Ballina Workhouse
Ballina workhouse opened in 1843. All that remains of the workhouse buildings today is a dispensary building. In 2003 a memorial plaque was erected on the building, which also acknowledges the presence of two mass burial graves in the area.
Further information on Ballina workhouse can be obtained on Peter Higginbotham's website, www.workhouses.org.uk/Ballina.
The Ballina workhouse sent 87 girls to Australia in three ships: the Lady Kennaway, which went to Melbourne, and the Inchinnan and the Panama, which went to Sydney.
Further information on Ballina workhouse can be obtained on Peter Higginbotham's website, www.workhouses.org.uk/Ballina.
The Ballina workhouse sent 87 girls to Australia in three ships: the Lady Kennaway, which went to Melbourne, and the Inchinnan and the Panama, which went to Sydney.
Ballina Workhouse Dispensary (Image: Author)
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Memorial plaque at the site of the Ballina Workhouse (Image: Author)
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Ballina Workhouse Records
The Board of Guardian Minute Books for the Ballina Poor Law Union are held by the National Library of Ireland (NLI) in Dublin, and in the main are extant for the period of the Orphan Emigration Scheme. The minutes do not record personal information on the girls themselves, but do present some elements of the administration of the scheme, including correspondence with the Poor Law Commissioners and the practicalities of the arrangements for the girls.
The minutes record that Ballina workhouse was visited by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission’s representative in Dublin, Lieutenant Henry, in August 1848, who initially selected 62 girls for emigration. Of these, 24 were to be sent first, with the remainder in a subsequent ship. Preparation was made to outfit the girls, with the purchase of fabric for clothing, including: 750 yards Chambrey for women's wrappers, 750 yards Lindsey Woolsey for petticoats, 400 yards Check for girls' frocks, and 400 yards of flannel for girls' petticoats. They also received two pairs of shoes each; it is recorded that £8 8s 0d was paid to “Mr Hugh Gallagher for 56 Pair shoes purchased for the orphan emigrants”.
In the end, 25 girls left Ballina workhouse in this first group, and were accompanied to Dublin by the Matron, Mrs Hart, and the Schoolmistress, Miss Silk. They departed for Australia on the Lady Kennaway, leaving Plymouth on 11 September 1848 and arriving in Melbourne on 6 December 1848.
In September 1848, 22 more of the girls selected by Lieutenant Henry left on the Inchinnan for Sydney. Again the Matron, Mrs Hart, accompanied the girls to Dublin, and the minutes record that a payment was forwarded to the Dublin Steam Packet Company for £1 13s 0d “for rations supplied to the Ballina Workhouse Emigrants previous to their departure for Plymouth”. The Inchinnan departed Plymouth on 30 October 1848 and arrived in Sydney on 13 February 1849.
Almost one year later, in August 1849, Lieutenant Henry again returned to Ballina workhouse, selecting 40 girls who, the minutes record, were to "be in Dublin in time for the Steam Vessel, which will leave the North Wall Quay for Plymouth at One P.M on Saturday the 22nd" September, to proceed to Plymouth for the Panama to Sydney. The Panama, the last ship carrying Mayo orphan girls, departed from Plymouth on 6 October 1849 and arrived in Sydney on 12 January 1850.
The Board of Guardian Minute Books for the Ballina Poor Law Union are held by the National Library of Ireland (NLI) in Dublin, and in the main are extant for the period of the Orphan Emigration Scheme. The minutes do not record personal information on the girls themselves, but do present some elements of the administration of the scheme, including correspondence with the Poor Law Commissioners and the practicalities of the arrangements for the girls.
The minutes record that Ballina workhouse was visited by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission’s representative in Dublin, Lieutenant Henry, in August 1848, who initially selected 62 girls for emigration. Of these, 24 were to be sent first, with the remainder in a subsequent ship. Preparation was made to outfit the girls, with the purchase of fabric for clothing, including: 750 yards Chambrey for women's wrappers, 750 yards Lindsey Woolsey for petticoats, 400 yards Check for girls' frocks, and 400 yards of flannel for girls' petticoats. They also received two pairs of shoes each; it is recorded that £8 8s 0d was paid to “Mr Hugh Gallagher for 56 Pair shoes purchased for the orphan emigrants”.
In the end, 25 girls left Ballina workhouse in this first group, and were accompanied to Dublin by the Matron, Mrs Hart, and the Schoolmistress, Miss Silk. They departed for Australia on the Lady Kennaway, leaving Plymouth on 11 September 1848 and arriving in Melbourne on 6 December 1848.
In September 1848, 22 more of the girls selected by Lieutenant Henry left on the Inchinnan for Sydney. Again the Matron, Mrs Hart, accompanied the girls to Dublin, and the minutes record that a payment was forwarded to the Dublin Steam Packet Company for £1 13s 0d “for rations supplied to the Ballina Workhouse Emigrants previous to their departure for Plymouth”. The Inchinnan departed Plymouth on 30 October 1848 and arrived in Sydney on 13 February 1849.
Almost one year later, in August 1849, Lieutenant Henry again returned to Ballina workhouse, selecting 40 girls who, the minutes record, were to "be in Dublin in time for the Steam Vessel, which will leave the North Wall Quay for Plymouth at One P.M on Saturday the 22nd" September, to proceed to Plymouth for the Panama to Sydney. The Panama, the last ship carrying Mayo orphan girls, departed from Plymouth on 6 October 1849 and arrived in Sydney on 12 January 1850.
© Barbara Barclay (2015)
