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

 

 

William Nibbs Part 4 -A New Life.

What happened to William from his release in 1836 until his marriage in 1845.   I can only assume he remained in the Westbury district being there at the end of his sentence.

William purchased an acre of land at Westbury in 1842 and probably continued to work as a farm labourer in that District. He possibly found employment with Rev. John Bishton. When Rev. Bishton came to Westbury in 1841, William was amongst the first 12 members of his Church. Rev. Bishton and his family went on to purchase land at Pardoe, near Torquay Reserve and Latrobe Reserve. It is recorded that William was his overseer here in the mid 1840’s.

Marriage:

On 22nd September 1845 William married Mary Ann Timoney at the Westbury Church of England. Rev. Bishton, being the officiating Clergy.

The Hobart Gazette on the 1st September 1845 records an approval of a marriage application for William and Mary Ann.   That day the Convict Department issued nine approvals of marriage, one being:   "William KNIBBS, free, and Mary Ann TUMENY, ‘East London’, in private service, both parties residing at Westbury"  

Pioneers of the North Coast.

William purchased an acre of land in Westbury, in 1842 and worked as an agricultural labourer  before and after his marriage to Mary Ann.

By 1856 the NIBBS family, now blessed with five children, had relocated to the newly established district of Port Sorell in Northern Tasmania.   I have conflicting information as to when the relocation actually took place, as the following points illustrate:

a)            Mary Ann was the informant for birth records of their children born in 1846, 1849, 1850 and 1852 and stated her residence as Westbury, indicating she was still living at Westbury until at least 1852.

b)            The Devonport Historical Society noted that William was the overseer of a large primitive property at Torquay (now East Devonport) owned by a Rev. John BISHTON in the mid 1840's and the 1850's.

c)            Local history book "With the Pioneers" by Charles RAMSEY states that a Frank NIBBS was the overseer of Rev. John BISHTON's property at Pardoe (which would be classed as part of Torquay) during the 1840's and 1850's.   The Corrigenda at the front of this book corrects the above Christian name to William.

I now know the reason Mary Ann remained in Westbury whilst William established himself at Pardoe.   She did not receive her Certificate of Freedom until 29th January 1850, and therefore was forced to remain there until that time.   Mary Ann and her young family were to join William, between 1850 and 1856

Their sixth child, born in 1856, was registered in the Port Sorell District, William being the informant and stating his occupation now as farming and residing at Folly Farm. Records of 1857 and onwards show William as a farmer (probably a tenant farmer) living at Pardoe. 

1867 MacPhails Directory of Tasmania, Port Sorrell District Directory.
Nibbs, William, farmer, Pardoe

William and Mary Nibbs continued to live in the Pardoe District [near Devonport, Tasmania]. They had 12 children and were involved in the local community. William was one of the 11 members of a committee setup in 1865 to develop the land and erect a bush chapel at Wesley Vale in Tasmania. Later he became one of 13 members who were the original trustees of the Wesley Vale Methodist Church.

In a quote from the Centenary Booklet for the Wesley Vale Church “When Mr Andrew offered the land for the building of the Church between Northdown and Wesley Vale, a committee was formed for the purpose, comprising Messrs Isaaac Scott, James Scott, Joseph Scott, William Clarke, William Banfield, John Piper, Eli Clark, Robert Lock, William Nibbs, Alexander Findley and James Spurr. This committee with the help of others cleared the land on Christmas Day in 1865 and the little bush chapel was opened in May 1866 by the Rev G. T. Heyward.”

Encounter with Bushrangers

Historian Charles RAMSEY, in his book "With the Pioneers", retells an account of four bush rangers who made an uninvited stop at Pardoe in 1848.   It gives a wonderful glimpse into William as an individual:

In January 1848, four bush rangers named John RILEY, Micheal ROGERS, Peter REYNOLDS and Patrick LYNCH, who were supposed to have absconded from the Fingal Depot, made their appearance in the neighbourhood of Port Sorell, their intention no doubt being to seize some vessel and effect their escape from the colony.

