My ancestor, John Oakman from Northern Ireland, who arrived in Sydney aboard the United Kingdom in 1841.
John was born in Glenavy Parish, the son of John Oakman and Mary McGee (or McKee). John’s wife, Mary McQuillan and children Margaret Louise, Eneas and John were born in nearby Killead Parish.
In 1840 John Oakman was recruited by A B Smith & Co (Andrew Blower Smith) as an agricultural labourer and he and his family were brought out to Australia as assisted immigrants. They arrived in Sydney on the “United Kingdom” on 7 Sept 1841. This ship was, at the time, the largest merchant ship ever to come to the Colony, with 482 emigrants. Shipping records indicate they could read and write, were Roman Catholics, and were in very good health. John’s stated place of birth was “Glenavy”. His certificate of character was provided by E Mooney. The Parish Priest certifying his baptism was J Tierney.
John’s “age on embarkation” is given as 37 years of age in November 1840 – meaning he was almost 38 when he arrived and born in November 1803. His death certificate, though, gives his age as 64 yrs in March 1861 – making his birth about 1796. Perhaps he was trying to appear younger in order to obtain employment.
After completing his allotted time with A B Smith & Co, John may have found employment as a teacher (source: death certs of 2 of his children). In later life John was a Lamplighter in Sydney (source: his death cert). On the death certificate of his son John, his occupation is given as “Gentleman”.
John and Mary were members of St Mary’s Catholic Church, built in the 1820s and later destroyed by fire in 1865. In 1850 they sponsored Bridget Robins, a 17 year old famine orphan, to come to Australia. John and Mary paid £8 for Bridget’s passage to Australia and promised to support her for a year.
They were living in Harrington St in The Rocks area of Sydney in October 1842 when their son James Robert Oakman was born. By 1851, the family were living in Parramatta Street, Sydney. Mary’s died in 1858 in Kensington Street. This street housed brewery workers in the 1850s and contained a mixture of houses – most of only 2 rooms. Several butchers who worked at Swamp Abattoirs across Parramatta Road also lived in this street. A 1858 report by Dr Graham, Sydney’s City Health Officer, stated that homes in Kensington Street were “in a most wretched condition, so far as ventilation and cleanliness are concerned”.
John died in 1861 in Parramatta Street, Sydney. They were buried in the Roman Catholic Burial Ground in Sydney. This is probably the old Sandhills Cemetery or Devonshire Street Cemetery which is now under Central Railway Station.
John and Mary had 8 children – 2 males and 2 females were deceased at the time of their deaths – it is unknown when or where they died. No record has been found in NSW of these children so presumably they died in Ireland prior to the family emigrating to Australia.
Read more about My Oakmans.