Hello again Alison and welcome Greg
I am sure that there must be any hundreds of descendants of John Curtis and Ann Moran now living in Australia or, like my son and his family, back in the British Isles. It would be interesting to run a census of their descendants.
My descent from George Eccleston and Catherine Curtis is through their son, John William Henry, who died in Crookwell on 18 May 1918. He married Catherine Mary McIntyre who died in Crookwell in 1916 about 6 months before their son, Albert Ambrose, died at the Second Australian Casualty Clearing Station at Steenwerk in northern France.
Last year, my wife and I attended a conference at Trim in Co Meath for those with Meath roots and visited Albert Ambrose's grave at the Trois Arbres War Cemetery which was set up by the 2nd ACCS. It was a great conference and trip and I managed to find a little time to do some research at the National Library of Ireland.
I found a report in the Dublin Evening Post summoning the jury for the Summer Assizes at Trim and giving the names of the 2 judges who would sit. I also found a report of the trial of a Thomas Treacey on 8 September 1797 for insurrection. I ran out of time to look for reports of Ann Moran's trial which must have been on the same day (the Assizes were held only one day) but I suspect she might have been related to Treacey in some way. Despite her being 30 or 35 on arrival in Sydney, it is unlikely she was his wife because all the records for her seem to have been in the name of Moran or a variant. However, it is quite possible she was his sister or other relative or a friend and that she was tried for something she did such as trying to protect him from the authorities. Otherwise, it is hard to explain why she was transported for life.
If you have not discovered the fact yet, Greg, a Muster in the 1820s stated that Ann was transported for 7 years. However, the 1802 Muster when she arrived in the Colony stated that she had been transported for life. The 1802 Muster is almost certainly correct and a number of the more reputable researchers rely on it for the longer sentence, rejecting the shorter sentence.
In Trim last year, we got into the offices of the Education Department. One wall was a wall of the gaol where Ann would have been held, possibly for a long time during the 5 years between her conviction and shipment from Port of Cork in 1801. Some graffiti scratched into the wall has been protected behind a perspex sheet. Most of it seemed to have some religious significance. Brick steps down to the river gate on the River Boyne were almost certainly used in the 18th century and she could well have walked them.
The No. 1 Court Room would have been used on the day of Ann's trial. I cannot assert that it would have been used for her trial but it is possible. It is pretty much as it would have been on the day of the trial apart from many coats of paint and varnish and contains the furnishings of the 18th century.
I have some PC problems at the moment and will not be able to send you any of the documents and photographs I have but if you both let me have your postal addresses in private messages, I will send you a memory stick with a selection of what I have. I have undertaken to do the same for another person descended from our remarkable ancestors.
Paul
