Hugh & Francis Gaffney

[redmr2red]

Hi all, I'm trying to find the parents and siblings of Hugh Gaffney (or Gafney) born C 1813 & brother Frances Gaffney born C 1821 in or near Co. Cavan.   

Hugh Gaffney, Francis Gaffney and Peter Smith were transported to Tasmania, Australia in 1842 for stealing 2 guns and a pistol to committ mutiny.  In their statement they said Richard Jones was the brains behind the crime.  All 4 were tried Cavan, 28 February 1842, sentenced to 7 years and embarked 3 August 1842.

Is it possible to get a transcript of the trial?   

Many thanks, Kevin
Melbourne, Australia

[aghadowey]

Related post on Australian board:
www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,420496.msg2859111.html#msg2859111

[redmr2red]

Thanks aghadowey, yes it is.  I have the answers from that post for their time in Tasmania, Australia.  Searching in Ireland is something new.  I've looked at all the "Use of This Board" but thought I'd ask here as well.

Kevin

[aghadowey]

It helps to have a link to previous post for background information, to see what's already been found, etc. 

[shanew147]

not many court records survive (see details on destruction of the records office on the four courts during 1922 civil war) - most of those that do are located on the National Archives - http://www.nationalarchives.ie/

usually I'd suggest checking for newspaper articles - the date in this case is quite early, and not many newspapers were publishing at that stage. I have seen mention of very early (1820s) articles from a newspaper named 'The Cavan Herald' but I dont know how long this survived.

The National Library has an index of the newspapers they hold on microfilm & binder -  see : http://www.nli.ie/en/newspapers-catalogues-and-databases.aspx



Shane

[redmr2red]

Thanks Shane, from the National archives Web Site, I FOUND him     

Match 2 from 'Ireland-Australia transportation database'
Last name:  GAFNEY spelt with one 'F'
First name:  HUGH
Sex:  M
Age:  27
Trial place:  Co. Cavan
Trial date:  28/02/1842
Crime desc:  Robbery of arms
Sentence:  Transportation 14 yrs commuted to 7 yrs
Document ref1:  TR 4, p 18

So now how do I get that Document Ref 1 TR 4, P 18 ??

Kevin

[shanew147]

sorry - no idea....

I think the document in question may just be an index, rather than full details

have a look through the National Archives website... I dont know if the original details for these are open for research, but I understand that many were microfilmed as part of some sort joint Ireland/Australia project. I think copies were presented to the Australian government for some sort of anniversary.


Shane

[redmr2red]

I have checked with National Archives in Australia, and nothing available from Ireland on-line.

I would still like to find the parents and siblings of Hugh Gaffney (or Gafney) born C 1813 & brother Frances Gaffney born C 1821 in or near Co. Cavan.   

Kevin

[shanew147]

There are some Co. Cavan parish records available on the Irish Family History Foundation pay-website www.irish-roots.ie and these do show a baptism for Hugh Gafney born 1814 in  Cavan RC parish (Cavan town)

Do you know anything about where in Co. Cavan the Gaffney's came from ?

The only way I can think of confirming if this is this is the correct Hugh is to look for a baptism of Francis in the same area with the same father, but the only Francis Gaffney I see baptised in the parish is in 1880. I suppose it's possible that the family moved at some stage to a different parish or county, it's also possible that the IFHF records are incomplete or that the relevent records have not survived.



Shane