Helen McIntyre

[Shona]

Helen McIntyre is a twig on my McLean branch. Great-great grandfather John McLean married Isabella McIntyre. One of their daughters, Janet McLean married John McIntyre. Helen is John McIntyre's sister. I have no idea if John McIntyre and Helen McIntyre are related to John's mother-in-law, Isabella, but it wouldn't surprises me.

I'm trying to find out a bit more about Helen. I haven't been able to find a birth record (Glasgow) or a death record (Australia). She died just says after arriving in Tasmania.

From the on-line records of Inverary Jail.

Name: Helen McIntyre
Prisoner No: 46
Age: 20
Crime: Theft by housebreaking, habit & repute

Previous convictions:
30 July 1849 - theft, Sheriff Court at Campbeltown
27 June 1850 - theft Sheriff Court at Campbeltown

Tried: 24 September 1851 by Lord Colonsay and Jury
Sentence: 7 Years transportation

Marital status: Single
Born: Glasgow
Resident: Campbeltown
Occupation: House maid

Further Information:
Admitted: 23 September 1851, Inveraray Jail
Removed: 14 November 1851 to Millbank (52 days in Inveraray Jail)

Helen McIntyre obtained entry to a house in Kirk Street, Campbeltown, by opening a sash window. She stole a purse containing 21s 9d and a key, the property of a widow, Agnes Loynachan or Morrison.

McIntyre made a plea of Not Guilty.

When Helen McIntyre arrived in Hobart Town she was assigned to Mr Hedburg in Argyle Street. He was a wholesale and retail dealer in oils, paints, colours etc.

A few days later, on 19 July, Helen McIntyre was admitted to the Colonial Hospital where she died at the age of only 24 on 2 August 1852.

Source: Tasmanian Ancestry, Genealogical Society of Tasmania, June 1997.

[kiterunner]

Do you know the names of Helen's parents, Shona?

[Shona]

I think this is Helen in the 1841 census in Campbeltown:

Balgom Street

William McIntyre, 45, fisher, b Argyll
Margaret, McIntyre, 50, b Argyll
John McIntyre, 15, born Argyll
William McIntyre, 11, born Scotland
Helen McIntyre, 9, born Scotland

[Asa]

Shona, have you tried one of the newspaper sites? I found out quite a bit of background information on a Dundee ancestress who was in prison a few times that way.

[Shona]

Asa, that's a good idea.

Helen gets to Hobart in Tasmania and dies shortly after. I can't find a record of her death in Australia, though.

Would a convict's death be reported by a newspaper?

[kiterunner]

I looked on the Trove newspaper site the other day and didn't find anything, but this is the link:
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper

There doesn't seem to be much coverage of Tasmania in 1852 though.

[kiterunner]

The Tasmanian Civil Registration records 1803-1933 have just been made available to browse on FamilySearch:
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2125029

I'm not sure how to find a particular entry once you have got the right place, event and year, though, other than browsing through page by page, if you don't already know the registration number. (I think you would have to look at the Hobart records for Helen's death.)

[Shona]

Thank you for the link. I've had a good search through, but haven't found her yet. It makes for grim reading. Rather too many entries along the lines of 'new-born child murdered by strangulation', 'male unlawfully slain', unknown female murdered', 'unkown female six year slain', etc.

Shona I away at the moment, when I return, I will have a look at the Tas BDM indexes. Our library has them on microfische and I will see if I can find her death in them. The fische can search by looking under M, as the name could have been spelt a lot of ways for a computer search. Julie

[kiterunner]

They're on FamilySearch now, Julie.