52 Ancestors #7 Charles Daley

Charles Daley was born in Dublin, Ireland possibly in 1775.  As with many of the convicts date of birth is uncertain. Some records suggest he may have been born several years earlier, maybe  as early as 1768.  The spelling of Daley's surname also varies - Daly, Dayley and, improbably, Daily so it is necessary to try variations when trying to locate information about Charles and his family.

We first meet him in 1792 when he was arrested for stealing a saddle. He was tried in Dublin and sentenced to seven years transportation. On 23 January 1793 the ship, Boddingtons, arrived at Cork to take on convicts from various parts of Ireland. The convicts had been housed on four other ships in crowded conditions waiting for Boddingtons to arrive. In total one hundred and twenty-five male convicts and twenty female convicts embarked. Thirty-six of the convicts had spent seven weeks aboard the Hibernia and a number of these were suffering from fever and dysentery when they boarded Boddingtons. Richard Kent was the naval surgeon aboard the ship and he provided a detailed account of the voyage in correspondence. The guard overseeing the convicts consisted of soldiers from the NSW Corps. The website Free Settler or Felon provides information about the voyage of the Boddingtons.

Boddingtons left Cork on 15 February 1793. During the voyage several of the convicts planned to take over the ship and have it sail to America but the attempt was foiled. The culprits were flogged and kept in irons for the rest of the voyage.The trip to Rio de Janeiro  took 54 days arriving on 10 April. The total journey took 173 days with the ship arriving at Port Jackson on 7 August 1793. The one person who died during the voyage had been ill when he embarked. Only one person was on the sick-list on arrival in Sydney so the convicts were treated reasonably well compared with convicts on some of the other ships.

The next we hear of Charles was three years after his arrival in the colony when he married Ann Lockett (also known as Ann Lockhart) at St John's Church, Parramatta in 1796.  Ann Lockhart and Ann Lloyd, in February 1794, were tried at the Old Bailey for theft with violence in Nightingale Lane, a prostitute district. On 4 June 1794 the original sentence of death was reduced to transportation for life. On 5 October 1795 the ship, Indispensable, arrived at Portsmouth Harbour and began embarking 133 female convicts from various parts of England. The convicts would have been transported in carts and would have been in chains. On 11 November 1795 the Indispensable left Portsmouth for New South Wales. The voyage took five and a half months arriving at Sydney Cove on 30 April 1796. Two convicts died during the voyage. On 9 July 1796 a muster of the convicts who had arrived on the Indispensible and the Marquis Cornwallis was held in Sydney. Some of the female convicts were then sent to Parramatta where a new gaol had been built with provisions for weaving. Others were assigned to work in Sydney. As Charles and Ann married in Parramatta we can assume that Ann was one of the convicts sent to that settlement.

The 1801 muster noted that Charles and Ann were living at Toongabbie, west of Sydney.

The 1806 muster stated that Charles was free by servitude and a landholder with 15 acres at the Hawkesbury (Windsor) purchased from J Richards. He had 6 acres of wheat, 2 acres of barley, 7 acres of fallow land and 1 hog. In 1806 Ann died. She and Charles did not have any children.

On 27 August 1810 Charles Daley married Susannah Alderson at St Matthew's Church of England, Windsor. Susannah (also known as Hannah) had arrived in Sydney on 16 November 1808 aboard the convict ship, Speke. Her two year old son, William, travelled with her. Charles and Susannah had six children, Ann born 1809, Mary Ann born 1811, Charles born 1813, Sarah born 1815, John born 1817 and Susannah born 1819.

In 1812 Charles donated one pound towards building a school enclosed with a fence at Richmond

By the general muster of convicts in 1822 Charles' property had increased. He was listed as a tenant of 26 acres at Windsor with 14 acres of wheat, 6 acres of maize, 6 acres of barley, 70 hogs and grain in hand. The 1828 census noted that Charles and his wife were both protestants and that they lived in Windsor with five of their children.

Image taken by Brian Walters - Macquarie's Towns - St Matthew's church & cemetery

Charles died at Windsor on 17 May 1831 when he was run over by his cart when returning from the market in Sydney. His body was discovered by his son-in-law, John Wood. John Wood had married Mary Ann Daley in 1829. Charles was buried at St Matthew's Church of England Cemetery on 19 May 1831.

Charles Daley was my great (x3) grandfather.