MARY ANN TIMONEY IN TASMANIA

When Mary Ann Timoney arrived in Australia on 21 September 1843 all female convicts were first sent to the Cascades Female factory for processing.

She would then have served her 6-month probation period at New Town Farm [Hobart] before being eligible for assignment to private service.

The convict record gives information about the convict’s sentence, transportation and any offences they committed during their sentence.
 
In: New South Wales and Tasmania, Australian Convict Musters, 1806-1849 
Year: 1846
Name: Mary Ann Timmy
Arrival 21 September 1843
Vessel: East London
Province: Tasmania
Title: Ledger Returns S-T
Place of Conviction: Tyrone
Sentence: 7 years [stealing a coat]
Remarks: Married to Wm Knibbs free

Convict Indent:
Convict No.        78378 
Name: Tumney, Mary
Trade: House Maid
Height without shoes: 5ft 1 inch
Age:       18
Complexion: Brown
Head:    Oval
Hair:       Brown
Whiskers: -
Visage: Round
Forehead: Small :
Eyebrows: Brown
Eyes:      Blue
Nose:    Short
Mouth: Small
Chin:      Small
Native Place: Tyrone
Remarks: None

 
Convict Record in the Tasmanian Archives CON40
Police No. 218
Name: Mary A Tumney
Vessell: East London
Arrived: 21 September 1843
Where tried: Tyrone [Northern Ireland]
When tried: 12 January 1843
Sentence: 7 years
Prosecutor Jane Totlow
Transported for larceny.  Gaol report:  Good.  Single. 

Mary Ann had been charged, with stealing a coat and sentenced to seven years transportation. She had one prior offence: "stealing potatoes".

Offences whilst in Service:

Stated this Offence …3^rd Class [Highest Class - eligible for full wage under probation system]

31 January 1844 - at New Town Station – Disobedience of orders - six days of solitary confinement at Cascades Female Factory, Hobart. Decided by PS (Penitentiary Superintendent)

*On the 26th January there was a riotous disturbance at the New Town Station. 9 women from the 'East London' were identified as 'ringleaders' but one of the female officers stated, "women at the station were very rioutous, they disobeyed the orders which were given to them, the majority of the women were in a state of mutiny".

TAHO, AC480/1/1

It is likely that this punishment is due Mary Ann's presence at this riot. 

19 April 1844 - AT / 2nd Class [Eligible for 2/3 of wage]

20 May 1844 - Current Master - Johnson /  Drunk - 10 days solitary confinement - Cascades Female Factory, Hobart] Decided by JP

21 October 1844 – Current Master - Parkes / Absent all night without leave - 14 days solitary confinement -Cascades Female Factory, Hobart. Decided by JP
 

 8 May 1845 Current Location - Launceston [signed Superintendent Launceston]

1 Sept 1845 – Permission to Marry
 

11 January 1849 – Current Master - Ashburner / Neglect of work and absent without leave - reprimanded and discharged.  [At this time, she was married to William Nibbs and 7 months pregnant with her 3^rd child.]
 

12 Jan 1950 -   Free by Servitude

Received Free Certificate 29 January 1850 

Most of Mary Anne’s indiscretions were committed in the first twelve months of her sentence so she did not receive any further time.
 
Johnson, Parkes and Ashburner mentioned in the offences list, were the masters Mary Ann was assigned to as a domestic servant.
A note at the bottom of the conduct record, ‘8 May 1845 Superintendent Launceston’ may be a clue as to when Mary was assigned to Ashburner. She was in private service at Westbury when her permission to marry was lodged.
 

William Page Ashburner was a wealthy settler/investor, Magistrate and Member of the Legislative Council who owned property in Tasmania and England. In the 1848 census there were 9 free and 9 bond persons, including 2 domestic servants, living at his property "Sillwood" at Carrick in the District of Westbury. I have been told that remains of an original farm building, built on a grant that was 4,560 acres (1,845 ha) in 1835 can still be found on the property.
 

To date, I have not found any information on Johnson or Parkes.

Permision to Marry:
Ref: AOT, CON 52/2 p. 99

1 September 1845
Tasmania, Australia
A request to marry William Knibbs, a former convict but then described as "free" was sent to the Colonial Secretary on 1 September 1845.

“William Knibbs, free, and Mary Ann Tumeny, East London, in private service, both parties residing at Westbury.”

Approval was granted.

Marriage Record:  

Name:  Mary Ann Timonoy
Spouse Name: William Nibbs
Marriage Date: 22 Sept 1845 in Church of England, Westbury, Tas.
Marriage Place:  Tasmania
Registration Place: Launceston
Registration Year: 1845
Registration Number: 2055

Clergy: Rev. John Bishton of Westbury

Rev. John Bishton, M.A.
Rev. Bishton was an early pioneer of Westbury, a visionary and a philanthopist. In 1840, he was appointed as the first Rector of St. Andrew’s Church of England, Westbury.

