G'day Folks.
I have an ancestor by the name of William
Broggy who fell victim to the judicial system for stealing a pig at 24 years of age and therefore sent before the bench and tried in Limerick on the 13th March 1828 and sentenced to seven years servitude.
William’s servitude was to be carried out in the colony of New South Wales and he would make the journey upon the ‘Governor Ready’, which sailed from Cork on the 21st of September 1828, under the Captaincy of John Young and reached Sydney on the 16th of January 1829.
His name was listed on the ship’s indents under
Broggy. William was five feet two and a half inches [1.59 meters] and had dark brown hair. The record shows him assigned to an Elizabeth Pitt of Richmond in Cumberland County.
He eventually obtained a Ticket of Leave in 1833, but was finally granted a Certificate of Freedom in September of 1835. The documents still showed his name as William
Broggy.
William entered into a relationship with a Mary White, though no record can be found of their applying for marriage banns. A son Michael was born on the 11th of April,1839, in the county of Cumberland. He was baptised on the 17th of May 1840 by the Catholic minister, Joseph Platt. The birth was registered in Sydney in the parish of St James and now showed William’s surname as
Brophy and Mary White his mother. In 1843 William and Mary again had a child, this time a daughter, but the parish is not stated. They called their daughter Margaret
Brophy.
Records then showed that William
Brophy died in 1844, though details on the death certificate are very limited . His age is shown as 40 years, which fits in with the age of William
Broggy and The ship, ‘Governor Ready’ was recorded as to how the person arrived in the colony. Though the surname on the indents shows
Broggy and not
Brophy. No wife or children are recorded, which may be in holding with the theory that he and Mary did not have marriage banns.
As initially mentioned, the ‘Governor Ready’s’ ships indents show no record of a William
Brophy, but that of a William
Broggy. I have concluded that William
Broggy and William
Brophy were one and the same.
QUESTION:
Is the listing on the Indents of the Governor Ready an accurate recording of the surname or a misspelling, seeing that Williams later records show the surname Brophy.
Or was William just trying to start a new life with his partner and throwing off the link with his convict past?
Is the name surname Broggy an old established Irish Surname and what time period does it go back to.
OR
Has it been derived over the years from misspelling.
I believe there are Broggy families around the Limerick area, and no disrespect to the origin of their surname.
I just wish to know if William was a Broggy or a Brophy.
Williams story can be seen at
http://users.tpg.com.au/thegrey/Callaghans.htm#William%20BrophyAppreciate any help or a link to any Broggy or Brophy families originating from around the Limerick District.
Merv Webster
www.users.tpg.com.au/thegrey 