Chrissy Fletcher
  • About me
  • My Family History
    • Treepress
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    • Irish Orphan Girls
      • My Research
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        • Derwent
        • Diadem
        • Eliza Caroline
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      • Schoolteachers at Big Hill School
      • Arthursleigh Managers
      • Hannibal Macarthur’s creditors in 1848
      • Convicts assigned to Hannibal & Charles Macarthur in 1824
      • Convicts at Arthursleigh in 1828
      • Electoral Roll for Argyle District 1863-64
  • Stories from Stop 15
  • Contact

Chrissy Fletcher

  • About me
  • My Family History
    • Treepress
  • My Family History Blog
  • History Projects
    • Irish Orphan Girls
      • My Research
      • The Ships
        • Derwent
        • Diadem
        • Eliza Caroline
        • Lady Kennaway
        • New Liverpool
        • Pemberton
      • Research Links
    • Oscar Asche
    • Adopt a Digger
    • Macdonell House
    • Arthursleigh
      • Schoolteachers at Big Hill School
      • Arthursleigh Managers
      • Hannibal Macarthur’s creditors in 1848
      • Convicts assigned to Hannibal & Charles Macarthur in 1824
      • Convicts at Arthursleigh in 1828
      • Electoral Roll for Argyle District 1863-64
  • Stories from Stop 15
  • Contact
  • IRISH ORPHAN GIRLS

My research into the Port Phillip Irish Orphan Girls

For the last 170 years the stories of our orphan girl ancestors remain largely untold and unknown to the wider community.

The girls arrived in the Port Phillip District just before a vital time in its history. 1851 saw the onset of the gold rush and the District’s separation from New South Wales creating the new state of Victoria. The girls would have been caught up in the hype and mayhem of the new Melbourne.

As men left in droves to travel to the goldfields to seek their fortune, the women left behind moved in together for economic reasons and personal safety. As the police force was drained of its members, only two police officers remained to oversee the safety of a city being inundated by tens of thousands of fortune-seeking immigrants from interstate and overseas.

There was a shortage of everything – accommodation, supplies, sanitation and transport. Crime and lawlessness increased hundredfold. Drunkenness and prostitution became rife and, needless to say, our teenage orphans got themselves caught up in it all.

There were certainly some who made good marriages and went on to have happy and successful lives. I believe the majority found a less happy existence. Many of the girls married ex-convicts and Exiles, or much older men who treated the girls as chattels. Melbourne Gaol registers had many of the girls as inmates and these are the records I hope to research and expand on.

With the help of descendants and other researchers who have gone before, and my own ongoing research, it is my plan to gather the stories of the 1277 girls who sailed into Port Phillip and share the stories of their first years in the colony.

If you have a story of your Irish orphan girl ancestor relevant to this timeframe in Melbourne, I would be grateful for the information.

Recent Posts

  • COPS, CHRISTIANS AND A CUPPA

    August 17, 2022
  • THE BABY FARMER MURDERESS

    April 19, 2022
  • Carols by Candlelight

    December 21, 2021
  • MY EARLIEST “PIONEER” ANCESTORS – THOMAS HUGHES AND SARAH WANT

    October 3, 2021
  • Royal Exhibition Building and Two Pandemics

    August 29, 2021
  • Our Secret Tunnels

    June 8, 2021
  • Mary Gilbert – A founding Mother of Melbourne

    April 20, 2021
  • My Dries ancestors from Lorchhausen, Germany

    October 11, 2020
  • An Account of Sarah Mallett – a Call to Preach

    July 17, 2020
  • Barrett Arms and Mottos

    July 13, 2020

Categories

  • German Ancestors (1)
  • My Family History (6)
  • Stories from Stop 15 (7)

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