In 1840, he purchased 8 acres of land and then, in 1841 another 7 acres at Westbury which he subdivided into smaller lots and resold to Ticket of Leave men for a modest price to give them a fresh start in the Colony.  Two of the streets in this area, which he named St Giles, (locally known as “Hell’s Kitchen”), were called William and Mary Street. In 1843, he purchased 500 acres of farmland near Port Sorrell ‘Pardoe’ to the west of Mr Wright’s estate. William was his farm overseer in 1848 when bushrangers made an appearance at the property. Rev. Bishton also leased large areas of land in 1850, near the Torquay Reserve and in the vicinity of the La Trobe Reserve.  He came to live on his estate near Pardoe in 1854. William Nibbs was his overseer and assisted with all the properties. Rev. Bishton died at Evandale in Feb 1857 whilst trying to break up a fight by drunken men in a paddock near the church. He is buried at the St. Andrew’s Church of England Cemetery in Evandale. His son John Bishton and his daughter Laura Bishton also took up land in the Devonport area.

 

Westbury and Port Sorrell
Westbury was surveyed and marked in 1823 and the town was laid out in 1828. It was settled by a detachment of troops. It was planned as a convict settlement and a town that was to receive veterans from the Napoleonic Wars. Convicts were to prepare roads and open the land to the West. Settlers were to be helped to develop land and the VDL Co., was to be assisted to use its vast holdings more fully.

In 1836 there were 14 Constables, 175 Free men, 52 free women, 307 male convicts and 10 female convicts here. 

William Nibbs received his free pardon (no. 159) on 5^th April 1836.

The current RSL building in Westbury was originally the prison and solitary cells, where William would have spent some time. The solitary cells are now used as wine cellars.
 

In 1837 the minutes of the Launceston Methodist Church records that ‘preaching commence at Westbury and Rev. J A Manton be requested to visit as soon as possible’. 

The first 12 church members included William Nibbs, who became a Methodist Lay Preacher.

In November1842, six years after receiving his freedom, William purchased an acre of land in Dexter Street, Westbury for 17 pounds 10 shillings, from Thomas Wright. William and Mary may have lived here after she was discharged from Ashburner in 1849. Mary had to stay in the Westbury area until she was free too, so she may have been assigned to her husband William Nibbs.

Their sixth child, Susannah was registered at Wesley Vale, so sometime between 1850 and 1854, Mary joined William at Pardoe and lived there until her death, following childbirth, in 1867.

 

Children of Mary Ann Timoney and William Nibbs:

 Mary Ann Nibbs - 21 June 1846 (Westbury, Tas.) -2 March 1925 (Lilydale, Tas.)

 Elizabeth Nibbs - 23 Nov 1847(Westbury, Tas.) - 24 Jan 1883 (Pardoe, Pt Sorrell, Tas.)

 John Nibbs 23 March 1849 (Westbury, Tas.) – 9 Sept 1894 (Duck River, Tas.)

 Sarah Nibbs - 15 Sept 1850 (Westbury, Tas.) – 7 June 1932 (Hobart, Tas.)

 William Nibbs - 22 July 1852 (Westbury,Tas.) -14 January 1918 (Launceston, Tas.)

 Susannah Nibbs - 28 Dec 1854 (Wesley Vale, Tas.) - 4 Oct 1938 (Devonport, Tas.)

 Francis Nibbs - 5 July 1856 (Port Sorrell, Tas.) – 28 Jan 1916 (Latrobe, Tas.)

 Job Linton - 13 Oct 1857 (Port Sorrell, Tas.) – 29 Nov 1941 (Devonport, Tas.)

Thomas Henry - 16 Aug 1859 (Port Sorrell, Tas.) -31 August 1947 (Enfield, NSW)

James - 5 March 1861 (Port Sorrell, Tas.) – 11 Oct 1899 (Kindred, Tas.)

Catherine Laura -18 July 1863 (Port Sorrell, Tas.) – 30 March 1891 (Evandale, Tas.)

 Alice Nibbs 22 Feb 1867 - (Port Sorrell, Tas.) – 25 June 1867 (Port Sorrell, Tas.)

 

Death:

IN: The Cornwall Chronicle (Launceston, Tas.) Saturday 23 March 1867. P 4

Family Notices

On the 22nd of Feb., at Pardoe, by Torquay, Mary Ann, the beloved wife of William Nibbs, aged 39 years, leaving a sorrowing husband and 12 children to mourn her loss.

Burial:

Mary Ann Nibbs (nee Timoney) was buried on the property at Moorlands (Pardoe) in an unmarked grave.

Death Record:

Name:  Mary Ann Nibbs

Birth Year:   Abt. 1828

Age:            39

Death Date:   22 February 1867

Death Place:  Tasmania

Registration Year:   1867

Registration Place:   Port Sorell, Tasmania

Registration Number:   384