have everything settled before she could relax and go to bed. It was past time for his return. Two hours became three and then four. By 9pm Mary Ann was annoyed. By 10pm she was worried.
‘Daddy, what do you think?’
‘He has probably lost track of time and had too many whiskeys.’
‘But this is most unli
ke him. He has always been home at the agreed time. Could you and Tom go and look for him and make sure he is all right?’
‘Let’s give him another hour and then we can try and find him in all the likely taverns.’
They waited the further hour and still there was no sign of him. The men went out while Mary Ann knitted and waited.
After another hour, the men returned without Terence.
‘We searched everywhere, all the likely taverns,’ Tom told her, ‘but no sight of him.’
‘Quite possibly he took up with a woman and has fallen asleep,’ Tommy contributed. ‘He will most probably turn up contrite in the morning.’
‘Well, there is nothing else we can do tonight. Time for bed.’
Early the following morning there was a loud knock on the door. They looked at each other, assuming Terence Rooney was on the other side of the door. However, a loud voice announced, ‘Foot Police here, please open the door.’
Tommy opened the door.
‘Sir,’ said the constable. ‘We have a body at the hospital. He had the indenture certificate for a Mr Terence Rooney in his pocket and we traced him to this address. Can someone come to the hospital and identify him please?’
‘I will do that.’ said Tommy. The officer asked him some questions, to which Tommy responded in a calm voice.
‘Thank you, sir.’
By this time Mary Ann had come to the door. She was shocked. ‘Can you tell us what happened?’
‘Ma’am, as yet we do not have a lot of details. But I’ll tell you what I know. It appears Mr Rooney died from a bayonet thrust into his back.’
‘Then it was a military man,’ suggested Mary Ann.
‘Ma’am, we don’t know that yet. We’re still getting evidence.’
Tommy went with the constable to identify the body. He confirmed that the body was indeed that of Terence Rooney.
They heard nothing more from the Foot Police for a couple of days. Tommy continued to stay just in case he was required for further questions and to provide support for his daughter.
Tommy was surprised to see a notice dated Tuesday 19 August 1828, just two days following Rooney’s death, issued by the Colonial Secretary’s Office which read as follows:
I, The Governor, do hereby offer a REWARD of ONE HUNDRED POUNDS to any Person who shall discover the individual who wounded the said Terence Rooney, as aforesaid so that he may be apprehended, and convicted of the MURDER. And I do hereby further promise, to any Soldier who shall point out the said Offender, that, over and above the said Reward, he shall receive his Discharge, and be permitted to return to England, if he should be so inclined.
Given under my Hand and Seal, at Government-House, Sydney, this Nineteenth Day of August, in the Year of Our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, Ralph Darling.
The Sydney Gazette when it published the proclamation the following day provided further information on the events of the night:
Terence Rooney, per Borodino, was attacked in George-street, Sydney and was then mortally wounded with a bayonet by some Soldier, belonging to one of the Regiments in Garrison, but whose Name is at present unknown.
O’Neil read the story out to Mary Ann and said, ‘You were right, my girl, it was a soldier’s bayonet that killed Rooney.’
‘Oh, the poor man. He was such a nice fellow and so young. I wonder what provoked the soldier to do this to him?’ replied Mary Ann.
‘There is no good speculating. We’ll find out in good time.’
The Governor’s proclamation had the desired effect and shortly thereafter three soldiers were arrested: John Geeson, John Herbert and William Walsh. All were privates of the 39th Regiment attached to the Barracks at Hyde Park.
The prosecution moved quickly. The Court convened on Friday 29 August, only twelve days after the death of Rooney. O’Neil and Mary Ann attended with the primary purpose of trying to understand what had led to the death of Rooney.
The Attorney General informed the jury, ‘The three prisoners stand indicted. Geeson was the principal and Herbert and Walsh were accessories to the wilful murder of Terence Rooney.’
The defendants all pleaded not guilty.
The Attorney General continued, ‘It will appear before the gentlemen [the jury] in the course of evidence that on Sunday the seventeenth of the current month, several inhabitants were going along George Street towards the wharf not far from the south gate. It was then that an altercation took place between the inhabitants and some soldiers that proceeded from words to blows. Upon one party gaining an advantage the soldiers drew out their bayonets and assaulted, not only their immediate antagonists, but all persons indiscriminately. In fact, people in general walking along the street. It so happened that a man of the name Terence Rooney became a victim of their fury. It will be proved that the deceased came to his death by the hands of Geeson, one of the prisoners at the bar, assisted in the felony, however, by the other two prisoners.’
