John Smyth

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Isabella Shiels – how she earned a living in Townsville

I’ve been wondering how Isabella earned a living when John died.  It turns out she worked as a Laundress.

I found the information on the QLD State Archives website (I searched under Images) and was looking at old photos when I came across the Townsville Orphanage Register files – which are scanned in as images.  isabella admitted two of her daughters, Annabella and Eliza, to the Orphanage in 16 Oct1886 (following her earlier admission of daughters Margaret and Annabella 6 Aug 1884 – 16 Apr 1886).  On the admission form, Isabella’s occupation is listed as ‘Laundress’.  So that’s it then – that is how she made a living -obviously not enough to support 5 daughters.

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William Smyth (b. 1856) – possible brother of John Smyth?

Last year I came across a birth certificate in the family records, and I initially thought it had been included in error.  The birth certificate was for a Mary Smyth, but it was clearly not Mary Jane Smyth (daughter of John Smyth and Isabella Shiels), as the date, parents and place of birth were different.  Then last week, the penny dropped – this was the birth certificate of a relative of Mary Jane.   It appears the father, William, might be John Smyth’s brother, and was living in Townsville.  If that is the case  then Isabella and her daughters might have had  family support after all when John died.

 

The birth certificate details are:

Child:  Mary Smyth b,  7 Feb 1887

Father:  Wiliiam  Smyth

Age 31 years

Birthplace:  Athy Kildare Ireland

Occupation:  Labourer

Birthplace:  Athy Kildare  Ireland

Mother:  Bridget Welsh

Age:  29 years

Birthplace:  Acies Queens County Ireland

Children living (of William and Bridget):

– William (1 year old)

Children deceased:

– 1 X Female

Witness to the birth:   Nurse – Mrs McDeregal

 

I suspect when Isabella sent her older daughters to the Townsville Orphanage, she might have placed her younger daughters with William Smyth and family (who probably couldn’t look after all 5 daughters).

I’ll investigate further when I get some time.

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Isabella Smyth (nee Shields)

Well I’ve received some new information on Isabella Smyth (nee Shields), mother of Mary Jane Raynor.

John and Isabella Smyth and their four daughters Martha, Margaret, Anna Bella and Eliza Jane departed Glasgow on 10 August 1882 on the ship “Stirlingshire” arriving in Townsville on 7 November 1882 (IMM/117) The Log entry states that John’s age is 32, Isabella 33, Martha 6, Margaret 3, Annabella 1, Eliza inf.  Their destination in Townsville was listed as ‘Mr Robinson, Milkman’. Possibly John had an assisted passage and was indentured to work for Mr Robinson.

John died on 16 December 1883 at the Townsville Hospital of dysentery.  This was just over a year after arriving in Townsville (arrived November 1882). Isabella was then five months pregnant. She would have been unable to work at this time, and there was no Government welfare assistance as there is today. So she must have had a very difficult time, and I had previously said in an earlier post that I wondered how Isabella fared.

Jane Mary Smyth was born on 10 April 1884.  Isabella was left to raise 5 girls on her own.  The new information I received was that Isabella admitted Margaret and Annabella to the Townsville Orphanage on 6 Aug 1884 and they were discharged to her on 16 April 1886.  On 16 October 1886 she admitted Annabella and Eliza.  Annabella was discharged on 11 May 1893 and Eliza on 7 August 1894. So Isabella probably did not fare too well in the earlier days in Australia.

Townsville Orphanage extract

Isabella had a tough life. John and Isabella probably came to Australia to escape poverty in Ireland. On arrival, John died, and Isabella would have spent many years working hard in low paid employment to make ends meet. When she couldn’t make ends meet, she had to put her daughters in the Townsville Orphanage. Her hard life must have taken its toll because she eventually died 12 April 1909 aged 63 years. In the last 7-8 years of her life she suffered an illness which eventually took her life.

Thanks for the information on Isabella, it does explain a lot.  While her life was difficult,it is credit to her that she managed to raise her daughters, and all went on to live good lives.  I know that Mary Jane and Joseph Raynor must have been a very unlikely match, but all the Raynors I’ve ever met turned out well, so Isabella must have done something right.

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Geneology research so far

I discovered family history can be researched through my local city library – they give access to various geneology databases if you are a member of the library – and I’m a member.  So I went a couple of weeks ago and did some searching, and here’s what I found:

Isabella Shields:

1.  Her actual name is Isabella Shiels or Bella Shiels.

2.  Another couple of her descendents have been researching family history (they appear to be descendents of Mary Jane’s sisters).  The other family researchers have created their own family trees on a well known family database, and like me, have hidden living descendent information on the tree.  The parts that were public show that Isabella Shield’s mother was Matilda Simpson, but there is no information on the father (so no new information).  Isabella Shiels year of birth is estimated to be 1849. Given there is no information on Isabella’s father (that I’ve located so far) , she might have been illegitimate.

John Smyth:

1.  Smyth appears to be the correct spelling, not Smith. 2.  He is estimated to have been born in 1846, and in Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.  (not Glasgow Scotland as I was originally told by my family).

Marriage of John Smyth and Isabella Shiels:

This is recorded in the Ireland Civil Registration of Marriages Index – date of registration – 1874 (this aligns with the marriage date of December 1873).

Rosa Cefaly:

I came across a database on Marriages in Palermo, Sicily (I searched for Marriages in Messina Sicily, and the Palermo database appeared – Palermo is a district near Messina on Sicily): Only one marriage listed that could possibly be Rosa Cefaly: Spouse:  Fr Lo Riunzo Marriage:  17 September 1863 Father:  Giovanni Cefulo Mother:  Rosa Arculeo Marriage place:  Citta, Palermo. However, I know that the database probably does not have every marriage that took place on Sicily, so I can’t be sure.