Michael D’Arcy letters from Sydney and Bathurst to his parents in Ireland

MLMSS 12021/Folder 1X

fonds

1835-1839

9675774

0.47 metres of textual material (1 outsize folder) - manuscript

Michael D'Arcy (1811-1880) was the cousin of Irish Catholic Missionary Rev John McEncroe. He emigrated to Australia around 1835. He stayed with Rev McEncroe at Chapel House in Sydney after arriving in the Colony of New South Wales and had his mail directed there. Michael D'Arcy later became the editor of the Morning Chronicle, (formerly the Australasian Chronicle), and the Freeman's Journal, and joined the New South Wales Customs Department, then headed by William Duncan.

Reference:
Library correspondence file

In approximately 1964, the letters were given to the donor’s father (now deceased) who was a print and broadcast journalist in Bega. They have been in the family’s custody since.

Letters are addressed to Sir David D’Arcy and are dated 25 December 1835, 20 May 1836 and 23 May 1839.

Letter 1, written from Sydney and dated 25 December 1835, informs about D’Arcy’s early attempts to find work and settle in the colony, and detailed description of the select Irish clergymen in Sydney at a time: Father William Ullathorne, Bishop John Bede Polding, Colonial Chaplain Christopher Vincent Dowling, Rev John McEncroe, Rev Corcoran and Rev John Therry. There is a single mention of Hawkesbury First Nations peoples.

Letter 2, written from Bathurst and dated 20 May 1836, is an exhaustive description of how to arrange a passage from Ireland to Sydney and what to bring for life in the colony, information about D’Arcy’s employment with shipping agents Kenworthy & Lord in Bathurst, and the author’s impressions of how to make a good life in the colony.

Letter 3, sent from Bathurst and dated 23 May 1839, D’Arcy writes of the end of his employment with Kenworthy & Lord and of starting his own tannery in Bathurst, the increasingly difficult climatic and economic conditions and religious disputes occurring in the colony under Governor Bourke.

Out of copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales