History of Ellen Maloney and Patrick Ryan
Bill’s Maternal Grandparents
Sadly, and unlike six of Bill and Irene’s grandparents, I don’t have a photo of either Ellen or Patrick. If anyone has one, please let me know using the contact details here here.
Patrick’s date of birth is given as either “about 1822” or about “October 1822”. His birthplace was in Country Tipperary in Ireland, and from what I’ve found so far, the actual place may either have been Thurles or Cordangan. I’m guessing that some of that information may have derived from his Baptismal information shown below, and not his birth records.
Patrick Ryan’s baptism information
Patrick’s Father was Jeremiah Ryan, and his Mother was Mary Carroll, both born 1790.
Ellen Maloney’s date of birth is generally given as “about 1825”, and she was born in Cooneen, Tipperary, Ireland, which was not that far from where Patrick was born. In the early 1800’s, I guess if you couldn’t find a partner locally, you didn’t find a partner at all.
Ellen’s Father was John Maloney, and her Mother was Margaret Quirk.
Both Patrick and Ellen were able to read and write, a fact that was important enough to be included on their departure document shown below.
Ellen was sentenced to 1 month in prison in Ireland after having been convicted of disturbing the peace. As you’ll see below, in the most consistent and beautiful handwriting you’ll see, Ellen’s age is shown as 15, which may mean that rather than her birth year being around 1825, it could possibly have been 1824. Not that it makes a big difference to her story.
Record of Ellen’s conviction for Disturbing The Peace in 1939
These were difficult times, as this was right in the middle of the Great Irish Famine, which ran from 1845 to 1852. The famine was caused by a potato blight that infected and destroyed entire potato crops. Prior to the famine, the population of Ireland had been more than 8 million people, but by the time the famine had passed, over 1 million had died mainly from starvation, and over 2 million had left Ireland, with most of those never to return. For a personal account of the effect of the famine, click here.
Patrick and Ellen were amongst those who decided to leave Ireland, and head to New South Wales as assisted immigrants. And so it was that on the 6th December, 1849 the family boarded the John Knox in Plymouth, England. It was the depths of winter, with only 19 days before Christmas, so it must have been particularly hard for the Ryans to leave their family and friends and head into the unknown…particularly when this goodbye was most likely to be a final one.
The lucky thing for the family was that the John Knox, which had been built in Quebec, Canada in 1849, was almost brand new, so it wasn’t one of the notorious coffin ships associated with famine survivors arriving in Canada and America. The John Knox was a wooden sailing ship made of oak, hackmatack and pine.
The Barque John Knox
The Ryan’s departure documentation
The ship’s Captain was Captain Richard Davidson and the Surgeon Superintendent, who was also emigrating to Sydney with his wife and children, was Dr Richard Greenup. On board there were 17 paying passengers and 344 government immigrants, and they included 9 married men, 19 married women, 279 single women, 9 boys aged 1-14 years, 7 girls aged 1-14 years, 3 male infants, and 2 female infants. Many of the 279 “single women” were girls from various orphan homes in Ireland, their parents having fallen victim to the Great Famine.
The John Knox arrived in Sydney on 29 April 1850, having taken 141 days to make the journey. This was longer than expected, and in fact the John Knox was just one of several ships that had been delayed. The impact of these delays is reflected in the Sydney Morning Herald article below - the colony hadn’t received any word from the UK in almost 3 months.
Report re delayed shipping - Sydney Morning Herald
The Ryan’s arrival documentation
There had been five deaths on board during the journey: Victory Rose aged 18, and four infants of the five infants.
When Ellen and Patrick boarded the John Knox, their daughter Mary was just 3 years old, while their son Jeremiah was just 1. I can only imagine how bad things must have been in Ireland to convince the Ryans to leave all their family and friends, take two young children, board a wooden boat, and travel for almost six months to the other side of the world. They didn’t have the benefit of videos or even photos of this distant land that was to become their new home. Maybe just a few stories passed from person to person, losing and gaining information as they did so. Maybe they’d been lucky enough to talk directly to someone who’d been to the Colony.
What were they thinking when they stepped off the John Knox in Sydney Cove?
Sydney Cove in the mid 1850’s
At this stage, their daughter Margaret, who’s the focus of this group of antecedents, hadn’t been born. Margaret is important to our story, because as Bill O’Brien’s mother, you’d have to agree that she’s a vital link in the path towards his birth.
Margaret Esther Mary Ryan was born on 8 April 1851, most likely in Fish River, Upper Lachlan Shire, NSW, and she was followed by Catherine Mary Ryan born 12 years later in 1863 in Binalong NSW, and Jane Teresa Ryan born in 1868, also in Binalong. Not all Ancestry.com family trees show Jane, and some make some mention of a son - Patrick John Ryan - but I couldn’t find anything about his life. Perhaps he died as an infant in Ireland or Australia. There’s even one family tree on Ancestry that has Ellen having children into her mid 50’s, and at least one being born back in Ireland at a much later date – both of which are clearly wrong.