When the prosecution was completed, the prisoners were each called to state whether they had anything to offer in their defence.
Geeson said, ‘I know nothing at all about the murder, not a half a penny worth.’ His associate Herbert said, ‘I know nothing at all about it, from beginning to end.’ Walsh could think of no better words and repeated the statement.
The judge summed up the case, reminding the jury to divest their minds of any bias in favour of the prisoners on account of them being soldiers. Further, that the life of Rooney, having been a prisoner of the Crown, was no less sacred in the eye of the law. He reminded the jury that Rooney had given no provocation and that Geeson had ‘seemed in deed to have attacked in his fury all that came his way.’
The judge then had the jury retire to come to a verdict.
‘We can not bring Rooney back, my sweet,’ muttered Tommy to Mary Ann, ‘but at least he can rest assured that the murderer should be brought to account for his crime.’
‘Yes, Daddy. It has been a very sad but a very interesting day. I hope for Terence’s sake that he does get justice. The judge seemed strong in his view of the evidence but the jury might not be so inclined. What is the life of a convict worth?’
‘I think the judge made that fairly clear, but we will see.’
They did not have long to wait. The jury returned in fifteen minutes and brought in a verdict of ‘justifiable homicide’ against Geeson. The Attorney General stood and ordered, ‘the three prisoners be removed to gaol for the night.’
Tommy and Mary Ann were confused. What did this all mean? Had they got off with Rooney’s murder? However, they felt reassured that the prisoners were in gaol for the time being.
The court resumed eight days later on 6 September to bring down the sentences on the accused. Tommy and Mary Ann were again in attendance. Mr Justice Dowling passed sentence on John Geeson. It was a long and detailed summing up. When it was over Tommy and Bridget left the court and returned to Mary Ann’s home.
Tom was keen to know the outcome. ‘Well, tell me what happened?’
‘The conclusion,’ Tommy said, ‘was that the judge gave the severest sentence he could for manslaughter; that being “transportation to such penal settlement as His Excellency the Governor shall direct and appoint, for the term of his natural life”.’
‘So what does that mean?’
‘That was not spelt out. It is up to the Governor. He may stay here or some other dreadful penal colony, such as Norfolk Island or Van Diemen’s Land,’ replied Mary Ann. ‘But one thing the judge did say was that Geeson was very lucky not to be hanged. If it had not been due to the fact that the jury took a merciful view towards the defendant, the judge stated that Geeson would have had the rope.’
With the matter of Terence Rooney’s death having been dealt with by the court, life for Thomas and Mary Ann Brown resumed normality. They now needed to look for a replacement.
32.
Surveyor Meehan’s Past Deeds Come Home to Haunt
MIDDLE HARBOUR, 1828
Through acts of violence and declarations of martial law against the Aboriginal population, the colony had expanded exponentially. Farms spread far and wide from Sydney. In the south there were farms at Yass and in the west at Gulargambone, with the Hunter Valley and beyond populated by settlers, leaving the surviving Aboriginal people marginalised and most often partly dependent on the settlers for survival.
Many settlers now resided around the Lower North Shore, in areas that would eventually be named Balgowlah, Seaforth, Mosman, Cremorne and Neutral Bay.
Bungaree and his people decided to leave Middle Head for the Governor’s Domain. They left behind a peach orchard and vegetable garden. Tommy and Barney had often enjoyed swapping produce with their neighbours and were sad to see them go, but Bungaree’s health was failing and he could get more support in town. They farewelled each other warmly.
Barney Kearns, meanwhile, had struck on a new idea to earn a few pennies.
He had established an unapproved ferry service that operated out of Shell Cove (later renamed Chinamans Beach) and went to and from Clontarf beach. It was a necessary service as there was no other way, other than a long boat trip, to quickly reach the Lower North Shore from places across the Middle Harbour waterway.
Barney had set up a flag on the Clontarf side of the The Spit that he could see by walking along the beach to the headland from Hunters Meadows. A raised flag indicated a passenger requiring his ferry. When he noticed the flag fluttering from the top of the pole he would make his way to Shell Cove. He would then row across and ferry the passengers and, sometimes livestock, across the waterway from Clontarf to Shell Cove. Barney was pleased as it gave him some small amount of income.
While Governor Macquarie had not been impressed with Tommy’s block of land, new settlers were very impressed with it. As new people arrived at the beach, Tommy was continually faced with enquiries. As a consequence he paid a visit to the Surveyor’s Office in Sydney.
The Tailor and the Shipwright Page 22