Four police constables who were in pursuit of them incautiously entered a hut occupied by a man named STARKEY on the 20th, and were immediately fired upon by the bush rangers, who shot one of the constable’s dead and wounded another.   The other two constables, after a vain endeavor to discharge their pieces, which were wet, escaped in the bush, and with the wounded man reached Port Sorell.

On the 21st at about 3am these outlaws entered the "Plough Inn" at Moorlands (near Pardoe) which was owned by John MOORE, and they stated that they were constables from George Town.   Upon gaining admittance, three of them presented their guns at Mr MOORE, and ordered him in his bedroom, where they tied him up, and they also rounded up both house and farm servants, and had them tied up as well.   They ransacked the house, but only got about 3 pounds in money, and after carousing a considerable time, they seized two horses and carried off a quantity of clothing, one gun, two watches, wine, spirits, etc.

They then went to Rev John BISHTON's farm.   His men were in the fields and were chased by the bush rangers.   NIBBS, the overseer, sent a man off to MOORE's and then went towards the house with a fork in his hand.   He was met by a man who told him to lay down the fork, which he did, but went up to the man and seized his gun and tried to take it from him.   He had nearly succeeded when the bush ranger pulled out a pistol and told him to let go.   A man named HART, coming to NIBBS' assistance, was snapped at four times, so he took to his heels and escaped.   The bush rangers entered the house and had tea, and when six men came up from MOORE's, they were seized, tied up, and the outlaws swore they would go back and shoot MOORE.   After brutally abusing NIBBS and others, they returned to MOORE's but not finding him there they proceeded to SMITH's.

The bush rangers moved on along the North-West Coast causing more havoc and late March made their escape to Kangaroo Island, South Australia, aboard an American Whaling ship.

The Rev. John BISHTON purchased his Pardoe property of 500 acres in 1843.   In 1850 records show that he also leased large areas of land in the vicinity of, and including "The Torquay Reserve", and in the vicinity of Latrobe Reserve.   It appears that William Nibbs was involved in the management of these additional areas also.   John BISHTON died in 1856 and that would probably have been about the time William took up tenant farming.   Many farmers had to lease land in the hope of one day being in a good enough financial position to purchase their own land.   William leased 100 acres at Pardoe from approximately 1862 to 1878.   The owner of this property was an H. REED of England.   Harold THOMAS' publication on "Northdown" shows this property to be situated on the coastline, opposite Moorlands Beach.   I have not yet delved into land records to see if William was ever able to purchase his own land.

Advertisement - IN: The North-West Post (Formby) Monday 31 May 1915
Tender to lease for 7 years - The Pardoe Estate
Under Instruction from Mr Hart, Messrs Alfred Harrap and Son Launceston, invite tenders returned by Wednesday June 9, for lease of the well-known Pardoe Estate for seven years. The property has been divided into three lots and tenders can offer for the whole estate or for a separate block. The total 800? Acres, subdivided as – 1.  Homestead block, 500 acres 2. Nibbs block, 265 acres 3.  Frontage to Northdown Road, 13

Death:

William died13 August 1884 in Launceston and was buried in the Charles Street Cemetery.

In: Daily Telegraph (Launceston) Thursday 14 August 1884, p.2.
NIBBS: On the 13^th inst. At his son’s residence, Lawrence Street, after a long and painful illness, Mr William Nibbs, late of Pardoe, in his 76^th year. His end was peace.

And from Brian/Colin NIBBS in Tasmania the following from the Family Bible

'Torquay Tasmania Pardoe June the 11th 1879 - I am this day 70 years old having been born June the 11th 1809 at Flackwell Heath Little Marlow Bucks England.  Mine has been a chequered life, but it has been one of much Mercy from a Merciful god and to him more than all his due'.

               

CREDITS
Much of the background research into William NIBBS and the Machine Breakers was done by others, namely Jill CHAMBERS, British Historian, Geoff SHARMAN, Tasmanian Historian and Bruce BROWN, Australian Historian.   Fortunately, over recent years the Machine Breakers of the 1830's and their part in British and Australian History has been recognized and much research undertaken by historians as to the causes of the riots, their lives before and after, etc.  
Geoff SHARMAN's website is well worth a visit for anyone interested in the Swing Rioters.