The family lived in Yass for a period, and appears to have moved back to Binalong in 1869. In either 1869 or 1870, Patrick became the licensee of the Golden Fleece Inn in Binalong. The Inn is now a private home in Queen Street Binalong, as shown in the picture below.
The home which used to be the Golden Fleece Inn
Queen Street, Binalong
NSW Publicans' Licences issued in 1870 showing Patrick Ryan and the Golden
It seems the family stayed in that region until Ellen died, as her death is shown as having occurred in Binalong on 9 October 1880 - she was just 55. Here’s what they said about Ellen’s death in The Yass Courier of Friday the 15th of October 1880 (Page 2):
BINALONG.
From a correspondent.
October 12. — The wife of Mr. Patrick Ryan, hotelkeeper, died on the 9th instant. She was an old resident, and most esteemed and respected by all parties. The funeral took place yesterday at the Galong Cemetery. It was one of the largest ever witnessed in Binalong. There were upwards of 120 horsemen and 20 vehicles, including a large number of ladies. The mournful cortege left Binalong at about twelve o'clock. The Rev. Father O'Keeffe officiated. The deceased leaves a large family and circle of friends to mourn their loss.
The Yass Courier
Friday the 15th of October 1880 (Page 2)
It’s also interesting to note this snippet on page 2 of The Yass Courier on Tuesday the 7th December 1880, not 2 months after Ellen’s death:
BINALONG (From a correspondent)
December 4 – At the Police Court yesterday, before Mr Yates, police magistrate, the following business was disposed of:
Police v Patrick Ryan – drunk and disorderly; plea, not guilty. Fined 20s. or seven days in Yass goal.
Police v Patrick Ryan – obscene language; plea, not guilty. Fined 40s. or fourteen days in Yass goal.
Police v Patrick Ryan – assaulting the police; plea, not guilty. Fined 40s. or fourteen days in Yass goal.
Patrick Ryan convictions, 1880
In fact, this is one of a number of Court appearances for Patrick Ryan. But this particular one, and another also involving drunkenness early the following year, came hot on the heels of Patrick’s wife death. Perhaps he was so grief stricken that he went on a bit of a bender – the newspaper reports don’t really say much one way or the other.
I’m not sure whether Patrick paid the fines above or elected to go to prison. I’m guessing there may be more information in court reporting – just one more task to follow up on.
In the middle of the following year, this article appears in the Binalong section of The Yass Courier of Tuesday the 7th June 1881 (Page 2):
BINALONG.
At the Police Court, last Friday — Mr. W. J. E. Wotton and Mr. A B. Paterson on the bench — the following, cases were disposed of: —
Patrick Ryan, hotelkeeper, was called upon to show cause why his license should not be cancelled. No cause was shown, and it is likely the licence will be cancelled.
Patrick Ryan loses his publican’s licence
It seems that Patrick’s life was falling apart. And things got worse. The Yass Courier Tue 31 Jan 1882 Page 2 carried a report from the Binalong Police Court of Friday, January the 27th 1882 where Patrick was summoned by the police for an aggravated assault upon his daughter. I’m not sure which of his daughters this was, nor about the circumstances around the assault, but Patrick was clearly not on a good path.
The case was dismissed, with the bench remarking that they very much regretted that the evidence didn’t quite prove the case. Had it done so, they would have inflicted the highest penalty the law allowed.
Patrick Ryan accused of assault of his daughter
So, it’s 1882 and in the last 18 months, Patrick has seen his wife die at 55 years old, he’d spent a good deal of time getting hammered, then lost his publican’s licence, been in and out of court and possibly jail for various offences, and he’d beaten one of his daughters – allegedly. Things were about as bad as they could get for Patrick…or were they?
It appears that at some point he was shipped off to an Asylum in Gladesville, NSW. I believe I’ll be able to find some more information on this with a visit to the NSW State Archives.
What happened to Patrick after that is unknown at this stage, although we do know that he lived on until 5 October 1886, and that he was 64 when he died. He was buried in what was then known as the Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum – not the best of names. It later became the Gladesville Hospital for the Insane – not really that much of an improvement. And then the Gladesville Mental Hospital. So, without wishing to cast judgment or make rash assumptions, it seems pretty clear that Patrick had some sort of mental illness.
Details of Patrick Ryan’s Burial at Gladesville Asylum
I found this note about the asylum here:
In the north-eastern corner of the Gladesville Hospital grounds, a former mental asylum, once notorious for its crowded conditions and neglected inmates, is a nondescript plot where the corpses of more than 1,000 former psychiatric patients lie. Originally known as The Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum, the first patients arrived from Liverpool Asylum and the Female Factory at Parramatta in 1838. A register of the burials, held in the archives of the Health Department, shows the bones of 1,228 inmates buried there with no headstones or markings. The names, dates of admission and dates of death of 923 patients are listed in the register but the identities of those in the first 305 graves are lost, if they were ever recorded. The stigma of mental illness was such that most families did not claim the bodies of relatives who died in care.
And also this description of the facility at Tarban Creek here at the NSW Archives and Records:
On 13 January 1835 Governor Bourke sent a despatch to Britain stating "A lunatic asylum is an Establishment that can no longer be dispensed with. In this Colony, the use of ardent spirits induces the disease called delirium tremens, which frequently terminates in confirmed lunacy. The present asylum is a wretched hired Building without outlet of any kind." In his reply dated 3 August 1835, Lord Glenelg conveyed the British Government's authorisation for expenditure of NSW Colonial government funds for this project.
On 24 April 1837 Governor Bourke reported that the new asylum was approaching completion, and since he considered it impossible to find persons qualified for its superintendence in NSW, he requested that a married couple be engaged and sent out from England as Keeper and Matron. The new Superintendent and Matron, Mr and Mrs Digby, took up residence at Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum on 18 August 1838, with the first patients transferred from Liverpool Asylum and the Female Factory, Parramatta, arriving on 19 November 1838.
Following the recommendations of the Select Committee on the Lunatic Asylum in 1846, changes to administration, staffing, and record keeping occurred. Of major concern was the perceived lack of expert medical direction, resulting in the appointment on 1 January 1848 of a medical superintendent, Dr Francis Campbell, to administer the institution.
Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum subsequently underwent several changes of name, Campbell's successor, Dr Frederick Norton Manning, signed his first yearly report in October 1868 from the Hospital for the Insane, Tarban Creek, and the following year from the Hospital for the Insane, Gladesville. In the Inspector General's Report for 1915, the title Hospital for the Insane was replaced by Mental Hospital, and by the mid 1960s the institution was known simply as Gladesville Hospital.
Initially all admissions were by order, but from 24 July 1839 a medical certificate was required to accompany all orders for admission, and after a successful legal case for wrongful detention in 1843, two independent medical certificates and recommendations by two magistrates were required for the admission of free persons. On 12 December 1843 the NSW Legislative Council passed the Lunacy Act,1843 "for the safe custody of, and prevention of offences by persons dangerously insane, and for the care and maintenance of persons of unsound mind".
The Lunacy Act, 1898 enacted comprehensive procedures and regulations for certification, detention, and record keeping requirements, and made limited and restrictive provision for voluntary admissions, which were revised by the Lunacy (Amendment) Act, 1934, which specifically provided for the reception of voluntary patients into hospitals for the insane and licensed houses. Subsequently, patients were admitted under the provisions of the Mental Health Act 1958 (Act No 45, 1958), the Mental Health Act 1983 (Act No 178, 1983), and the Mental Health Act 1990 (Act No 9, 1990).
Overcrowding was repeatedly cited as a major problem at Gladesville Hospital, but as the emphasis changed from in-patient care to expansion of community based services and the development of psychiatric units in general hospitals, the in-patient population of psychiatric hospitals diminished.
On 29 January 1993 premises at Gladesville Hospital and Macquarie Hospital were revoked as hospitals, and were amalgamated to form the Gladesville Macquarie Hospital. By 1997 all inpatient services were consolidated onto the Macquarie site at North Ryde.
The story of Patrick Ryan in latter life is a sad one, and no sadder than ending his days in the Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum. This is a copy of his probate documentation.
As an interesting aside, it’s sad to see that the Golden Fleece Inn at Binalong didn’t just bring bad luck to Patrick Ryan. You’ll remember from above that Patrick’s publican’s licence was not renewed in 1881. I believe it passed to a man named “Tracy”, and then ended up in the hands of one Patrick O’Brien (no relative as far as I can see).
The following article appeared on page 2 of the Burrowa News of Friday the 26th June 1885:
The application of Patrick O'Brien for a renewal of the Golden Fleece Hotel, Binalong, was objected to by the police, the premises being in a dilapidated condition, and the applicant being of intemperate habits.
Senior-sergeant Prior deposed: During the last two years I have been District Inspector under the Licensing Act; I have frequently heard complaints against the landlord of the Golden Fleece Hotel; I found the house generally dirty and in a dilapidated condition; I called to inspect the house on the 5th or 6th of this month; in passing the house about 6 o'clock in the evening it was closed and all the lights out except the street lamp; I returned again, and saw Mrs. O'Brien there; I asked her if there was anyone dead in the house, as she had all the lights out, and she said there was not; I asked her if I could see Mr. O'Brien, and she said I could not, as he was tipsy; that afternoon he was chasing his wife about the street and throwing stones at her; I spoke to him about it, and he said he could not help it, as he had a little drink in him; the house is a very old one; on previous occasions he promised me he would repair it, but he has failed to do so.
Senior- constable Madden deposed: I know the applicant, Patrick O'Brien, of the Golden Fleece Hotel, Binalong; I hand in certified copies of convictions against him for three breaches of the Licensing; Act, during the last two years, and he was fined on each occasion; he has been convicted once for being drunk and disorderly, three times for using obscene language, and once for riotous conduct; his wife also is very much indicted – for intemperate habits; I saw O'Brien at Binalong last night and he told me he considered it hopeless to defend the case, and would not appear cither personally or by agent.
The Bench said they had decided not to grant a renewal of the license.
It seems the two Patrick’s had much in common, and that the Inn was not that “golden” for either of them.
Written by Rob Landsberry, last updated 13 May 2023